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Different strokes: Thai executive producer Nitipat “Earn” Uahwatanasakul on a new type of storytelling
17 August 2023
Executive producer Nitipat “Earn” Uahwatanasakul is pushing for a new and different type of Thai storytelling. “We have the potential to do different and more challenging shows,” he told Sara Merican.
Thai producer Nitipat “Earn” Uahwatanasakul has a passion for stories with social commentary, and, seven years after his hit drama Wai Sab Saraek Kad (Broken, 2016/2019) was released, is taking a strong stand in support of Thai drama tackling more challenging themes.
Broken follows a psychologist dealing with troubled children from difficult backgrounds. “I studied urban and social planning and I wanted to tell a story about the situation in schools and about child development,” he says.
His new series, Of Love and Money, is in production for domestic free-TV network, Channel 3, and is scheduled to wrap by end-2023. The coming-of-age story is about six graduates entering the workforce. Romance drama, Let’s Begin Again, is in post-production, with a release date in 2024.
Romance – a mainstay of his family-owned Master One VDO Production – is Uahwatanasakul’s nod to market reality. “It’s what the channel wants,” he says.
After more than a decade in the film business, primarily making family dramas and romantic comedies for Channel 3, Uahwatanasakul says the pull to switch genres is strong. “I want to make documentaries or stories closer to real life,” he says.
Uahwatanasakul is open about his frustration with the current state of Thai drama. “I think 80% of Thai dramas are the same. They have the same plot and style in dealing with family,” he says.
“My dramas have to compete with those from other countries too... consumers can watch series from any other platform, not just in the country... Thailand has the potential to do different, and more challenging shows,” he adds.
Creating shorter, faster-paced seasons of TV shows is one of his challenges. “We used to make TV series to last 20 or 24 hours per season, forming about 24 episodes,” Uahwatanasakul says. “Now, we have to make really short seasons and quickly get to t...
Executive producer Nitipat “Earn” Uahwatanasakul is pushing for a new and different type of Thai storytelling. “We have the potential to do different and more challenging shows,” he told Sara Merican.
Thai producer Nitipat “Earn” Uahwatanasakul has a passion for stories with social commentary, and, seven years after his hit drama Wai Sab Saraek Kad (Broken, 2016/2019) was released, is taking a strong stand in support of Thai drama tackling more challenging themes.
Broken follows a psychologist dealing with troubled children from difficult backgrounds. “I studied urban and social planning and I wanted to tell a story about the situation in schools and about child development,” he says.
His new series, Of Love and Money, is in production for domestic free-TV network, Channel 3, and is scheduled to wrap by end-2023. The coming-of-age story is about six graduates entering the workforce. Romance drama, Let’s Begin Again, is in post-production, with a release date in 2024.
Romance – a mainstay of his family-owned Master One VDO Production – is Uahwatanasakul’s nod to market reality. “It’s what the channel wants,” he says.
After more than a decade in the film business, primarily making family dramas and romantic comedies for Channel 3, Uahwatanasakul says the pull to switch genres is strong. “I want to make documentaries or stories closer to real life,” he says.
Uahwatanasakul is open about his frustration with the current state of Thai drama. “I think 80% of Thai dramas are the same. They have the same plot and style in dealing with family,” he says.
“My dramas have to compete with those from other countries too... consumers can watch series from any other platform, not just in the country... Thailand has the potential to do different, and more challenging shows,” he adds.
Creating shorter, faster-paced seasons of TV shows is one of his challenges. “We used to make TV series to last 20 or 24 hours per season, forming about 24 episodes,” Uahwatanasakul says. “Now, we have to make really short seasons and quickly get to the point, within six to 10 episodes.”
A business and info systems graduate with a master’s degree in urban and social planning and development, Uahwatanasakul joins a growing domestic industry call for government support/funding to help Thai TV producers to become more globally competitive.
Right now, this hero’s ‘supreme ordeal’ – that moment every great character faces and either overcomes, or doesn’t – involves politics. “The political situation in Thailand is not stable yet, which is a problem,” he says.
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