Podcast with Ser En Part 3
Summary:
Ever wondered
how a film can be directed remotely, or how a Japanese idea can come alive in
Singapore? Delve into a groundbreaking conversation with Ser En who unravels
the intricate workings of the media industry's digital transformation, from
revolutionizing film shooting to creating cost-effective, global
collaborations. Uncover a world where technology becomes an enabler, not the
solution, and culture plays a pivotal role. Listen in and prepare to be hooked!
Ser En explores the complexity of digital transformation in the media industry,
focusing on remote film shooting and effective workflows. She highlights the
importance of communication, technology as an enabler, and cost-efficient
practices, while also touching on cultural nuances in global collaborations.
[00:00:05] Andrew Liew Weida: Hi, everyone. Welcome tothe AI of mankind show where I share anything interesting about mankind. I'm
your host for this season. My name is Andrew Liew. I work across four
Continents and 12 international cities. Also, I work in tech startups across a
range of roles from selling products, making customer happy, figuring out
fundraising, making finance tick, building teams and developing sticky product.
Apart from building startups. I've also worked in fortune 500 companies as a
chief data scientist or technologist or people leader. [00:01:00]You can call me Jack of all trades or master of learning. I hope to make this
podcast show a great learning experience for us In each season, there is a
series of interesting things where invite guests to share their views about
their life and interests.
[00:01:14] Andrew Liew Weida: Now let the show begin.
[00:01:31] Andrew Liew : In our last episode, weventured into an electrifying discussion with Ser En, tracing the evolution of
NFTs and dissecting the future of the film industry in the cloud. Ser En shed
light on how SendJoy is gearing up for the NFT revolution, and how the COVID-19
pandemic has acted as a digital game-changer, accelerating industries into the
cloud. We also gained unique insights into her perspective on the ongoing
struggle against piracy in our increasingly digital world.
[00:01:55] Andrew Liew : As we transition into thisepisode, we continue our engrossing expedition with Ser En.[00:02:00] We will navigate the intricate workings ofthe media industry's digital transformation, discovering how films can be
directed remotely and how diverse cultural ideas can come alive anywhere in the
world. We delve into the delicate dance between technology and human
communication, understanding how the former can enable and augment the latter.
We'll also touch upon the crucial role of culture in global collaborations and
the careful balance between cost-effectiveness and quality in this new digital
era.
[00:02:25] Andrew Liew : Our journey promises to beboth enlightening and thought-provoking, providing a unique perspective on how
digital transformations are redefining boundaries and norms. So, buckle up and
get ready as we dive deeper into this uncharted digital landscape. Let's
continue.
[00:02:39] Andrew Liew Weida: Okay, this is a very smartidea so okay coming to the next interesting question, so let's see there's so
many benefits For the entertainment or the media industry to go into the cloud or
to do digital transformation, what do all these C suite executives need to know
when they do digital transformation, from your perspective?
[00:02:56] Ser En: Yeah, I think it the digitaltransformation really takes time, [00:03:00]and it requires a very smart process. Because it's not about dumping money into
tech dumping to someone to say, eh transform for me digitally, and it just
happens overnight. Yeah, it's a lot of considerations to be taken into the user
experience, ah.
[00:03:15] Ser En: That, because I think the, having agood workflow could really help the team a lot, yeah. So it's about user
experience for the team, yeah. And not just taking an off the shelf solution
for people, ah.
[00:03:27] Andrew Liew Weida: Can you help us to help theaudience, especially who are very newbies to this entertainment industry or
media industry? What does smart process mean? You mentioned about workflow. For
example, like bookings of like a scene and then trying to get a director to
come in, trying to get the cast crew to come in. Is it something like that?
Tell us more about it.
[00:03:45] Ser En: Oh okay. I can give an example . onehuge thing that the film industry learned is actually remote shooting. Before
COVID that almost never happened because let's say we want to film something in
Malaysia. We would fly the director, the whole team to [00:04:00]Malaysia to film. Because of COVID you can't appear in Malaysia to shoot, so
you have to come up with one whole workflow such that somebody in Malaysia can
film this for you. So you need to think of, okay, what is the workflow that
will make this process work for you. And you can't go online and buy off the
shelf, okay, remote filming solution and install it. You need to think okay
what works for this team?
[00:04:22] Ser En: What do they really need? Yeah, so anexample is I help Japanese company do some filming in Singapore. So they
actually save quite a bit of money because they don't have to fly the whole
team from Japan over. Yeah. So what we did was we had to set up a zoom call
where the camera, what. Shown in the camera can be linked to the zoom. Yeah so
the director can see exactly what is on the camera through zoom. Yeah, and we
also need to have a Japanese translator. So she can help with the communication
to the director and also to the cast. And [00:05:00]we also need like an additional camera to just show the director what's
happening on set like a bird's eye view. Yeah, so these are some of the user
experiences that you can consider for the communication Yeah that we bring in
there. So Tech is an enabler. It's not the answer Yeah, the answer is still
like Trying to find out from both parties. Okay. What do they need right now
and how can tech help the process?
