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Being highly demanding on the ability to adapt and cope with pressure by nature, the working environment at Production Houses has set strict barriers for new entrants. However, this is still an attractive landscape for those who are interested in creativity and innovation.

To prolong the “fuel” in every project, the 18 Studios team has always created and developed a professional working culture in which stress is minimized. In this article, 18 Studios will reveal their working environment as a Production House.

Established in 2017 as a May Production member, 18 Studios officially joined the production hub ME Group in 2020. This is a milestone in technological and human resources exchange among the leading Production Houses. At the present, 18 Studios has affirmed their competency through challenging projects and constantly conquered mid and low-range segments of the production industry.

Since the dawn of the entity, the board of directors have invested in building an ideal workplace for all employees and contributed to the company’s development.

1. Flexible working procedure 

The very first highlight in company culture here is their industry-standard yet agile working flow. In particular: 

• In the pre-production stage, after receiving a brief, all members will be involved in a meeting, where project’s requirements are clarified and professional input is contributed for unifying a single production procedure. Plus, all possible risks are meticulously examined, which ensures the flexible improvisation of the team.
• In the production stage, a close-knit bond is settled between teams for seamless information updates if any abrupt changes. This leads to a team’s proactive and flexible attitude, in which setbacks and defects in the whole work process are avoided.   
• Regarding the last step - the post-production stage, optimizing resources and a grasp of production among employees have resulted in the smoothness and efficiency of the products in this final stage.

18 Studios always has a wrap-up meeting for accumulating experience and evaluating the whole project. This turns the flexible working process of 18 Studios into actual company culture - in which all staff’s capabilities are resonated.

2. High appreciation in team spirits 

At 18 Studios, team spirit is their essence of organizational culture. “Our studio’s team spirit is exhibited through a flow of member support between generations. In fact, there’s merely gaps between members because we all backup and share our difficulties in both personal and career aspects with great enthusiasm.”, says Mr. Minh, Artist Online.

In this Production House, each crew member “learns to understand” the approaches to a less stressful and supportive environment - no dispute in client’s presence, minimizing unnecessary conflicts while on set, maintaining an open-minded and comfortable atmosphere at work, and proactively supporting each other to lower overall workload. As a result, despite stressful working nature, 18 Studios maintains their creativity element in every single project, serving the ultimate goal of producing satisfying results for customers.

3. Employees are their top priority 

For a healthy and cohesive working environment, there’s more beyond a great working process and team cohesion. As employees are the centric powerhouse, the board at 18 Studios has presented a clear and consistent career path for all staff's growth. In this sense, every personnel is consulted about future directions so as to fully nourish their strengths and thus get a chance to a higher position. At the same time, job rotation and active learning are encouraged, knowing that the ability to function at various departments will give a helping hand in case any arising health issues negatively affect the project’s timeline.

Besides, health and safety are highly prioritized during the whole production process. Along with basic safety procedures, production crews are supplied with the most nutritious diet to sustain good physical conditions. Before shooting dangerous scenes, the team will meet up to come up with the safest option yet still ensure product quality.

With these work culture’s values, 18 Studios brought out the most suitable creative solutions for demanding clients. With 4 years of operating on the production map, the “silent creative soldiers” behind 18 Studios have conducted more than 100 commercial projects and harvested admirable achievements. Some of their notable works include: 7UP - “Xuan nay het suong tran”, Trao Lipton - “Khai xuan tuoi sang", Shinhan Bank - Manage your life your way, GrabFood - "Bua trua 0 dong", etc.

Paralleling with developing the internal team, 18 Studios also collaborates with Vietnamese universities to create a professional future workforce. The team gives students an open door to internship and probation to get the hang of production fields, which helps them unlock their own potentials for future paths. Promisingly, 18 Studios can be considered as an incubator for young talents of the industry. 

By following a human-centric strategy, 18 studios has successfully constructed a stress-free and efficient work culture where every individual can freely pursue creativity and expose their potential. It is not exaggerating to say that the work culture at 18 Studios has made several positive impacts to the production playground.   

Truc Quyen | Advertising Vietnam