Biography

Leela is the founder and Managing Director of production company FluroBlack. She worked as a lawyer for thirteen years, including five years as a partner in a commercial law firm in Auckland. In 2008, Leela decided to focus on her passion for film and is now using her skills and experience to work as a line producer and producer. She joined production company Flying Fish as a producer in 2010, making TV and online commercials, before expanding into long form content, line producing award-winning feature film Orphans & Kingdoms, in 2014.

She has line produced several documentary features with GFC Films including Wayne (2018), Born Racer (2018), We Need to Talk About A.I. (2020) and Billion Dollar Heist(2023), as well as being an associate producer on The Dead Lands, an 8x1hr action/adventure series for AMC - Shudder and TVNZ, which was nominated for "Best Drama Series" at the 2020 New Zealand TV awards. Leela produced 2021 feature documentaries Dawn Raid (director Oscar Kightley) and Mothers of the Revolution (director Briar March) with Matthew Metcalfe/GFC Films, both of which were nominated for best film in their respective categories at the 2022 Grierson Awards.

Through their company, FluroBlack, Leela and Fraser Brown have several film, series, documentary and factual TV projects in advanced stages of development and packaging. Stylebender, a feature documentary about UFC Champion Israel Adesanya, directed by Zoe McIntosh, is being released in 2023, with Ahi Films representing it in Australasia and Mister Smith and WME handling worldwide sales. Leela is also in production on the horror feature Grafted, director Sasha Rainbow, in collaboration with Murray Francis of Propaganda, alongside Fraser as executive producer.

Leela (Malaysian Indian/Pakeha) is also a founding member of the Pan Asian Screen Collective ('PASC') which supports emerging and experienced screen practitioners of pan-Asian heritage in New Zealand.
- IMDb mini biography by: Leela Menon