Nadao Bangkok, The Field Where Stars Are Grown
by Pitchaya Uthaicharoenpong
Insight into the steady growth of Nadao Bangkok, one of the companies that have created the most outstanding actors and songs of this generation.
“I think it should be named Nadao, which means a field where the stars are grown.”
One day in 2009, Keng (Jira Malikul), a well-respected producer and director, looked up from the sports newspaper he was reading and told Yong (Songyos Sugmakanan) that he had come up with the name for the company as Yong asked him for advice.
After consulting an astrology expert, Yong decided to add a suffix, naming the company “Nadao Bangkok”.
Yong used to be a film director who was content with his job, until he was assigned a new role by Jina (Jina Osothsilp, Executive of GTH) to manage a company that takes care of the actors they have signed.
Even though he didn’t want to be an executive, Yong still decided to take on the task because Jina promised to let him run the company in his own way, which is to maintain a sibling-like relationship with actors.
No matter how much Nadao has grown today, Yong and the management team, who often call themselves “older brothers and sisters’’, say in unison that they still try to keep the siblinghood. They talked about this kind of relationship throughout the interview as well.
The Cloud invited Yong, Director of Nadao Bangkok, and Tad (Radeenapis Kosiyachinda, Assistant Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications), to talk about the working style of Nadao Bangkok, a company that created distinguished works and well-loved actors, even though no one in the management team has ever had experience in an executive position before.
They said they work gradually, sometimes even working on things before knowing anything about it.
“But every time we take on a new challenge, we burn the bridge behind us, and believe that we will find a new path ahead of us, because we use our best ability to fight in a way we’re confident in.” Yong made a brief summary for Nadao Bangkok’s operations.
Let’s listen to the story about the nurturing of stars, or what they called “the organic cultivation”, by Yong and Tad.
Choose the Suitable Seeds
By “organic cultivation”, it means managing Nadao Bangkok gradually, as naturally as it should be, while learning, solving problems, adjusting plans and progressing with every work.
Yong said, “We are people from the filming crew. No one had such experience as an executive, so Nadao walks slowly while learning and expanding step by step. We don’t have many artists, while other companies already have a lot in their agency.”
There were only 13 actors under Nadao Bangkok in the beginning. After 12 years, there are 32 actors in the company now, which is still very few compared to other agencies of the same level.
“Our main preference for selecting actors to join us is whether they are suitable for the working style of Nadao, and whether our style is good for them.”
The casting process of Nadao Bangkok includes auditions and interviews with Yong and Bomb. (Chongjit Inthung, Deputy Director of Artist Management) If they have the special talent that one of the crews is looking for, Yong will also invite the employee to the evaluation.
“We want to make sure the selected actors go along with our path, otherwise it might not work out. In that case, what we should do is give them an opportunity in other places suitable for them. We don’t want to put our hesitation in front of anyone’s future.”
Tad believes, “Our job is working with people and looking after them, so the most important thing is to make sure we can take care of them and that they are happy working with us. It is important that the actors and the company are on the same page.”
Yong emphasized, “The actors we choose for the company are who we truly want to work with.”
Water, Cultivate and Keep Them Growing
All Nadao Bangkok new-coming actors have to study acting for approximately 1–2 years, or until they are ready.
Yong said, “Nadao Bangkok works with many acting coaches, so actors can learn from different teachers. The more you study, the more you learn, and then you will be ready for the auditions.”
“Even if it is a job from Nadao Bangkok or GDH, they have to go to the casting just like everyone else,” Yong confirmed.
Yong and Tad also used such strict standard with Nadao Music, a record label which was born from the curiosity of Nadao Bangkok kids.
“Artists must go through training and rehearsals of singing and dancing for every performance. Our standard is if they are going to be an artist, they have to make people believe they are more than just an actor. They have to break the stereotype people already have on them,” Yong said.
There is no monthly salary system in Nadao Bangkok, so actors will have no income in the beginning; meanwhile, Nadao cannot make money from them either. However, they believe it will build a strong foundation for the actors through this way.
Yong and Tad said this kind of compensation system is suitable for Nadao Bangkok’s working style. They want the actors to do only the jobs they are confident in and are able to do the best. They also involve the actors in the consideration of accepting jobs. Instead of paying monthly salaries, Nadao Bangkok provides support and development.
