Prashant Buyyala is a technical and creative executive with more than two decades experience within the US and international motion picture industry, most especially within the fields of high-end visual effects and computer animation. He has undergraduate degrees in Physics and Economics, from Occidental College, and a Masters in Engineering Economic Systems degree from Stanford University. As Managing Director of Rhythm & Hues International, the global arm of the pioneering visual effects powerhouse which he joined in 1995, Prashant led the design, building, and operations of the first of its kind international VFX studios in India, Malaysia and Taiwan. Working in alliance with R&H’s headquarters’ studio in Los Angeles, he designed a "geographically agnostic" workflow and organizational philosophy that successfully delivered over 50 major Hollywood feature films. Under his leadership, R&H International grew to more than 500 artists and technicians who delivered VFX for multiple Academy Award winning motion pictures including Ang Lee’s masterpiece, Life of Pi. For R&H Prashant also created the business plan and financial models for “East Grand Films”, a $100M co-production film fund, and raised $35M from the Taiwan government and private investors. In addition Prashant setup a new JV between R&H and Chungwha Telecom (Taiwan's leading telco) called CAVE to provide a platform of cloud computing services for computer animation and visual effects for the entertainment industry. He established the vision for CAVE, wrote the business plan, raised funding, and designed the scope of services. Following the 2013 sale of Rhythm & Hues, Prashant was brought into DreamWorks Animation by CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and President Ann Daly, to go to Shanghai and lead the design, building and operations of DWA’s Chinese JV, Oriental Dreamworks. At ODW he helped to deliver the co-production of Kung Fu Panda 3 and setup a the strategy for a slate of upcoming animated feature films. After DWA’s sale to NBC Universal, China Media Capital acquired NBC Universal’s stake in the studio, and Prashant left the company. Prashant has since been an advisor and consultant to select motion picture production companies globally and served as the Co-Chair for the Computer Animation Festival of SIGGRAPH Asia 2017 conference conducted in Bangkok, Thailand.