Saila Kariat, filmmaker, writer and entrepreneur pursued a career as an electrical engineer and builder while dreaming of filmmaking and writing. After obtaining her Ph.D. in electrical engineering, Saila worked as an engineer, manager, and marketeer at IBM and at a start-up. She also founded a residential construction company. She published many technical articles as a research staff member at IBM T.J. Watson Research center. As a filmmaker, she wrote, directed, and co-produced The Valley, the story of an Indian American entrepreneur seeking answers after the suicide of his daughter. The Valley was selected by over twenty film festivals and won best feature film in four, notably being invited to the Mumbai Film Festival. Her other feature screenplays include Gods and Demons, Love in the Time of Corona, Release, Gray and Jesus Land, an adaptation of the NYT bestselling novel of the same name.