It is my pleasure to recommend Satyajit Sharma for the position of an Assistant Professor in Documentary Production at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Kanbar Institute of Film and Television.

I am Subhojit Goswami, a development communications professional with an experience of working with several international non-profit organizations. My association with Satyajit goes back to 2020 when we were planning short documentaries on medical and socio-economic rehabilitation work for disadvantaged communities in Tamil Nadu, India.

What stood out the most during our collaboration is the way he accompanied us and handheld us during the entire journey—from pre-production (conceptualization, scripting, etc.) to post-production (editing, voiceovers, etc.). Unlike many other filmmakers, Satyajit doesn’t restrict himself to only a few aspects / components of filmmaking, which is why we saw him dabbling in scripting, film structuring, production planning, shooting, and editing.

By virtue of having shot films in different states of India, with varied climatic conditions, languages, and a diverse landscape of challenges, Satyajit has evolved into a filmmaker who knows how to make those subtle technical adjustments and have a nuanced approach towards shooting certain subjects under unfavorable conditions.

I think what Satyajit brings to the table is genuine curiosity about any project that comes his way, a knack for thinking differently, and confidence to pull off a complex work. I think perseverance, thinking beyond the obvious, and discipline are some of the fundamental qualities a documentary filmmaker should have, and Satyajit has all of them.

I am sure, students will greatly benefit from his meticulous approach towards filmmaking, not just in terms of technicalities, but also in terms of the diverse experiences that have shaped him as a filmmaker.

Satyajit Sharma’s ability to visualize the client’s vision and his meticulousness set him apart. I have known him since 2015 when he and his team did post-production for two videos for the International Committee of the Red Cross and then he directed two documentaries for one of our research projects in the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.

On the first occasion, our association was limited to the magic he and his team stitched in the edit table, but for our project in early 2018, we traveled together and the project involved multiple shoot locations in Maharashtra. His planning skills came in very handy and during the postproduction, he gave us a realistic turnaround time and met his deadline.

In both the projects, the subject was different- in the first one it was about humanitarian efforts and the second one was academic research that was translated into an on-ground pilot, so Satyajit interestingly read quite a lot about both the projects and then drafted the storyline, which was then further tweaked by us. So the bottom line is – he goes that extra length to get into the soul of the story- which is a classic style of a good filmmaker.
I would not hesitate to collaborate with him again and I am sure, he can bring more value and power to any association he is part of. More power to his visual storytelling.

I have worked with Satya in the early stages of his editorial career way back in the early 2000. Satya is an editor par excellence. He has an eye for detail and is always trying to improve the cut making valuable creative contributions. He is evenly tempered and is a joy to work with. 

“Satya brings a combination creativity and dependability to his work which makes one go back to him again and again. His communication is clear and he understands and responds to your requests clearly, which makes even working remotely with him a smooth process. I would recommend him highly both as a freelance hire and for creative positions in media related companies.” Top Qualities: Great Results, On Time, Creative