R. PAUL DHILLON PROFILE

R. PAUL DHILLON 

Screenwriter-Director-Producer-Journalist

R. Paul Dhillon is an award-winning journalist, screenwriter, producer and director based in Vancouver, Canada. He holds a degree in Communications and in Film from Simon Fraser University.

Dhillon’s journalism background includes extensive writing, reporting and editing work with South Asian newspapers and magazines, including being the editor-founder of DESIBUZZCanada/DESIBUZZbc and co-founder and editor of Aaj Magazine as well as editor of South Asian LINK Newspaper and Indo-Canadian VOICE newspaper along with many others. He has also done freelance writing for mainstream publications like The Vancouver Sun and Georgia Straight newspaper, where he was a film critic, writing reviews of Hollywood, Bollywood and Punjabi films.

Dhillon's early work includes TEARS AND SIGHS on the abuses of alcohol in the South Asian community as well as a WATNO DUR,  a VARIETY television show for Rogers Multicultural Station; PLANET AAJ (1997/98), a South Asian variety show shown on Baton Broadcasting’s flagship Vancouver television station VTV (now BC-CTV Vancouver); The SAINT SOLDIER (1999/2000) - a one-hour documentary on B.C.’s Sikh community also for CTV; SLICES OF MY LIFE (1992/93), a slice of the immigrant experience, which was produced through a grant from B.C. Ministry of Tourism; SOUTH VAN STUD (1992), a play for Expressions ’92 Youth Festival; and AUTUMN LEAVES (1990/91), a short film which was selected at Montreal’s Student Film Festival.

He has written, produced and directed numerous documentaries for televisions as well as two feature films, including his debut SWEET AMERIKA, a story set around the time of 9/11 about a Sikh grocery store owner in New York who is kidnapped by four American Patriots who mistake him for a terrorist sympathizer.

Sweet Amerika, which he co-wrote, produced and directed for MMM Film Finance International, starred Bollywood veteran Gulshan Grover and was released theatrically on September 19, 2008.

Dhillon's popular music documentary THE BHANGRA GENERATION and Sweet Amerika were acquired by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for airing on their specialty channel BOLD!

Dhillon also produced 13-part music Documentary Series BHANGRALICIOUS, which he wrote and directed for national broadcast on Rogers OMNI Television.

He also produced for Rogers OMNI an 8 Hour-long Documentary series – REFLECTIONS – South Asian Stories. His documentary MOE SIHOTA: Feared & Desired was bought by CBC’s Documentary Channel.

He has also written numerous screenplays, including the thriller OF HEAVEN AND HELL and crime drama B TOWN BOYZ, both of which received script development funding from Telefilm Canada and Creative BC.

He wrote, produced and directed his latest feature THE FUSION GENERATION, which was released theatrically on August 30th, 2019.