DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES ONE YEAR IN THE LIFE OF WORLD-RENOWNED MIND-BODY HEALING PIONEER DEEPAK CHOPRA
(Los Angeles, January 30, 2012) – NALA Films announced today that it has financed and produced DECODING DEEPAK, a feature-length documentary film that chronicles one year in the life of spiritualist and pop cultural icon Deepak Chopra. The film, which is written, directed and produced by Deepak’s son, filmmaker and journalist Gotham Chopra, follows Deepak as he road-trips across the world to uncover who Deepak really is, and, ultimately, who any of us really are. NALA Films plans to take the film on the festival circuit and seek the most effective way to reach what they believe to be a large worldwide audience for the film, including the millions familiar with the work of Deepak Chopra and the larger audience beyond.
Gotham Chopra and Mark Rinehart serve as producers. Scott Carlin and NALA Films principals Emilio Diez Barroso and Darlene Caamano Loquet serve as executive producers, and Josh Sorkin co-produced.
“When entering into such an intimate endeavor with your family, you need a partner who brings the same sensitivity and sensibility,” said Gotham Chopra. “Working with Emilio, Scott, Darlene and the whole NALA team has been amongst the best and most rewarding experiences of my career – they give Hollywood a good name. I just hope my dad agrees when he sees the finished cut, or at least doesn't kill me.”
“NALA Films is proud to partner on this project with Gotham and Deepak Chopra,” said NALA Films CEO Emilio Diez Barroso. “Deepak is truly a pioneer in the connection between the mind and body, and has transformed the way the world views wellness. This film truly allows viewers to gain a deeper understanding of the man behind the philosophies.”
ABOUT NALA FILMS
NALA Films is a financing and production company that focuses on developing and producing commercial stories that empower and uplift audiences. The process at NALA begins at the inception of an idea, through the development of a screenplay and the financing and producing of the film, all the way to its distribution. NALA’s latest projects include the highly anticipated and groundbreaking Spanish-language comedy, Casa De Mi Padre/House of My Father, starring Will Ferrell, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna and Nick Offerman; and the critically acclaimed coming of age comedy Ceremony, about a young man that falls hard for an older woman starring Uma Thurman, Michael Angarano and Lee Pace directed by Max Winkler, which Magnolia Pictures recently released.
Other NALA films include Academy Award-nominated In the Valley of Elah which starred Academy Award-winners Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon, and was directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis; The Air I Breathe starring Andy Garcia, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker, Kevin Bacon and Julie Delpy and the Steve Carell romantic comedy Dan in Real Life.
ABOUT GOTHAM CHOPRA
Gotham Chopra is a multi-media voice in the worlds of entertainment, news, spirituality and pop-culture. Recently he published Walking Wisdom (Hyperion books) which is about all the love and licks that go along with being a dad, a dude, a dog-owner and son of Deepak. His latest book – in collaboration with Deepak –The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes - dropped in June 2011. He is also currently directing his first feature documentary film Decoding Deepak set to be released in 2012.
Gotham is also the co-founder of Liquid Comics (formerly Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation), a premiere entertainment company based in Los Angeles and Bangalore India. As part of the company, Gotham works with creators to develop graphic novels and is also responsible for packaging and producing the books as they evolve into games, films, and more. At present Gotham is collaborating with notable talents like John Woo, Guy Ritchie, Nic Cage, Hugh Jackman, John Moore, Ed Burns and more as well as media companies like Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal Studios, Sony, Freemantle, Reliance, UTV and others.
Gotham is the author of five books, including the graphic novels Bulletproof Monk for which he also served along with John Woo as Executive Producer on the feature film produced by MGM Studios (2003). Formerly an award winning journalist and documentary film-maker, Gotham reported from countless warzones and has interviewed a wide range of Global leaders – from President Bush to the Dalai Lama. He also served as researcher and lyrical advisor to Michael Jackson on the multi-platinum albums Dangerousand HIStory. More recently Gotham was integrally involved in the formation of Current TV, co-founded by former Vice-President Al Gore which launched in August of 2005. At present, he is leading the charge onThe Chopra Well in partnership with YouTube which will formally launch on July, 2012.
Gotham’s varied experience in journalism, publishing, and entertainment had him identified by Newsweek Magazine as one of the “most powerful and influential” South Asians worth watching. He blogs regularly atwww.intent.com which he co-founded and thinks is “pretty awesome” as well as www.huffingtonpost.com. Contrary to his “spiritual upbringing,” he lives and dies by his hometown Boston sports teams, which he thinks in pretty spiritual and is converting in a documentary series called The Religion of Sports. J
ABOUT DEEPAK CHOPRA, M.D. FACP
As a global leader and pioneer in the field of mind-body medicine, Chopra transforms the way the world views physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness. Known as a prolific author of over sixty-four books with nineteen New York Times best sellers in both the fiction and non-fiction categories, his books have been published in more than eighty-five languages. His latest New York Times bestsellers, War of the Worldviews, (co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow), has as been quoted by Larry King “as one of the more important books to read of the decade.” War of the Worldviews successfully attempts to elevate the conversation around science and religion in a way that is thoughtful and constructive rather than polarizing and divisive. His New York Times bestsellers, Peace Is the Way received the Religion and Spirituality Quill Award in 2005, and The Book of Secrets: Unlocking the Hidden Dimensions of Your Life was awarded the 2005 Nautilus Grand Prize. FINS – Wall Street Journal, mentioned his book, The Soul of Leadership, as one of five best business books to read for your career. The next upcoming book, Spiritual Solutions, will be released in April 2012.
He is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Washington Post On Faith and contributes regularly to Oprah.com, Intent.com, and The Huffington Post and, hosts his daily show on BlogTalk Radio called “Deepak Chopra Radio” which focuses on the areas – success, love, sexuality and relationships, well-being, and spirituality.
Deepak Chopra's popularity as an international presenter and keynote speaker is exemplified in an impressive list of honorariums. Chopra is the recipient of the 2010 GOI Peace Award, 2010, Starlite Humanitarian Award, 2010 Art for Life Honoree, 2009 Oceana Partners Award, 2006 Ellis Island Medal of Honor presented by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundation, and 2006 Trailblazer Award by the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, 2002 Einstein Humanitarian Award through Albert Einstein College of Medicine in collaboration with the American Journal of Psychotherapy. He participates annually as a lecturer at the Update in Internal Medicine event sponsored by Harvard Medical School, Department of Continuing Education and the Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center since 1997.
Chopra is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Adjunct Professor of Executive Programs at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Distinguished Scholar, Executive Program at Columbia University, and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization.
