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Aneesh Chaganty

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Aneesh Chaganty
Chaganty at the 2018 RISE Conference inHong Kong
Born(1991-01-30)January 30, 1991(age 34)
Redmond, Washington,U.S.
EducationUniversity of Southern California
Occupations
Years active2011–present

Aneesh Chaganty(/əˈniːʃˈtʃɑːɡənti/;[1]Telugu pronunciation:[əniːʂtʃɑːɡəɳʈi]born January 30, 1991) is an American film director and screenwriter. He made his feature film directorial debut with the 2018 thrillerSearching,for which he won theAlfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prizeat the2018 Sundance Film Festival.[2]

Chaganty was included in the 2019Forbes 30 Under 30Hollywood & Entertainment list.[3]

In 2021, Chaganty was featured in the December issue ofVanity Fair,representingGold Houseas anAAPIleading member.[4]

Early life and background

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Aneesh Chaganty was born inRedmond, Washington,[5]and grew up inSan Jose, California.[6]His parents, originally fromAndhra Pradesh,India,moved to the U.S. in the 1980s.[6]His father, who obtained anMS degreeincomputer engineeringfromDrexel University,serves as a director andChief Technology Officerat a software publishing, consultancy and supply company[7]founded by both his parents, AppEnsure Inc.[8]

Chaganty attendedValley Christian High Schoolfrom 2005 to 2009.[9]He graduated fromUSC School of Cinematic Artsin 2013 with a degree in film and television production.[10]

Career

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2014–2017: Early career

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In 2014, Chaganty's two minute short film, aGoogle Glassspot calledSeeds,became an internet sensation after garnering more than 1 millionYouTubeviews in 24 hours.[11]Following its success, Chaganty was invited to join the Google 5 team atGoogleCreative Lab in New York City, where he spent two years writing and directing Googlecommercials,he also made one forSuper Bowl.[5]

2018-2023: Searching film series

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After working on over 25 short films and videos, Chaganty directed his first feature film,Searching,which was originally pitched as ashort filmbut was offered a production budget for a feature instead,[5]was released on August 24, 2018 before opening wide on August 31,[12]also premiering at theSundance Film Festivalon January 21, 2018.[13]

Chaganty's second filmRun,a thriller starringSarah PaulsonandKiera Allen,was set to be released on January 24, 2020,[14]then May 8, 2020,[15]but was pushed back because of theCOVID-19 pandemic,was released onHuluon November 20, 2020.[16]Runbecame Hulu‘s most watched feature title ever during its opening weekend beating not only all previously watched Hulu Originals Films, but also licensedSVODfilm titles, and ranked as the most talked about Hulu Original Film to date onTwitter.[17]It was later released internationally byNetflixon April 2, 2021.[18]

Missing,ananthologysequel toSearching,was premiered atSundance Film Festivalon January 19, 2023 and released theatrically on January 20.[19]Chaganty wrote the story withSev Ohanianand they co-produced it alongsideNatalie Qasabian.[20]It was released by Netflix on May 20, 2023 and became number one most streamed movie in the US in just two days, where it dominated the Top 10 chart for a week[21]and was watched for 5.2 million hours during that first week on the platform streaming giant.[22]

2024-Present

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In 2024, Chaganty collaborated withMetain partnership withBlumhouseto make a short film using Meta Movie Gen, anAIvideo generating tool by the tech giant, titledi h8 ai.[23][24]The short film was featured on Meta's Movie Gen site and their YouTube channel.[25]

Filmography

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Short films

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Year Film
Director Writer Notes
2007 Nug Yes Yes Alsofilm editorandproducer
2008 The Sound of Evanescence Yes Yes Also film editor
2009 Starving! Yes Yes Also film editor
2011 Alibi Yes Yes
2012 Monsters Yes Yes Also film editor
Microeconomics Yes No
Adventure, Wisconsin Yes Yes Alsosound editorand producer
2014 Seeds Yes Yes SponsoredbyGoogle Glass
2024 i h8 ai Yes Yes partnered withBlumhouseforMetaMovie Gen

Feature films

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Year Film
Director Writer Producer Notes
2018 Searching Yes Yes No Feature directorial debut
2020 Run[26] Yes Yes No
2023 Missing No Story Yes

Acting credits

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TV roles

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Year Title
Role Note
2018 Made in Hollywood Himself Season 13
  • Episode: 46

Film roles

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Year Title
Role Note
2010 The Liaison Himself Short film
2014 Google Glass: Seeds Traveller Short film
2024 i h8 ai Himself Short film

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Film Result
2018 Locarno Film Festival Variety Piazza Grande Award Searching Nominated
Sundance Film Festival Best of Next! Won
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize
(shared withSev Ohanian)		 Won
Sydney Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Nominated
Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society Awards Best First Feature Nominated

