Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vaibhav Arora. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Vaibhav, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I heard that one makes their own luck, which is with hard work, determination and perseverance. If you keep putting good efforts in your work and don’t concentrate on what the end results would be, you’re open to infinite opportunities which one will bring towards your way. So I can say, if you want something so bad, the whole world will come together to help you get that. All you’ve to do is keep the focus and keep moving forward.

Since childhood, I have been an active soul and the two things I have done the most in my life has been playing cricket and watching films with family and friends. I saw a film when I was five years old called Border(1997) which was about India-Pakistan 1971 war. Now to this day, I’ve seen it almost a thousand times. Since after seeing that film, I got my first dream of either joining the Indian army or Air Force, but that dream got shattered in ninth grade, as I got prescription glasses, as there’s a strict rule in the Indian armed forces that you need to have 20/20 vision.

Then in 2008, I decided to seriously pursue cricket to become a professional in it. I started training and playing cricket at a club in my city of New Delhi, India, but I got injured while practicing one day in September 2010. Since then, my life has completely changed. I was down emotionally in my life for few months, until one day I was watching a cricket match on television in early 2011, between India and South Africa where one Indian batsman hit the ball so far into the stands that it went onto the third-tier of the stadium and hit the live broadcast camera operator on his head and the director cut the camera on him and the cameraman was showing thumps up, signaling that he’s fine, that was the lightbulb moment for me where I discovered sports camera operating, especially for cricket. I went around my city to look for a camera operating course, then I found a film school. There, I enrolled in a camera and lighting course, where I found my love for camera operating and cinematography and finally got to see and experience how films are made, which made me appreciate the hard work and effort that goes behind it. All I can say watching that film I mentioned above numerous times and my love for cricket and movies ultimately guided me to the right path where I belong now for which I can’t be thankful enough.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

From working as a freelance Cinematographer and camera & lighting department crew since mid of 2012 in New Delhi, India, in short films, music videos, corporate films, documentaries, commercials, product photography, wedding shoots and what not. Now, as a graduate of Los Angles Film School in Cinematography here in California, where I’ve explored directing/producing/writing couple of my own original short films, one of them is called ‘ENIGMA’, which have been into a couple of film festivals and received great feedback. I also shot, directed and produced my thesis film called NEVER ALONE which I co-wrote with the friend many years ago in India and it’s currently in post-production.

I also got selected for ‘Academy’s (Oscars) GOLD Rising Production Track 2021’ in cinematography for which I am so fortunate to got the opportunity, where I learned from the best professionals in the industry.

For past almost 4 years, I am working as a full time Gaffer for Dhar Mann Studios/Changing Lives Productions where they make the most watched inspiring short & feature films in the world which is seen by millions and have billions of views.

Fun Fact: As a film buff, I’ve seen over 700 films in theaters here in the USA since 2017.

Now, working as an experienced professional in Los Angeles since 2021 is how I can sum up my gravitation towards the film industry. I can only vision myself on film sets making and helping others tell impactful stories which needed to be heard with proper lighting, lensing, and overall to showcase great performances which will leave good memories for the audience around the world. I feel it’s just a start, and I hope there are a lot more opportunities to learn and grow from and keep moving forward with the experience I get in my life and career.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The main obstacle is in your mind, if you can control your thoughts at the lowest point of your life, you’ll definitely move way forward in whatever you want from life. In my case, when I left playing cricket, I thought I don’t want to anything else which is not related to cricket. But things I didn’t notice until later, which kept me going was watching films in that period and the stories within it. Cricket was the motivator to introduce me to cinematography and filmmaking, but eventually I got to find my passion, interest and the respect for how much time, efforts and hard work goes behind it. In the end, I always liked hearing other people stories and now I am telling my stories to the world.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My nature of showing up and always delivering the best work regardless of what the outcome will be. Consistency is the best part that I’ve learned and will try to have it in my professional life which is under appreciated.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vda_wg/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaibhav-a-b414275b
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_dS5dZJkSdus52MY_kGd2w
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user28124879