saffa jury 2019
shruti ganguly
Shruti is a filmmaker based in New York City and Oslo. She was a member of Obama’s ECCO committee of 30 leaders in entertainment, chairing its Asian Caucus, and is on the Creative Council for Emily's List. She has directed music videos and branded content for Planned Parenthood, Unilever, and Instagram. She crafted the #MySentence series on prison reform for the Obama Administration. She has produced features that have gone to Sundance, Venice, Tribeca and Berlin. She is a co-founder of the Resistance Revival Chorus.
Previously, Shruti worked as an executive at NYLON, MTV, and Conde Nast, producing the CLIO-winning 73 Questions series. Shruti studied art and economics at Northwestern University, and went to NYU's dual MFA/MBA program at Tisch and Stern. She hails from India, by way of Oman.
She believes that good art can be used to illuminate our world and open our minds to possibility and change.
ritesh rajan
Originally from New York, you can see Ritesh’s work as Farran in the emmy-award winning hit Russian Doll and the voice of Ken in Netflix’s Barbie Dream House Adventure. He recently wrapped up his first feature as a lead in Sujata Day’s DEFINITION PLEASE. You can also see him in Disney’s The Jungle Book , @freeform’s @STITCHERSTV, @telltalegames’ THE WALKING DEAD, @NCISLA and the new hulu original, DollFace--along with other countless video games & guest spots. A graduate of NYU TISCH & @stellaadler Ritesh is currently living in LA and prides himself in making a difference both on and off screen for South Asian and Asian diversity in the artistic world. Born from immigrant parents, he hopes his work will make a difference for future generations and inspire other South Asians & Asians to pursue the arts without fear and full of persistence to help break stereotypes about his culture. When he is not in front of the camera, Ritesh can always be seen dancing bhangra and hip/hop or practicing his martial arts, in pursuit of a lifelong goal of becoming a ninja.
trina wyatt
With the belief that visual stories have the power to transform society, Trina launched Conscious Good, a community-driven media platform committed to elevating consciousness. Conscious Good envisions a world where every being feels connected to themselves, to each other and to something greater. Tofulfill on this vision, Conscious Good is raising awareness on the impact what we watch has on our wellbeing, increasing access to conscious media, and supporting visual storytellers and their work through its Creators Network and non-profit sister organization, Conscious Goodness.
One of Trina’s most notable career achievements was launching the Tribeca Film Festival for Robert De Niro and taking the reigns as its first Festival Director. Trina has also held leadership positions with entertainment companies such as Gaia, Prana Studios, Intrepid Pictures, Withoutabox (sold to Amazon), Film Independent, Turner Pictures and Carolco Pictures.
Considered a leader in the conscious media movement, Trina has spoken at numerous national events on the topic of media/entertainment and its impact.
Trina received her MBA from NYU and her BA from UCLA. Trina is a certified Kundalini yoga teacher and was recently honored to join the group, Evolutionary Leaders.
rhea ghosh
Rhea Ghosh has been involved in helping startups and creators in the music industry, cross-culturally develop their brands for over a decade. At Downtown Music Publishing, she leads global marketing and partnerships, representing some of the world’s most beloved songwriters, storied music catalogs, and emerging artists at the forefront of pop culture.
Her work as a music advocate extends as a team member of NY is Music, an organization dedicated to advancing the importance of music in economic development, culture, and education in New York. In June 2017, NY is Music partnered with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to produce New York Music Month — the city's official celebration of our diverse musical landscape, with free programming and resources for musicians, industry professionals, students, and fans. Rhea also sits on the Advisory Committee for Sound Thinking NYC, a free program especially designed to open doors for young women to explore careers in the music industry.
When she's not advocating for creators, Rhea is a professional dancer with the touring musical production Bollywood Boulevard and performs with theSa Dance Company.
mukhundHa sastry
Mukundha currently works at Netflix in LA on the content acquisition team for India, focusing on licensing local film and series. Originally from Tampa, FL, Mukundha attended Emory University in Atlanta, GA and graduated in 2015. During college, he interned at NBCUniversal on the Partner Marketing team. After graduation, he moved to NYC to work at the Oprah Winfrey Network in Digital Ad Sales. In his spare time at Netflix, he focuses on curating and developing events highlighting prominent South Asian-Americans in media as well as working with creative executives to improve diversity within original content.