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your Team
Joshua Upputuru, Co-Founder & Creative Director
With over 23 years of experience, Joshua has built a career at the intersection of advertising, filmmaking, and innovation. He began with a decade in global ad agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy & Mather, and Contract Advertising, where he helped shape leading international and Indian brands through strategy, creative, and marketing. He went on to establish Joshua Tree Films, one of India’s prominent production houses, producing and directing ad films and original content for over 13 years.
Joshua has also led as Head of Films at MediaMonks India, where he set up the Films vertical and pioneered India’s first Virtual Production Studio with Unreal technology. Most recently, he completed two full-length feature films, delivering the entire VFX for both.
Joshua brings together the rare balance of brand-building vision and production expertise, positioning him as a business head who can seamlessly bridge creativity, strategy, and execution.
Kannan Lakhmanan – Business Head & Technical Director
Kannan is an accomplished leader who combines deep technical expertise with strategic business acumen. With experience across leading studios including Rajtaru, Reliance MediaWorks, Prime Focus, Teamworks, FireFox, and Famous Studios, he has played a pivotal role in building scalable infrastructures and driving transformation in media businesses.
He is known for aligning technology and talent to achieve organizational growth, crafting business visions, and simplifying complex projects into cost-effective, high-impact solutions. Skilled at orchestrating synergy between cross-functional teams, Kannan thrives in guiding organizations through pivotal transitions and delivering outcomes at scale.
Kannan combines technical mastery with strategic foresight, making him a business head who can build scalable systems and lead organizations through transformative growth.
Ankit Khullar, CFO
With 16+ years of experience across fintech, financial services, and large-scale digital transformation, Ankit brings deep financial strategy and operational discipline to Joshua Tree Studios. His portfolio includes building venture capital fund systems, blockchain-based smart contracts, crypto–fiat payment platforms, ERP solutions for government agencies, and the NSDL Electronic Medical Records System.
Before returning to India, he worked in the U.S. with leading companies such as LG Electronics, Morningstar, and Global Logistics, gaining valuable international insight into finance, technology, and scalable operational models.
Ankit holds two Master's degrees and a BSc in Corporate Finance & Statistics, along with executive credentials from Harvard, Cornell, and global agile leadership programs.
Future of Filmmaking
Ankit believes the future of cinema will be shaped by the integration of AI, virtual production, and advanced VFX pipelines—where creativity, technology, and financial intelligence work together.
For him, Joshua Tree isn’t just a studio—it’s an evolution of how films will be imagined, built, and scaled.
Kamil Mohammed Ali – Business Head & Producer
Kamil has spent over two decades producing premium advertising, documentaries, and long-form storytelling for both Indian and global audiences. His early work attracted collaborations with broadcasters from Japan and Europe, where he helped deliver culturally rooted stories with international resonance. Over the past decade, he has built a strong ecosystem for creative talent in advertising and branded content, known for his hands-on producing style and sharp instinct for breakout stories.
Today, Kamil leads across advertising, films, and digital formats, consistently delivering high-quality productions while fostering collaborative creative environments. His ability to balance artistic vision with business discipline has made him a trusted partner for clients and storytellers alike.
With his sharp producer’s instinct and leadership, Kamil stands as a business head who empowers creative talent while ensuring commercially robust productions.
Prakash Sahoo, New Technology Head & VFX Lead
With over 17 years of experience, Prakash works at the intersection of filmmaking, real-time 3D, and next-generation VFX. His expertise spans AI-assisted workflows, Unreal Engine, Blender, previs, virtual production, and on-set VFX supervision, enabling directors and teams to visualize and execute complex ideas with clarity and precision.
He has contributed to high-pressure productions across globally recognized studios including Joshua Tree Films, DeePixel, Non-Fungible Labs (New Zealand), REDEFINE/DNEG, Trace VFX, Deluxe, Technicolor, and Reliance MediaWorks, building pipelines that merge artistic excellence with technical efficiency.
A collaborative leader, Prakash bridges directors, cinematographers, and production teams, helping projects move faster, smarter, and more creatively aligned. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, he blends artistry with innovation, ensuring every frame serves story and emotion.
Prakash believes the future lies in the seamless integration of AI, conventional VFX, and real-time production, a workflow where ideas move faster than limitations. This convergence reduces cost and friction, accelerates decision-making, and unlocks new creative possibilities.
For him, this isn’t just innovation, it’s a new era where imagination leads, and technology follows.
Amay Arora, Creative Associate
Amay brings experience across filmmaking, advertising, and creative development, with four years working inside India’s rapidly evolving film and content space. He has worked in direction teams across roles including Assistant Director, Script Supervisor, and Director’s Assistant, with hands-on experience on commercial productions and an international project — The Amazing Race Australia.
Alongside his production work, Amay has directed short-format content, developed original scripts, and completed a three-year filmmaking degree, grounding his craft in cinematic language, structure, and practical storytelling.
His skill set extends beyond set life — with experience in creative research, pitch deck development, photography, graphic design, and story consulting, giving him a holistic understanding of visual communication and narrative design.
Most recently, at Chalkboard Entertainment, he contributed to concept development, screenplay evaluations, and project packaging — sharpening his ability to take ideas from spark to strategy.
Why He’s Here
Amay believes the future of filmmaking will belong to creators who understand both story and system — where AI, VFX, and new-age production methods expand storytelling rather than replace it.
For him, Joshua Tree Studios is the right place to grow —
not just as a filmmaker, but as a voice shaping the cinema of tomorrow.