Did you hate your office job in IT that much?
No! I enjoyed my time in IT and met some awesome people along the way, but the idea of sitting in an office doing the same drill for the next 50 years was, simply put, frightening. So I figured hey, I'm young, single, free, and #yolo, so why not give my dream a shot? Worse case scenario I can always go back to the IT industry.
Why choose to be a drama producer in Taiwan?
I watch an average of 30 dramas a year (a mix of Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese dramas in case you're curious), which roughly equates to 3 weeks of nonstop 24/7 drama-ing. I already invest so much time in this hobby, why not try to make a career out of it? The catch...I'm not pretty enough to be an actress, nor do I have the interest in being a director. So what role in the drama world would suit me? The answer I came up with is the production side. Much of what a producer does is similar to what I was doing in IT as a project manager; you manage people, time, money, and quality to create a product.
Do you have any industry connections already in Taipei?
Nope, none whatsoever.
So....what's your plan?
Start from the bottom and work my way up to producer. I've given myself a timeline of 2-3 years and will reevaluate when needed. As for more concrete ways to actually land a job, we'll save that for a future post ;)
Do you have a hard time adjusting to Taipei?
Perhaps it's my easygoing personality, previous travel experience, fluency in Mandarin, and familiarity with Taipei from previous family vacations, but I have no issues in adjusting to living in Taipei. The only thing is, like moving to any new place, rebuilding your social network and making friends is difficult. I do crave American things like Tex-Mex, BBQ, and driving but Taipei is a big city and I can usually find something to placate my craving or just make it from scratch.
You're so courageous!
Not really...I'm still really scared of cockroaches haha. I think rather than describe me as being courageous I'm more goal oriented, and because I have a goal and action plan to achieve that goal, making this move didn't seem to be a big deal.
I started this blog mainly to let my friends and family know what I'm up to, but hopefully I'll also be able to shed some insight with you about trying to achieve something in the entertainment industry in Taiwan and inspire you to pursue your passion/dream because really, nothing is impossible if you set your heart to it. Thanks so much for reading this lengthy first post and stopping by!
