Today we’d like to introduce you to Kalyan Sura.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Looking back, there wasn’t one seminal moment that stands out in my past. Rather it’s a mosaic of unrelated experiences, fortunate encounters, and decisions of blind faith that led me to where I am.
My story could begin as that of a mesmerized 4-year-old, watching a dinosaur on the silver screen for the first time. Or as a cocky middle-schooler who spooked himself so bad while writing a horror story that he had to sleep in his parents’ bedroom for two nights. It could begin as that of a persistent college junior who couldn’t afford animation classes and taught himself by streaming youtube videos in engineering labs.
Or as that of a young filmmaker joining the fight to diversify the entertainment industry and bring unique and authentic stories to life. But let me step back and start at the very beginning. My Paternal Grandfather narrated the great Indian Epic Mahabharata in temples across his village. My Mother wrote and directed plays for her college theater, but gave up her creative aspirations owing to the financial and social pressures of her times. Had I known these facts earlier in my life, I may have had a different journey. Not knowing handed me the freedom to explore life’s wilderness without expectations or pressures, before eventually finding my way back to storytelling.
I grew up in a middle-class family in Hyderabad, a city in South India. My childhood coincided with the liberalization of Indian markets, the internet, and telecom boom around the world. Growing up, my parents wanted me to study Engineering like most other parents of that generation. But unlike most others, they emphasized all-round development through extracurriculars, arts, and sports. Thus, my formative years were a weird blend of Academics, Video Games, Cartoons, Encyclopedias, Cricket, Soccer, Movies, Public Speaking, and Creative Writing competitions.
My first tryst with storytelling came in 2nd grade. My essay on the topic “My Mother” moved my teacher so deeply that she passed it to all her colleagues and wrote a note of appreciation to my mom, who was perplexed yet proud on reading that note. Though I had participated in several other competitions, I never found a real calling until ninth grade – when I was picked as one of two students to represent my school at a National level creative writing contest. I lost myself in the world of the Sherlock-esque Horror Thriller I crafted and fell in love with the whole creative process of fiction storytelling.
In quick succession, I also landed a role in a children’s movie, which I quit just after my first day on set. My Mom maintains that I was frustrated with the Director and complained he had no clue what he was doing. The specter of engineering weighed heavily during the latter part of my high school. I followed the popular trend and enrolled in additional classes for Math, Physics, and Chemistry to get a headstart for the aptitude tests. The extracurriculars fell to the backburner and became more of a hobby.
After graduating from high school as the Best Academic Achiever and the Best All Round Performer, I secured admission into one of the most coveted engineering colleges in India. I was en route to a promising future in engineering. But things took an ironic twist – while studying to be a Computer Science Engineer, I rediscovered my passion for the arts. I joined the Creative Activities Society, which became my home for four years of undergrad. I wrote, sketched, painted, created wax carvings, and modeled robots using soda cans – all of which aided in my wild creative exploration.
In my freshman year, I learned that my university offered an internship program with DreamWorks Animation, and I was hell-bent on landing it. That dream, however, seemed short lived as I found animation classes ridiculously expensive and had no resources to fulfill the long list of prerequisites. I dabbled in microprocessors, robotics, and management studies, and in my junior year, to spend more time with my girlfriend (now fiance), I enrolled in her elective class which happened to be about Film Production. From the first day, I fell in love with the camera, the cut and the collaborative process of filmmaking. The class also reignited my passion for animation.
This time I decided to teach myself by following youtube tutorials and ebooks. As our dorm rooms had sluggish internet connections, I spent my junior year slipping into various engineering labs with fast broadband, to stream Maya, After Effects, and Unity tutorials. Soon, I established myself as the best animator on campus. For my final project in the film class, my three-member team made a short film centered around food wastage in student messes. We shot for four days in wet fields, arid brick kilns, hostel kitchens, and neighboring villages to create a 7-minute film that I edited in After Effects. The film won a few awards, and more importantly, cemented my interests in storytelling.
In my final year, to create an easier path for animation enthusiasts, I instituted a non-credit course in “Fundamentals of 3D Animation,” becoming the first undergraduate instructor to do so. I started blogging, writing short stories, planning out Fantasy Novels and freelanced as an animator on the side. But two weeks before my DreamWorks interview, it all came crashing down when I broke my femur while playing soccer. After spending five days in Intensive care due to surgical complications, and another week in the hospital under observation, I had an hour-long phone interview from my hospital rehab room. It was tense and exhausting, but my family supported me through every second.
