Uraaz Bahl is a first time director based in Mumbai, India. Uraaz was schooled in India and England, and graduated from Boston University. Films have always been his passion, and after graduation he was accepted to UCLA film school, but was unable to attend as he returned home to be with his mother who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He then went on to join his family’s manufacturing business. In 2008 Uraaz got his Masters from Columbia University, and launched a real estate company. Uraaz always secretly dreamt of one day making a film, and Ladies First is a project forty years in the making.

Shaana Levy is an actor/producer born in Kenya to a Swiss Jewish father and an Indian mother. She grew up in Zurich and London and is now based between Mumbai, London, Mallorca and Los Angeles.  Shaana studied Theatre and Film at Yale Drama School, Michael Howard Studios, and The Beverly Hills Playhouse whilst attending Columbia University. Shaana gained valuable production knowledge with Mira Nair at Mirabai Films and at Steve Tisch’s Production Company. In 2009, Shaana executive produced WEST IS WEST, the sequel to BAFTA award winning ‘East is East’, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival. Shaana has been working on a globally topical documentary called POWER, which tackles the colossal topic of energy security. She has just produced the documentary short LADIES FIRST about the meteoric success and struggles of Indian archer, Deepika Kumari.

Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is a two time Academy Award and an Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker. In the past 16 years, she has made over a dozen multi-award winning films in over 10 countries around the world. Her films include Girl in the river, Song of Lahore, Saving Face, Peace Keepers, Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret and Pakistan’s Taliban Generation. Her work has aired on channels spanning 4 continents including, HBO, CNN, PBS, Channel 4, CBC, Arte, SBS and the Discovery channel.

In 2012, Time Magazine included Sharmeen in their annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. That same year the Pakistan Government awarded her with highest civil honor “Hilal-e -Imtiaz”.

In 2013, the Canadian government awarded her a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work in the field of documentary films and the World Economic Forum honored her with a Crystal Award at their annual summit in Davos.

In 2017, Sharmeen was the first artist to co-chair the “World Economic Forum” at Davos.

Avdhesh Mohla is a Film Editor based out of London. Avdhesh graduated from London Film Academy. Shortly after graduating, Avdhesh secured his first job as Assistant Editor on the BAFTA award winning Feature Documentary, SENNA. He also worked on critically acclaimed Feature Documentaries such as LIFE IN A DAY, MARLEY and the Oscar winning AMY, among others. He received high praise for his work on «SACHIN: A BILLION DREAMS», which has become one of the highest grossing docu-dramas of all time. He also edited two episodes of the Amazon Original Docu-Series LE MANS: RACING IS EVERYTHING. Avdhesh’s other editing credits include documentary short, LADIES FIRST, executive produced by two-time Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and THE SCIENCE OF COMPASSION, Directed by renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. Avdhesh is currently editing the Untitled Amazon Original Docu Series on the McLaren Formula One team.

John W. Rutland is based out of Los Angeles. John graduated from The American Film Institute where his thesis film, TRACES, won Best Cinematography at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. Straight out of film school, John shot the brooding thriller, RESTIVE, which won the Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival. He quickly went on to lens LOVELY MOLLY, directed by Eduardo Sanchez, co-director of the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. John and Eduardo collaborated again on the SXSW Audience Award winner, EXISTS. In 2014, John was invited to attend Berlinale Talents which hosts 300 of the world’s top emerging filmmakers from all disciplines. The following year, John was Cinematographer on the 6th installment of Paramount Pictures & Blumhouse’s hugely successful franchise, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION. John’s feature work also includes the comedy BELIEVE ME, directed by Will Bakke, and the Rhode Island Film Fest Grand Prize winner, LAST DAYS OF SUMMER. On the television side, John’s recent credits include second unit DP on TNT’s LEGENDS, Amazon’s GOLIATH, and HBO’s SILLICON VALLEY. In the documentary world, John has been Cinematographer on the 2017 SXSW Audience Award winner BECOMING BOND, followed by, LADIES FIRST, executive produced by two-time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

John’s work has been featured at some of the top film festivals in the world including the Berlinale, Toronto, Tribeca, and SXSW. Most recently, John wrapped principal photography on SIERRA BURGESS IS A LOSER, directed by Ian Samuels and starring Shannon Purser, Chrissy Metz, Lea Thompson, and Alan Ruck.

Gabriel Ferreira is a Music Composer, Producer and Orchestrator currently based in Sao Paulo – Brazil. He studied Classical and Brazilian Guitar in the Conservatory of Tatui and graduated in Music Production. In 2014, Gabriel started working at Supersonica Studios, owned by the well-known Brazilian composer Antonio Pinto (CITY OF GOD, CENTRAL STATION, LORD OF WAR, COLLATERAL). At Supersonica Gabriel wrote and produced for projects such as the Oscar winning AMY (2015), the sci-fi thriller SELFLESS (2016), Ric Roman Waugh’s SHOT CALLER (2017), Fernando Meirelles’ TV series FELIZES PARA SEMPRE (2015), James Lapine’s CUSTODY (2016), among others. Also as composer/producer and orchestrator he worked in the Opening Ceremony of the RIO OLYMPICS 2016, one the most important artistic events in the world, which gave him the opportunity to work among renowned artists like Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Paulinho da Viola and Luiz Melodia. In 2017 Gabriel wrote the soundtrack for the documentary LADIES FIRST, produced by the two time Oscar winner Shameen Obaid-Chinoy, and is currently writing for the Brazilian film AS COSTUREIRAS.

Antonio Pinto is a composer who was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is known for his work on Collateral(2004), The Host (2013) and Lord of War (2005). He composed the soundtracks for both of Asif Kapadia’s award winning documentaries, AMY and SENNA, and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2008 for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for «Despedida» in Love in the Time of Cholera (2007). Antonio also did the music for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.