Umesh Shukla was a prominent member of the Academy Award®-winning team (Outstanding Visual Effects) for the movie Titanic where, as a character integration supervisor, he was responsible for digitally recreating people in more than 100 scenes. He was also the lead computer graphics supervisor at Disney Feature Animation for the first 3D animated movie produced at its Burbank studios and served as a designer/director for an episode for Disney's Fantasia 3. A consultant for DreamWorks' Shark Tale; Shukla's expertise was utilized to design the technical and production pipeline. In addition, his special effects work was part of other live action films, including The Island of Dr. Moreau and Dante's Peak, among others. Trained initially as a graphic designer at the National Institute of Design (NID) in India, founded by Charles and Ray Eames, Shukla sought to combine his artistic talent with new technologies. Integrating graphic design with film, he designed a study course as his thesis, and eventually taught that course at NID. He worked in Singapore and Sydney in animation and special effects for diverse clients throughout the South East Asian market before coming to the United States in 1994.

"I worked on almost every kind of project - graphic design, corporate identity, exhibitions, animations, film titles, commercials, documentaries," Mr. Shukla notes. His early animation and design work involved commercials for Sony, Fuji, Shell, Coke, Dodge, Martell, KLM, and World Cup, among others. While in Singapore, Shukla directed his first short film, Tandav, which was selected for inclusion in Siggraph, a major U.S. graphic arts festival. Umesh is also the founder of Auryn, Inc. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his family.