Minhal Baig

Minhal Baig is an American director, producer, and writer from Chicago, Illinois. She has written and directed three films, 1 Night, Hala and We Grown Now, and written for the television shows Ramy and Bojack Horseman.

Early life Minhal Baig was born and raised in Roger's Park, Chicago to Pakistani-born parents with her brother and sister. She attended Northside College Prep high school. She spent her early years engrossing herself in cinema by seeing Bollywood films at her local movie theater.

After moving to Los Angeles, she struggled for a year and a half to find directing jobs as a woman of color. She joined a diversity program through Ryan Murphy's HALF foundation, where she received an endorsement for membership into the Directors Guild of America. It was filmed in the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago, near where Baig grew up. Some scenes were shot in Northside College Prep highschool.

Jada Pinkett Smith became an executive producer on Hala after watching the short film and becoming personally attached. The film was picked up by Smith's production studio Overbrook Entertainment. "I'm about walking the walk," Jada Pinkett Smith (executive producer) said to Variety Sundance studio presented by AT&T. "And that's one of the reasons why part of my work has been helping artists like Minhal [Baig] and flowing resources to artists like herself."

After premiering at Sundance Film Festival in 2019, Hala received an offer from Apple TV+ to release the film on their new streaming service. The film was Apple's first purchase at Sundance 2019.

She's also worked in television, writing for the first season of the Hulu television show Ramy, as well as the final season of BoJack Horseman. After being a writer on the first season of Ramy, Baig claims that every female writer on the show's staff was asked to not return for the second season.

For Bojack Horseman, Baig wrote Season 6, Episode 6, "The Kidney Stays in the Picture." Raphael Bob-Waksberg, creator of Bojack Horseman, asked Baig to come write for the show after seeing Hala and being impressed. The episode featured multiple jokes at the expense of Chicago, Baig's hometown.

In 2023, Baig directed, produced, and wrote, We Grown Now which had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023.

She's currently co-producing and writing Netflix's new series The Magic Order, based on the comic book series written by Mark Millar. In 2021, she signed an overall deal with Amazon.

Filmography

Films + Feature films Year Title Director Writer Distributor 2016 1 Night levelFILM 2019 Hala Apple TV 2023 We Grown Now Sony Pictures Classics

+ Short films Year TitleDirectorWriter 2016 Hala

Television Year Title Producer Writer Notes 2019 Ramy Season 1, episode 3: "A Black Spot on the Heart" Bojack Horseman Season 6, episode 6: "The Kidney Stays in the Picture" Criminal