Sharad Devarajan

Biography

Sharad Devarajan is a creator, producer and media entrepreneur. His latest company, Graphic India, is the culmination of his lifelong dream to launch superheroes and stories that tap into the unique creativity and culture of India but appeal to audiences worldwide. In the same way the West has created superheroes or Japan launched anime, Graphic India is transforming the perception of India in character entertainment from being an ‘outsourcer” to being ‘the source.’ Devarajan co-founded Graphic India with leading media investors, The Chernin Group.

In addition to Graphic India, he is also the Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Liquid Comics, a digital entertainment company that uses the medium of graphic novel storytelling to develop original content for various digital platforms, publishing, theatrical live-action films, animation and games. He is a producer on a number of theatrical live-action film and television projects in development including the film adaptation of The Leaves with Summit Entertainment; Ramayan 3392AD with Mandalay Entertainment; and Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens, with filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld.

Devarajan was previously the Co-Founder, CEO & Publisher of Virgin Comics LLC and Virgin Animation Pvt. Ltd, a set of companies he co-founded, with Sir Richard Branson, authors Deepak Chopra, Gotham Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

Prior to Liquid, Mr. Devarajan was Co-Founder & CEO of Gotham Entertainment Group, which was a leading South Asian youth magazine publisher that launched the Indian publishing activities for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Cartoon Network. In 2004, Mr. Devarajan worked with Marvel as the creator of a new reinvention of Spider-Man as an Indian boy growing up in Mumbai, transforming “Peter Parker” into “Pavitr Prabhakar”. Unlike traditional translations of western characters into foreign markets, the new series, “Spider-Man: India” was heralded as one of the industry’s first “trans-creations.”

For his activities, Mr. Devarajan was featured as CNNfn’s ‘Maverick in The Morning’ and covered in numerous media including The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg and NPR’s Fresh Air.

He holds a BFA from Syracuse University and an MBA from Columbia University, where he is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School teaching the class, Media Marketing and Entrepreneurship.

Teaching

Spring 2018

Media Marketing and Entrepreneurship (MBA)

Fall 2017

Virtual Reality & The Future of Storytelling: How Disruptive Technologies will Transform Media (MBA)

Spring 2017

Media Marketing and Entrepreneurship (MBA)
Just Capitalism & Cause Driven Marketing (MBA)

Fall 2016

Virtual Reality & The Future of Storytelling: How Disruptive Technologies will Transform Media (MBA)

Spring 2016

Media Marketing and Entrepreneurship (MBA)
Just Capitalism & Cause Driven Marketing (MBA)

Spring 2015

Media Marketing and Entrepreneurship (MBA)
Just Capitalism & Cause Driven Marketing (MBA)

Spring 2014

Just Capitalism & Cause Driven Marketing (MBA)
Media Marketing and Entrepreneurship (MBA)

Spring 2013

Just Capitalism & Cause Driven Marketing (MBA)

Fall 2012

Media Marketing and Entrepreneurship (MBA)

Spring 2012

Just Capitalism & Cause Driven Marketing (MBA)