Take Care of the Seeds and Make Them Strong
Nadao Bangkok doesn’t promise how many series or movies they will offer to the actors, but the company supports the important assets that will stay with them forever.
The manager team will always do their best to make room for the actors’ studies when they’re scheduling.
“If their grades drop, we need to talk,” said Tad in the role of a parent-like assistant. “But if they use the coming exam as an excuse for not memorizing the lines, it doesn’t work either,” Tad emphasized as the role of actor management.
“It’s important because we see them as brothers and sisters, and it’s their life.”
With this determination, we have seen actors from the company like Frung (Narikun Ketprapakorn) who entered the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, by preparing for the entrance exam on the set of Hormones the series, and she still works as an actress while being a medical student to this day. There are also many young actors who are still studying while working.
If any actor wants to choose alternative education, the managers in Nadao Bangkok also understand and agree.
They emphasized, “It is our duty to take care of them. Everyone is trying to get the kids to do things that are important to them. They also take part in making decisions of accepting every job with our mentoring and advice.”
Nadao Music is another proof that the company always values the kids’ interests.
“Nadao Music was born from the interest of the company’s actors in making music.” Yong said.
However, no one knows how to make music in the beginning.
So Yong seeks professional sources for the kids, such as introducing Gunn (Gunn Junhavat) to Boxx Music, and taking Ud (Awat Ratanapintha) along with Ton (Tonhon Tantivejakul) to work with What The Duck, in order to let them work on what they are interested in without limiting them.
By the time they did the 9×9 project with 4NOLOGUE, more kids became serious about music, so they thought it was time to work on music to support them without having to export them to other companies.
Since then, Nadao Music has become a valuable extension of Nadao Bangkok to this day.
Educate Them to Be a Responsible Star
Nadao Bangkok believes that letting actors make their own decisions, whether it’s about work or other opinions, is what makes them responsible for their decisions.
“When they are the ones who choose their own jobs, they will take the job willingly from the beginning. If there are any obstacles, they will be aware that they are a part of this decision, and overcome them with the team.” Tad, the marketing manager who has been working with many brands and organizations, explained why it takes them 1–2 days to reply to the clients sometimes.
When it comes to filtering job cases, Nadao Bangkok considers if the job fits the actors or not. They must be able to present and represent the brand reliably and attractively, whether through advertising or giving reviews on social media. At the same time, Nadao Bangkok must be confident that it will lead its partners to the desired exposure or sales.
About this topic, Tad said, “They are actors and artists. Their customers are the audience. Brands are our partners to create works together. We want all parties to win with each work.”
In today’s society, there’s the controversy that celebrities, actors, and artists have to serve the society when society needs a louder voice than ordinary people. However, at the same time, there are limitations in the business that make celebrities and actors unable to do what society demands.
Nadao Bangkok is a company where everyone stays together like brothers and sisters. They want actors to make their own decisions, so the company is understanding when they want to deal with this kind of matter. There is no policy prohibiting actors from expressing their opinions on social issues.
As the big brother, Yong said, “I always tell the kids they need to pay attention to social issues. I want them to seriously study the issues they care about. Right knowledge keeps them from being afraid to express their opinions. They will also know to what extent they are able to express their opinions without affecting the partners they are working with”
“It also gives them a stable mind, because when they know what they said or did was for, they won’t be too oversensitive to any feedback that comes in,” Tad added.
Immunity From Fearlessness and Listening
Nadao Bangkok is a company that creates talks of the town and shakes up the industries they step foot in.
In the behind the scenes stories that Yong and Tad told us, we often hear them say “almost ruined”, “never done it before”, and the most heard is “don’t know if it will work”.
Yong said, “In every step of trying something new, there has always been a time when we felt that everything was about to go out of control. We know that we have to adjust, learn and change with it all the time.”
They said that when they were making Hormones the series, there were only tens of thousands of profits left and that the company was facing closure.
Even under this situation, they still decided to make an unconventional and risky series, doing things that no one else has ever done before, because they believed it would be a good series.
“Hormones became a huge hit when it aired, leading us to support from many partners and the company survived,” said Tad.
Since then, Nadao Bangkok always gives sponsorship rights of their new work to partners who have supported them before the general sale.
