Sharat Raju

Biography

Sharat Raju is an American director, writer, and filmmaker known for his work across television, independent film, and documentary projects. He was born on December 1, 1976, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Darien, Illinois. He studied English at the University of Michigan before earning an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute (AFI).

Raju began his filmmaking career with the award-winning short film American Made, which received 17 awards at nearly 40 international film festivals, including recognition from BAFTA. He also directed and co-produced the documentary Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath, which examined race-related violence against Sikh, Muslim, and South Asian American communities following September 11, 2001.

He subsequently established himself as a television director, working on acclaimed series such as The Walking Dead, Criminal Minds, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Designated Survivor, Fear the Walking Dead, Good Girls, The Good Doctor, 9-1-1: Lone Star, and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

Raju has also directed several episodes of Bosch: Legacy. For the second season, he directed the two-part premiere, which received a special one-day theatrical release in October 2023. He later directed additional episodes of the series, including the third-season episode “Bosching Bosch.”

With a career spanning independent filmmaking, documentaries, and television, Sharat Raju is recognized for his work on character-driven stories involving crime, justice, identity, race, and social issues.