From Rhythm & Hues to Dancing Atoms: Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam

Creative Innovators with Gigi Johnson

We have the pleasure of sharing the adventures of Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam -- from pioneering visual effects in India to founding her studio, Dancing Atoms, and mentoring future talents.

From her early beginnings in the visual effects industry in India, Vani's drive and curiosity propelled her into careers at Rhythm & Hues and DreamWorks. Vani founded Dancing Atoms, a boutique studio that focuses on representing India and Southeast Asia, with a vision for bringing culturally unique content to a global audience.

Join us as she shares her adventures in trust and transitions from visual effects to documentary filmmaking and children’s programming -- and building women’s creative leadership opportunities like the Woman Creators Program in collaboration with Epic Games.

Guest: Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam, CEO/Creative Director, Dancing Atoms; Creative producer, Creator and Consultant; Head of the Women in Animation (WIA) India Collective, President of ASIFA India and founder of Epic’s Women Creators Program

Guest: Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam, CEO/Creative Director, Dancing Atoms; Creative producer, Creator, and Consultant; Head of the Women in Animation (WIA) India Collective, President Emeritus of ASIFA India, and founder of Epic’s Women Creators Program

Saraswathi ‘Vani’ Balgam is an Indian-born writer, director, self-taught photographer, and filmmaker. Her Indian and Southeast Asian cultural heritage and her experiences and memories from being an avid global traveler help her portray common humanity and unique journeys within her characters and stories. Her exposure to the film industry started at a young age when her father started a 2D animation studio within their family home, intending to create films that involved rich Indian culture and heritage for a global audience. This foundation of creativity is from her father, as well as her mother who is also vividly creative. While Vani started her career as a business development executive for CMM Studios Limited in Mumbai, India, she slowly rose through the ranks within the Southeast Asian film scene and was appointed as Executive Director and Founder of the Rhythm and Hues Asian Studios. While executive director, she managed employees across four studios in Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Taiwan which produced VFX for many major Hollywood films, such as ‘Life of Pi’, and ‘The Golden Compass’, which each won Rhythm and Hues Studios the Academy Awards for Best VFX in 2013 and 2008 respectively. Vani also served as the Head of Creative Management and Training for Dreamworks Studios in Shanghai, China. Vani founded Dancing Atoms Studio in 2015 to create amazing stories with unforgettable and different characters. She actively encourages community development all around the world.

She is currently the president of Women in Animation - India Collective. She was also the president of Asifa India, a non-profit organization that has been dedicated to the art of animation for over two decades. Vani has been a mentor for several Epic Games Unreal Engine Fellowships programs and has produced over 120+ short films. Vani coined the Unreal Epic Games Women Creators Program for India & SE Asia intending to inspire and train women creators and form a community of creators. She was also the Creative Program Director of the UEFN Women Creators Program.

Links:

• Dancing Atoms: https://www.dancingatoms.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancingatoms1/
• Vani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanibalgam/
• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3752718
• 2021 Article: https://www.animationxpress.com/animation/saraswathi-vani-balgam-delves-about-her-journey-current-projects-and-everything-in-between/
• 2023 Animation World Network: https://www.awn.com/animationworld/saraswathi-buyyala-balgam-unreal-engine-paving-way-women-creators

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