Neelu is a passionate and playful creative who believes design and film can transform society. Since 2010, they have been contributing their Graphic, UX/UI design and web dev skills to a range of projects. Alongside this work, Neelu makes films with their San Francisco based studio Moving Dreams Studios LLC, and is currently working on their second feature length project on India’s first transman pilot.

SPUR 

Voter Guide & Events Filtering System


UX & UI, Figma, User Experience

TRANSFINITE

A sci-fi omnibus feature film composed of seven standalone short stories where supernatural trans and queer people from various cultures use their powers to protect, love, teach, fight and thrive.

CHIRAKU (WING) 

CHIRAKU showcases 18-year-old Adam Harry’s turbulent and triumphant journey to become India’s first trans commercial pilot.

CLIENTS

Brent Museum | Large Scale Graphic Design for Grunwick 40 exhibition, 2016, London, UK

Better World Advertising | Web Designer, 2010-2011, San Francisco


COUNTERPULSE | Graphic Designer, 2010-2013, San Francisco


ZERO1 | Web Designer, 2013-2016, San Jose


Inneract Project | Web Designer & Developer, 2010-2011, San Francisco


Square Tomato | Web & Graphic Designer, 2010-2011, Seattle


KCTS9 | Web & Graphic Designer, 2009, Seattle


Dumb Eyes | Web Designer, 2010, Seattle


Bankers Without Borders | Web Designer, 2009-2010, Washington DC, Remote


Tasveer | Web & Graphic Designer, 2006-2010, Seattle


Smilebox Inc | QA Software Tester, 2005-2009, Seattle, Part Time


Motorola Inc. | Software Engineer, 1999-2004, Champaign, IL

RECOGNITION

2024 IDA Logan Elevate Grant Nominee

CHIRAKU (Work-In-Progress) : 2023-2024 Firelight Media Doc Lab Fellow

CHIRAKU (Work-In-Progress) : 2022 Tasveer Film Fund Pitch Winner (Netflix Backed)

CHIRAKU (Work-In-Progress) : 2023 Doc Society CPH: DOX Lab Fellow 

2022 Sundance Uprise Grant Nominee

TRANSFINITE (2019) : Grant Winner of 2019 Trans Justice Funding Project

TRANSFINITE (2019) : Opening night feature at the world’s oldest and most recognised 2019 San Francisco Transgender International Film Festival

TRANSFINITE (2019) : Audience Award at 2019 TranScreen Amsterdam

TRANSFINITE (2019) : Austin’s 2019 aGLIFF Critic’s Pick

TRANSFINITE (2019) : 2019 Kochi-Muziris Biennale - Artist Film Strand

FU377 (2014) : BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM - Jury Award by 2014 Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series, Brooklyn, New York, USA

FU377 (2014) : BEST ANIMATION - Jury Award by 2014 Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival, New Delhi, India

FU377 (2014) : BEST SHORT, 2014 Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival, India

Served on juries for 2019 Boston Wicked Queer International Film Festival, 2020 MIX Copenhagen, 2022 Seattle International Translations Film Festival

SKILLS

Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Drupal CMS, CSS, HTML, Leadership, Visual storytelling, Excellent communication and cross cultural interpersonal skills, Time and organisational management, Thrive in managing chaotic productions.

EDUCATION

AA in Interactive Media Design

2010 • The Art Institute of Seattle • Seattle, WA, USA • 07-10 Dean’s List


MS in Electrical Engineering

1999 • Bradley University • Peoria, IL, USA • GPA: 3.8/4.0


BTech in Electronics and Communications

1997 • Sri Venkateswara University • India • 95-97 Dean’s List

Citizenship / USA and UK