Aditi V. Desai graduated from Smith College with a BA in Psychology and a Certificate in Asian American Studies.  After Smith, Aditi received a William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India and moved to Gujarat, India.  During her yearlong stay, she worked for Utthan, a local non-profit, and experienced her first kite flying festival in Gujarat.

After returning to the US, Aditi continued to work in the non-profit sector for two years and discovered a love for creating visual media.  Wanting to pursue her passion, Aditi decided to head back to academia and is currently working toward an MFA in Film & Electronic Media at American University.  During her time at American, Aditi has interned with the National Geographic Channel, Spark Media and Discovery Communications.  Cookies, a short film she co-produced and edited won the TIVA-DC Peer Gold Award for Best Student Dramatic Production.  Most recently, her film, Skipjacks – A Dying Breed, screened at the DC Environmental Film Festival, aired on Maryland Public Television as part of EcoViews: Life on the Bay and won a Regional Student Emmy for Best Non-News Production.

Kai Fang holds a BFA in advertising from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and has 12 years of professional experience in the advertising industry. He is currently an Associate Creative Director and his work has appeared in Adweek, Archive, Communication Arts, Creativity, Graphis and One Show.

Kai is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker currently pursuing an MFA in Film and Electronic Media at American University. Something Fishy, a short screenplay he wrote, was nominated for a 2009 Visions Award. Cookies, a short film he wrote and directed won the TIVA-DC Peer Gold Award for Best Student Dramatic Production. Most recently, his documentary film Skipjacks – A Dying Breed, screened at the DC Environmental Film Festival and aired on Maryland Public Television as part of EcoViews: Life on the Bay.