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Kyyba Films' recent release, titled 18 ½, chronicles the infamous story of the historic 18½-minute gap that was cut out of the records owing to some dark secrets in Richard Nixon’s Watergate tapes.
The film, which is narrated through the lens of a fictional White House transcriber, tells the story of the tapes, which recorded conversations between Nixon and his officials over some apparent confidential content.
Set against the historical backdrop of the Watergate scandal, 18 ½ features a star-studded cast that includes Willa Fitzgerald (Amazon's "Reacher") and John Magaro ("First Cow"). The film has been screened at over 20 festivals around the globe and boasts a certified rating of 77% from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
Tel K. Ganesan is the Executive Producer and distributor for the film.
Apart from 18 ½, Ganesan is also poised to bring on screen another real-life American hero tale, as he is currently working on a feature film based on the story of Cassidy Hutchinson.
A member of the Producers Guild of America, Ganesan is the founder of Kyyba Films, a company known for producing original features, documentaries and music videos. That apart, it also distributes feature-length movies, key among them being The Marksman, starring Academy Award-nominated actor Liam Neeson.
Sportskeeda had the honor of sitting down for a chat with Ganesan, where we asked him about his connections with the film industry, his role in 18 ½, his upcoming projects, and more.
Read on to find out what he said.
Exploring Ganesan's entry into the film industry with Kyyba
Rise as a distributor
In 2017, Tel K. Ganesan co-founded Kyyba films with G.B. Thimotheose. Given that it has a number of acclaimed releases to its credit, Kyyba has participated in popular film festivals around the world, including the Cannes Film Festival as well as the Melbourne Film Festival.
Tel K. Ganesan's achievements as a producer and filmmaker have earned him numerous accolades, key among them being the 2019 Filmmaker of the Year (Mahatma Gandhi Medallion of Excellence). That apart, he was also listed under Kyyba's Top 20 Global Icons
When asked what attracted him to film production and distribution, Ganesan recollected a memory from his childhood:
"Growing up in India, I always stood in a long cue to watch movies and those moments, I obviously used to wonder ‘How are those guys making movies?’ But I never took any action and I came to the U.S., got my Master’s, worked and became an entrepreneur."
Adding further to the story, he said:
"Then one day, somebody came by and brought the story in front of me and by accident I got into it [film production]. Then I realized those aspirations are already there and it took so long for this to manifest and then I jumped into it. That’s what brought me into film production and from there, I got into distribution."
When talking about Kyyba Films’ history and how long the production company has been around, the entrepreneur revealed:
"It’s been around since 2017 and that was when I did my first entrepreneurship. I spent about 12 years into my first venture and got bored doing the same thing, which is how we started Kyyba Films. We started with a feature film called ‘Devil’s Night: Dawn of the Nain Rouge.’"
Nain Rouge is a French term that means "Red Devil". Devil’s Night: Dawn of the Nain Rouge was based around folklore and the founding of Detroit.
"Scandals are not new to mankind": Ganesan on working for 18 ½
The conversation with Ganesan soon changed gears and steered into his involvement with the film 18 ½. When remarking about the project, he said:
"I know the director Dan Mirvish and he’s the founder of the Slamdance Film Festival. It [‘18 ½’] was a political thriller tracing back to Watergate. It kind of intrigued me. The movie is based on Richard Nixon and the last 18 ½ minutes of his infamous tape that we still do not know what was in there."
Offering an insight into the plot of the film, the producer then went on to say:
"An office stenographer working at the White House has the access to those tapes and she connects with a reporter and it goes through a series of missteps. It’s a comedy for a while and then it becomes really dark."
Ganesan also spoke eloquently about the message he wanted audiences to walk away with, emphasizing on the history of the Watergate scandal and why it continues to be relevant even today:
"History repeats itself and history will continue to repeat itself. This happened 50 years ago and the movie was released at the 50th anniversary of the Watergate scandal. Now we have another scandal right in front of us going with the insurrection scandal."
He further added:
There’s scandal all over. Scandals are not new to mankind. It will continue to happen. That’s really the biggest story of all."
What the future looks like
Towards the end of the interview, Tel K. Ganesan spoke of what he wanted to see out of Kyyba Films in the next ten years, and expressed his hopes of winning an Academy Award within that time frame.
He also revealed that he was working on another film called Trapsody, which is slated to release later on.
18 ½ released on May 27, 2022 and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
