Param Gill is a film director and writer, known for directing films which tackle diverse themes from fish out of water comedies like Rockin' Meera [1] and dark thrillers like Hotel Hollywood.[2] Gill is also a dentist and founder of Gill Dental Group which treats more than ten thousand patients every month at their six locations in Northern California.[3] Gill was born at Moga, Punjab and his father is a farmer. Gill graduated from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2003 and received a diploma in film-making from New York film academy in 2005.
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Param made his directorial debut in 2009 with the English language comedy film Rockin' Meera' starring Terrence Quaites, Sonu Sood, Nauheed Cyrusi, Debra Wilson and Sayaji Shinde. The film took two years to complete and was shot on location at Bikaner, India and San Francisco, California. Although the film was well promoted and had a decent opening at the box office,[4] it failed commercially since it was released only on limited screens. Rockin' Meera collected a million dollars from just about 15 prints spread on 45 screens over a period of 3 months which was way short of its 1.5 million dollar budget. The film found critical acclaim in festival circuit and played at Independent Black film festival, South Asian film festival, Sweet Auburn film festival and many others. Times of India gave 3.5/5 stars to the movie soundtrack[5][5] which was composed by Will Storkson and Satish-Ajay. Param wrote the lyrics and sang the title song,"Kabaddi Rap". The soundtrack featured Sukhwinder Singh, Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Terrence Quaites and Tatyana Ali.
Param's next movie 'Hotel Hollywood',[6] is a dark thriller about a wedding party which checks into a hotel and is not found again. The film stars Param in lead role along with Mehr Hassan, Arsh Singh and Rahul Nath. Param firmly believes that good cinema is possible without spending big bucks and involvement of audience. This statement was put to test when the movie released on 23 July 2010. The film opened to a huge response in North American theaters and made headlines for "Crack the Code and Win $20000". The Internet was abuzz with more than half a million hits to the web site and tens of thousands of fans on Facebook. Hundreds of code entries were submitted even before the film was released to the North American market. Critics gave the following comments: “TERRIFYING ACTION AND SUSPENSE! I felt wary and fearful for 2 days after watching HOTEL HOLLYWOOD... Mac Ferguson (Critic). HOTEL HOLLYWOOD IS A MUST WATCH... Times of India.[7] [8]
Param is now working on, "A DENTAL AFFAIR" which is a comedy with international star cast and shot simultaneously in Hindi and English languages.
Param is founder of FlickBag Foundation of Arts which hosts Annual FlickBag Film and Music festival at Modesto, California. The foundation works on curbing piracy of Bollywood films in United States. The foundation also honors those involved in field of cinema with DECADE awards. DECADE stands for D- Determination, E - Excellence, C - Courage, A - Agression, D - Diligence, E - Exclusive.,[9][10]
Param wrote a book, "How to lose a million dollars and not loose your smile" based on his experiences with film industry. The book is set for release through Amazon.com in August 2010.
Param founded 'Gill Dental Group' at the heights of recession. He owned a dental practice in Stockton, California when recession hit in 2007 and Stockton was declared foreclosure capital of the country. Most of his patients lost their jobs and associated medical, dental benefits. Gill sensed an opportunity to make a profit and provide dental services for uninsured. Gill Dental plan was introduced in 2008 and was an instant success.[11]
| Film | Producer | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Shell Shocked Hope | Sada Entertainment | Summer 2006 |
| Rockin Meera | Sada Entertainment | Fall 2009 |
| Hotel Hollywood | Gurdeep Singh Productions | Summer 2010 |
| A Dental Affair | FlickBag Inc | Summer 2011 |
| Heavy Heavy 3D | FlickBag Inc | Summer 2011 |