By C. Neil Davenport
Executive Director of Filmed in Georgia and Operations Director of PhilanthroFilms
As Georgia’s creative economy continues to mature beyond service production into a hub for original storytelling, a new generation of filmmakers is emerging, forming artists who not only work in the state but build lasting creative capital from within it. Among them is Akshay Bhatia, a Georgia-born, Atlanta-based writer-director whose debut feature TAM signals a promising convergence of auteur cinema, strategic production, and grassroots economic impact.
Bhatia’s path into filmmaking reflects both deep craft immersion and a distinctly modern sensibility. Most recently, he served as Francis Ford Coppola’s personal assistant and directorial apprentice on Megalopolis, following the project from pre-production through post-production and its eventual premiere. During the shoot, Bhatia assisted in directing and writing scenes, while also apprenticing under Roman Coppola, who led the film’s second unit. In that role, Bhatia worked closely on rehearsing the film’s extensive practical effects, sharpening his understanding of large-scale production mechanics and collaborative authorship.
He also collaborated with Mike Figgis, director of Leaving Las Vegas, on MegaDoc, the behind-the-scenes documentary chronicling the making of Megalopolis.
“That experience was the greatest film school I could’ve ever asked for, and pretty quickly established the pedigree of artist I aspired to be, and that I strongly believe can emerge from Georgia,” says Bhatia.
His latest short film, The Preakness, starring Jeffrey Pierce (The Last of Us), with music by electronic artist Dan Deacon, was nominated by the Georgia Film Critics Association for Excellence in Georgia Cinema. On its surface, it is a classic Western story of a hard-living rancher resisting forces that threaten his way of life. Beneath that narrative, however, lies a deeper interrogation of how identity, history, and personal agency are increasingly controlled and commodified by technology.
Bhatia has spoken openly about anxieties that underpin much of his storytelling: modern concerns of living in a world in which access to limitless information leads to an erosion of privacy and authenticity, as well as timeless concerns of identity and the self. He often explores individuals struggling to identify themselves, who feel aimless and adrift in a world leaving them behind. Drawing inspiration from cinematic masters such as Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard, and Oliver Stone, Bhatia experiments with form while remaining grounded in emotional realism.
These thematic interests carry forward into TAM, his debut feature, slated to shoot in Q3 of 2026. Set in small-town Georgia, the film is a darkly comedic Southern drama about a past-his-prime mayoral candidate caught between his obligations to community and his wildly desperate ambitions.
“TAM was born out of my deep adoration of Southern Gothic literature, and built in the image of people I grew up knowing all too well.”
Importantly, TAM is built with economic intentionality. The production is structured to shoot entirely in Georgia, utilizing the state’s transferable tax credit and prioritizing local crews, vendors, and post-production partners. For investors and donors, the project represents a lower-risk independent model while directly contributing to Georgia’s creative workforce through a project with prestige indie packaging and larger industry interfacing. The film has already been acquired for domestic distribution and international sales by a prominent independent film distribution company, who took on the project from the strength of the script alone. It has also gotten early interest from well-known established talent.
Beyond TAM, Bhatia continues to expand his footprint within the independent ecosystem. Bhatia co-operates production company Reel Friends with his producing partner Rocco Shapiro, specializing in local repertory screenings and larger community minded film events, partnered with the historic Plaza and Tara Theatres.
As Georgia’s creative economy looks toward the future, filmmakers like Akshay Bhatia represent a crucial evolution: artists who merge serious cinematic ambition with local investment and long-term vision. By developing original intellectual property in Georgia and staying rooted here, Bhatia is helping ensure that the state’s film industry is not only productive, but enduring.