[00:05:25] Andrew Liew Weida: I'm trying to picture theremote shooting. So Correct me if I'm wrong. So you're trying to say that let's
say the Japanese director wants to film a scene in Singapore, so He got
somebody to shoot it and directly connect through like a zoom or some high
stream video recording thing, . What about the cast crew that likes it the
Japanese actor and actress is it done through the green screen?
[00:05:45] Ser En: Oh no, so they the Japanese cast theyare in Singapore Oh, so the director like speaks to them through the zoom.
[00:05:52] Andrew Liew Weida: Oh Interesting Okay now Iget it.
[00:05:55] Ser En: Yeah our crew don't speak Japanese sowe hired a Japanese [00:06:00] translator. Sothe director would give instructions to the translator to tell the crew and
vice versa.
[00:06:05] Andrew Liew Weida: This is a very unique ideain that the Japanese producer or director infuse the Japanese idea of making
the film on set in Singapore using a non Japanese acting crew.
[00:06:17] Ser En: Yeah, non Japanese technical crew,like the camera team, sound team, like producing team, they're all, we're all
Singaporeans.
[00:06:24] Andrew Liew Weida: Wow, but the idea isJapanese because it's directed by the Japanese director and the producer.
[00:06:30] Ser En: Yeah. Correct. In the zoom, there arelike 10 people on it from the Japan side.
[00:06:35] Andrew Liew Weida: This is a very innovativeidea that this is the first time I'm hearing I'll be honest with you And wow,
this opens up a whole new paradigm world.
[00:06:43] Ser En: What really helps with the productionis the cost management. Because if you can make this workflow work for you,
like all the ideas get communicated across perfectly Then you save a lot of
money because you don't have to fly a group of people over to another country.
[00:06:59] Ser En: Yeah, you can hire the local team there to execute this for you. I think from the
producing perspective this is amazing.
[00:07:06] Andrew Liew Weida: Let's talk a bit more aboutthe communication of the idea. What happens if getting a Singapore crew that
doesn't know how to speak the Japanese? Does it mean that if the actor or
actress must be able to... Understand the Japanese ideas,? I'll give you an
example. Let's say the recent movie Matrix, right? Keanu Reeves he do Kung Fu,
, if you dig back into the ancient history. It's from Chinese, of course, you
have karate, which is the Japanese form, and then you have taekwondo, which is
the South Korean form. What I'm trying to say is that , if you ask a Western
guy to do boxing, which is a Western martial arts idea, then when you ask him
to display kung fu, that requires a transcendence of that artistic idea in
order to make sure that the western guy, can be able to do the kung fu so what
I'm trying to say is that in this case, the Japanese ideas infuse into the
local actor and actresses to Carry out the Japanese acting isn't it like a
transcendence idea like isn't that a super [00:08:00]higher level of acting? I don't know. What do you think?
[00:08:01] Ser En: I think that is something thattechnology cannot help la. I think you can have the Japanese instructor
teaching this guy over zoom But I think it's something that takes time to learn
to be infused in it Like the actor can spend some time in japan to understand
live with some kung fu masters for two weeks at a boot camp to understand that.
But I think that goes beyond tech. It's not something that can be solved immediately
through Zoom or something. It is more of a skill set that needs to be picked
up. Yeah. .
[00:08:32] Andrew Liew : Thank you, listeners, foraccompanying us on this intriguing journey thus far. We've just concluded part
3 of our series with Ser En, where we traversed the intricate terrain of the
media industry's digital transformation. We explored how a film can be directed
remotely, the birth of a Japanese idea in Singapore, and how digital technology
has evolved to be an enabler, not just a solution. Ser En also shed light on
the importance of cultural nuances in driving successful global collaborations.
[00:08:57] Andrew Liew : As we prepare for part 4 ofthis series, we will [00:09:00] venture deeperinto the labyrinth of entrepreneurship with Ser En. Brace yourselves as we
uncover the secrets behind transforming budding entrepreneurial ventures into
formidable global powerhouses. Decode the extraordinary journey that took Ser
En from humble beginnings to the helm of multi-billion-dollar ventures. We'll
understand how AI integrates with the film industry, stepping in to handle the
mundane and free up humans for the creative and intellectual work. And most
importantly, we'll discover the keys to patience and resilience in navigating a
career in this challenging field.
[00:09:28] Andrew Liew : This is more than just aconversation; it's a masterclass in innovation, success, and the
entrepreneurial spirit. So get ready to have your perspectives on startups and
entrepreneurship radically altered. Don't forget to tune in, as we're about to
embark on a compelling intellectual expedition. Stay tuned and get ready to be
inspired - the extraordinary awaits!
[00:09:46] Andrew Liew Weida: Hi guys. Thanks forlistening to this podcast. If this is the first time you are tuning in.
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