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We Jun Cho: Life through a different
Life doesn’t always follow the course you set out on, and that was no bad thing for one Heriot-Watt graduate. Film-maker We Jun Cho tells us how his career took quite a turn when he decided to throw away the map and follow his dreams instead.
We Jun left Edinburgh in 2002, having graduated from the University with a BSc in Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics, bound for a career in the banking industry back in his native Malaysia, for which he felt well-equipped: “The academic rigour of Actuarial Maths at Heriot-Watt University provided a steep learning curve, which, combined with living on my own for the first time, definitely helped me gain an intimate understanding of my limits, my strengths and weaknesses.”
And there the rest might have been history. But as We Jun continues: “Sometime in mid-2012, a short film I made unexpectedly went on a small tour of the world through the film festival circuit. I thought then if there was ever a job out there that could let me do this for the rest of my life...”
And so he found himself faced with a big decision, and the question of whether he could carve out a full-time career as a film-maker – when he had a mortgage, a baby and another on the way.
The encouragement he needed to take the plunge came from a somewhat unexpected source: “My parents were surprisingly rather supportive, my father being the one to convince me to go and do what makes me happy – to give myself the opportunity to strike out on my own in the film industry. So with their blessing, I left my job in consumer durables in 2012, and started trying to make this happen for myself.”
Four years later, We Jun is an award-winning film-maker. And one who wears a lot of other hats
Heriot-Watt University
www.alumni.hw.ac.uk
besides, as he describes: “As a production designer for studio film productions, I design and oversee the sets, incorporate storytelling into the props and setting, as well as craft the overall look for the film in collaboration with the director and cinematographer.”
His second career has delivered a series of highlights, with We Jun saying: “I guess the top three so far would be having my short film selected as the opening film of the Guanajuato International Film Festival in 2012; being selected for the two-month Pinewood Iskandar Studios Malaysia masterclass under Oscar-nominated production designer Tim Hutchinson (Willow, Highland), Desmond Crowe (Band of Brothers, Alexander) and Malcolm Stone (Fury, Ironclad), and winning Best Short Film at Malaysia’s premier film award ceremony, the Festival Filem Malaysia Ke-27 in 2015 – despite strong competition from better funded projects.”
For those who have recently graduated and are starting out on what can be a daunting career path, We Jun has some first-hand advice: “In my opinion, the whole point of a university education is to train the mind how to think, gauge situations, solve problems and process information. Sometimes coming from a different background allows you to tackle problems from a different perspective, potentially allowing for more creative solutions to be discovered.”
But for the ultimate counsel when it comes to careers, he falls back on the words of the man who said it best, and first: “Confucius said ‘choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life’... well, I love making movies!”
We Jun Cho
AS A PRODUCTION DESIGNER FOR STUDIO FILM PRODUCTIONS, I DESIGN AND OVERSEE THE SETS, INCORPORATE STORYTELLING INTO THE PROPS AND SETTING.
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