Exploring Life & Business with Sarang Sharma of AWRY Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarang Sharma.

Hi Sarang, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I told my Indian parents I wanted to be an actor, my dad said “Beta, I’m pretty sure it’s pronounced doctor”.

Joking aside, I was serious and started my career by performing at NYC stand-up venues like The Comic Strip, and Broadway Comedy Club.

After graduating from the William Esper Studio in 2017, I starred as Dar in the Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar at ETC Santa Barbara & The English Theatre Frankfurt and joined AEA, thinking that it was going to be my first step out of the shadows and into the limelight. It was not. Instead, I found myself finishing the contract and working at yet another mind-numbingly painful part-time job. My life was stagnant and I felt like I was only validated when I was booked.

That’s when I made a mental switch. I decided instead of waiting for casting to call, I was gonna call people to cast. So in 2021, along with my fellow best friend + artists, Auberth Bercy, and Jarred Harper, I founded our own production company- AWRY Productions. AWRY stands for Are We Rolling Yet because that is my catchphrase on sets when I’m directing. People make fun of me for it.

Since then, I have focused more on the film side of the industry. I’ve been lucky to have worked as an actor on TV series such as FBI: Most Wanted and a bunch of short films while also working as a producer, director, and cinematographer of music videos, short films, and pilot series.

As a first-gen creator, I am lucky to have collaborated with awesome artists of all journeys and walks of life, and I am thrilled to collaborate with artists of all backgrounds to promote the new “American Dream”.

There are plenty of people obsessed with making money. My mission is to craft stories and create joy 🎥 🎞️ 🍿.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As I mentioned, the journey of the artist is not one for the faint of heart. The dreams are big but expensive, and there are times when the pockets are filled with only lint from your jeans.

I’ve had agents reject me, I’ve parted ways with an agent who wasn’t the right fit, but I was scared to do so because I did not want to be a self-represented actor. But everything happens for a reason. And that positive mindset can keep you going in the most mentally insecure of times.

That being said, being a filmmaker and creative is a team sport, and having a good team around you is what makes the journey more valuable than the destination. Having a strong team to help you through the ups and downs of this industry is what allows an artist to have longevity in this field.

As an actor, I could not have booked the roles I have without my teachers at The William Esper Studio, namely my acting teacher Bruce McCarty, as well as my agents Lisa Price and Andrew Barikmo at The Price Group, and Gina Manfredi at DDO.

As a filmmaker and director, I am so lucky and grateful to have an amazing team of producers who allow AWRY to get opportunities to create amazing stories and visuals. And I am so lucky to be able to call on an amazing group of production and post-production creatives when we land those opportunities.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
AWRY, or Are We Rolling Yet Productions is a bicoastal indie-media production company that works with artists and brands to tell powerful & unique stories.

We produce narrative films, music videos, documentaries, podcasts, and branded campaigns for small businesses.

We have been lucky to produce various award-winning awesome short films and pilots, and have some even more exciting narrative projects in development.

Feel free to watch our production reel https://youtu.be/sz9thfFfW1M

And visit our website: www.arewerollingyet.com

What matters most to you? Why?
As storytellers, we get the opportunity to promote narratives that make the world a better place. It is important to understand the weight of your words both on the page, and onscreen, and how it may affect a viewer’s perspective in life-altering ways. I truly believe that humanity has been ruined by the invention of the coin. We spend too much time as a society chasing a monetary value that we cannot take with us to the grave, so we justify dying with our riches as having a dynasty and passing it on to our next of kin. Now, everyone is obsessed with making money, but I want to make people smile. I want to make people laugh and cry and shriek in terror and jump for joy. I want people to reach catharsis when they get lost in my reveries that I bring to life on the screen. I want people to feel.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.arewerollingyet.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awry.productions/
• Other: www.sarangsharma.com