Yong said, “Thanks to Boon (Paiboon Damrongchaitham, Chairman of the Board of GMM Grammy Plc.) for giving us the opportunity. When we presented the project to him, he completely trusted us and let us do it without setting up any boundaries. It was only then did we create the teen series we were aiming for.”
In Family We Trust is another important milestone for Nadao Bangkok. It is the most expensive drama that Nadao has ever produced. The achievement comes from nothing else but the company’s own investment and Yong’s desire to take on new challenges. It even made him ask Boy (Takonkiet Viravan), the executive of channel one31, for permission to make a prime-time drama for the first time in his life.
He later found out it was the first time channel one31 allowed other companies to make dramas for this time slot as well.
In Family We Trust was considered successful and collected funds for Nadao Bangkok to do other works in the following years.
Tad said, “At that time, Pong (Niphon Puenen, Deputy Director of Drama Production Department, Channel one31) helped us by explaining how to adjust and edit it to make the drama suitable for prime-time. We had learned a lot from it.”
Yong told us, “If we had known more about those things, we probably would have stopped doing it out of fear. But we always think even if we burned this bridge, we would find another path in front of us, because we fight with full-effort every time.”
“Working with brands is another thing that we do our best every time. As a business partner, we must not disappoint them. If we do our job well and make good stuff, they will be willing to support us,” Tad added.
“We are happy to have business partners who not only love and support us but also tell us the negative feedback from others. If they didn't tell us, we will never have known what happened. Getting criticism gives us the opportunity to fix the problems.”
They see this as an advantage of being a team where everyone communicates, because growing up is full of ignorance, and doing a lot of listening will allow us to develop from others’ perspective.
Build on What We Have, in the Way We Are Good at
We invited them to talk about the sensational song Love Siren (My Ambulance), which is the first step for the management-turned-record company.
Yong said, “I don’t know how it happened.” His face expression confirmed that he really wasn’t sure.
He considered producing Love Siren an “experiment”.
“We intended to make an OST for the series My Ambulance already, so I saw the opportunity to let our actors sing this song. At first we chose Pearwah (Nichaphat Chatchaipholrat) and Billkin (Putthipong Assaratanakul), but the director Boss (Naruebet Kuno) wanted Billkin to sing another song You Are My Everything, so I made Ice (Paris Intarakomalyasut) sing this promotional song instead. Because Ice was trending from the drama In Family We Trust at that time, his popularity might have played a part in this success as well.”
Tad recalled, “We released this song on a brand new YouTube channel with zero subscribers, which was against the principle YouTube always said: don’t put the channel’s most important video as its first. I was very anxious at that time, but it went quite well.”
Currently, the Nadao Music YouTube channel has 1.5 million subscribers, and the song Love Siren has 230 million views.
Despite being a team without experience in making music and even calling it an experiment, they believe that making dramas and soundtracks, which they are good at, is what makes their music known. It not only helps their actors get recognized by their new roles, but also expands business territory with their partners.
Unexpected was the second song from Nadao Music, sung by Ice and JJ (Krissanapoom Pibulsonggram), two popular actors who have the ability to sing and dance to a performer’s standard. This song was a music collaboration with business partners, or simply put, it was an advertising song with music and dance moves. It overcame the doubt that commercial music can’t become popular.
Currently, Unexpected has been viewed 23 million times on YouTube and the dance tutorial video has reached 42 million views.
It is a success for brands such as NESCAFÉ, Ice-JJ and Nadao Music, in accordance with intention.
Nadao Bangkok has stepped into a new area with the phenomenal series I Told Sunset About You, by building it on an existing fanbase “Penguin” of Billkin-PP (Putthipong Assaratanakul and Krit Amnuaydechkorn).
Yong said, “Billkin and PP have a fanbase who are into the drama My Ambulance and have fallen in love with their characters, Dr. Tao and Tewkao. Fans demanded a series for this couple, so we tried to expand from it.”
“Based on our intuition and specialty, we chose to make a series for Billkin and PP from a perspective of the characters’ relationship. So it’s a drama with two male protagonists, but not a BL series that people have seen.”
Yong said again that “We weren’t sure if people would like it or not in the beginning.”
“But we still made it the way we were confident in. I think it’s okay if it doesn’t work out, because it should still be a series that we are proud of,” he continued.
