| | OCTOBER 202119aspirations once I laid my hands on a GoPro camera, gifted by my ex-wife. I made a trip to Bali with it, and couldn't wait to come back to edit the footage. I realized my real passion was buried somewhere in this beautiful world where I could control the direction of a story via cutting and sequencing the footage. I decided to dig deeper by watching hours and hours of Youtube videos on filmmaking/editing techniques - at the cost of my managers being upset with me at work. This is when I decided that to do justice to my new-found passion and I realized that I would have to take the plunge. So, my new journey began, and that gave birth to `NJM Productions'. My friend, Fahad Janvekar- who had also quit his high-paying finance job, whom I would often spend hours talking to about the lack of stories in films joined me and we believed in the same cause on telling stories via film.The day after we incorporated, we both played to our strengths when it came to meeting new potential clients across town, mostly over coffee. Different stories, but a unified goal ­ to be able to tell your story in the most creative of ways. That also gave birth to our company slogan `You Narrate, We Create'.HOW HAS YOUR EXPERTISE AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE HELPED IN MOLDING THE COMPANY'S OPERATION?From the years that I worked in the IT field, there were some valuable experiences I gained and certain principles that I now live by: 1) Trust is the cornerstone by which companies do business with each other. Coming from the corporate world, I realise that trust comes from sincerity to do work, managing expectations, and transparent communication, 2) Treat people like `people'. Not resources. Great companies come from PEOPLE who deliver great work consistently. But you need to treat them right to keep them motivated consistently, 3) Setting and Managing Expectations: When speaking with a potential client, be realistic ­ practical BUT be optimistic. There is a fine line between being optimistic and over-ambitious which can severely hurt your cause if you don't set the right expectation with the client.HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO FACE THE CHALLENGES AND STRIVE FOR SUSTAINED SUCCESS IN THE INDUSTRY? ALSO, CAN YOU MENTION SOME OF THE MAJOR AWARDS THE COMPANY HAS RECEIVED OVER THE YEARS?Challenges are part and parcel of running a business and some of the notable challenges that we have been able to overcome include: a) To be able to trust my team to deliver in my absence: Due to COVID, I had to sit out of a few shots and my team did an amazing job. We delivered a bunch of films where all our clients were very pleased with our work and promised us more in the pipeline, b) To be able to showcase our good work and market our company effectively: We won the Mad Over Marketing award only because we had the confidence in our work, and knew it deserved recognition, and c) To be able to identify possible options and decide on the direction we should take as a company. We have also won `Video Startup of the Year' award because the directions we took as a company made significant impact in the media industry.IN YOUR JOURNEY SO FAR, WHICH ARE THE MILESTONES THAT BESTOWED YOU WITH UTMOST SATISFACTION - BOTH AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND A CO-FOUNDER? From being a dreamy, introverted kid who would struggle to face the real world ­ I say that NJM Productions has taught me a lot for me to come a long way in handling my personal and professional ambitions. Youtube, Instagram, speaking to founders in the creative space, speaking to people who are GREAT in sales ­ are some of the things I try to make a daily routine which has helped me to stay current in the industry.Some of the various awards that I received over the course of my career include: Mad Over Marketing Award ­ I directed the best film during Lockdown for Bengaluru FC. India Film Project 2017 ­ I directed the Best film for the 50 hours filmmaking challenge across India. Directed all films for Liverpool football club during their Leg-ends visits in India, Seoul, Malaysia, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Jakarta. I WAKE UP REMINDING MYSELF THAT I AM ON THIS GRATIFYING JOURNEY WITH NJM PRODUCTIONS, WHERE WE CAN DELIVER AN EXPERIENCE THAT IS TRULY AMAZING
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