Combining biting social commentary with a dash of commercial appeal, filmmaker and eco-activist Shalini Kantayya finished in the top 10 out of over 12,000 filmmakers in ON THE LOT, a Steven Spielberg television show in search of Hollywood's next great director. The mission of her production company, 7th Empire Media, is to create a culture of human rights and a sustainable planet through wildly imaginative media. Her award-winning film a DROP of LIFE, a futuristic sci-fi flick about the mounting global water crisis, has been used as an organizing tool in over 40 villages across Africa. A William D. Fulbright Scholar, she has received recognition from the Jerome Foundation, NY Women in Film & Television, and Media Action Network. Shalini is currently a Food and Policy Fellow at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and is developing a slate of feature films.