Meet Anusha Bhattacharyya | Producer & Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anusha Bhattacharyya and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anusha, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I always knew I wanted to pursue an artistic career ever since I was a little kid. I was always so dramatic and super animated whenever I talked — I just loved telling stories. I initially wanted to be an actress (which little kid didn’t want to be famous) but I quickly learned that I didn’t have the knack for it. I did however, love the process as a whole. I stared out in theater and by the time I got to high school I had transitioned into a behind the scenes role. I loved working with the actors and walking through the scenes and the having meetings with the other department heads about the set, it was always so magical to me. That solidified my decision to go into film production and when I got into the Tv production program at Cal State Northridge, I feel in love with it even more.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I always knew I wanted to end up in the entertainment industry ever since I was a little kid, I mean which little kid didn’t want to be famous growing up? I’ve always loved stories, whether I’m reading them, watching them, or telling them. I loved escaping into these new worlds and exploring the minds of the authors or filmmakers that created them. That inspired me to go into this field and I absolutely love it. However, I always saw a lack of genuine stories centered around my South Asian heritage growing up. There were rarely South Asian characters that were’t stereotypical and it always frustrated me. I grew up with such a vibrant and rich culture, and here was Hollywood taking the worst aspects of it and broadcasting it for the world to see. My desire to create these new worlds, while simultaneously creating characters that I want to see has been the highlight of my creative career thus far. Last year I created a mini web series for my episodic television course which combined both of my goals that I previously mentioned. It was a romantic mystery series with a female Indian lead set in the world of dark academia. I was so proud to combine all of my favorite genres and tropes while creating a character whose main identity wasn’t her culture. It was not at all easy, for the first time I was put in charge of every single process — creative and legal — and it was definitely a learning curve but it was everything I ever wanted growing up. Creating that series proved to me that I was in the right field and made me even more motivated to go out in the world and create stories that I, and my community, would be proud to see.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I grew up in the Bay Area and I am so so proud to be from there. San Francisco will forever be one of my favorite cities. It’s so rich in culture, food, and community and so gorgeous. I could spend forever exploring San Francisco, but if I had a friend visiting for a week, we’d have to touch base on all of my favorite places in NorCal. I’m biased and I prefer the NorCal part of the California coast so we’d spend the first two days exploring the coast. We’d start in Monterey and go visit the aquarium which is a must see. Afterwards we would go to the pier and eat over there and then spend some time watching the seals with bags full of salt water taffy. Then, we’d hit up the 17-mile drive. My favorite spot on the drive is Pebble Beach, and we’d easily spend hours there climbing the rocks and collecting various little seashells. The next day would be spent in Carmel. We’d hit up a local tavern before walking around the various little trinket shops and stores in Downtown. The next few days would be back North in San Francisco. We’d visit Pier 39, The Golden Gate Bridge, The Ghirardelli Factory, the Museum of Modern Art– everything touristy before watching the sunset relaxing at Baker Beach. I know most people would avoid tourist traps, but I honestly love them. They’re popular for a reason, and I love watching everyone’s faces exploring the city I was privileged to live near all my life. Knocking those out of the way, the next few days would be spent exploring the cities various bookstores and thrift shops. I could get lost in those. I love the environment and community that those kinds of stores provide. If there’s time at all, depending on the season, we’d have to check out some sort of sporting event. Oracle Park is beautiful and it provides such a gorgeous view of the Bay and Chase Center is just, chef’s kiss. Don’t sleep on the sports scene up here, we are all so incredibly proud of our teams and we go HARD for them. We’d probably head over to Sausalito after that, and explore the food and the cute little ice cream shops they have. The final day would be spent in Napa. You can’t come to NorCal and NOT have some wine that’s ridiculous. It’s definitely a packed schedule for sure but there is just so much to do and so much to see, a whole week isn’t enough. This is my unofficial love letter to NorCal/the Bay Area.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My number one shoutout would have to be my family. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve called them during my time in film school to bounce my ideas off of, rant about everything that was going wrong, or ask for advice for problems I was facing. They’ve been so supportive and they’ve loved all the projects that I’ve made, especially the one where I was show runner. Other than that, I’d have to shoutout my best friend. She was there right next to me during so many production meetings, and every single call to my parents. She just might be my web series #1 fan. She was also the one who came up with the title for it so thank you for that!

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusha-bhattacharyya-92323a282/

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MissingLinks-Series