The Way We Get By

Gita Pullapilly is the producer on the Emmy nominated documentary, THE WAY WE GET BY-- a heartfelt story about three senior citizens finding purpose in their life. The film had its world premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) in March 2009 and won the Special Jury Award. THE WAY WE GET BY has won 18 festival awards to date, including the Audience Award at the Full Frame Film Festival, the Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Film Award at the Cleveland International Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the Atlanta, Little Rock, Phoenix, Naples and Newport International Film Festival.

THE WAY WE GET BY was released theatrically in July 2009, playing in over 60 cities across the U.S. It aired on the critically acclaimed, independent television series P.O.V. on PBS as a primetime special this past Veterans Day. Recently, AARP's "Movies For Grownups" Awards honored THE WAY WE GET BY as "Best Documentary" of 2009.

Gita Pullapilly is an award-winning television journalist and film producer. She has produced films in the U.S., Jordan and India. Her stories have aired on CBS, CNN, and ABC. Gita has received a number of grants for her projects including from ITVS, CPB, POV, MacArthur Foundation, Fulbright, and Fledgling Fund. In 2006, Gita was selected as a participant in the Sundance Producers Conference at the Sundance Institute for The Way We Get By. In 2007, Gita was selected as a WGBH Filmmaker in Residence. In 2008, Gita received a Kaiser Mini-Fellowship for Global Health Reporting and was inducted into the Royal Society of the Arts in recognition of her work in film and television.

Gita was the producer and interviewer for India: A New Life (a WGBH-Frontline World production). In 2008, India: A New Life was the recipient of three Telly awards. Gita was also the producer for a Fulbright funded film, Diary of a Refugee (a story on the 1948 Palestinian refugees living in UNRWA camps in Jordan). She was the first filmmaker chosen as a Fulbright Senior Scholar to Jordan.

Gita has received a number of awards including: an Emmy nomination, the University of Notre Dame Asian American Alumni Association Exemplar Award, 2 Associated Press Awards, a Michigan Association of Broadcasters Award, three Telly awards, and a Northwestern University Scholarship for Outstanding Storytelling. Gita worked as a television reporter before making the switch to documentary filmmaking. Gita was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.B.A. in Finance and holds a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Gita currently lives in New York City.