Check Out Rizwan Shebani’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rizwan Shebani.

Hi Rizwan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always been creative. I think it really started when I was about eight years old. We were on a family holiday and my dad got tired of filming everything, so he handed me the camcorder. That was probably the moment it all began.
From there, I was always making something. I started making music on my phone, got involved in performing arts at school, and eventually studied with the National Youth Theatre in London. I just loved bringing things together, whether that was music, performance, stories, or visuals.
The first thing I remember filming seriously was a little movie called The Cat Father. It was basically a noir film about a cat, shot on a Flip camera. Looking back, it was ridiculous, but I loved every second of making it. From that point on, I just kept creating.
Most of what I learned came from doing, failing, trying again, and spending countless hours on YouTube. Then, in 2019, I went to MET Film School in London to take filmmaking more seriously.
At some point, I realized this wasn’t really a hobby anymore. I was obsessed. I was constantly thinking about cameras, stories, ideas, lighting, editing, and the next thing I wanted to make. I was also spending probably far too much money on camera equipment, which was another good indication.
Before becoming a full-time creative, I did just about every job imaginable. I worked in bars and restaurants, retail, game stores, as a bin man, a server, a motorcycle mechanic, a professional actor, security, selling puppies, as an airport ramp agent, and even in an airport control tower.
I tried a lot of different paths, but creativity was the one thing I could never walk away from. I wanted to do it every day.
Eventually, people started asking me, “How much do you charge for a video?” That was when something clicked. I realized maybe this thing I loved could actually become my livelihood. I started my first production company in the UK, JACKJILLYJONES, and began taking filmmaking seriously as a business.
The hardest part of the journey has probably been getting the people you love to see the vision before there’s anything tangible to prove it.
There were times when my passion didn’t look realistic from the outside. I was investing money, time, and energy into something without knowing whether it would ever work. It affected relationships, friendships, my finances, and at times even my own sanity. My marriage ended during that chapter of my life, and one of the biggest struggles was understanding that the stability somebody else needed and the life I felt compelled to pursue weren’t always compatible.
But something in me just wouldn’t let it go.
I kept creating. I kept investing in myself. I kept self-funding projects, even when it probably would have been easier to stop.
Eventually, I moved to America, and something changed. People seemed to connect with my perspective differently here. Maybe being British and seeing things through a slightly different lens helped, but for the first time I started feeling like the way I saw the world was actually an advantage.
That journey eventually became Because Creativity, and recently I completed my first documentary, The Woodsmann.
The Woodsmann was completely self-funded. More than anything, making it proved something to me personally: I’m capable of doing this. I don’t have to wait for someone to give me permission, a huge budget, or the perfect opportunity. If I believe in a story enough, I can figure out how to make it.
Today, I’m busier creatively than I’ve ever been. I work across commercials, films, short films, music videos, experimental projects, automotive content, weddings, drone work, photography, and whatever else catches my curiosity.
When someone watches something I’ve made, I don’t necessarily need them to walk away thinking it was technically perfect. I just hope they enjoyed seeing the world from my perspective for a few minutes.
What I’m most proud of is simply that I haven’t given up.
There were plenty of moments when quitting would have been the sensible thing to do. But somehow I’m still here, still learning, still making things, and now I get to call myself a full-time creative. That alone feels like a dream come true.
Next, I want to make more short films and continue telling stories simply because I love doing it.
I’m not really chasing fame or riches.
I think, more than anything, I’m just obsessed with creating.
And I’m finally at a point in my life where I’ve stopped trying to fight that.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road.

One of the biggest struggles has been believing in something before there was any real proof that it was going to work. For a long time, filmmaking looked more like an expensive obsession than a realistic career. I was constantly investing my own money into cameras, equipment, travel, and projects, while still working all kinds of jobs just to keep myself going.

I’ve worked in bars, restaurants, retail, security, airports, as a motorcycle mechanic, and plenty of other jobs while trying to build a creative career on the side. There were definitely moments where it felt like I was living two separate lives — doing what I had to do to survive, while trying to protect the part of me that wanted to create.

