Media Industries 2: PNR Final Report

Introduction:

Having identified the sector that I want to work in before, which is the television sector in Singapore. I have went about searching for people who are relevant in the industry to try to interview to try to understand just what it is like working in the sector and how they started out in the industry. This is vital for me as although I have worked in the media industry before, I am currently not sure of what career I want to pursue now due to the fact that I have talked with professionals from the Advertising, Corporate Communications and Marking industry.

Another factor is that I have worked in both aspects of the media industry, one being at the forefront of it all, which includes producing television shows and short films and the other, is that of working in the corporate sector of the media industry, these include public relations and marketing positions in companies. As I find that both of these industries are linked to what I have learnt so far, I am unable to make up my mind for the future.

However, as compared to the corporate side of the media industry that simply requires you to speak well and have a good head knowledge of whatever company you are working for and all you have to do is apply for the position, the production aspect of the media industry requires you to build up your reputation and do lots of work to get the relevant experience. Hence, I have decided to find out more about what this industry is really like and how the people who work in the industry got to where they are now.

Interviewees:

Initially, I sent emails to many professionals that work in the sector, these people were,

1) Low Wee Liang - An Executive Producer for numerous mandarin television series mainly about travel and food that has been shown on Channel 8 and Channel U. He does not work for MediaCorp, but works in production houses as a freelancer.

2) Ling Sock Leng - She has been the Production Manager for many big time entertainment shows in Singapore like Singapore's Chinese version of the "Idol" series that was very famous, "Project SuperStar".

3) Ah Jie - A Director originating from China, he came over to Singapore to direct television shows and has many shows under his belt. One of his most recent shows being that of a Chinese food variety show "WonderChef" on Channel U.

4) Hilary - Although she only entered the industry for a couple of years, she has managed to work with famous local (Singapore) directors like Kelvin Tong. She is a freelancer and has managed to build up her networks within the film and television industry.

5) Jack Neo - Singapore's most famous director, he started out as a comedian and even cross-dressed, which made him popular among the locals. He later moved on to directing his own films and got his big break after his movie about Singapore, "I Not Stupid".

6) David Goh - Having recently graduated from university, he went on to work in his friend's production house. He started out as a Camera Assistant and is now working as a Producer for many English and Mandarin television shows with different production houses. He has worked on shows for Channel U, Channel 8, Channel 5 and the kids' channel OKTO.

7) Lau Kan Chiong- Having worked in the television industry in Singapore ever since it started, he was a Director of Photography working for Singapore's only television company, MediaCorp but has since retired and is now a freelancer for production houses.

8) Ramesh Sivaram - A freelance director for television shows, he has worked with many production houses on English television shows and has been in the industry for four years. Some of his shows include television documentaries as well.

9) Lionel Wong - Having been a Director of Photography for years, he has worked on many productions in Singapore, some of which have even taken him overseas for the television series. He shoots for both English and Mandarin productions as well as events filming.

10) Clarence Heng - A Camera Assistant for five years, he has worked on both English and Mandarin drama serials as well as many short film shoots. Having worked on many sets, he has become quite a regular in television production shoots.

11) Loraine Chia - Having been a Scriptwriter for nine years, she has an impressive collection of television drama serials under her belt that have been filmed and produced. She writes mainly on Chinese television drama serials but has also written quite a number of English television drama series.

12) Tan Wei Ming - A lighting professional, he has worked on many different types of production shoots, mainly being outdoor shoots and night shoots. He is a freelancer and has been working in the industry for three years.

13) Jonathan Foo - He is currently teaching television production in Singapore, but before that, he has been working in the television for 11 years. He has a Master Degree in media and has taught in New York as well.

14) Vanda Tan - She owns WAWA PICTURES, one of the leading independent television production companies in Singapore. Established in 2007, the company has produced many shows for Channel 5, Channel 8 and Channel U and is a prominent player in the industry.

These are the people that I sent out emails to try and understand more about the industry as I wanted to find out about the individual aspects of how it is like to work in Singapore's television industry.

Unfortunately, of all the people that I contacted, many did not respond, others said that they had no time, one of them did not like interviews and so she rejected me. I felt so down and out because I was afraid that I would not be able to get any interviews for my PNR. The only people who responded to me are David, Kan Chiong, Ramesh and Jonathan. Initially only Ramesh and David told me that they could do it on the 14th of October, which is just one day before the due date. Jonathan responded to me on the night of 15th itself, and Kan Chiong responded on the 16th morning. I was really thankful as if it were not for their responses, I would have been short of interviewees. I conducted phone interviews with all of them, other than Jonathan who replied via email. (phone bills exploded and I even got a scolding from my parents even after I told them it was for my project…)

Interviews:

Ramesh:

I conducted a phone interview with Ramesh on the 15th of October at home on my mobile phone and the interview lasted for 27minutes from 2212hrs to 2229hrs. These are the questions I asked him:

1) How did you first come to work in the industry?

