Rishi Mehta

Payasam and Other Careful Processes 𝙀𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙚 

Sidharth, an Indian American boy, and his traditional parents are forced to reckon with their conflicting values when he brings home a girlfriend who doesn’t fit their expectations.

Watch Now on Film Shortage + YouTube Channel [links in bio] An Empty Lot Productions @emptylotproductions and Raw Color Studios @rawcolorstudios Film Starring Suraj Partha @surajpartha , Rishi Mehta @rishitheactor Shavya Samala @shavyasamala , Ren Holly Liu @renholly , Usha Ravi, and Ravi Natarajan Written and Directed by Akshay Ravi @theakshayravi Produced by Alyssa Callahan @alyssacallahan , Rohan Palla @rohan.pr5 , and Matt Martinez @matthewryanmartinez Co-Produced by Raja Natarajan, Sangeetha Krishnan, Nicole McCullough, and Rita Konopasky Original Music by Dhruv Goel @dhruvgoel Director of Photography: John Laverman @john.laverman Editor: Kirsten Hoang @kirstenhoang Production Designer: Brenda Garcia @brendaxgarciax #DailyShortPicks #ShortFilm #IndianAmerican

My thoughts.

Had such an awesome experience working on this exciting new show! @ballardonprime drops tonight at midnight on Amazon Prime! Look out for me as Kamal in Episode 6! Thank you to our wonderful director @hollywdafricans ! And to the absolute legend @mrjclynch who I had the honor of sharing a scene with - thank you for being as cool off screen as you are on it. And of course, thank you @management_101 and @hritalent , as well as @richardhickscasting , for the opportunity to be a small part of the legendary Bosch legacy. All 10 episodes of Ballard S1 drop tonight at midnight PST!

Holy fuck thank you @mikeycbryan this was the exact fire-poker-up-my-ass wake up call I needed on this Wednesday to shake myself out of a funk and keep working. You’re an amazing friend, influence, colleague, and classmate. Thank you for making me smile while turning 37.

Ngl this is weird. Are we living in a simulation? Is the magic actually gone?

Some glimpses of opening night of Arsenic and Old Lace. Thank you to everyone involved, to everyone who came out and watched us perform this wild piece of work for the first time, and to the lovely humans who gave me these awesome opening night gifts! Come out and see us every Fri, Sat, and Sun thru June 16! Details & flyer in my previous post.

I’m in a play! Come see me take on the role of Mortimer Brewster in the classic “Arsenic and Old Lace”, at the ARTSpace Black Box Theatre in Simi Valley! I’m so excited to be bringing this outlandish, bonkers piece to life! May 24-June 16! Performances will be Fri & Sat 8pm, and Sun 2pm. *PLEASE NOTE: I will be out of town June 8, 9, 14, & 15 and missing those performances* Swipe for details and to make your reservation! Email Jan at [email protected] to make your reservation for the date you’d like to come. She will respond with confirmation and payment instructions, etc.

Hey all! I attended the 1st informational meeting on the new contract yesterday, and obviously went into it with some important questions. I wanted to share the answers with all of you. Obviously, please PLEASE read thru the summary and the FAQs at sagaftra.org/contracts2023 and attend one of the upcoming info sessions to get a better understanding yourself. But in the meantime, here are my major takeaways. Please reach out if anything is wrong or if you have any specific questions. Cont'd in comments. AI: 1. Was there no way to just put language into contract that clearly defines an actor/performer as a “human being” and/or eliminate AI from the conversation altogether? Short answer, Neg Com said no. In order to negotiate for something we want, we have to start from somewhere. Until now, there was no language surrounding AI at all. It was a “blank page”, as Fran called it. Now that the language has at least entered the contract, we can use it to pinpoint and target the specifics in future negotiations. There is language in the contract differentiating between a “natural performer”, a “synthetic performer”, and a “digital replica”, but no full out bans on the latter two. SAG will do "their best" to ensure there’s no financial advantage to a production using a synthetic performer vs real performer or their digital replica (with consent). 2. What are the main areas where AI will come into play? There are three: Digital Replicas, Performance Alteration, and Generative AI. A digital replica is, as the name suggests, a replica of an actor’s voice or likeness that can be used in connection with the project they’re hired to work on (ex: a sequel), or on a separate, independent project (with separate consent & bargaining). Performance alteration is changing an actor’s performance, whether it be something small like the color of their shirt or fixing an audio glitch, or something bigger like changing their dialogue, speed/tone/pitch, eyeline, or even lip movement/language. Generative AI is using a performer’s image/likeness to feed an AI system or library to create an entirely new character or person, or a mashup, that is not identifiable as any natural performer.

My new headshots are AWESOME! Thank you so much @kayvonphotos at @poyeyphotos for making the unbearable not only bearable, but enjoyable! Excited to hit the ground running once the strike is over and the #wga gets what they deserve. It’s ironic that, as someone who makes a living showing myself to people all over the country, I generally hate looking through photos of myself. But I catch myself looking thru all these shots over and over! #actor #actorlife #actorslife #audition #acting #headshots #casting #hollywood #losangeles #california

35. Trying to live with intention. Put myself first. Own less, own better. Revel in the journeys, focus less on the destinations. Savor the work, forget about the results. Embrace challenges. Give myself the space to create and play. Travel. Meet people. Don’t accept others as they are, but accept *that* they are. Breathe more. Sleep better. Eat more pizza.

Realizing it’s almost tax season again…then realizing it’s *more* almost my birthday. Where are my fellow February fools at?? 📸: @itscapturedbysam