Tess Joseph Age, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tess Joseph

• Tess Joseph grew up in Kolkata.

• Tess actively participated in extracurricular activities, including debates, at the Loreto House, where she won many awards. She also developed a strong interest in literature, musicals, and movies during her time there.
  

  A childhood picture of Tess Joseph

• She played basketball at the district level and participated in several inter-school festivals in Kolkata. She once won the best performer award in the Eastern region.

• Tess was not good at studies until 5th grade. She was talkative and often found herself in trouble in class. She enjoyed exploring restricted areas at school and felt like she was living the adventures from her favourite books, The Famous Five and The Secret Seven.

• Tess joined a theatre group named The Action Players (TAP) as a live musician right after completing schooling. She learned American Sign Language (ASL) and mime from various members and played the keyboard. She then started performing on stage under the guidance of Astad Deboo, a dancer and choreographer.

• Tess initially wanted to be a doctor, but when her mother encouraged her to try a mass communication course at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, she took the chance. The course was meant to be a temporary option, but Tess found it to be her passion.

• From January 2003 to December 2003, Tess worked as a workshop designer and trainer for the ‘Rainbow Program’ at Loreto Day School Sealdah in Kolkata. She led weekly workshops for adolescent girls, focusing on empowerment through arts.

• Tess joined Derek O’Brien & Associates in Kolkata as the head of production and ideation in January 2000. She co-directed several projects including the ‘Bournvita Quiz Contest,’ ‘Pogo Amazing Kids Awards,’ and ‘Koteeswaran’ in Tamil and Malayalam. She worked there till January 2007.

• In January 2005, she was appointed as an advisory board member at Sanjog, an organisation that supports states and helps improve services for all genders and socio-economic groups. Tess served in this position till 2009.

• Tess began working as a casting director in Mumbai in January 2005. She leads a community called ‘Tess Joseph Casting,’ where she provides guidance and conducts workshops on skills such as acting.

 

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• In January 2006, Tess started working as a documentary filmmaker for a non-governmental organisation named Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT). In the same year, she directed ‘Hai Dupatta,’ a documentary focusing on gender politics in everyday clothing. She worked there till October 2006.
  

  A still from the documentary ‘Hai Dupatta’ (2006)

• She has worked as a casting director in India for several international films including ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ (2007, American), ‘The Waiting City’ (2009, Australian), ‘West Is West’ (2010, British), ‘Life of Pi’ (2012, American), ‘Lion’ (2016, Australian), and ‘Heart of Stone’ (2023, American).
  

  A poster of the film ‘Life of Pi’ (2012)

• She has also worked as an assistant director for films like ‘Little Zizou’ (2008, Indian), ‘Ghajini’ (2008, Indian), and ‘The Lovers’ (2013, Belgian).
  

  A poster of the film ‘The Lovers’ (2013)

• Tess worked as a documentary filmmaker for Balamitra Badis in Visakhapatnam from August 2011 to February 2012. She directed the documentary ‘Me, My World – An Adivasi Tale,’ which focused on preserving Adivasi culture and educational practices.

• Tess co-produced the documentary ‘Girl Rising’ (2013), which showcased the transformative impact of education on girls. She also worked as a casting director and assistant director for the film.
  

  A poster of the documentary ‘Girl Rising’ (2013)

• Tess has worked as a casting director for many short films including ‘Sahasi Chori’ (2013) (Nepali) and ‘Shooting an Elephant’ (2016) (Venezuelan-American). She has also worked as a casting director for short documentaries like ‘After My Garden Grows’ (2014).
  

  A poster of the short documentary ‘After My Garden Grows’ (2014)

• In 2013, she was chosen as one of the top 40 producers for the Puglia Experience by AFC Italy.

• Since October 2015, she has been serving as the director of curation for Spoken Fest at Kommune India, a platform that supports and nurtures creative performance art in Mumbai. She often engages in storytelling and oversees Spoken Fest, which features songs, poems, and spoken word performances in Hindi and Urdu.

 

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• Joseph worked with World Vision India and Girl Rising as a workshop designer and trainer from January 2016 till September 2016. She led two workshops each quarter, focusing on empowerment and identity-building for children. The workshops included activities like yoga and dance.

• In May 2016, Tess started working as a workshop designer and trainer at Dharavi Diary, a learning centre in Mumbai. She helped children build and share their personal stories to create change.

• In 2018, Tess accused actor and politician Mukesh Madhavan of inappropriate behaviour. She claimed that he kept calling her to his hotel room during an event she was organising. She mentioned that she was given a room next to his, which made her feel even more uncomfortable.

• In 2019, she organised ‘Mehfil,’ an event under Kommune India to celebrate spoken word performances in Hindi and Urdu languages, featuring various artists and poets.
  

  Tess Joseph’s Instagram post about ‘Mehfil’ (2019)

• In 2019, she directed ‘100 Poets. One Poem,’ a project under Kommune India that brought together poets from around the world to create a single collaborative work.
  

  Tess Joseph’s Facebook post about ‘100 Poets. One Poem’

• Tess loves animals and is passionate about helping street dogs. She has a pet cat named Poochappa. Tess once had a pet dog named Motsa, who passed away in 2021.
  

  Tess Joseph’s Facebook post about her pet dog, Motsa

• She has also worked as a casting director for television series like Apple TV+’s ‘Foundation’ (2021, American), ITV’s ‘The Good Karma Hospital’ (2022, British), Apple TV+’s ‘Shantaram’ (2022, American), and TVF’s ‘Very Parivarik’ (2024, Indian).
  

  A poster of the television series ‘Shantaram’ (2022)

• In 2022, Tess edited a book of Kommune’s best stories about family, which was published on Amazon Kindle India.

• Tess and her friends run a program called Childwise, which focuses on helping adults understand and learn from the natural wisdom and potential of children.

• Tess is an avid traveller and often shares her travel experiences on social media.