Show- Stopping Success

With entrepreneurs for parents, it seemed natural that Munkysuperstar Pictures founder Gillian Tan would risk everything and fly solo, discovers Melainne Chiew

- Melainne Chiew

ONE MIGHT DESCRIBE Gillian Tan as unassuming. She strides into the room with the ease of a faint breeze, comfortable yet unabashed, in jeans and a tee. Modest she may seem, but make no mistake, Tan is no face in the crowd.

A bonafide businesswoman, this 37-year-old is the founder of Munky superstar Pictures, a television production company, and its subsidiary, Clicknetwork, an online TV network that develops and produces its own content.

The two companies appear glaringly dissimilar to the soft spoken woman who considers herself the opposite of a style maven. Ribaldry and playful teasing burst through the scenes at Click network, which produces shows such as That F Word and Chick vs Dick. Expletives run rampant on the high-energy brilliance of ad lib — outrageous and scandalous, yet horrifyingly addictive all the same.

After all, the essence of reality TV does away with the mawkish sentiment of scripted movies, exposing the rawness of humanity that offends and entertains at the same time. It’s a guilty pleasure.

Though both companies now enjoy considerable success, the beginnings were a lot more modest. Back in 2003, Munky superstar Pictures was started with a $10,000-loan and a digital camera. With help of a few friends who agreed to be filmed, Tan, then 23, went to Mediacorp with an idea for a reality dating show. The six-episode Eye for a Guy was a success with two seasons and a nomination at the Asian Television Awards.

Tan built Clicknetwork about four years later, but it wasn’t till 2012 that the company turned in a profit.