The Shawn Thomas Journey
His journey in Auckland started with hosting BFunk workshops for the community and working with Shivani Bhagwan and Chaya Kumar
Later he was the judge for the great New Zealand Dance Masala featured on TV3 along with James Luck and Prabha Ravi.
He’s conducted more than 90 workshops in Auckland training more than 500 dancers in the last 5 years.
An image from Shawn’s 75th Dance Class - hosting more than 100 dancers in one space
He runs a successful dance group called Bollywood United, which comprises more than 20 talented dancers in Auckland. Popularly known for its dance videos, Bollywood United also performs at large-scale events around Auckland and has more than 10 million views on their videos on Youtube.
He's had the opportunity to work as a casting director for 2 high-budget South Indian films in the last 2 years. His first film as casting director was Game Changer. He cast background dancers for a hit song composed by Thaman - NaaNaa Hyraanaa featuring Ram Charan, & Kiara Advani. He had the opportunity to work closely with ace Bollywood choreographer Bosco Ceasar. The Game changer crew to New Zealand also included popular director Shankar, experienced cinematographer Tirru & prolific award-winning designer Avinash Kolla.
His next film as casting director is Kannappa where he got to work with Vishnu Manchu & Mohan Babu. He selected background dancers and worked closely with National award choreographer Brinda and upcoming female star Preity Mukundhan
Along with these achievements Shawn has had the opportunity to perform at the opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Christchurch. Performed in front of Prime Minister Christoper Luxton at the Indian Weekender Kiwi Indian Hall of Fame Awards 2024
And choreograph the background dancers for Honey Singh at his 2024 concert Glory Tour held at Trusts Arena, Auckland. Shawn’s education also involves a certificate in filmmaking from the New York Film Academy, earlier in his career, he had the opportunity to work on the pre-production of the Netflix series Sweet Tooth and NZ’s leading soap series - Shortland St.