Manjari Makijany is an Emmy-nominated Indian-born writer​, director​, producer​ who graduated ​in Mass Media from Jai Hind College, ​Mumbai. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America, Screen Producers Association of Australia and the Directors Guild of America.

Her debut feature, Skater Girl about a teenage girl who comes-of-age through skateboarding was acquired by Netflix and released ​in 191 countries in 31 languages. Her second feature, Spin is Disney Channel’s first to feature an Indian-American lead in an Original Movie. The film released on Disney Plus worldwide starring Avantika as Rhea, an Indian-American teen who learns she has a passion for creating DJ mixes. For the film, Manjari was nominated for two Children’s & Family Emmy Awards—Outstanding Special Fiction & Outstanding directing in a single camera program.

Skater Girl performed strongly as a Netflix Original, reaching approximately 24 million global starter accounts within its first 12 months on the platform and achieving a high 71% completion rate, reflecting strong audience engagement and emotional resonance.

Her latest feature, Fireflies, is an uplifting sports drama set around Kerala’s iconic Nehru Cup Snake Boat Race. In keeping with her impact-driven approach, the production will train and support a group of women to compete in the traditionally male-dominated race, translating the film’s themes of resilience and gender empowerment into real-world action.​ She is also developing Discovering Sambha, a documentary around her father, Mac Mohan, one of India’s most beloved cinema icons.

Over the years, Manjari also has developed the children’s animated series The Little Witch and the children’s music series It’s Time! She wrote and produced Kuhaan, a satirical short film set in a dystopian world that highlights the global water crisis and is currently on the festival circuit. She was also developing an episode for a holiday special series curated by Alfonso Cuarón for Disney. Currently, she is in production with her feature documentary Skate Basti (Skate Village).

Manjari hails from a family of actors and filmmakers in Bollywood and set her mind on directing at an early age. Her journey as a director launched with her critically acclaimed short film, The Last Marble, which won Best of Fest at the Clermont-Ferrand. She followed that success with more short films The Corner Table and I See You, where she received the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation Award and the Adrienne Shelly Foundation Award and the Best Short at the Asian American International Film Festival and was showcased in Cannes at the Emerging Filmmakers Showcase.

Manjari went on to become one of eight directors selected for the prestigious American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women Program (AFI DWW) and the second Indian woman to be part of the program since its inception in 1974. Consequently, she was selected to participate in the Universal Pictures Directors Intensive along with four other Sundance alums, Fox Filmmakers Lab and the Commercial Directors Diversity Program​. She’s also an alum of the UCLA Professional Screenwriting Program where she was nominated for the Nate Wilson Award.

Manjari has collaborated with acclaimed filmmakers including Christopher Nolan on Dunkirk and The Dark Knight Rises, Patty Jenkins on Wonder Woman and Vishal Bhardwaj on Saat Khoon Maaf, starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Her credits as an Assistant Director also include Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Wake Up Sid and Gandhi of the Month, starring Harvey Keitel.

Her storytelling vision, shaped by her experience across India, Australia​ and the United States, has cultivated a distinct and globally attuned cinematic voice. Together with her husband and producing partner, Emmanuel Pappas, she leads Asia Pacific Pictures, a Sydney-headquartered boutique production company with presence in Los Angeles and Mumbai, dedicated to socially conscious, internationally resonant storytelling.