Lighting up the brands with creative videos

Shagun & Adhira

Meet Shagun and Adhira from Lumos Films – a film production company based in New Delhi that creates engaging video content for companies and brands for the purpose of digital marketing. They produce online video content, corporate films and event films and have maximum girl power on their team, with most of the key team members being women. Some of the brands they have worked with include WHO, Tata Strive, Bacardi India and Pernod Ricard. (www.lumosfilms.in)

Shagun

A filmmaker by profession and a sportsperson at heart, Shagun is the ‘Scissorhands’ at Lumos Films. After securing a Master’s Degree in Mass Communication, she went on to be a scriptwriter, assistant director and post production specialist for some well-known film & television production houses in Delhi. That is where she found her love for editing and honed her skills for good storytelling.

“Movies and sports, these are the two things that have been a constant throughout my life”, Shagun says. She has played cricket at the national level and represented her school and college in various sports. She continues her sporting journey to this day with golf, aiming to play competitively soon.

High point in career

“I think the ‘high point’ has been a gradual process for me. Appreciation of our work has contributed to my confidence and self-belief, and motivated me to keeping moving forward.”

Most challenging assignment so far

“Being a young Startup, it has been challenging to juggle all aspects of running a business successfully with very few resources, both in terms of people and finance. There are times when you are the only person available to do everything from planning shoots, to production, post production, client servicing, administration, accounts – everything. That’s when it gets challenging.”

Greatest inspiration

“I would have to say too many to put down. It could be a person, a thought, an idea, a quote, a book, a movie, a photograph, anything has the potential to inspire. Reading inspirational stories, specially related to sports inspires me to push myself harder. For e.g. Open, Andre Agassi’s autobiography or Rafa, Nadal’s biography. An insight into a sports legend’s life tells you their lives are not always full of glamour and excitement, but how much hard work, grit, and resilience it requires to get where they are, how they overcome all odds and obstacles to achieve what they really desire.”

Most important milestone in life

“Taking the decision to start our own production company, experiencing head on everything that it entails, and learning and growing every day is very fulfilling.”

Women are the better halves. What does it mean to you?

“I don’t think I’m a better ‘half’, I believe each person regardless of gender is complete in themselves. Each individual has full potential to achieve anything they put their hearts and minds to.”

Adhira

A Communication Design graduate, Adhira evolved into a photographer, camera woman and graphic designer. From a very young age she was interested in the visual medium, and that resulted in her studying Communication Design from Pearl Academy, Delhi. Passionate about film making, Adhira started out with interning on a Tiger Documentary for BBC that went on to win many National Awards. Adhira is the inhouse maverick visual artist, she designed the creative Lumos films logo and does most of the storyboards of their films.

She also freelances as a commercial photographer. Her focus areas are food, fashion and product photography.

High point in career

“Buying our first expensive asset at Lumos Films, a professional camera (till then we were hiring most of our equipment), made me realize that things are materializing.”

Most challenging assignment so far

“That would be our fashion film for fashion designer Ridhi Mehra. Firstly, it exposed us to a new industry. Also the film was quite abstract.

Creativity is subjective, and it was not easy to come to an agreement on different aspects of the film, like content and treatment, with a fellow creative. Eventually the film turned out great, and was also a useful learning experience.”

Most important milestone in life

“It’s too early for me to define a milestone, both at the professional and personal level, yet. But for both I want to soon get to a level where I can move beyond just supporting myself financially, and also contribute towards creating a better life for my family.”

Women are the better halves. What does it mean to you?

“Feminism is all about equality, and this is something that I strongly believe in. I do not believe that women are ‘better’. Women and men are equal. Even our wedding films celebrate a union of two people, and we never, even subtly, reinforce any gender stereotypes.”