simone-in-gujarat-desert_innovationtvseries2
Simone in Gujarat Desert: Innovation TV Series.
About Simone:Simone Ahuja is the founder and Principal of Blood Orange Media a vertically integrated media company based in Minneapolis, USA. She began her Art career by performing and teaching improvisational and traditional theater, eventually moving into film and television. Her company, Blood Orange, develops, produces and distributes non-fiction television programs in genres that include travel, history, lifestyle, business and world culture for US and international broadcast, and develops concepts for fiction programming.

Simone has produced award-winning programming for CNBC, USA, founded an online film competition, and produced and directed the 2007 travel series Indique - Untold Stories of Contemporary India that airs nationally in the US, on international airlines including Northwest Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. In India, the series aired on Zee TV and the Indique DVD was launched at Crossword Bookstore by Anupam Kher, Rahul Bose and Ness Wadia. The series was most recently supported by Fortune 100 company, Best Buy. Simone is based out of Minneapolis, USA, and Bombay, India.

INDIQUE– Untold Stories of Contemporary India

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjK2bkWgmfg[/youtube]

LM: I read recently that you fund a great deal of your movies through your own means, by way of your dental practice. Do you find it hard to juggle the creative process with the business demands - i.e., distribution, marketing, etc?

SA: Though I've been involved in film and television for several years, last year I was able to make a complete transition out of dentistry. I now have the ability to exclusively create films, write, and pursue India-related academic studies both formally and informally. It was challenging to balance both careers - and the ability to focus on one career certainly has catalyzed a forward momentum. All filmmakers struggle with balancing the creative and business sides of our medium. Initially, I resented that so much time has to be spent on marketing, distribution, etc, but now