Screenplay Writing
Mr.Sidharth Sinha
Graduated from the FTII as a Direction student. His final Diploma Film “Udedhbun” won the Silver Bear award in the Short Film Category at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin in 2008, a prestige that has in the past been conferred on Indian Luminaries like V.Shantaram, Satayajit Ray, Mrinal Sen . The Film just won the Award for the best short film in the National Awards 2009.It gained a lot more recognition in festivals in both Indian and abroad.He was invited as a jury member to various international film festivals.
He is also appointed as a member in selection committee for Mumbai Film Festival(MAMI) 2009.Currently he is planning to direct his first feature film.
Mr.Parakh Chauhan
Mr. Parakh Chauhan is a Post Graduate in Feature Film Screenplay Writing from FTII, Pune. His play ‘An Oblate’s Redemption’ has bagged him the ‘Sir Ratan Tata Foundation’ Award in 2006. He is a professional Screenplay writer for Feature Films, Documentaries, & Corporate Films. He was also offered the Inlakhs Scholarship for Screenplay writing in 2009.
Mr.Arno Krimmer
Arno Krimmer, ia an Austrian Producer / Director / Writer . He is the Associate Producer of the US/UK/Italian motion picture THE ITALIAN KEY which features several Oscar-nominated US & European artists. He has directed & written several documentaries for European TV channels and has written several feature film screenplays.
Film & Television Direction
Mr.Ramesh Gupta
Mr. Ramesh Gupta is a graduate from the Film and Television institute of India, Pune. He directed films like Tyag Patra, Mangal Dada and Hundreds of episodes of serials like Parampara, Junoon, Karz, Kartavya, Alag-Alag, Kahin Der Na Ho Jaye, Raj Kahani, katha Sagar and Kitty Party.
Mr.Sidharth Sinha
Graduated from the FTII as a Direction student. His final Diploma Film “Udedhbun” won the Silver Bear award in the Short Film Category at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin in 2008, a prestige that has in the past been conferred on Indian Luminaries like V.Shantaram, Satayajit Ray, Mrinal Sen . The Film just won the Award for the best short film in the National Awards 2009.It gained a lot more recognition in festivals in both Indian and abroad.He was invited as a jury member to various international film festivals.
He is also appointed as a member in selection committee for Mumbai Film Festival(MAMI) 2009.Currently he is planning to direct his first feature film.
Mr.Ranjan Das
Mr. Ranjan Das has done his Diploma in Film Editing from FTII, Pune.After passing of FTII he has been involved as a Director, Writer, Editor and Consultant in Cinema, Television, corporate and Ad Films in Mumbai, Kolkata and Jakarta, Indonesia. He has written various Screenplays and stories for Hindi serials like Rihayee (Sony), Crime Petrol (Sony), Sidhhant (Star One) and a couple of episodes of Karamchand (Sony). He has Edited more than 200 documentary films for National and local Doordarshan Kendras. He has also been amongst the panel of scriptwriters of BLACK MAGIC MOTION PICTURES. He has taught as a Guest lecturer at Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata. Currently he is working on Feature Film projects.
Mr.Karan Bali
Karan Bali is a graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, with specialization in Film Direction and has been working in Mumbai since 1993. He has directed various corporate films and documentaries that have been aired on Indian Television besides being the Chief Assistant Director for two feature films – Everybody Says I’m Fine (2001) and Matrubhoomi (2003). He has also directed the short film Tasty Titbits (1999), screened at various festivals aborad and is the Co-Founder and Content-in-Charge of www.upperstall.com, a serious and analytical portal on cinema of the sub-continent..
Cinematography
Mr.Satish Bhatia
Mr Satish Bhatia graduated from FTII Pune in the year 1967 and started working as a head of the Film and Video Camera department of Doordarshan Mumbai and Delhi.
Mr Bhatia has worked as a cinematographer with reputed directors such as Hrishekesh Mukherjee, Raman Kumar, Simi Garewal, Kundan Shah etc and also has worked on News Sports and Current affairs programmes for various international television networks like Transtel(Germany), Rosselini and Associati (Rome), Sports Satellite Broadcasting( U.K.)
