Empowering the World's Documentarians

Shrai Popat

(He/Him/His)

Producer

Washington D.C., District of Columbia US

Open To Mentoring

Open To Virtual Coffee

About

Shrai is adept at executing long-form features, handling the fast pace of show deadlines, and wielding his editorial and production knowledge across broadcast platforms. At VICE, he worked extensively to unpack and investigate the American political system. His work has spanned the breadth of the country: from weeks spent on Capitol Hill for a profile piece on the first Gen-Z congressman Maxwell Frost, to filming in the foothills of Montana with a former firearms executive for an investigative documentary on mass shootings in the US. He honed his field producing chops at BBC News, where he produced radio packages from Winnipeg, filed segments from Alaska, and coordinated live coverage in Kentucky. He was a principal producer and editor on the BBC documentary “Justice Delayed,” which chronicled Dontae Sharpe’s fight for a pardon following his wrongful imprisonment of 26 years. His team spent six months forging a relationship with the Sharpe family in North Carolina to understand the nuances of his case and report an impactful story. Two months after the documentary aired, Dontae was granted a full pardon by the state’s governor. When field work hasn’t been possible, he's found ways to create compelling narratives, like with “My Name is Andi,” a documentary in which Texas teen Andi Bernabe granted the BBC access to the most formative moments of his life — from coming out as trans to starting college in a pandemic. His work won an Award of Excellence from The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, and was listed as one of the best digital documentaries of 2021 at the WHNPA Awards.