Working in Asia: From Red Hill to Ho Chi Minh
Emerging markets provide ample opportunities for screen practitioners. Executive producer Claire Davidson explains why Vietnam’s TVC scene is attracting directors such as Red Hill’s Patrick Hughes.
I have been posted in vietnam for the past 10 months in the role of executive producer for Sudest Dongnam. Based in Saigon, I have literally worked non-stop since my feet landed on the tarmac. In this short time, this producer-driven company has completed a whopping 46 TVCs. With a team that includes another producer and two line producers, this accomplishment has been no mean feat. This country’s economy is booming, and the ad industry isn’t about to be left behind.
It’s a really exciting time to be here. With advertising in its infancy in Vietnam – because it’s only been open for the past 12 years – the TVC market is particularly strong.
Agencies are teaching their clients the importance of using advertising to communicate with the 86 million strong population. With Vietnam’s economic growth among the highest in the world over the past decade, now is a pivotal time in the advertising industry. This is largely why I accepted the job; it’s exciting to be part of a market where you can really play a role in the growth and progress of an industry, rather than working in cities where the markets are already established and you’re just another cog in the wheel.
Agencies and their clients are investing heavily in TVCs. Other countries are steering their advertising spend toward alternative areas such as online, branded content and the like, but in Vietnam it is still the TVC market that is at the core and the forefront. While budgets are unfortunately considerably lower than those in other Asian nations, the sheer volume of campaigns going through is huge.
The market here is a combination of multinational agencies and clients with worldwide products, plus of course local Vietnamese agencies and clients with local products. There are four Japanese agencies with their products in the market – Japanese motorbikes are central to the selling power in Vietnam.
I deal with the agencies here in a very similar way to those at home in Australia. However, it does become more difficult when staff don’t have the training and experience, and expect ‘the world’ without understanding why ‘the world’ can’t be delivered. This is not the fault of the staff – it’s the result of an industry that’s just finding itself and everyone still getting up to speed. It can be very demanding not only from a creative perspective – with scripts overwritten in relation to their budgets
– but also from an account service perspective as clients are promised the unachievable. On top of this, everything must be delivered instantly! But this is a global issue within agencies at the moment, not something unique to the Vietnamese market.
I was approached by an Australian headhunter to interview for the position. After six interviews (phone, written and in person), as well as flipping a coin as the final decisive factor, I accepted the challenge and haven’t looked back.
DIRECTORS WANTED
Working in Vietnam is, however, not without its challenges. There are limitations: a lack of advanced technology, up-to-date equipment and resources, and professionally trained crew; plus health and safety issues and incredibly strict censorship.
A lot of the time it does feel like the wild west of the east, but we’re taking small but definite steps towards making the Vietnamese market comparable with the rest of Asia and the world platform. Wherever I can, I see the challenges as positives. In fact, often at times they’re actually opportunities.
One of the main strengths our company has is the in-house staff. We have location, casting and art departments that are steadily building a reputation for great work. These, combined with our production and producer teams, have led Sudest to become a premier production company in Vietnam.
Directors and directors of photography (DOPs) are brought in for many productions, predominantly from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as Australia. These international directors are also being used to provide invaluable training and guidance to Vietnamese directors (and of course also the crew), building the experience and skills of the local talent.
We have a pool of freelance directors from around the world that we have access to and relationships with. My strength, coming from Australia, is that I have worked over the years with a lot of these directors and can easily bring them into the market place here. The freelance director base in Australia in particular is growing each year, and people are interested in diversifying and working within Asia; it’s just a matter of having the agencies trust you enough to recommend them, because often the directors will be awarded the jobs without having met the agency or client prior to flying over. That’s a big part of why I am here. I am on the ground, selling in the best possible directors for the project.
Coupled with this is the international expertise these directors always bring to Vietnamese directors on the ground here. The local TVC director base is still growing because advertising is so young here. Opportunities abound for local people wanting to enter this profession.
I really want to continue to support my home market, because we have such a tremendous amount of talent in Australia that can in turn be beneficial to the Vietnamese market.
Directors I have brought over include Red Hill’s Patrick Hughes, Sam Bennetts, Brendan Williams, Victoria Garrett, Marcuss Hamill, David Rechtman and David Jagoda. On top of this I have worked with other Australian-based directors in the region such as Marco Pinesi and James Teh, as well as David Gaddie who came over from New York. Australian DOPs who have also worked with our team include Susan Stitt, Peter Eastgate, Tristan Milani and Aron Leong.
I have to ensure that my research is up-to- date with directors, knowing their work, style, strengths, who is available and who is open to work here, in both Australia and the region. When scripts come in to me I will recommend a number of directors and their showreels that I think would be best suited to the project to the agencies and then they choose one for us to treat with. It’s always a competitive bid, just like in other markets. So far I have brought in directors with a solid work base and portfolio, such as Brendan or Tori, as well as directors with rising profiles such as Patrick and Sam. They see the reputation-benefitting opportunity in working abroad – in addition to the chance of adventure for a few weeks. Asia is an amazing shooting and advertising destination that has been rising in recent years to challenge Europe and the US, waiting to be explored by Australian creatives.
To contact Claire Davidson, visit www.sudestproduction.com