He has also directed and photographed more than 100 documentaries and corporate films like Raj Kapoor, India's Rajiv, World Heritage Series "Taj Mahal".
Mr.Rafey Mahmood
After completing his BA in Economics, Modern History & Political Sciences MA in Mass Communication,Mr. Rafey Mahmood went on to do a Post Graduate Diploma in Cinematography from the Film & Television Institute of India, Pune.
Having worked in the media industry for many years he has been the Director of Photography (DOP) for feature films like ‘Mithya’, ‘Mixed Doubles’, ‘Raghu Romeo’, ‘Katha Don Ganpatraoanchi’, ‘Journey to Mecca’ (an upcoming IMAX film produced byCosmic Pictures) and many more. He has also done the cinematography for acclaimed short films like ‘Tarana’, a 35mm Non Fiction Film on Indian Classical Music, which won the Golden Lotus Award for the Best Non- Fiction Film at the National Film Awards, and many more. He has shot around 400 Commercials for Advertising Agencies, like JW Thompson, Grey Worldwide, Mc Caan Erikson, O&M, Leo Burnett, Mudra.
He has won the Radio & Press Advertising award (RAPA) in the year 2007 for ‘Best Cinematography’ in an Ad Film for Bose Audio Systems.
Mr.Tanmay Agarwal
Mr. Tanmay Agarwal has done his specialization in Motion Picture Photography from FTII, Pune. He has worked as a Cinematographer for
serials like “Talaash” and “Ankahee”.
He has also handled operativecamerawork on “Rendezvous with Simi Garewal”, an acclained talk show for Star TV. He has won several national and international awards for his short film “Aftershocks”. He also won the National Award in the short fiction category for his film “Still life”. His documentary “Zindagi Andhere Ke Saye Mein” bagged him an Indian Red Cross entry at International Symposium on AIDS, Toronto..
Mr.Anirban Lahiri
Born and brought up in Kolkata, Anirban Lahiri grew up with the silver screen magic of Chaplin, Walt Disney and Ray. Later, as part of the Undergraduate programme at Jadavpur University, he got the first inkling of how to read a film as a cultural text. While doing Masters in Comparative Literature, the passion for film-viewing led him to learning the major European languages so that he would be able to watch the films without subtitles. The same passion goaded him to join a second Masters degree course in Film Studies and to take basic training in photography and animation.
After a few stints in local channels as Producer, Lahiri joined L V Prasad Film & TV Academy, Chennai at his future mentor Sunny Joseph’s behest. While studying there he assisted Mr Joseph in a couple of films, as well as assisted the other noted teacher Mr Balu Mahendra in some of his independent works.
After passing out, Lahiri worked on several documentaries and corporates for some time. While working in a film with Mr Indraneel Mukhopadhyay, one of the topnotch Bengali DOPs in Kolkata, he chose to join Digital Academy for an experience in film-teaching.
Lahiri is also a regular film-critic, writing mostly for the web-portal DearCinema, of which he is an Associate Editor. He is a trained vocalist with specialization in Tappa. Besides cinema, music and books, the other three activities he delves deep into are travel, martial arts and Science writing.
Film & Television Editing
Mr.Sankalp Meshram
Mr. Sankalp Meshram, after doing his Post Graduate Diploma in Editing from the FTII Pune, has been working as a Editor and Film Maker. He edited the Feature Film “Katha Don Ganpat Roanchi” in 1997 (Marathi) which won the state award for the best Film apart from being shown at various International Film Festivals and the National Award for Best Editing in the year 2001 for the Film Lokapriya. He also wrote and directed “Chhutkan Ki Mahabharat” which got him the National Award in the year 2005.
Mr.Rahul Srivastava
Mr. Rahul Srivastava joined the Digital Academy, Mumbai as a faculty in January 2009. At Digital Academy he teaches Film Editing Theory and Practices.
