PASSION OR PRACTICALITY:
Where do your priorities lie?
Kezia Khomasurya, animation producer for Infinite Frameworks sits down for a chat about her experience in the production industry. She began working as an animator in 2013 after pursuing a Diploma in Moving Images and a Degree in Animation. She shares how her career has shifted since then, the challenges of the industry and tips for anyone looking to pursue a similar path.
by Netania Pereira
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Kezia considers herself a Jack of all Trades in the industry, working smart in a role of a producer where her organisation skills are activated daily. However, before she got to where she is today, she was on the path to become a full-fledged animator. Typical to the nature of animation, her first job had her working tirelessly through 13 hour days but producing very little output. It became not only unsustainable but unfulfilling after a while, but when her company closed down she was presented with a bittersweet opportunity to re-evaluate what she wanted to do.
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2.5 years later, she is a producer - something that barely crossed her mind back in university as she labelled herself as a ‘full on designer’. Despite her lack of experience, her own PR skills and gregarious personality helped her to score her current position. “My boss told me that from talking to me and seeing how I carried myself, he thought ‘maybe I can bring this girl to meet clients and she won’t make a fool out of herself’,” she jokes.
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Her day begins with checking emails to liaise with clients, her animation team or to respond to quotations and production schedules. Her other duties would differ according to the stage of production they are in. She is currently in pre-production for a children’s animated series where she has to fight the clock daily, ensuring that everyone is on track to meet the client's’ deadline.
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This proves challenging at times as it involves being the middle person, between animators and client especially when the clients do not understand the animation pipeline very well. “I feel like I’m fighting fires sometimes because I feel like I have to fight back with the clients if it really can’t be done,” she says. Another challenge is communicating with her animation team which is based in Batam. Although conversing is made easier as she is Indonesian herself, she feels bad when the need to reprimand her team arises but sometimes simple tasks can take them twice as long. “Island time and island life is real!” she exclaims.
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Despite the challenges, she says seeing the show produced and on television makes it all worth it. Drawing from her past experience working on HBO Asia’s Halfworlds, she felt it was like “making a child together”. It does not matter if the process was smooth or not, all is forgiven in the end.
She does miss the creative aspects of her job, but in terms of practicality to earn enough in Singapore, she explains how one needs to be really good because there is not a lot of money in the industry. “There’s so many people working on one production but there’s a certain budget to be divided, and as an animator you’re at the end of the line.”
She closes with a piece of advice for fresh graduates - have a big end goal in mind as it will help you keep to the trait, especially in such a demanding field like media. “Humans want to help other humans who are passionate about what they do,” she adds, encouraging fresh graduates to let their passion be evident and people will be drawn to help you advance in your career.
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