Crazy Smart Asia Season 11

“I wasn’t given a racing car. I chose it. But for other girls, it’s never an option," says motorsport star Bianca Bustamante, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Tatler Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei, the GB3 racer discusses her social media game, the sacrifices her family made to finance her dream, how racing lets her escape societal expectations and why she can no longer watch anime.

“You can always turn something bad into good,” says 9gag co-founder Ray Chan, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Tatler’s Chong Seow Wei, the Hong Kong entrepreneur discusses building one of the world’s largest online meme platforms, the time he brought a rice cooker to a startup accelerator programme and how experiencing baby loss puts petty crypto drama into perspective.

From a visual development artist who’s worked on major Hollywood animations to a horror filmmaker terrifying audiences without the jump scares, season 11 of Crazy Smart Asia presents powerful lessons on work and life from Asia’s film industry leaders. Listen for five of the most powerful mindbombs from the season’s guests, designed to help you think bigger, braver and more creatively.

“If you don’t start calling yourself an artist, no one will,” says Singaporean-Taiwanese actor and writer Grace Chow, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Tatler Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei, the ‘Good Cop/Bad Cop’ star discusses how to cultivate and protect your creative outlook, how she landed her breakout role in Australian TV series ‘Mystery Road: Origin’ and why she was encouraged to be an exorcist when she was younger.

“The Projector is a space for people who are curious,” says Karen Tan, the co-founder of Singapore’s only independent cinema, The Projector, on Crazy Smart Asia. In conversation with Tatler Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei, she discusses the benefits and challenges of disrupting a traditional industry, balancing creativity with business demands and why she lets people throw toilet paper at each other in her cinema.

“Horror is like a rollercoaster ride, it mirrors us as human beings,” says Kenneth Dagatan, the film director behind the Philippines’ first scary film to premiere at the Sundance’s Midnight Section. On Crazy Smart Asia, Dagatan shares with Tatler Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei his philosophy of horror beyond cheap thrills, the joy of directing with playfulness and why nothing scares him more than the realities of adulthood.

“Animation is a magical thing that can bring ideas and beauty to people who don’t get access,” says visual development artist Desiree Ong on the Crazy Smart Asia podcast. In conversation with Tatler Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei, Ong shares about the film that sparked her curiosity in animation, being a graphic designer for Guillermo del Toro’s award-winning stop-motion musical ‘Pinocchio’ and navigating the international film world as a Singaporean artist.

“The more specific you are, the more global you are,” says Tan Si En, an award-winning Singaporean film producer and founder of Momo Film Co, on the Crazy Smart Asia podcast. In conversation with Tatler Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei, they share why the best producers are like rivers – they flow with the bends, why the best films tell stories that are true to personal experiences, and dreams of an alternate career as a champagne grower.

“Being a film composer is about how good your instincts are,” says music composer Elliot Leung on the Crazy Smart Asia podcast. In conversation with Tatler Gen.T’s Chong Seow Wei, the Hong Kong native discusses the process of composing big orchestral scores for blockbusters, why the ultimate compliment is the audience humming the main theme song in the bathroom after watching a film and why the voice memos app is his secret weapon in composition.