Mikita Zhurauliou

Washington, DC

TBA

Columbia University, Financial Economics, 2026

Bio

After moving to the United States from Minsk, Belarus around the start of 2015, I spent years working in the entertainment industry. I started out as a background actor, and after just a few projects, I became a SAG-AFTRA member. Over time I got more excited about working behind the camera and switched to production — including fundraising and financing, as well as directing and writing. That journey led to filming at New York Fashion Week, producing and directing my first short film "Your Aura", and collaborating with clients across the US. After my move from New York to Los Angeles to further pursue a career in filmmaking, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. With the industry on pause, I decided to use the time to build an entirely new skill and recieve a bachelor's degree from a top university in a field I didn't know much about. In May 2026, I graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Financial Economics. During my time at Columbia, I completed multiple intenrhsip programs and conducted independent research in econophysics. Today, I’m continuing that research, preparing for the Series 65 exam, and keeping my creative projects moving forward. Fore more updates click here >> BLOG.

Timeline

2025-2026

Personal Financial Planner Intern

SP & Company

During my final year at Columbia, I interned at SP & company, where I developed financial plans for debt reduction and cash-flow optimization by analyzing client spending, income, and liabilities. And, of course, I put together dozens presentations.

2022-2026

Full time Financial Economics student & Independent Researcher

Columbia University

In the autumn of 2022, I began my journey at Columbia University. After struggling through the first two semesters, I found the key to success, which allowed me to make the Dean's List multiple times, build and backtest momentum–acceleration trading models, and further develop my interest in fascinating disciplines like econophysics and behavioral economics. Over four years of full-time study, I also got curious about other parts of the financial world. I completed the Goldman Sachs investment banking series and learned about M&A as a Scholar at Grata. I also became very interested in tax policy, and during my final semester I completed a research paper that was nominated for submission to the Senior Undergraduate Research Award.

2019-2022

Covid-19

Pandemic

During COVID, most film productions were closed or postponed. This was the time when I chose to reevaluate my career path and learn a skill that is useful no matter what. I decided to get an education from a top university and got accepted to Columbia University, where I challenged myself by pursuing a degree in Financial Economics.

2018-2024

Strategist

GagaDaily

I helped GagaDaily on multiple occasions, from managing the backend operations to finance, taxes, and merchandise. I also created multiple pieces of digital content for them.

2016-2022

Producer / Director / Editor

MZ Productions

Produced, filmed, edited, and promoted multiple projects in tech, fashion, and marketing across the US, including clients like COACH, New York Fashion Week, and CTOs of government agencies.

2016-2018

Actor & Caterer

Acted in more than 20 different shows (Blue Bloods, The Americans, Orange Is the New Black, Blacklist) and got accepted to the SAG-AFTRA guild upon scoring a speaking role. And of course, according to the universal algorithm, every actor at some point has to work as a waiter-caterer — well, I fulfilled this lore requirement :)

2015

Landed in the United States of America!

Featured projects

Creative

Some of the projects from a creative side of me.

early 2027

New short film, coming early 2027

One of the most valuable soft skills I learned by graduating from Columbia University is time management. Now I know how to balance multiple unrelated projects at a time, and so I am back to making short films! Stay tuned.

2020-2023

Collaboration with Sean Batir, ex CTO of Maven

Being stuck at home during Covid was challenging but rewarding with a partner like Sean. Together we filmed dozens of tech videos, starting with what Bitcoin is and ending with a full three-and-a-half hour introductory course on AI and machine learning. Some of the videos got hundreds of thousands of views — before tik-tokification of the algorithm.

Check his YouTube videos. They are fun!

2020

Game Design Project

While I couldn't go outside to film, I decided to learn Unreal Engine and build digital environments right from my apartment. Here are some of the results:

Water & Sunset

Overgrown Path

Clear Forest

2019

Your Aura

A short film I crowdfunded, wrote, produced, and edited by myself. However, from the very start to the very finish, I collaborated with more than 30 people, including artists, production assistants, actors (obviously), agents, marketers, and so on. The movie received great reviews, was selected for four LGBT film festivals, and got 2+ million views. Someone even made an IMDb page under one of my creative pseudonyms. More info about my experience:

YouTube IMDb

2018

New York Fashion Week

Filmed NYFW in a team of three.

Joseph Abboud Runway Show

N-p-Elliot Showcase

NYFW Men's Day

2018

COACH on 5th Opening

Another fashion project, filmed in a team of three.

COACH Opening Press Preview

2016-17

Early Projects

In 2016 and 2017, I had just picked up a video camera. Most of the footage from that time gives me a sense of nostalgia mixed with something more awkward — long story short, I was learning, and almost everything I made back then is better left unnoticed. I collaborated with Brian Rashid Global and made more than 60 videos for them. Between the limited budget and my amateur skills, the videos were fun but far from perfect. Through Brian Rashid Global, I also filmed a NASDAQ opening for a firm that has since been delisted, and led the creative vision for the 1M1B Foundation — an Indian non-profit that aims to raise 1 million entrepreneurs to help 1 billion people. These years were fun but tough. Here is the very first video I made:

YouTube

Economics & Markets

I'm interested in how markets behave and how people actually make financial decisions. Some recent articles and research:

2026

Valuation Aggressiveness in Noncash Charitable Donations After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 research paper

In simple terms, I was trying to find out whether wealthy taxpayers who were not affected by the TCJA (2017) started valuing their charitable donations more aggressively, and whether they changed the composition of their donations.

Results

Non-profit (2013-2020)

In 2013, the Russian Federation passed a law banning the "promotion of LGBT" to minors. Belarus was, and still is, a close ally of Russia, so it was only a matter of time before something similar happened here. As a result, a friend and I created a small anonymous group and called it Odin Tvoi Drug ("a friend of yours"), with the goal of educating people about the LGBT community. After taking the community into my own hands, I grew it bigger and bigger, and within two years it became the largest online LGBT community in Eastern Europe. It started attracting many people searching for psychological and legal protection. During that time, I had to find partners to help address the constant inflow of asylum seekers and others who needed help. The community grew to more than 400,000 active members — not only LGBT people, but allies who wanted to learn more about the "forbidden topic." Since the growth was too big, I had to disclose my identity, and after some time I had to leave Belarus and move to the United States.

Odin Tvoi Drug remains a core memory and a great part of me. I dedicated more than seven years of my life to it, helped thousands of people, and overall feel like I made the world a little bit better. A drop in the ocean, but still something. I still receive grateful messages from people I helped — either emotionally, by giving hope for a better future, or physically, by helping with relocation. The community made me who I am, and I will forever be a human rights advocate. Still, I want to keep this chapter of my life in the past.

Describe what's happening in this photo — The evolution of community's logos from 2013 till 2020.

Interests

What else I do?

Well, if you read all the way to this section, you probably realized that I have a great variety of interests. I love creativity, whether it's filmmaking, writing, or even sculpting. I also love economics and finance, especially the behavioral side of it — it's fascinating how people act on the markets, and I always like reading and learning more about research in economics in general.

Speaking of reading, that's something I do on a pretty regular schedule. Here are some of the books I'm currently reading, have read, or want to read — Goodreads. Meanwhile, I try to travel as much as possible, and if there's a park or a hike I haven't visited yet, it's definitely on my to-do list.

I like sports too — tennis specifically. I used to play a little in Minsk, but due to some circumstances I had to stop. I also enjoy the gym and vinyasa yoga.

In my free time, I'm learning Italian and collecting Pokémon cards.

I really appreciate you visiting my website. Feel free to reach out to me via email or just text me. I'm always looking to connect with interesting people who know how the world works and have goals to achieve.