Varushka Franceschi

Varushka grew up all over the world the daughter of a foreign service officer. As a child Varushka was fascinated by the arts and her artistic temperament was nurtured by her Italian painter mother who was a direct descendant of the Renaissance painter Piero Della Francesca. After studying in Paris at L'Ecole Jacques Lecoq, and American University in Paris, Varushka went on to study and work in London as an actress. She worked extensively in theatre in London and on British TV, including an Agatha Christie series produced by the BBC. Varushka became captivated by the work of producers, and began her career in production, working as an assistant to Enzo Peri, who specialized in European co-productions. She worked with him on several productions which featured such artists as Krzysztof Zanussi, Julian Sands and Ben Gazzara Varushka founded Shapeshift Dream Productions (SDP) a film and media communications company that creates artistic and persuasive issue campaigns. SDP's mission is to influence a global vision of the future using film arts, digital and traditional media enabling a profound shift in perception as we grapple with many serious topics including the state of journalism, women's issues, climate change, ethics and the rapidly changing state of the world. Varushka was named to the Advisory Board of the Lifeboat Foundation and is now on the Media and Arts Board and the Sustainability Board. The Lifeboat Foundation is a non-profit nongovernmental organization dedicated to encouraging scientific advancements while helping humanity survive existential risks and possible misuse of increasingly powerful technologies.