Like What You Do, Do What You Like
We asked that over the past 12 years, whether there’s any work they’ve done that they didn’t like. They answered in unison, no.
Tad said, “If it’s a work we don’t like, we won’t let it be released in the first place. It will definitely be knocked down at some point.”
Yong repeated, “We will never give the greenlight to any work we don’t like. For example, there was a re-shoot during I Told Sunset About You, because when we sat down and watched the material back, we saw some blindspots on the script or during filming, or that there were some point that could make people understand and enjoy the story more, so we went back and took the shot again.”
For Nadao Bangkok, re-shooting during post-production was planned from the beginning. They have reserved both time and budget to go back and film again for the best results.
Yong went into details about this, “Reshooting doesn’t come from not doing enough homework or not being careful enough while filming. Instead, it makes the story more complete. This is what we should do.”
We Need To Grow
Nadao started from a small company that cherishes the siblings-like relationship, so we asked them how they handle the inevitable expansion of the company.
Tad said, “Expansion to Nadao Bangkok is having a support system to process things more smoothly, until we create a generation to continue the work from us, so our company will not end in our time.”
Yong added, “If we don’t expand, we will keep tiring ourselves out. If we want to go forward with more strength, the company needs to grow.”
“We already have a group of successful artists. We need the next generation. In the past we didn’t have an online department. Tad and I had to handle social media by ourselves. It is impossible for us to do that for the rest of our lives. Now there must be an online department to systematically share posts, keep an eye on the feedback, solve problems, and communicate with fans. Fans are our customers whom we need to listen to and develop gradually, so we can keep moving forward.”
Another reason why growing is important to Nadao Bangkok is to expand more capabilities to take care of more artists.
Yong said, “If we make our kids successful, there will be more incoming jobs. The original structure of the company and the same number of employees would not be enough to take care of them.”
They admitted that the good thing about Nadao is that it’s a family and a home. They can’t set a frame just to keep things in order.
Tad said, “Nadao Bangkok’s products are people. All of our products are not the same. We can set up a structured system, but we can’t set a rule to manage everything in the same way. We have to understand the principles and judge how to execute it.”
“Which is the most difficult part,” Yong concluded.
Perhaps There Will Be No Need of Nadao Bangkok
Yong expressed his concern. If one day he stops directing or being a producer, what kind of tools does Nadao Bangkok have to promote the actors?
He told us what has been bothering him, “It’s actually not the right way. If we are an agency for promoting artists, we should be able to promote them without the support from drama or music productions.”
But they have already laid out a direction, which is making all the artists develop their own social media profiles.
Yong explained that “Nowadays, it’s not necessary for actors and artists to sign a contract with TV channels or labels. If they are good and strong enough, everyone would like to offer them jobs in singing or acting. Furthermore, they have to manage their social media accounts well.”
In the past, actors set up their image through the dramas or movies they have taken parts in, but now they can do all that through their own social media pages. What’s more, they have to develop these channels until they can surely rely on them.
Yong said, “The actors show their strengths or present themselves in their own ways via social media, and tune themselves into how the fans want to see. For example, the fans like to see how they dress, their cats, or where they have traveled to, and they should be the ones who know best what fans want to see.”
Yong and Tad both agreed that Nadao Bangkok is unique. It’s hard to find recruits or helpers without changing its essence.
Tad said, “If we want to take care of Nadao artists like brothers and sisters, we need to find someone who loves the kids just like we do.”
Even if Nadao Bangkok will have to shut down one day, it would be a beautiful curtain call after producing works that are loved by many. No matter how many years Nadao Bangkok will last, we believe that the stars they have created will keep shining for a long time.
End Credit
Are you proud of Nadao Bangkok?
“My first thought of the company is protective and worrisome about how to foster it, but I feel proud when I see my work out in the public eye. I also feel proud of the kids when I see them doing good things, being nice and people loving them,” Tad replied.
Yong said, “I am very proud of Nadao Bangkok. In the beginning, I didn’t think it would come to where it is today. Either it’s the time we have spent, or the success and growth, I feel very proud.”
The original interview was posted on The Cloud's official website. The Thai to English translation was done by Han Tsi Subtitles.
Han Tsi Subtitles is a group of Taiwanese fans who do Thai to Traditional Chinese translations. For more info, please check out our Social Media Accounts. Don't forget to share the interview and leave a comment!
