Name: This award-winning director had her dreams questioned. Her show is now on Netflix
Uploaded: 2021-12-13T18:25:08.000Z
Duration: 4 min 28 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hi, my name is Jean, you know, I'm the creative director and founder of Coca Pictures, one of Singapore's top content production companies.

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And these are my five biggest lessons, my first lesson to aspiring producers is this believe in yourself and pursue your passion.

Well that might sound very trite and like a motherhood statement, it really takes tremendous courage and a certain amount of stubbornness to do this.

Um in my past when I was a writer, I started off as a writer, but I really wanted to direct, I wanted to be a director, but I remember my boss told me, don't just stick to writing, I don't think you can make it as a good director had I believed him, I wouldn't have achieved what I've achieved today.

Um winning multi uh you know, uh directing awards.

So if you really have a passion for something, my advice to you is please follow it if you believe in it, you know enough.

Um because you see the same boss who told me that I couldn't direct was the same one who told me a few months ago during an event that, you know, you're one of the, you know, top directors in Singapore.

Um I always tell my my stuff, read widely, Watch White.

They don't stick to just one kind of content in that way.

This this kind of curiosity will, will stand you in good state when you start to create our own stories.

So be very curious also in getting to know people.

So in a lot of our shows the in depth research that we do, talking to lawyers, talking even to murderers, even to politicians and so forth.

All these help to make our story more authentic.

My foot lesson is this do not produce anything that you'd be embarrassed to show your loved ones.

Well, this might seem a very industry specific kind of lesson.

It is not is basically what it all means is do something that you find worthy that is worth while your time.

So if work is such a big part of her life, if you do something you do not believe in, it becomes such such a bore, such a treasury.

Whereas if you find something worthwhile, it will keep us going in tough times.

And for me I'm always very grateful but that my team was always behind me.

They buy into what to this philosophy and they create things that they truly believe in, which makes the difference.

Um for all content, I feel my fault lesson is just put money on the screen.

So again, this might sound like a very, you know, production industry kind of lesson.

But what it means is you put money into things that reap the most benefit.

Um So for example, in our, in our industry, what we do is we try to, in terms of like scheduling a shoot, for example, we try to consolidate all the scenes within one location on the same day because every day I shoot causes thousands if not tens of thousands.

And so if we spend time traveling from one location to another, loading and unloading, there'll be less time for us to fine tune acting too, you know to have more creative shots.

So in that sense, you know, really put money on the screen, spend your money wisely, such that it will give you the best product.

My last lesson is this if you think your job is easy, you do not know your job.

This is actually a code that's uh said to me by one of my ex bosses and I feel what it means is this in any role that you take on in life, There's always ways to be better whether you're a homemaker or even a garbage collector, there's always ways to improve in the job.

And I think as humans, happiness does not come from other people or objects, happiness comes from achievement.

 So the minute that you find a job easy, that means you are at a plateau. 