Gitanjali is a Chicago-based filmmaker and a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA film program. She is a Nicholls Fellowship quarter-finalist; an experienced writer (for hire and optioned) with a penchant for writing comedy. She is currently in development on a South Asian family sitcom based in Brampton, Canada which she pitched at BANFF 2023. She has written, directed and produced/co-produced 3 live-action shorts since 2017. Released in 2019 Breathing above the Treeline had 14 live screenings world-wide and was the winner of multiple awards and nominations. She recently completed Bat and Groped which she will release in 2023. She is Associate Professor, Adjunct at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is part-time faculty at Columbia College Chicago. She has published extensively on the hero's journey and has expertise in the pedagogy of world-building.