2) How did you get your contacts in the industry?

3)What is it like working in the industry?

4) What is the most important thing about working in the industry?

He told me that when he first started out, he did not have a big circle of relevant contacts and he built up his experience by directing short films and students' projects. Later on he got into the industry through a contact he had made during a short film production and he grabbed on to the chance. After a few other professional projects, he managed to build up his own circle of contacts and got known in the industry.

Ramesh told me,

"When you first start out, grab any project that comes your way, (you) cannot be picky. Because you will need the money and the contacts. After the first few years, then can start to choose the projects that you want to work with to build up a proper portfolio."

As to what it is like working in the industry, he told me that it is "bloody tiring". "You have to wake up at like 6am to go for a location shoot and it might drag all the way until a night shoot which will only end at around 3am the next day."

When I asked him about the most important thing about working in the industry, he said,

"When you work, you have to give others a good impression about you, because they are the ones that will recommend you to others in the future and will want to work with you. If you screw up, everybody will know about it because Singapore is so small. So you have to do your best."

David:

I called David after I called Ramesh on the same night. We were supposed to talk at 2300hrs but he did not pick up his phone and smsed me to call him back five minutes later. I called him at 2306hrs and this call lasted until 2358, a total of 52 minutes. For David, the questions I asked him were:

1) Why did you want to work in productions instead of getting a corporate job after you graduated from university?

2) How did you start out in the industry?

3) How did you build up the contacts that you have?

4) What was it like working your way up from a Camera Assistant to a Producer?

5) What was it like for you to work in the industry?

6) What is the most important thing about working in the industry?

David was really honest and told me that he actually worked in a bank for the Corporate Communications department for about a year before he started working in productions. He eventually chose to work in his friend's production house, a move that faced challenges by his family as it did not seem like a good deal in Singapore. Choosing to work in a production house where the pay might not be stable as compared to a corporate desk job.

"I had a good friend from university who set up a production house and he was always looking for people to help out in his productions. We met up often and he would talk about how much fun it was with all the different types of productions, getting to work with celebrities too, and asked me to join him for almost six months."

He finally decided to join him when his friend said that he needed a camera assistant to go for an overseas shoot in Thailand for Channel 8 and he asked if was interested in joining him. He thought that it sounded like fun and after his friend told him that the pay was reasonable and that the air ticket was covered by his company, he decided to take 2 weeks of unpaid leave from my desk job to join his friend.

"Through the 2 weeks that I was in Thailand with John (his friend), I learnt that the production process was not all fun and games, it was hard work as they had to shoot fast. I had to pick up certain skills fast as I have never had any experience before, but John was patient and taught me the ropes."

After he came back from Thailand, he decided to quit his job in the bank to help his friend out in his company. However, his parents did not approve. David stated,
"My parents said I was siao (crazy in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect), choosing a unstable job over a proper job. But I knew that it was what I wanted to do, and I assured them that if it does not go well, I will find another job. Eventually, they just let me do I wanted after seeing that I planned ahead."

David told me that when he first worked in the company, he helped John as a camera assistant. Later on, he became a Director of Photography and he eventually moved up to be a producer after about two years. When he first started working in the production house, there were many things that he had to learn from John about how it was like to make a television series. He first learnt about how to control the cameras and later on progressed to scouting for locations, getting the talents for the shows and much more. John even made him a Director, but David said that he chose to be a Producer in the end as he had more interest in the job.

He finds that working in the industry is really fun and as a Producer, he takes pride in his work. As he has undertaken many roles before being a producer, he says that all the experience has helped him to take his role as a producer more efficiently as he knows what the rest of the crew needs to do.

As for the most important thing about working in the industry, he feels that,
"you need to be passionate about what you do. Because there will be many times that you want to give up, and it will be very tiring. But you need to have the passion to persevere on. If you don't have the passion for this, you will give up after awhile."

Jonathan:

I contacted Jonathan as I wanted to know what made him decide to move from being in the productions to teach instead. I wanted to call him, but he did not want to and decided to email instead. Here are the questions and answers:

Email Interview:

1. How you first started out in the media industry?
@@ I started writing movie critics for newspapers (since 1986) then I joined TV industry after my degree (though my first degree is NUS Science - major in Mathematics). I was with SBC - TCS - MediaCorp (1991 - 2002) started with English Drama, Chinese Drama then Variety Shows

2. How you built up your contacts?
@@ I applied my first full time Assistant Producer TV job from Newspapers, then as I worked for TV shows, all the sponsors and media partners come in very naturally, either I called them or they contacted me. We do keep the existing pool of contacts and continue building new ones at the same time. I normally ask around, get contacts through people, and sometimes I have to search from Yellow Pagers (in the past) and also very much through internet later

3. How was the job like back then as compared to now?
@@ Last time was less advance, very much depends on phone calls and pagers (if you do remember). Also, we have to write very formal letters to get something or seek approval instead of simple emails. However, our nature of work is very much 'standardized' - meaning everyone follow one style and same style on paper work (like the forms we used for all areas) and standard instructions given. It is less complicating compared to now where too many choices and ways of handling things, and also too many people work with different styles and different instructions. Hence unneccessary confusion and distraction occur at times.