References

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  1. ^"'Run' | Anatomy of a Scene ".The New York Times.November 20, 2020.RetrievedJuly 27,2022.
  2. ^Pedersen, Erik (January 23, 2018)."'Search' Wins Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Film Prize – Sundance ".Deadline Hollywood.Penske Business Media.RetrievedSeptember 9,2018.
  3. ^"Aneesh Chaganty".Forbes.
  4. ^"Forging a New AAPI Culture".Vanity Fair.6 December 2021.Retrieved2025-02-01.
  5. ^abc"Career Lessons From A Creative Who Left A 'Dream' Job For His Dream Career".Forbes.RetrievedSeptember 9,2018.
  6. ^ab"Aneesh Chaganty's Mother's Day message is the new viral sensation".The Times of India.Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.RetrievedSeptember 9,2018.
  7. ^"Sri Chaganty: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg".Bloomberg.RetrievedSeptember 12,2018.
  8. ^Zack, Jessica (August 16, 2018)."'Google Five' filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty gets smart with thriller 'Searching'".San Francisco Chronicle.Hearst Communications.RetrievedSeptember 12,2018.
  9. ^"Compelling Movie Thriller Directed & Co-Written by 2009 Alumnus Aneesh Chaganty".AMSE.April 9, 2018.Archivedfrom the original on September 12, 2018.RetrievedSeptember 12,2018.
  10. ^"SCA Alumni create viral video," SEEDS "".USC School of Cinematic Arts.July 3, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 12,2018.
  11. ^"Google Glass short film 'Seeds' hits the spot for Mother's Day".Tech Times.11 May 2014.RetrievedSeptember 9,2018.
  12. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 16, 2018)."Screen Gems Adds John Cho-Debra Messing Thriller 'Searching' To August Schedule".Deadline Hollywood.Penske Business Media.RetrievedSeptember 9,2018.
  13. ^"2018 Sundance Film Festival: Feature Films Announced".Sundance Film Festival.The Sundance Institute.November 29, 2017. Archived fromthe originalon December 22, 2017.RetrievedSeptember 9,2018.
  14. ^Vlessing, Etan (January 31, 2019)."Lionsgate Suspense Thriller 'Run' Sets 2020 Release Date".The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved2019-01-31.
  15. ^Couch, Aaron (January 17, 2020)."Lionsgate Thriller 'Run' Release Date Pushed Back 4 Months".The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved2025-01-31.
  16. ^"Aneesh Chaganty's Thriller 'Run' Starring Sarah Paulson Lands Release Date at Hulu".22 September 2020.Retrieved2025-01-31.
  17. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (2020-11-24)."'Run' Races To Hulu Record As Streamer's Most Watched Movie Ever In Its Opening Weekend ".Deadline.Retrieved2025-01-31.
  18. ^"Sarah Paulson, Kiera Allen's thriller Run, directed by Searching helmer Aneesh Chaganty, to stream on Netflix India from 2 April".First Post.March 20, 2021.RetrievedApril 2,2021.
  19. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (2022-11-10)."'Missing': Sony Moves 'Searching' Pic Up To January ".Deadline.Archivedfrom the original on November 10, 2022.Retrieved2022-11-10.
  20. ^Fleming, Mike Jr. (2019-08-14)."Sony's Stage 6 Films Plots Sequel To Sundance Sleeper 'Searching'".Deadline.Retrieved2021-02-10.
  21. ^Graham-Lowery, Nathan (2023-05-30)."An Underrated 2023 Movie Is Dominating The Netflix Charts, & Viewers Are Loving It".Screen Rant.Retrieved2025-01-31.
  22. ^Squires, John (2023-05-23)."Screenlife Thriller 'Missing' Just Hit Netflix and It's Already a Top 10 Streaming Title".Bloody Disgusting.Retrieved2025-01-31.
  23. ^Welk, Brian (2024-10-17)."Blumhouse Convinced Casey Affleck and Other Filmmakers to Use Meta's New AI Tool".IndieWire.Penske Business Media.Retrieved2025-01-31.
  24. ^"Meta enlists horror movie producers, other filmmakers to test AI movie generation model".SCMP.SCMP Publishers.2024-10-18.Retrieved2025-02-01.
  25. ^Spangler, Todd (2024-10-17)."Meta Teams With Blumhouse and Filmmakers Like Casey Affleck to Test Movie Gen AI Tool".Variety.Penske Business Media.Retrieved2025-01-31.
  26. ^McNary, Dave (June 7, 2018)."Lionsgate to Develop Thriller 'Run' From 'Searching' Filmmakers (EXCLUSIVE)".Variety.Penske Business Media.RetrievedSeptember 15,2018.
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