Vineesha Arora-Sarin

Vineesha Arora Sarin is an award-winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Through her 20-year film career, Vineesha has been working in the Indian entertainment industry since 2000, starting with her acting debut in the film Supari (2003), distributed by Yashraj Films. After dabbling in theatre and film, she went on to start her production company, NY Studios, with husband and collaborator Amit Sarin in 2009, under which she conceived and executed several path-breaking projects, panning ads, international events and short films.With her upbringing in New York, she had the vision to create a mixed talent pool to collaborate and help bridge the gap between the two of the biggest entertainment industries in the world – that of Hollywood and Bollywood. Vineesha is producing several A-grade Hollywood projects, such as Tiger Heart, an anti poaching feature film on tigers, to be directed by Dwight Little, and her passion project, a mafia crime drama web series, End of Karma, among others, that focus on a strong, unique story line.Against all odds, Vineesha shot, wrote, produced and directed her debut feature film on a smartphone, Between Mountains (2021), during the pandemic. What began as a spontaneous creation, is now a fully-realized film that is making history to be the first of its kind made by a female director! The film has been acquired by Greta Joanne Entertainment & has been winning awards & hearts alike. A grand premiere was held for the same at the Chaplin Theater at Raleigh Studios, Hollywood, in August 2021, attended by the media and Hollywood dignitaries alike.Vineesha began experimenting with her iPhone in Dec 2019 and started a new company, Lady With a Hat Productions. She produced, wrote, shot & directed several films under the banner since January 2020. The first short film shot in this format, Come Back to Me (2020), won her many awards & accolades in the festival circuit. She made her second short soon after, By God There’ll be Dancing (2020), also shot on an iPhone, which also went on to win awards. Encouraged by the response, she continued dabbling with her iPhone and that led her to her debut feature, Between Mountains, by pure happenstance. With no crew, no script, no fancy equipment, nothing but her actor husband and her iPhone, she took to making an entire film on her gut.Unknowingly, Vineesha began carving a niche for herself in Hollywood’s indie world, and found much support for her cellphone films by the AFI film festival that takes place annually during Cannes Film Festival, which are the first of it’s kind to start cellphone awards in honor of professor Karl Bardosh, founder of cellphone films. The group was the first to award her works for films specifically shot on a smartphone. Believed to be the new game-changer in indie filmmaking, cellphones have come a long way in technology. Vineesha is set on a thrilling journey to further deepen her belief that anyone can tell their story, so long as they have a compelling one and a phone in their pocket. Flabbergasted by her debut film’s reception in which audiences were blown away by the cinematography, Vineesha is again set to direct her second feature, Deathbed, on the iPhone as well.Apart from filmmaking, Vineesha is very passionate about social causes she often brings to light through her stories, such as child abuse, women empowerment, mental health and suicide prevention. A humanist and seeker of all things spiritual, Vineesha brings this depth and understanding to her soulful stories and hopes to open doors for the under-served through them.