Within a week, I got the news that I was selected from among 100s of applicants to fly to California and be trained at DreamWorks Animation. After training with DreamWorks in California for six months, I was hired back at DreamWorks India in my dream job. I spent three years working with some of the brightest animators, artists, technologists, and creatives in India, learning the ropes of animation filmmaking. This was also when I took my love for game design and storytelling to the next level. I designed a Mario-esque 2D platformer from scratch using Unity 3D and wrote a Thriller fiction novel inspired by true events in India.
Most weeks I would return from 12-hour workdays and continue working on my projects for another 3-4 hours. I wrote in busses, trains, airplanes, and even bathrooms. After completing my novel, I decided to get formally trained in filmmaking. The prestigious School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, with its state-of-the-art facilities and inspiring instructors, was my only favored choice. I applied to USC and got accepted in my first attempt.
My time at USC was peppered with rousing highs and crushing lows. However, the exposure and knowledge I gained is something I could never have experienced anywhere else at this point in time. Over the last four years, I’ve written 20 shorts, three feature screenplays, directed six shorts and supervised visual effects for 12 shorts and two indie feature films. I’ve had inspiring mentors and peers who I look to work alongside soon.
In Los Angeles, I have had the opportunity to engage with the best filmmaking technology and filmmakers from around the world. I graduated from USC in May 2018 with a focus in Writing, Directing and Visual Effects. Currently, I’m juggling a day job as a Visual Effects artist while developing live-action and animation content for the Indian and American audiences. With everything I have experienced and learned, I aspire to continue working at the intersection of storytelling and technology to share stories that entertain, educate and inspire.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many ups and downs along my journey. Fortunately, I have a supportive family and friends who have helped me through many difficult times. At a creative level, most of my struggles have been about making the right choices – from choosing the right projects to discussions with collaborators about the best decisions for a project.
But a greater struggle has been with respect to opportunities and the restrictions the immigration system places on International students. I had to forego a great position as I wasn’t allowed to take up a job away from LA during the course of a semester – a rule that ties down many international students. And after graduation, the struggles only amplify. To give a sense of the situation – International students from non-STEM backgrounds have one year after graduation to practice their trade in the US and find work permits or Visa sponsorship.
After one year, they must leave the country. For many of us, this means leaving the industry that we trained for, along with most of our contacts, and starting from scratch in a new industry with different rules, work cultures, and much lower pay scales. As film programs are expensive, student loans become a huge handicap in selecting future projects. The policies at large aren’t welcoming to young international filmmakers, which makes it difficult for the industry to support such talent.
For those of us looking for work permits, the process is cumbersome and only opens a narrow window for the type and scope of work we can accomplish. I’m currently in the process of applying for an Artist Visa – which is expensive and consumes immense time and energy. The struggle, essentially, is pouring time, energy and money for permission to create art in the US rather than spending the same resources in actually creating meaningful art.
There are many extremely talented individuals who find a home elsewhere, but the sheer financial, mental and physical stress can be excruciating. I hope it will become easier for future generations with better policies in place, but for now, this is a very real struggle for most young international filmmakers.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The acceptance letter from DreamWorks Animation and later from USC were memorable moments, alongside the time I completed my first novel.
However, my proudest moment in recent times was my final screening at USC. I spent my last three semesters at USC working on two projects. I Wrote and Directed my student thesis film, “The Lie Game”, the story of a Computer Scientist struggling to fund her human companion AI application, and I worked as the Visual Effects Supervisor for “Kintsugi”, a short that integrated a CG creature with a live action footage, to tell the story of a little girl who reconciles with the loss of her Grandmother.
Working on these two films simultaneously was like holding two full-time jobs. I spent close to 100 hours a week on these projects for over a year juggling writing, casting, directing on one film with animation, lighting, and compositing on another. Each of these projects catered to a different facet of filmmaking that engaged me, and I deeply cared for both stories. I collaborated with some phenomenal artists and mentors through these projects.
Though there were periods of uncertainty about the completion of these films, after a final push of 16-hour workdays for three weeks, we wrapped up both films in time for the final screenings. Screening both films back to back to a packed audience of friends, family, filmmakers, and film-lovers was one of the proudest moments in recent memory. The feeling at the end made the entire journey worth the effort.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kalyansura.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjkalyan
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