4. Any difficulties that you faced in the television industry?
@@ TOO MANY, like the turn over is high, schemes and strategies keep changing, and more importantly, the 'culture' or 'nature' of work - in another words, the DO'S and DON'TS in your work, such as the sensitive issues like religions, sex, drugs, politics, and brandings - have to consider very very carefully before putting anything on air. Besides, the working hours are really long for TV, at least 12-18 hrs per day, may not have off days in between including weekends, and the salary is not high as compared to foreign talents or 'experts' so called.

5. What made you decide to teach in the end?
@@ When I decided to quit in 2002 and moved on to New York for a new life with my Master Degree I pursed. I always wanted to do or study a degree in media related, hence I went to New York Institute of Technology to upgrade myself. I love my study there and also I was fortunate that the school hired me as a Teaching Assistant after knowing that I am experienced with TV work. I took some classes like TV, Film and Radio classes for Year 1 Bachelor Degree students, most of them are local Americans. I enjoyed teaching form then on as it is a different kind of approach in teaching as compared to other levels of education. I continued working in NY for a while after I got my Master in 3 semesters (less than 1 and a half years). I got my teaching job in Singapore through a friend's recommendation from MOE some time in late 2004. I came back from NY in early 2005 to teach in NP till now. I must say I decided to teach now because I am working in the same media industry with many new faces and new bloods I encounter each day, they inspire me better than staying in the same TV channel producing the same TV show each week. My exposure is much wider, and I definitely improve more in many ways when dealing with different media partners now.

Kan Chiong:

I conducted a phone interview with Kan Chiong on the 16th of October at home on my mobile phone and the interview lasted for 18minutes from 1330hrs to 1348hrs. These are the questions I asked him:

1) How did you first start out in the industry?

2) How did you know of the industry back then?

3) What is the difference between working in the past as compared to now?

Kan Chiong explained that back then, he did not even finish studying for his Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE, Grade 6) and he started to work in the industry. Back then, people who did not have education did not have much of a choice when it came to finding jobs. Hence, when he heard that the Radio Television Singapore was starting up in 1963 and needed people, he went to work as a production assistant after his friend brought him in.

He started working there when he was fourteen, and it was only until 2004 that he was asked to retire because of his age. He left MediaCorp and started to work as a freelancer for production houses through the contacts he has built over the years.

The main difference that he stressed is that in the past, when he worked with the celebrities, there did not use to be a difference among their statuses, but currently, the line is drawn clearly between the crew and the artistes. He also states that this is also the reason why many of the older generation crew in the industry have left MediaCorp to freelance. As he said in mandarin,

"Many of the younger artistes nowadays have no respect for others."

Reflective Component:

This assignment, through all these interviews, I have found the answers to my questions, I need to really take some time to think if I have the great passion that the others had for the industry. As a freelancer in Singapore, I understand the amount of work that has to done for a production and how tiring it can be. Wrapping up an outdoor shoot at 2am and having to shoot again just hours later at 7am. That is really tiring and can take its toll on your mind and body if you lack the motivation to turn up for work.

Having found out so much more from others I feel more prepared to take on jobs that are asked of me within the media industry. I have talked to David and he has said that it is possible that after I finish my studies, he will take me into his company as a Assistant Director. But for now, nothing is confirmed as of yet.

After interviewing Jonathan, that has also opened a door for me with regard to the education sector for media. I have not really thought about teaching about media in schools but it can be really enriching as well like how Jonathan has told me over the phone,

" teaching basically is sharing to me, to share what you know and also learn from each other too. Work(ing) with teenage students really make me stay young with all kinds of young and interesting ideas."

This is true and I am now considering teaching as one of my future professions as well.

References:

Foo, Jonathan. Email interview between Singapore and Melbourne, Australia. 16th October 2010. Last viewed 17th October.

Goh, David. Mobile phone interview between Singapore and Melbourne, Australia. 15th October 2010, 2306 - 2358hrs, 52 minutes.

Lau, Kan Chiong. Mobile phone interview between Singapore and Melbourne, Australia. 16th October 2010, 1330 - 1348hrs, 18 minutes.

Sivaram, Ramesh. Mobile phone interview between Singapore and Melbourne, Australia. 15th October 2010, 2212 - 2229hrs, 27minutes.