Production.

At the moment. It’s happening at the moment.

For the last two years, I took a back seat and stepped away from being involved in high-stakes production projects. I would say I was either recovering mentally or simply choosing to stay in a safe spot.

I knew the risks involved, especially when it came to cost and casualties. Amidst the glamorous output, there was the planning, the running around, the on-the-spot drama, missing fittings or trials, the chance to witness actors at work, unpredictable weather, working at 5 AM on weekends, calmly handling children on set, handling high GST on invoices, and, most terrifyingly, a brief changing or a requirement being dropped after costs had already been incurred.

So, I would sit back and observe from a distance.

Added to that, the production and creative teams can sometimes team up against the servicing team because they are listening to someone from the brand. And that can really test your patience in the middle of a crisis.

So, I preferred to save the hair on my head!

But my biggest learnings have come from this space.

Quite early in my 9-to-5 career, I got good exposure to production. I saw how inputs from senior creatives, whether someone from a design college or someone with a finance background, could solve a problem on the spot within two minutes. Everyone on the ground was being utilised to their fullest potential.