Biography

Born in India and a graduate of USC, Neel Upadhye is a writer/director well versed in creating new IP and shepherding iconic brands, such as Star Wars. He has worked across multiple mediums including live action, animation, motion capture, and interactive. To date, Neel has written and directed a feature film on Amazon Prime (Dating Daisy - Best comedy, Sedona Film Festival 2016), a TV pilot for Disney XD (Shark Bites), two Star Wars shorts produced by ILM, including Star Wars: Squadrons - "Hunted," (Silver Pencil Award, 2020), and penned five feature length screenplays.

Neel is also well known in the video game industry. At Electronic Arts, he was a writer and director on the narrative team of Battlefield 2042 and lead writer on Need for Speed Unbound. He created the transmedia series "Stories from the Outlands" for the $1B gaming franchise Apex Legends. The first episode, Voidwalker, earned him a webby nomination in 2020 while the second, The Old Ways, trended #1 on YouTube worldwide upon its release. On the indie game side, Neel led a studio of 50+ in the production of an original ARPG at Azra Games as VP of Creative Development. Neel leverages his 16 years in the film and video game industry as a narrative consultant, helping game studios produce unique creative that breaks the mold. His latest film project, an animated feature, is set up with Marginal Media. Neel is repped as a writer/director at WME and Anonymous Content.
- IMDb mini biography by: Neel Upadhye