An edting alumnus of Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Rahul Srivastava has edited several feature films and TV series. He has also been editing and directing Corporate and Ad films. Apart from film making, he is also a professional writer and has written a number of short stories and news articles. It’s a sheer pleasure to read his Hindi stories published in renowned literary magazines which reflect his modest upbringing in the city of sangam, Allahabad. The reputed Allahabad University hosts his guest lectures for its post graduate students in mass communication and journalism.
Mr.Yogesh Sharma
Yogesh Sharma graduated from Mumbai University in commerce followed by a post graduation in Event Management. He joined the Film Industry in the year 1991 first as an assistant director and then moved on to working as an editor. He has edited hundreds of television serials, ad-films, music albums, documentaries and dozens of feature films including a couple of international projects in last fifteen years. He is now a faculty in Digital Academy.
Sound Recording & Engineering
Mr.Daman Sood
His work on the public awareness commercial 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' won him a Technical Excellence Award from RAPA. He was also the first in India to use automation in music recordings in 1993.
Mr.Mujeeb Dadarkar
Mujeeb Dadarkar is an Electronic Engineer and is also an alumni of Full Sail, U.S.A.
He has been a recording engineer and technical consultant to the Audio / Video industry since more than 25 years. He has also designed and custom built various electronic equipment for specific application in the field.
He has been a sound recording engineer for various feature films, documentary films, Ad-films as well as for music videos and live events such as concerts of Ustad Zakir Hussain and Troupe.
He has been a consultant to various studios such as Radio Mid-Day in Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore, Purple Haze, Via Media Studios, Shanmukhananda Auditorium, Nehru Centre, Symbiosis-Pune, Studio 16+, La Musique and Music Room, the studio of Soundesigners, to name a few.
Mr.Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar
Mr. Jayakrishnan Nalinkumar is a graduate in Bachelor of Digital Media (Audio Major) from SAE Institute, Byron Bay, Australia. He has engineered for many bands in Australia and has worked behind most of today’s legendary mixing consoles and audio gear that are being widely used all over the world.
After completing the graduation, Jayakrishnan has been working in the music and post-production industry in South India. He has done the ADR and song recording for many blockbuster films and has been the recording engineer for most of the reputed music directors in Kerala.
Apart from sound engineering, Jayakrishnan is also a music composer and keyboard programmer and has composed music for many jingles and commercials. He has also worked as a freelance keyboard programmer for several film music directors in Kerala.
Mr.Abhishek Ghatak
Raised in Mumbai, Abhishek Ghatak has completed his first year degree in Bachelor of Audio Production from SAE, Byron Bay, and NSW, Australia. He has assisted and engineered upcoming Australian blues and funk bands and has also worked as a freelancing mixing engineer for metal/rock and jazz bands. He has experience working in consoles like the SSL 4000G, TLA VTC valve consoles, Yamaha O2R and many others.
He is specialized in various advanced miking techniques, especially on drums, as he is a drummer himself for the past 5 years. A music enthusiast and loves all kinds of music including funk, jazz, rock, electronic and many others.
Mr. Vijay Benegal
Vijay Benegal has been working as an independent Sound Engineer on diverse sound recording and mixing projects including commercial recording for radio as well as television, music albums for various local artists such as Indus Creed, Alms For Shanti, Shankar Mahadevan, Anand Raj Anand etc. Recording and mixing projects have included Hindi film album and background score recordings for films such as ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, ‘Lakshya’ and ‘Don’ by Farhan Akhtar, ‘Kaante’ by Sanjay Gupta, ‘Luck By Chance’ by Zoya Akhtar, ‘Wake Up Sid’ by Ayan Mukherjee and many more. He has received the IIFA Award for “Best Song Recording” for the album of “Dil Chahta Hai” in 2002.
He has worked with many leading Indian and International composers like Ustad Zakir Hussein, composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar, Ram Sampat and many others.
He has also had extensive experience as FOH (front of house) engineer as well as Monitor engineer, in live concerts for artistes like Indus Creed, Ustad Zakir Hussein, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Ranjit Barot and many others.
