At 19, while most young creatives are still figuring out where their skills might take them, Rishi is already turning his passion for filmmaking into a business. As a filmmaker pursuing Film and TV Production at Parul University, his journey has moved from freelancing and personal projects to working with established brands and building Straight Edge, a media production company he co-founded.

The journey did not begin with a business plan. It began with a camera.

From Freelancing to Finding a Direction

Rishi started working as a freelancer, taking on projects and gradually understanding his own capabilities. One event coverage became an important turning point. After the event, the work started bringing in inbound clients. People were not just watching what he created, they were approaching him because of it.

For Rishi, that was the first real indication that filmmaking could become something more.

The biggest challenge, however, was never learning the craft. It was getting the craft in front of the right people.

“I knew I had a very good skill, but showcasing that skill to the world was tough,” he says.

The First ₹6,000

One of the earliest moments that gave him confidence was earning his first ₹6,000 through filmmaking. The amount itself was not the defining part of the experience. It was the realization that something he genuinely enjoyed could create value for someone else, and that value could become a source of income.

That realization eventually became the foundation for Straight Edge.

When Filmmaking Became a Business

Today, Rishi serves as the Co-Founder and CMO of Straight Edge, a six-month-old content production company operating across Vadodara, Jamnagar and Ahmedabad. While the company also hosts and manages tournaments across different sports, its primary focus is media and content production.

The company has already worked with brands and businesses including Torino Social Cafe, Go Get It Dubai, EazyDiner and Gold Leaf Restaurant, along with work for Harley-Davidson. For a company still in its early stages, the growing list of clients reflects the pace at which the venture has developed.

But perhaps the most interesting part of Straight Edge is how closely its production is tied to its founder.

Rishi personally handles the production side of the work. He shoots, directs, edits and manages the production process himself. Rather than separating filmmaking from the business, he has built the company around his strongest skill, creating visual content.

Trusting the Creative Instinct

That hands-on approach also extends to the way he works with clients.

Rishi does not believe that good content comes from simply asking a client exactly what they want and reproducing it. Instead, he tries to understand the client’s taste, brand and personality before bringing his own creative direction to the project.

“I don’t ask the client what they want. I understand their taste and I make what I want.”

It is an approach built on trust, both in understanding the client and in his own creative judgement.

That confidence is also reflected in the standard he sets for his work.

“When it comes to the quality of my work, I don’t think anyone in Vadodara can match it.”

“Reach People’s Eyes”

For Rishi, however, filmmaking is not simply about making a business look visually appealing. It is about making people notice it.

“Every business is good, but they’ll only get successful when they reach people’s eyes.”

That belief has shaped the way he approaches commercial content. A great business can have an excellent product or service, but if people do not see it, the business can struggle to reach its potential. Content, in his view, becomes the bridge between what a business offers and the audience it wants to reach.

This philosophy has also made his own personal presence important to the growth of his work. One of the company’s early opportunities came through the content he had already been creating for himself. EazyDiner, which became Straight Edge’s first client, came onboard after seeing Rishi’s personal videos on Instagram. Straight Edge now handles EazyDiner’s Vadodara content, with Rishi directing the work himself.

It is a reflection of how his journey has evolved: the filmmaker’s personal work became his portfolio, the portfolio created opportunities, and those opportunities eventually became the foundation of a business.

Learning the Business Behind the Camera

But building a company has taught Rishi lessons that filmmaking alone could not.

“The main thing I learned is to earn money. That is the simplest yet hardest thing.”

For him, entrepreneurship has also been about learning how to behave, communicate and deal with people. The business side of creativity has given him a different perspective on the value of his work and the responsibility that comes with turning a passion into a profession.

His motivation remains straightforward. Money matters, but so does the fact that he is making it through something he genuinely loves.

A Filmmaker First

There is also very little interest in overcomplicating the future.

When asked about where Straight Edge should be in five years, Rishi’s ambition is clear: he wants it to become the best content production company in the industry.

The plan to get there is even simpler.

Work.

For someone who started as a freelance filmmaker, that consistency has become the common thread throughout the journey. There is no elaborate story of overnight success. There is a camera, a skill, an increasing number of opportunities and the willingness to keep producing.

At 19, Rishi is still pursuing his filmmaking education, while simultaneously building a company around the craft he loves. The journey is young, but the direction is clear.

Building His Own Path

He does not see filmmaking and entrepreneurship as two separate careers. For him, one feeds the other. The camera gives him the ability to create, while the business gives those creations a larger purpose and reach.

There is still a long way to go, and Rishi knows that.

But he is confident about where it can lead.

Not out of ego, but out of belief in the work.

His philosophy sums it up best:

“Just one life. Live it being the best in the game.”