EP #18: Thusy Suntharam – Montreal Filmmaker Pursuing Big Screen Dreams While Working A 9-to-5

Thusy Suntharam is a Montreal-based filmmaker and the founder of T-Factory Entertainment. He joins Ara to discuss his film “Love at First Swipe” (which has over 150,000+ YouTube views), creating stories for the Tamil Diaspora, balancing a full-time job while working on passion projects, the power of taking small but consistent steps, the impact of Rajinikanth on Tamil cinema, and much more.

Follow Thusy - https://www.instagram.com/thusyse/

Timestamps

00:54 - Introducing Thusy Suntharam
02:05 - How social media connected Thusy & Ara
04:55 - Music videos launched Thusy's directorial experience
06:56 - The inception of T-Factory Entertainment
08:09 - Balancing a full-time job with his passion of filmmaking
10:34 - The power of consistency and taking small steps
12:49 - Why showing up is the victory
14:24 - The importance of having a team
16:58 - How "Love At First Sight" came to be
19:35 - The Montreal Tamil community’s support for Thusy’s first in-theatre premiere
22:30 - Normalizing conversations about previously taboo subjects through film
25:05 - Why Thusy spent money and paid vacation to work on a film project
27:08 - The power of investing in yourself
28:35 - Learning is free if you just put in the effort
31:25 - Responsibilities of immigrant children
33:21 - Impact of COVID on Thusy from a creative perspective
36:36 - Failure that Thusy learned from
40:06 - Thusy's future plans
42:31 - Wanting to tell the stories of the Tamil disapora
44:45 - Better human means better storyteller
46:46 - The impact of Rajinikanth
50:41 - Work on delaying gratification
52:22 - Would you Rather?
55:40 - The Wrap Up