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SAIT film grad defines success

Filmmaking and financial stability aren’t often seen holding hands. It’s nice to romanticize about living the fabulous life as a successful award-winning director, but the Steven Spielbergs and Quentin Tarantinos are few and far between.

Ten years ago, SAIT film grad Smita Acharyya was making her first short film in spare time she had just before completing her program.

“I found a mechanical frog, and I thought I would make this frog jump, so we’d be literally jumping from scene to scene, and this frog was supposed to move,” she says with an amused tone.

“It was just the most hilarious thing, because it was me and a camera in the parking lot at SAIT and this stupid plastic frog, and I’m just sitting there hitting the thing trying to get it to jump.” Acharyya explains this bizarre scene as an effort to channel Spielberg’s creativity in Jaws.

Fast-forward to 2010, and although her steadfastness and creativity didn’t completely translate into “living the Spielberg dream,” Acharyya has written her name on the Alberta film industry.

She quickly worked her way into the industry after graduating from SAIT. In the past 10 years, Acharyya has completed five films and has been recognized for her efforts. Her film Downsizing was nominated for best short by the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association, and her film Sorry Girl won best screenwriter for a drama under 30 minutes at the 2009 Alberta Film and Television Awards.

Most recently, Acharyya was recognized by SAIT Alumni as the first recipient of the Young Alumnus or Alumna Award, which will be presented to her Feb. 11.

Laurie Johnson, Film and Video instructor, taught Acharyya while she was at SAIT. He says he isn’t surprised by her success. From her first year, she always had an understanding of the unfailing dedication it takes to compete in the film industry, Johnson says.

“You only kind of know what you don’t know after two years, believe it or not,” says Johnson about SAIT film and video graduates. “What we do is we put a student out there who’s ready to learn by doing in the industry. She’s been climbing that ladder understanding that it’s a lifelong learning process.”

Acharyya appreciates the recognition, saying awards like these breathe a little more meaning into her work.

“When you’re making films, it honestly is very difficult – there’s not a lot of money and you really pour your heart and soul into it. Some days you really feel like, ‘I should get a real job.’ When you’re feeling really broke and they’re giving you an award like this, it gives you that extra drive.”

But Acharyya says althought following her dreams is tough, it’s worth it because there’s no better feeling than the rare moments when her initial vision of a screenplay somehow manifests itself on film in the exact fashion she had originally imagined.

“I cannot tell you a better high,” she says. “You just keep chasing that high every time.”

Acharyya is currently a production manager in Vancouver for a series on APTN called Fish Out of Water. She’s also working on an interactive film project called the Baby Cliffs and writing a screenplay for a feature film, The Shanti Clause.

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