With an educational background in science (B.Sc. Physics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai)) and a degree in Business Management (MBM from Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines) he has had varied experience spanning the fields of Software Engineering, Marketing, Sales and Finance prior to becoming a Sound Recording Engineer.
Most recently he has partnered with a colleague to provide consultancy for acoustical design and installation of recording studios, auditoria etc.
Film & T.V. Production Design
Producers Course
Anjali Punjabi
Anjali Punjabi has worked as the Line Producer for films like ‘Voices in the sky’ by Farhan Akhtar, ‘Little Zizou’ by Sooni Taraporevala and as Assistant Director for films like ‘Kamasutra’& ‘Monsoon Wedding’ by Mira Nair.She won the Best Director Award at the 50th National Film Awards 2003, in the non-feature section for the film ‘A few things I know about her’.
‘Miranagari’, her film on storytelling and the role of the artist in society woven around multiple narratives of the poet- Saint Mirabai. Funded by IFA (India Foundation for the Arts), won the Best Documentary, in the Mumbai International Film Festival, 2002 and the Special Jury Award at the Kara Film Festival, Karachi 2003.
Payal Mathur
Ms. Payal Mathur is a Director, Producer and Writer who was part of the core team set up to handle Sony’s Film Production business in India. She has handled the production of the Hindi Feature Film ‘Pyar Kiya Nahin Jata’ directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, which was shot in India and UK. She developed feature scripts with directors like Aparna Sen, Shashilal Nair, Praveen Nischol, etc. She was the Creative Director of shows like ‘Jalwa 4 2 ka 1’ and ‘Dhamaal Express’ on the 9x channel, to name a few.
She has Directed a Documentary on Domestic Violence funded by Satori Productions – L.A, the PGTI Tour – Weekly golf show on CNBC TV18, the National Bowling Championship on Ten Sports, promos and contest campaigns for Mc Donald’s, Tata Sky, Idea, Discovery, Moserbaer and various Corporate Films. She was the Producer of the Sunburn Festival in Goa and the launch event of ‘myspace.com’. She is the writer of the short films – ‘The perfect Date’, ‘Happiness is a bubble’ and ‘Kashmakash’. She has worked with the Events Team on the live broadcast of shows like the Filmfare Awards, Femina Miss India, Lata – Live in Concert, Michael Jackson Concert etc.
She is the alumnus of Loyola School, Jamshedpur, Sydenham College, Mumbai and the Somaiya Institute of Management, Mumbai.
Mr. Suhail Abbasi
Mr. Suhail Abbasi is a creative professional with extensive experience in Print, Television and Films. He has worked with Sony Entertainment Television as the Asst. Vice President - Programming and Head of the Creative Development Department for many years. He has been responsible for creating and developing many fiction and non-fiction shows like ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’, ‘Big Boss’, ‘Baabul Ka Aangann Chhootey Na’ as well as film and cricket based shows like - ‘Current Bollywood’, ‘Kahani Poori Filmi Hai’, ‘Cricket Masala’, ‘Jung World Cup Ki’, ‘Kapil Dil Se’ and many more.
He has done far-reaching work on the Marketing strategies and the look of channels like SET PICTURES & MAX. He designed the promotion and marketing campaign for the international release of the Oscar nominated film ‘LAGAAN’ and the film ‘MISSION KASHMIR’ as well as managing their participation in Toronto, Locarno & Cannes International Film Festival. He has been the Chief Assistant Director in films like ‘Hiro Hiralal’ by Ketan Mehta, ‘Agneepath’ by Mukul Anand as well as in many Television programs.
He is an alumnus of the J.J Institute of Applied Arts, the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) of the IIT and the Film & Television Institute (FTII, Pune).
Mr. Pinaki Chatterjee
Pinaki Chatterjee academically graduated with a degree in business but also holds a Masters in Comparative Literature followed by a 3-year postgraduate diploma in Film & TV editing and postproduction from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
After graduating from FTII,he undertook a specialized program in International Film Coproducing and production management from the International Film School in Cologne. He was part of the 2006 Berlin Film Festival Talent Campus and talent project pitch sessions at the European Film Market. The same year, he also participated in the Producers Network of Marche du Film in Cannes and went again in 2007.
