Raqi Syed is a writer, director, and visual effects designer. She began her career as a Lighting Artist at Disney for films like Meet The Robinsons and Tangled. She went on to work as a Senior Technical Director at Wētā FX, on many films including Avatar and The Hobbit Trilogy.

An advocate for an anti-racist aesthetics in visual effects, Raqi was recognized by The Los Angeles Times in 2017 as one of “100 Industry professionals who can help fix Hollywood’s Diversity Problem.” Her writings span film technology, gender, and visual effects history. Her VR experience, Minimum Mass, won the Cristal in 2020 for Best VR at Annecy Film Festival, and her essays have been featured in publications like Slate, TechCrunch, and Vice.

Raqi is a Sundance New Frontier Story Lab Fellow and a 2020 Ucross Fellow. In the Spring of 2023 she was a Resident at the Annecy Film Festival Animation Residency. Currently an Envoy for the 2022-2023 US State Department American Film Showcase, Raqi holds an MFA from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and an MA in Creative Writing from Victoria University of Wellington.