In middle school, many of us watched  countless youtubers that we now idolize, though the idea of creating our own platform on Youtube was out of the realm of possibility. But one Neuqua student in particular made the decision in eighth grade to start his own channel.

Ryan Leshock, a senior at Neuqua Valley, started his channel four years ago with a video of him playing Geometry Dash which received 300 views. Although Leshock started off his channel with gaming videos, he quickly transitioned into doing montage style or vlog style videos featuring his skiing.

He became more serious about his love for film when he began to make short films. His first short film was titled “It’s Not Winter Yet,” and it involved his brother “dressing up in really hot snow gear in the middle of summer and [going] out [to] sled.” Since his first film, Leshock says he has made nine more, four of which are on his channel, Shock Dawgz. and has no intention of slowing down. He has  made his own company, Elevated Media 360. This business allows him to make what he calls “real estate aerial photography,” which means that he creates videos of homes using drones and sells it to real estate agencies for half of what a professional company would charge. Although this business has proven itself to be very successful, Leshock has different plans for himself in his life endeavors.

In the future, Leschock explains,  his main goal “as of right now, [is] be to make movies.” He would also like to have  his own production agency. As for right now, though, Leshock is focusing on his the growth of his current business, making more short films and getting into one of the top film schools in the nation, University of Southern California.