ACHAL BHATT

301 Bhoomi Towers, Santacruz (E), 400055 | achal.d.bhatt@gmail.com | +91 8104413771

About Me: I have been working in New York City within the Financial Services Industry for almost 6
years. However, filmmaking and movies have always been my passion. And over time I began to think if
this passion could possibly be what I did for a living. After a lot of contemplation, I finally decided to quit
my job in New York City (August 2019) to move back to India to pursue a career in filmmaking –
focusing more on direction, screenwriting and content creation.

EDUCATION

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

Master of Science in Accountancy May, 2013
Bachelor of Science in Accountancy May, 2012
New York Film Academy
8 Week Filmmaking Workshop July, 2017
Certifications
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) July, 2014
CFA Level 1 July, 2015

WORK EXPERIENCE

Flying Saucer – Intern AD and Writer

Mumbai – October 2019 – January 2019

 Worked as an AD on Swiggy’s “What the Falooda” commercial. As part of the 2 day shoot -
handled extras, HMW and paperwork.
 Solely in charge of post-production for the commercial, while having also been a part of the post-
production process for other commercials.
 Worked with the director on treatment notes for pitches.
 While not on ads, I’ve been a part of the writer’s room wherein I’ve worked on different scripts,
while also being entrusted with developing the story and screenplay for a web series from scratch.
 Involved in the post-production for Flying Saucer’s upcoming Netflix web series “Taj Mahal
1989”.

New York Film Academy – Teaching Assistant

Mumbai – Summer 2018

 Assisted filmmaking students on how to use professional cameras, in addition to helping them
with their writing, directing and editing assignments.
 Helped and guided students on sets while they shot their short films.
 Brainstormed teaching techniques and methods with professors from New York Film Academy in
order to get the best student outreach.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) – Senior Associate – Assurance – Investment Management

New York – October 2013 – August 2019

 Gained knowledge and experience in the Asset and Investment Management practice.
 Managed multiple teams all year round at various stages of the audit.
 Excellent project management skills – project lead on multiple engagements – role includes
leading the engagement, coaching and managing associates and interns, and ensuring the project is
efficient in terms of timeliness and budget.
 Have enhanced my time management, leadership and communication skills by working under tight
 deadlines frequently.
 Developed strong attention to detail and technical expertise in testing of and review of work across
all areas in an asset management specific environment.
 Managed cross-function teams, including Valuation, Transaction Services, Global Delivery
Centers, amongst others.
 Extensively worked on and reviewed complex financial models.
 Strong writing/communication skills – regularly worked on memos, models, presentations to
senior management, both within the firm and at the client.
 Interacted proactively with senior client management to understand business processes and fund
operations in order to improve testing procedures.

General Interest & Experience

 Written, directed and edited the short films as part of the filmmaking course and after.
 Written screenplays for multiple short films and a full-length feature to further enhance my skills.
 Extensively watch movies across various genres and regions.
 For movies that I find interesting/different – I try and find the screenplays online and study them
to better enhance my knowledge/skill.

Miscellaneous

 Languages - [Hindi, English, Gujarati] - Fluent; [Arabic, Marathi, Punjabi] – Basic

 Travel – I’m an avid traveler and love learning about new cultures and meeting new people. I’ve
traveled to every continent apart from Australia.