Kaushik Sampath

Originally from India, Kaushik earned a Master's degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and worked in Silicon Valley for several years before deciding to pursue his passion for film-making at the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated with an MFA in Directing. His graduate thesis film, "Grooming", premiered in the Cannes International Film Festival and, after a very successful festival run in the US, was nominated for a BAFTA US Student Film Award. Kaushik directed the opening segment of an anthology feature film "The Labyrinth", produced by and starring (voice) actor James Franco. Kaushik's industry experience includes his apprenticeship under two time Oscar nominated DP Jeff Cronenweth, ASC, on "Hitchcock". His apprenticeship, under Jeff, continued through many commercial projects and onto the set of Director David Fincher's "Gone Girl". Kaushik previously worked on "Bridesmaids", as a camera PA, under the guidance of Oscar nominated DP Robert Yeoman, ASC. While at USC film school, Kaushik was awarded the very coveted Annenberg Fellowship. He later worked in a writers room for Director Timur Bekmambetov's production company Bazelevs, where he helped develop "screen life" format movies similar to "Unfriended" and "Searching". Kaushik's sci-fi script "qualia" was chosen for the inaugural South Asian writers lab called 1497. As part of this initiative to foster South Asian talent in Hollywood, he was mentored by acclaimed film maker Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham, Blinded by the Light). Kaushik recently co-directed an eight episode original series for Amazon Prime Video India, with acclaimed Director Raja Krishna Menon. He's currently in pre-production on his first feature film stateside, an indie sci-fi horror, that he hopes to shoot later this year in the state of Tennessee.