Aryan Khatri

Aryan R. Khatri is an emergent Director, Producer and Actor who fell in love with cinema at an early age. His academic excellence at Syracuse University and Emerson College is paralleled by a portfolio that includes leading ideation for successful children's films, producing highly viewed online shows, and creating impactful short films. His work, recognized in film competitions and through significant internships, demonstrates a profound ability to blend creative vision with practical experience. Aryan is currently Producing/Co-Directing his biggest independent production up until now titled ‘Concerto’.

LEADERSHIP

• 2019: My efforts as the Lead Member of Ideation Team of Director Ms. Sheetal Sharma for children’s films at ‘Space Monkey’ (A production house) led to the greenlighting of several high-potential films.
• 2020-2021: Conceived, designed, and launched an online film festival where amateur filmmakers from all over the world can upload their works. Proceeds were shared with WLF-SA
• 2023: Associate Producer for Emchan’s now highest viewed show ‘Culture Shock (S6)’, ‘Apocalypse Forever (S2)’, NBS Emerson’s ‘Next Floor, Please (E2)’, B.F.A. ‘Brad’ (short film in post-production, raised over $8,000), ‘Gradient Descent’ (short film in post-production) Untitled Santosh Ram feature film (in development) 
• 2024: Producer for ‘The Man That Had Mastered Time’ (short film in post-production) and ‘Hung Juror’ (short film in-development) Associate Producer for NBS Emerson’s ‘Next Floor, Please (E3)’ (in post-production) ‘Ex-Funeral’ (short film in post-production)  BA ‘Mirror Mirror’ (short film in post-production) EIV TV’s ‘In Your Head’ (short film in post-production) and Flawless Picture’s ‘Grace’ (short film in post-production) Executive Producer for BFA ‘Chaka’s Circuit’ (short film in production, $15,000 budget) Co-Producer ‘Black Friday’ (short film in-development)  

CREATIVE EXPERIENCE

• 2020: Work spearheaded by me, was amongst few selected at ‘FOBISIA’-Asia online film competition 
• 2020: Writer & Director of short film ‘Dermestids’ and ‘Safety Lock’
• 2020-2021: Successfully completed online program by ‘Backstage,’ teaching art of acting and filmmaking through webinars with experts including: Nicole Kidman, Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan
• 2021: Completed on-campus summer acting course for film and television at American Academy of Dramatic Arts NYC during the pandemic and signed year-long contract with ‘SW Artists’
• 2022: Writer & Director of short film ‘Perfect Strangers’ and Writer & Director of short film ‘9-5’
• 2022: Editor for short film ‘Blasphemous Self-Collusion’ 
• 2023: PA for senior thesis film ‘One Of Us’, B.F.A. ‘Asanka’ and Assistant Director for sophomore thesis film ‘Human’, ‘An Evening Mercedes City’ and Emchan’s ‘Culture Shock’ 
• 2023: Lead actor in short film ‘Validation Center’ 
• 2023: Writer, Director & Editor ‘Emotional Memory’ (short film) 
• 2023: Director Shadow NBS’s ‘Shark Waffles’ 
• 2023: Lead videographer for BMW sponsored ‘German Polo Tour’ 
• 2024: Writer, Director, Producer ‘Concerto’ (short film in post-production, $5,000 budget) 

INTERNSHIP

• 2019 - 2022: Trainee-AD to international award-winning Director Mr. Rajesh S. Jala for his feature film ‘CHINGARI’ (The Spark) which gained widespread critical praise worldwide ($353,000 budget) 
• 2023: Assisted content creation for major companies, Bollywood stars and documentary of Ms. Kiran Bedi for streaming as the Production Intern at ‘Dream Slate Pictures’ 
• 2023: Media Intern/worked with Mr. Anand Kumar and other filmmakers at ‘Anand Kumar Pictures’ interacting with some of the top names in Bollywood

COMMUNITY SERVICE

• 2017 - 2023: Active volunteer and member of The World Lung Foundation SA (WLF-SA), promoting lung and public health. Hosting street plays spreading public health awareness
• 2019: Taught English and artistic skills to underprivileged students at Maitrigram School, New Delhi
• 2019-2020: Volunteer member of Delhi Police Tobacco Free Initiative of WLF-SA, sensitizing 165 police stations in Delhi on their social responsibility towards Tobacco Products Act. Lead role in a team of WLF-SA that conducted street plays to promote public health messages in a collaborative project with ‘Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL)’ – USA

AWARD

2023: Syracuse University VPA: Dean’s list for the fall 2022 semester and spring 2023 semester 

2024: Emerson Select: ‘Culture Shock (S6)’ 

2024: Emerson College VMA: Dean’s list for the spring 2024 semester

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve and Final Draft, RED Dragon-X 6K S35 camera, ALEXA Mini Camera, Journalism, Critical Writing, Excel, 
• Fluent in spoken and written English and Hindi

FILM: 

2020 Lead actor (Played- Zaf) in short film “Safety Lock” 

2021 Lead Actor (Played- Azad) in short film “The Less 

They Saw Me, The More They Knew Me”. 

2022 Lead Actor (Played- Arijit) in thesis film at Syracuse University 

2023 Lead Actor (Played- Varun) in student film “Validation Center” 

2023 Supporting Actor (Played- Rico) in short film “An Evening in Mercedes City”

2024 Day Player (Played- Flea Market Vendor) in student film “Concerto” 

2024 Supporting Actor (Played-Morpheus) in student film ‘Checkmate’ 

THEATER: 

2019 “Hyacinth” | Lead Actor – played Adam Lovefield 

2019 Re-work of “The Prodigal Son” | Lead Actor - played Jim Quinn 

TRAINING: 

2018-2020 Completion of IGCSE drama 

2021 On-camera Acting summer program The American Academy of Dramatic Arts 

2022 Syracuse University (Major: Film, Minor: Acting) 2023 TRANSFERRED: Emerson College 

EDUCATION

IB Diploma awarded (The British School, New Delhi) 

2021 On-camera Acting summer program The American Academy of Dramatic Arts 

2022 B.F.A in Film, Syracuse University (Provided the Chancellor's Scholarship) 2023TRANSFERRED (rising Junior): B.A. Media Arts Production, Emerson College’26