Draft:Coffee Shop Names

Coffee Shop Names is an American short film directed by Deepak Sethi and released in 2020. The film stars Danny Pudi, Karan Soni and Kausar Mohammed. who play three co-workers who imagine what the personas behind the fake names they use at coffee shops because their real names are hard for the baristas to pronounce. The film was nominated for a Tribeca X Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021.

Plot
At a local coffee shop, three tech workers stand in line waiting for their names to be called. Sathya, who uses the alias Scott, retrieves his order as Deepak, alias Derek, questions why the trio uses their coffee shop nicknames instead of their real names. Sathya has an imagined persona as Scott, where he sees himself as a heroic but hungover firefighter. Rakhi imagines her alias Rachel as a fun and loyal independent bookshop owner. Deepak suggests they use their real names next time but can't fully imagine his own alias, Derek, as a likable pilot before their time is cut short.

Cast

 * Danny Pudi as Deepak/Derek
 * Karan Soni as Sathya/Scott
 * Kausar Mohammed as Rakhi/Rachel
 * Anders Holm as Trent
 * Bob Stephenson as Fire Chief
 * Jason Gray Stanford as Takeout Clerk

Release
The film was acquired by HBO Max in 2021.