We recently connected with Ilina Bhatia and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ilina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first knew I wanted to pursue art early on in high school. I was always interested in art–painting, drawing, writing–but thought of it as a hobby. I was seriously considering going down a very academic path, but then I got Lyme disease my freshman year of high school and was out of school for a semester, and mostly bed-ridden. My joints were swollen and achy, and some days the only thing I could move were my hands, so I started painting more seriously and more often. That semester I had off from school, I started painting larger and more complex paintings, and they started getting into small galleries or group shows. Getting that validation was the push I needed to tell myself, this is something I could pursue.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a NYC based filmmaker, concentrating on directing, editing, and production design. I got into filmmaking in college. I was actually studying fine arts at Parsons during COVID, and I ended up transferring to NYU Tisch for film and television, graduating with a BFA. My work, both directing and production design, is very influenced by ideas like surrealism, absurdism, and South Asian culture.

I met a very close collaborator during my time at NYU who was creatively aligned with me, and out of college we decided to start a production company together specializing in music videos and fashion campaigns, called Pink Nose Productions. Pink Nose is reflective of my sensibilities: highly textured images, lots of color, practical effects, and narratives very unique to the concept. I think my ability to craft very unique narratives and associated visuals sets me apart from others. I happily take a small idea or a basic mood board and love to transform it into a whole story, which I think a lot of musicians and brands are looking for in their visuals right now.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the process. As a filmmaker, there’s weeks or months of preparation, pre-production, and set design builds leading up to a project, and I love being in the thick of it. There’s growing excitement with each element being worked on. And when all of that comes together during production, it’s so satisfying–like a puzzle being finished.

For instance, I directed and built sets for a magical realist 20-minute short film, “Chashmish”. The climax of the film intercuts between a dance sequence in a fantastical Mughal empire palace in the imagination of the protagonist, and a Street Fighter style fight between the protagonist and her brother. The task at our budget seemed impossible, but slowly the parts came together–the dance choreography, the fight choreography, the stage design, the outfits, the original Bollywood-inspired song, the camera movements–and it was such a rewarding moment to witness, especially seeing all the crew members who were helping with all of the preparation look at their work proudly too.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Over the years I’ve learned the best resource is connections, especially in the film industry. I feel like I’ve grown the most the last year or so because I’ve gotten out of my shell and have created genuine, meaningful connections with others–people within film but also other artists. You never know when an opportunity can arise, and you never know how. And this past year I have gotten some creative opportunities come to me from these unexpected connections.

I wish I was able to have started connecting with people earlier, especially when I was in film school, but I think coming from a background of fine arts and painting, I always used to view art as a solitary practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ilinabhatia.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilinabhatia/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilina-bhatia/
• Other: Production Company Website: https://pinknoseprod.com/