by Shameera Nair Lin
The Creative Communications department, part of YTL Group, operates on a broader level to meet the growing needs of YTL itself: from copywriting to videography, they handle a host of communications-related matters. Today, we have decided to feature a team that forms an integral part of the department – the Production team.
They are the faces behind impeccably edited montages you may have come across during the annual LEAD conference, heartwarming videos about the people of YTL, and just about anything related to videography and photography within the company. As Gabe Lee describes, ‘We do a lot of visual production, audio, music, events and livestreaming. In essence, we support YTL Group in whatever audio-visual needs they may have.’
For such a core part of the company, however, they maintain a relatively low profile. According to Francis Cobb (Fran), the Production Manager, the production team ‘are not always seen, but we are heard of.’ But how did they get here?
It wasn’t always such a cohesive journey. The team started off with two people in 2016. After a host of expansions, which followed a separation from the branding team within the department, they’ve finally settled into a comfortable dynamic of 8 people at present.
As a small group, it is unsurprising then, when asked about memorable moments they’ve shared, they found themselves unable to choose moments. Instead, they shared generously, in a way you can only foster as a tightly-knit group where mutual understanding and warmth exists. Or as Johnston Wang, a freelancer who’s been part of the production team for a number of years said, ‘We are not a boring team.’
Johnston recalls the 2019 LEAD conference, the last one before the pandemic struck, where the entire team ‘came together and bunked in’, bringing all their equipment to the Marriott and worked together until the wee hours of the morning and more – ‘we were exporting things on the fly and had more Apple products than an Apple store’ in one room. This spirit of unity in approaching major projects is a sentiment shared by the rest of the team – Brian Chia, a freelance animator, cites the beauty of ‘putting minds together’ to creatively solve issues as a team, especially during events such as LEAD, where everyone sticks together day and night, flowing into the following day, at times.
Brian also mentions team lunches, which he believes sets the tenor for their team dynamic, one where work begins feeling effortless. Ivan Fung, the newest member of the team, agrees – he loves how the team manages to ‘do stuff just to unwind’. Munirah Aziz (Moon), having been part of the production team since 2018, agrees and adds that working on projects with different companies is a personal highlight to her, for those are moments where they experience meeting people you may not necessarily meet on a daily basis, despite being part of YTL. She mentions a trip taken to Pangkor Laut, where they filmed a video featuring the late Uncle Lim and his journey as part of the company Both her and Johnston agree these moments represent a responsibility to ‘share what it means to Build the Right Thing’. Though they are ‘really good’ at what they do individually, Moon adds, ‘when we come together, we excel.’
As we begin wrapping up the interview, it becomes apparent there are far too many ways to describe how the individuals in this team look out for each other as a collective, forming an exemplary approach to workplace groups. However, Fran sums it up when he explains, ‘we always look forward and look ahead, it makes us closer and tighter as a team.’ In the future, they hope there will be just another team like them in the production field within the company, one they aspire to have a hand in growing.