He was one of the founding partners of PALADOR PICTURES Mumbai - where he helped set up the first major film acquisitions company purchasing foreign, independent and adventurous cinema titles for India.
He has worked in various production positions on projects such as Mira Nair's 'THE NAMESAKE' and as an Executive Producer on films like Anubhav Sinha's 'CASH', Macbool Khan's 'KABOOTAR', Jahnu Barua's 'BUTTERFLY CHASE', Pankaj Advani's 'SANKAT CITY'. and associated produced Rajesh Shera’s 'OCEAN OF AN OLD MAN'.
Pinaki also executive produced 'A PRAYER FOR RAIN' starring Martin Sheen, Mischa Barton, Kal Penn,Rajpal Yadav,Tannishtha Chatterjee and others.On Ashim Ahluwalia’s 'MISS LOVELY' he is engaged as a Supervising Producer.Currently he is working as the film business head of Bornfree Cineparadise Pvt.Ltd for their forthcoming feature film 'SURMAYEE SHAAM' directed by Brahmanand Singh starring Nassiruddin Shah,Anurag Kashyap and Mahie GIll.
Mr. Arno Krimmer
Arno Krimmer, ia an Austrian Producer / Director / Writer . He is the Associate Producer of the US/UK/Italian motion picture THE ITALIAN KEY which features several Oscar-nominated US & European artists. He has directed & written several documentaries for European TV channels and has written several feature film screenplays.
Mr. Vinod Subramanian
Vinod Subramanian, known as 'vin' to his friends and peers all over the world, spent six years studying sound and cinema at FTII in two courses.
He recorded location sound for his first film in 1995, directed his first film "Fire" in 1998 and now works relentlessly towards spreading awareness about sound in the film industry - as a professional and as a teacher. He considers himself a student forever, incessantly upgrading his knowledge of technology as well as the aesthetics of cinema and music.
He is a film maker-at-large and has been studying the guitar for more than twenty years. Vin has been the sound recordist for Films like Katha Don Ganpatraonchi (1995) Ab Tak Chappan (2003), The Memsahib (2004), The Legend of King Tut (2004), The Partition (2005), Lezioni di Volo (Italian, 2006), The Darjeeling Limited (2006), La Mia India (Italian, 2007) Rock On! (2007) Delhi Belly (2008) and more...
Film Making
Mr.Sankalp Meshram
Mr.Sidharth Sinha
Sidharth Sinha graduated from the FTII as a Direction student. His final Diploma Film “Udedhbun” won the Silver Bear award in the Short Film Category at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin in 2008, a prestige that has in the past been conferred on Indian Luminaries like V.Shantaram, Satayajit Ray, Mrinal Sen . The Film just won the Award for the best short film in the National Awards 2009.It gained a lot more recognition in festivals in both Indian and abroad.He was invited as a jury member to various international film festivals.
He is also appointed as a member in selection committee for Mumbai Film Festival(MAMI) 2009.Currently he is planning to direct his first feature film
Mr.Rafey Mahmood
Having worked in the media industry for many years he has been the Director of Photography (DOP) for feature films like ‘Mithya’, ‘Mixed Doubles’, ‘Raghu Romeo’, ‘Katha Don Ganpatraoanchi’, ‘Journey to Mecca’ (an upcoming IMAX film produced byCosmic Pictures) and many more. He has also done the cinematography for acclaimed short films like ‘Tarana’, a 35mm Non Fiction Film on Indian Classical Music, which won the Golden Lotus Award for the Best Non- Fiction Film at the National Film Awards, and many more. He has shot around 400 Commercials for Advertising Agencies, like JW Thompson, Grey Worldwide, Mc Caan Erikson, O&M, Leo Burnett, Mudra.
