aBOT.US

Hitesh assembled the bot out of spare parts in his garage – a fistful of capital, a bunch of boxes overflowing with talent and several tanks of midnight oil (and an antenna).

After successfully founding and running FrameFlow, a VFX outsourcing service provider now a part of Sony Pictures, he wanted to put his strongest conviction to the test: that post production houses globally should be able to leverage the cost advantage and talent of Indian artists without the uncertainty and overhead involved in teasing out capability, price and capacity of suppliers. Hitesh conceived botvfx to implement this vision. He believes that an outsourcing service provider should have a robotic obsession to serve, methodical approach, wired to do a few things exceptionally well, and above all, transparent.

Hitesh’s passions lie at the intersection of creativity, technology, and business, where he has adeptly applied his entrepreneurial and business leadership skills for over 20 years. This unique mix of skills is reflected in the unusual blend of accomplishments, which include VFX producer credits on numerous films, founder of 3 companies, management consult to Fortune 500 clients in technology and telecom, co-author of a patent on speech recognition applications, and a Charter Member of a TiE, a leading entrepreneurship organization with 50 global chapters. Hitesh holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Engineering from NYU and USC, respectively, and an MBA from Carnegie-Mellon.

When he’s not in his garage with the bot, he lives with this wife and two daughters in Atlanta, Georgia.

Deepak's role as a Head-Bot of Biz Ops (a.k.a. Business Operations Head) is well suited to his enterprising nature, broad business knowledge, and strong interpersonal and communications skills.

Having worked and studied in London, and assumed leadership roles in several multinational companies in India, Deepak has a strong bi-cultural leadership style. He is well adapted to the business culture and norms of clients in the West, while also having the ground level knowledge of developing and growing organizations in India. His unique mix of people building skills, leadership skills, and communications skills with a down-to-earth personality make him uniquely qualified to lead the bot-heads in Chennai.

Prior to botvfx, Deepak was the Assistant GM at Sony Pictures Imageworks India (formerly FrameFlow), where he oversaw the business operations for the studio. The scope of his responsibilities ranged from finance and accounting, to HR and recruiting, to regulatory compliance, procurement, marketing and PR, and due diligence support. Deepak was instrumental in ramping up and overseeing the growth of the studio from 25 artists to over 90 employees in less than a year.

His prior business experience includes roles in the Financial Services & Automotive Industries. Deepak had the distinction of being among the youngest students to receive a Masters in International Business at the London South Bank University. He is driven to achieve his vision to become a serial entrepreneur and tap the tremendous value cross-border businesses can generate. Deepak lives with his wife and son in Chennai, India.

As the Head-Bot of Production Ops, Sreyans is responsible for the assembly, frequent oiling, and un-interrupted flow of the botvfx's production operations. His understanding of the creative process, strong operational discipline, and exceptional interpersonal skills make him uniquely qualified to manage the resources - people, tools and processes - creating the man-machine balance.

From an early age, Sreyans showed strong creative leanings and entrepreneurial drive by starting creative design companies and securing premier clients and projects. Whether it's for the print or the post production arena, clients are invariably impressed with his tenacity and project management skills. His charge is to ensure all bots are working cohesively and building a strong team environment.

Prior to joining botvfx, Sreyans worked at Sony Pictures Imageworks India as a project head; where he oversaw the construction of a new state-of-the-art production facility for the studio, in addition to managing several other production projects.

Sreyans holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Visual Communication from the University of Madras where he holds one of the univeristy's highest academic rankings. He is also a Gold Medalist at the college and was awarded the "Best Outgoing Student of the Year in Visual Communication". When Sreyans is not managing production, he takes time out to admire nature and art, and is an avid photographer. Sreyans lives in Chennai, India.

Our newest model-bot, Hetal joins the team as producer and biz development lead for botvfx. She will work closely with Sreyans in Chennai to ensure bot production operations flow proficiently. Her charge is be in constant communication with our clients and to drive the shots to completion. Most of all, clients appreciate her ability to get projects done on-time and within budget.

Her experience in the telecommunications, consulting and outsourcing, and manufacturing industries qualify her to manage these multiple roles. Her interpersonal and communications skills will be key to client satisfaction at each turn in the assembly line.

For the past 11 years, Hetal has been in the technical sales and account management roles where she worked with large national and multi-national companies on their communications needs including contact centers. Prior to joining botvfx, she was supporting key accounts for Avaya Global Connect working out of Gurgaon, India.

She has a Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering from Southern Polytechnic. When Hetal is not managing production or answering your questions, you will catch her playing her new WII or riding her bike around town. She also enjoys traveling to new and exotic locations. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Maitri, joins the team as our new business development lead. She will be in close contact with Hetal in Atlanta and Sreyans in Chennai to ensure that the bots are constantly getting new and exciting projects to work on.

Her experience in IT consulting and outsourcing equip her with the skills required to communicate effectively with clients at all levels in the production process.

Prior to joining botvfx, Maitri worked with Accenture, Australia as a Business Integration Consultant; where she was involved in several large SAP deployments in industries as varied as telecommunication, construction and resources.

Maitri holds bachelors in business systems from Monash University, Melbourne and an MBA from Melbourne Business School. When Maitri is not interacting with our clients, she takes time out to practice her yoga and explore the intricacies of Chennai through its unique food culture. Maitri lives with her husband in Chennai, India.

Sankara joined as 2D supervisor in 2009. His role is to work in tandem with Sreyans and Hetal to ensure the most efficient technique is being employed to solve the production issues on a day to day basis. Sankara's biggest strength is his combined knowledge of film technique with an eye for compositing and camera work.

Having previously worked with notable facilities like Paprikas and Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sankara has had a varied body of work, including major features such as Eagle Eye, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, G.I Joe: The Rise of the Cobra and Price of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Graduating from PSC college of Arts and Science with a degree in Biotechnology, Sankara went on to follow his real dream – creative visualization. A diploma in multimedia from Chennai gave him his first taste of visual effects and the potential he had within the industry. The rest as they say is history. In his spare time you can often catch Sankara working on his pet project – a unique combination of digital matte painting and concept sketching.

Matthew is wholly responsible for ensuring that botvfx runs like a well oiled machine. Behind the scenes he looks after all of botvfx’s systems requirements. His responsibilities largely encompass server and network management issues. Data backup and security are also key responsibilities performed by our chief administrator.

Prior to joining botvfx, Matthew was engaged with The Indian Express as a systems engineer. During his time with Express he undertook a freelance assignment for botvfx. So impressed were the team with his work that they decided to bring Matthew on board as soon as possible.

Matthew has a diploma in Electronics and Communication from Madras University and holds a Microsoft Certification in Windows Networking.