Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam, CEO of Dancing Atoms, joins host Gigi Johnson to share her fearless journey in women in animation, VFX, and global storytelling. From growing up in India’s animation industry to leading international studios, Vani’s story is one of resilience, trust, and creative empowerment.
From Rhythm & Hues to DreamWorks Shanghai
Vani reflects on her years helping build Rhythm & Hues’ Asian studios, contributing to Academy Award-winning films like Life of Pi and The Golden Compass. She later served as Head of Creative Management and Training at DreamWorks Shanghai, where she learned to champion cultural authenticity while nurturing emerging talent.
Dancing Atoms and Independent Storytelling
With her studio Dancing Atoms, Vani develops original stories rooted in Indian and Southeast Asian heritage. She shares how stepping into independent filmmaking required self-teaching, experimentation, and embracing both failure and play as part of the creative process.
Mentorship, Women in Animation, and Epic Games
Beyond her creative projects, Vani leads global initiatives including Women in Animation India, ASIFA India, and Epic’s Women Creators Program. She emphasizes how building communities and sharing resources help expand opportunities for women and underrepresented storytellers in animation and immersive media.
Listen to this episode to explore how storytelling, mentorship, and innovation are shaping the future of animation worldwide.
Episode Highlights
- “I was fearless, untamed, and gutsy—I had no concept of fear.” — Vani Balgam
- “When the foundation is trust, everything you build has to start and end with that.”
- “Talent is universal; it just takes a little bit of love and trust for the magic to happen.”
- “I gave myself permission to play—and to fail—as an independent filmmaker.”
- “The more you share with the community, the bigger everybody becomes.”
Guest: Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam
Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam is an Indian-born filmmaker, CEO and Creative Director of Dancing Atoms, Head of the Women in Animation India Collective, and founder of Epic’s Women Creators Program. She has led global VFX and animation teams and continues to champion women and diverse voices in creative industries.
Saraswathi “Vani” Balgam is an Indian-born writer, director, self-taught photographer, and filmmaker. Her Indian and Southeast Asian cultural heritage and her experiences and memories from being an avid global traveler help her portray common humanity and unique journeys within her characters and stories. Her exposure to the film industry started at a young age when her father started a 2D animation studio within their family home, intending to create films that involved rich Indian culture and heritage for a global audience. This foundation of creativity is from her father, as well as her mother who is also vividly creative. While Vani started her career as a business development executive for CMM Studios Limited in Mumbai, India, she slowly rose through the ranks within the Southeast Asian film scene and was appointed as Executive Director and Founder of the Rhythm and Hues Asian Studios. While executive director, she managed employees across four studios in Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Taiwan which produced VFX for many major Hollywood films, such as ‘Life of Pi’, and ‘The Golden Compass’, which each won Rhythm and Hues Studios the Academy Awards for Best VFX in 2013 and 2008 respectively. Vani also served as the Head of Creative Management and Training for Dreamworks Studios in Shanghai, China. Vani founded Dancing Atoms Studio in 2015 to create amazing stories with unforgettable and different characters. She actively encourages community development all around the world.
She is currently the president of Women in Animation – India Collective. She was also the president of Asifa India, a non-profit organization that has been dedicated to the art of animation for over two decades. Vani has been a mentor for several Epic Games Unreal Engine Fellowships programs and has produced over 120+ short films. Vani coined the Unreal Epic Games Women Creators Program for India & SE Asia intending to inspire and train women creators and form a community of creators. She was also the Creative Program Director of the UEFN Women Creators Program.
Links from the Podcast
- Dancing Atoms: https://www.dancingatoms.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dancingatoms1/
- Vani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanibalgam/
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3752718
- 2021 Article: https://www.animationxpress.com/animation/saraswathi-vani-balgam-delves-about-her-journey-current-projects-and-everything-in-between/
- 2023 Animation World Network: https://www.awn.com/animationworld/saraswathi-buyyala-balgam-unreal-engine-paving-way-women-creators
