Harnish Ambaliya is a filmmaker and creative director from India. He is also a first-year master’s student studying Film Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Pursuing film was not always his intention though. When he was 18 years old, Harnish enrolled in an undergraduate engineering program in his hometown, Mumbai. This was what his parents wanted and it made sense at the time, as it was a common career path for many of his peers. During his first year of studying, he decided to take a gap year to earn some money and took on the first job he could find: working at a public relations firm without knowing what PR even meant.

He did so well at his job that after only one year, he became the creative head of the company. Not only that, he also caught the attention of one of the firm’s biggest clients at the time, Padma Shri Kailash Kher. The renowned Indian singer personally called Harnish and asked him to join his creative team and work directly with him.

At that moment, Harnish had a decision to make: either he rejects Kher’s offer and continues with the safe path of studying engineering full-time, just like he had planned. Or, he could accept Kher’s offer and embark on a life-changing opportunity.

It was a tough choice, but Harnish trusted his gut and went for it.

His parents supported his decision but also encouraged him to still pursue an undergraduate degree at the same time. So he dropped out of engineering and enrolled in a mass media program at Mumbai University, while also committing to help Kher build his dream production company.

During the next four years, Harnish managed to balance his work and his studies. He got the chance to develop his skills in shooting, directing, producing and editing, and worked on several types of projects including music videos, television commercials and government films.

Ambaliya with his team on the set of Häfele International

Initially, Harnish’s motivation to start working at a young age was to get himself and his family out of the slums of Mumbai, no matter what job he gets. That motivation however, slowly transformed into a passion, one that he is constantly feeding.

He remembers his first experience working with a camera during his time at the PR agency: his manager asked him to shoot an interview using a DSLR camera. Ready to take on the challenge, Harnish excused himself to go to the bathroom before the interview started, Googled how to use the camera on his phone and came back with confidence, prepared to do the job. And guess what? He nailed it.

Despite his continuous success as a director and producer, Harnish always wondered what it would be like to have a normal college experience, one where he would not have to worry about money or his professional reputation. Besides, Harnish is a self-taught filmmaker and has no traditional education in the field. He believed USC’s graduate Film Production program would help him fill in these gaps. He applied, got in and even received the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) student grant. “Not only did the grant ease a great deal of the financial pressure, but it also brought me confidence as an artist,” he said.

Harnish recognizes his classes at USC are challenging him and pushing him to grow. He also expressed gratitude to have met so many people with unique stories to tell, at USC. “Even if I go back to India at some point, I know that I have found a new family in Los Angeles,” he said.

Harnish is now trying to reinvent himself as a director of photography rather than a director and producer. “I was always connected to the camera and the lights,” he recounted. “I love to bring a [director’s] vision into a frame.” Another goal of his is to give back to the community; he recognizes what a special opportunity he had, and believes that he is capable of helping other talented youngsters who aspire to become filmmakers. He will be conducting free workshops to share his knowledge and give a chance for people to experience working with film equipment, in hopes to make filmmaking more accessible and inclusive.

Check out Harnish’s IMDb profile to learn more about his past and future projects.

Written by: Tamara Amhaz, OIS Communications Editor, Master of Communication Management, USC Annenberg 2022