a convoluted journey

There was no plan, just that space and technology was cool.

Star Wars inspired me like millions of other impressionable minds. It made me dream about space, inspired my choice to go into electronic engineering (that’s what Han would do), then into film making, then special effects. For a while, when I was doing my degree, I moonlighted, by presenting TV shows in London, doing a bit of journalism. On qualifying, I did the right thing that conservative Asian families demand, and went into I.T., becoming IT manager for Financial Times Management at 27, running three sites, then Business Analyst for Pfizer. But the creative itch got worse, so I set up a production company and produced commercials, indie films then documentaries for MBC, traveling around the world, privileged to gain a unique perspective of the world that only my work would allow me. MBC sent me an offer I couldn’t refuse: help set up a drama division in Dubai, and that’s when the roller coaster really took off. I set up/ran production companies and studios for MBC, including Stargate Studios Middle East (with the guys who make the Walking Dead), where my team produced the world’s first full live VR TV drama series (with fully automated VFX workflow), the largest in the Arab World. Then followed me setting up the humungous Dubai Studio City soundstage, with the largest green screen this side of Hollywood. Singapore beckoned, where I developed shows for Netflix and Disney. “Bangkok Breaking” lifted the hood on how the ambulance “gangs” of Bangkok operate. I whizzed back to Dubai, to Executive Produce dramas across the Middle East and North Africa, recruiting some amazing talent like Michael Beckner (Spy Games) and Stan Chervin (Moneyball) and then back to blighty for a deep dive into AI, obtaining an AI MSc (with Distinction) then commencing my PhD, while consulting with companies on their AI workflows. The story is to be continued…