He has won the Radio & Press Advertising award (RAPA) in the year 2007 for ‘Best Cinematography’ in an Ad Film for Bose Audio Systems.
Mr.Satish Bhatia
Mr Satish Bhatia graduated from FTII Pune in the year 1967 and started working as a head of the Film and Video Camera department of Doordarshan Mumbai and Delhi.
Mr Bhatia has worked as a cinematographer with reputed directors such as Hrishekesh Mukherjee, Raman Kumar, Simi Garewal, Kundan Shah etc and also has worked on News Sports and Current affairs programmes for various international television networks like Transtel(Germany), Rosselini and Associati (Rome), Sports Satellite Broadcasting( U.K.)
He has also directed and photographed more than 100 documentaries and corporate films like Raj Kapoor, India's Rajiv, World Heritage Series "Taj Mahal".
Mr. Vinod Subramanian
Vinod Subramanian, known as 'vin' to his friends and peers all over the world, spent six years studying sound and cinema at FTII in two courses.
He recorded location sound for his first film in 1995, directed his first film "Fire" in 1998 and now works relentlessly towards spreading awareness about sound in the film industry - as a professional and as a teacher. He considers himself a student forever, incessantly upgrading his knowledge of technology as well as the aesthetics of cinema and music.
He is a film maker-at-large and has been studying the guitar for more than twenty years. Vin has been the sound recordist for Films like Katha Don Ganpatraonchi (1995) Ab Tak Chappan (2003), The Memsahib (2004), The Legend of King Tut (2004), The Partition (2005), Lezioni di Volo (Italian, 2006), The Darjeeling Limited (2006), La Mia India (Italian, 2007) Rock On! (2007) Delhi Belly (2008) and more...
Mr.Arno Krimmer
Arno Krimmer, ia an Austrian Producer / Director / Writer . He is the Associate Producer of the US/UK/Italian motion picture THE ITALIAN KEY which features several Oscar-nominated US & European artists. He has directed & written several documentaries for European TV channels and has written several feature film screenplays.
Acting
Mr.Ashok Purang
Mr. Ashok Purang has been doing theatre since 1980 and was part of the Theatre Action Group, where he learnt the basics of theatre from Mr. Barry John. His French teachers Mr. K. Madvane and Monsieur Philippe Lenglet at the Alliance Francaise de Delhi initiated him into theatre.
He is the Founder, Director of the Theatre groups ‘Pierrot’s Troupe’ and ‘Showbiz Action Players’. He has directed over two dozen plays, prominent among them are ‘Letter To A Child Never Born’ (Oriana Fallaci), ‘Tum Ko Chahoon, Ki Na Aao’, ‘Einstein’, ‘Mirror Mirror On The Wall’, ‘Bade Bhai Saheb’, ‘A Christmas Carol’ (Charles Dickens) and many more. He has written a few feature films for children. He has worked with a few Production houses and is the Jury member of a few Film Festivals.
Animation & FX
Mr. Murtuza Zakir
Mr. Murtuza Zakir is an accomplished 3D animator and VFX director. He has done the Special Effects for films like ‘Jaal’, ‘Baaz’, ‘Chandrakanta’, ‘Gharwali Uparwali’, ‘Chalte Chalte’ and more. He has also worked on 3D Logo’s For Films like ‘Dil Vil Pyar Vyar’, ‘Shaheed’, ‘Na Tum Jano Na Hum’, ‘Tujhe Meri Kasam’, ‘Yaadein’, ‘Aankhen’ and worked on commercials for Emirates, Oxyrich, Neutrogena, Clean-N-Clear, Akira, Aquafresh, Signal, Sony MicroVault etc.
He has worked in places like Frameworks- The Animation Workshop, Knowledge Village with Maya Academy and Dubai Media city with Rajtaru Videosonic. He has extensive knowledge of 3D softwares like Max, Maya, Motion Builder, Poser; Editing softwares like Final Cut Pro, Avid, Adobe Premier and Graphic Designing Softwares like Photoshop, CorelDraw & Indesign. He has trained more then 2000 students on the above-mentioned subjects.