The hardest part, though, was probably getting the people closest to me to understand the vision. When you’re chasing something unconventional, especially something creative, it can be difficult for people around you to see where it’s going. They often see the money being spent, the uncertainty, and the lack of stability before they ever see the potential.

That pressure affected relationships, friendships, my finances, and at times my mental wellbeing. My marriage ended during that chapter of my life, and that forced me to really question whether I was willing to keep pursuing something that had already cost me so much.

But I also knew I would regret giving it up.

Moving to America became another reset. I had to rebuild creatively, build new relationships, find new clients, and prove myself again in a completely different environment. In a strange way, that fresh start helped me. People seemed to connect with my perspective, and I started realizing that the things that made me different could actually be strengths.

Even now, most of what I create is still self-funded. My first documentary, *The Woodsmann*, was made that way too. That project reminded me that I don’t have to wait for the perfect opportunity or for someone else to believe in an idea first.

So no, it hasn’t been smooth at all. But I think all of those struggles gave me a stronger sense of who I am and why I create.

More than anything, I’m proud that through all of it, I never stopped.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work is centered around visual storytelling. I’m a filmmaker, director, videographer, photographer, editor, and creative, but I try not to box myself into one category.

I work across commercials, short films, documentaries, music videos, automotive content, weddings, experimental films, drone work, photography, and branded content. What I really specialize in is taking an idea, feeling, or story and figuring out how to turn it into something visual.

Stylistically, I’m drawn to work that feels cinematic, atmospheric, emotional, and sometimes a little unconventional. I love strong lighting, interesting compositions, darker tones, character-driven stories, and images that feel like they belong to a larger world. Even when I’m making something commercial, I still want it to have personality.

I think what I’m becoming known for most is my perspective. I don’t necessarily approach things in the most traditional way, and I think being British while building my career in America has given me an interesting mix of influences. I pull inspiration from film, music, fashion, motorcycles, people, places, and sometimes completely random things that catch my attention.

What sets me apart is probably my versatility and curiosity. I can be shooting a commercial one day, a motorcycle film the next, then a documentary, wedding, music video, or short film after that. I genuinely enjoy learning new things, and I think that keeps my work from becoming too predictable.

I’m also very hands-on. I’ve spent years teaching myself different parts of the process, from shooting and lighting to editing, sound, directing, and producing. A lot of my work is self-funded, so I’ve learned how to make things happen without always having the biggest crew or budget.

One of the things I’m most proud of is my documentary *The Woodsmann*. It was a completely self-funded passion project, and finishing it proved to me that I could take an idea I cared about and carry it all the way through to a finished film. More than the project itself, I’m proud of what it represented: trusting my instincts and creating something simply because I believed it should exist.

But honestly, what I’m most proud of overall is that I’m still creating.

I’ve spent years trying different careers, starting over, moving countries, losing things, rebuilding, and questioning whether this path was realistic. Somehow, through all of that, I never stopped making things.

At the end of the day, I don’t really want to be known for one specific type of video or one particular look. I’d rather be known as somebody who can tell a story, create a feeling, and make you see something from a perspective you might not have seen before.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as having the freedom to create the things I genuinely care about and being able to build a life around that.

Of course, financial stability matters. I want to be able to support myself, fund my projects, and keep growing without constantly worrying about whether I can afford to continue. But I don’t think money or recognition alone would ever make me feel successful.

For me, success is waking up and getting to do work that still excites me. It’s being able to make a commercial one day, a short film the next, and then spend time developing something completely personal just because I believe in the idea.

It’s also about impact. If something I create makes someone feel something, see something differently, or remember a story they might have otherwise overlooked, that means a lot to me.

I’ve spent a lot of years questioning whether this path was realistic, so even being able to call myself a full-time creative already feels like a form of success.

Ultimately, I don’t want to reach a point where I’m creating purely for a paycheck, attention, or status. I want to stay curious, keep experimenting, keep improving, and hopefully be in a position where I can help other creatives make their ideas happen too.

If I can continue making meaningful work, take care of the people I love, have the freedom to choose the projects I believe in, and still feel that same excitement I felt when I first picked up a camera as a kid, I’d consider that a successful life.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/becausecreativity/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Becausecreativity