"In Defense Of" is a Series
There's more to come. Don't let this be goodbye. We've got a long journey ahead of us. The "In Defense Of" (IDO) series is about ideas worth fighting for—things we've inherited that we must work to preserve for future generations. The form may alter, and the environment may evolve into an unrecognizably different ecosystem, but the fundamentals and universal truths can't be lost to the fuzzy conveniences of powers that be. The books are just a starting point. Companion coursework and a community experience will follow soon. Sign up for our newsletter to be informed and receive advanced materials along the way. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Tom Thudiyanplackal
Tom Thudiyanplackal (pronounced Thoo-dee-yen-PLA-kull, emphasis on the “Pla”) is a filmmaker, futurist, production technologist, and entrepreneur whose career spans three continents — from pioneering digital work at Ogilvy & Mather and creative supervision at Reliance during India’s mobile boom, through formal training in Direction and Cinematography at Prague Film School, to Vice President of Development at Vinod Chopra Films, where he contributed to acclaimed Indian cinema including 3 Idiots and Carry On Munna Bhai.
His work in the United States includes a Hollywood tentpole, an Oscar campaign, and an Emmy-nominated documentary. After completing Epic Games’ Unreal Engine Virtual Production Fellowship, he joined USC’s Entertainment Technology Center as Executive Producer on five short film productions, authored a nearly 200-page white paper on the virtual production of the short film Fathead, and has mentored PhD and MFA thesis productions at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He holds a “Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Mumbai.
He is the founder of The Storyteller’s Desk, a transmedia story-development think tank guided by the principle “Empowering Voices that Deepen Empathy.” In Defense of Cinema: An Initiation is his first book — the first volume of the In Defense series, with volumes on Selfhood and Humanity to follow.
He writes not as a critic but as a practitioner in adjacent fields who has watched the medium he loves progressively dismantled — and decided to defend it.