Aasif Mandvi, Daily Show correspondent and host of tomorrow night’s Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York, was recently named one of FILMMAKER Magazines 25 New Faces of Independent Film. No, silly, not because of his role as a dentist alongside Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town––actually, Mandvi is finishing up production on 7 to the Palace, a feature film in which he stars and co-wrote, loosely based on his own one-man show. Submitting to our Media Diet questioning after the jump, Mandvi gives shout-outs to Slumdog Millionaire and Grey’s Anatomy, and names the only living filmmaker who could possibly capture the Michael Jackson concert experience on film.

What films have you seen recently? Which ones stuck with you and why?

I just saw Slumdog Millionaire and I think Danny Boyle is a genius. It just got me excited about making movies and telling stories about India.

Aside from The Daily Show, what do you consider can’t-miss TV? Any guilty pleasures?

I’m a huge Family Guy fan and I have to say… my big guilty pleasure is Grey’s Anatomy. What can is say, I love my stories!!!

How often do you read fiction, and what have you read lately?

I’m a terribly undisciplined reader but I am reading Taher Shah’s The Sorcerers Apprentice which i am enjoying a great deal.

Is newsprint dead? Where do you get your news?

I think all print media is shifting to the internet and in the near future we may have a paperless society altogether, which would be great for the environment…but bad for paper boys all over the country.

What are your five take-to-a-desert-island bands? What music are you listening to lately?

Bruce Springsteen
The Beatles
The Brothers Gibb
Coldplay
Elton John

If you could collaborate with one filmmaker, who would it be and why?

I would love to work with Tom McCarthy.

What would be the ideal pairing of filmmaker and musician for a concert film?

Wes Anderson and Michael Jackson.

What was the last thing you saw on YouTube that blew your mind?

It was a game show, and it was from Japan…’nuff said.