Produced By - #23 - Luha Ahmed: Global Explorer Challenging Herself In Digital Media And Beyond

Starting point is 00:00:03 Ruhla Ahmed is currently employed as a marketing graduate intern at CNN International Commercial under the esteemed umbrella of Warner Bros Discovery. Originally from the Maldives, Luka spent a significant portion of their life in Malaysia before relocating to the UK to pursue higher education. After completing the Foundation Year in Media Studies, she embarked on her undergraduate degree in BA film, based in London. In 2020, when the global pandemic emerged, Ljah returned to Malé, the capital city of the Maldives.

Starting point is 00:00:36 During this time, she successfully completed her second and final year of university, along with her final year project. The captivating short documentary shed a light on Malé and its local light. Following the completion of her studies, Lujah ventured back to London seeking employment opportunities and soon joined a real estate company where she excelled in producing property tours and creating engaging social media contact. Subsequently, in 2022, she comments her internship at CNN, where she presently holds a position in the trade marketing department. Tune into this episode to deal deeper into the wonders of Maldives and its capital city Malé.

Starting point is 00:01:17 Gain inspiration from Lula's courageous journey of traversing continents, motivating yourself to embrace challenges and embarking on personal growth. Enjoy. Hello Loha, thank you for joining us today and to welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much for her. having me. Can you please try to introduce yourself? Yes, of course. So my name is Luca. I'm originally from the Maldives, but I eventually moved to Malaysia when I was about two years old and lived there for about 15 years before I moved to the UK. And that's where I guess my journey into this industry and everything sort of began. I studied media and film ever since I moved here, so I sort of stayed

Starting point is 00:02:09 on the same wavelength in terms of what my interests are. And yeah. That's very interesting. I've never met anyone from Maldives or Malaysia. I've actually never met another Maldivian here in the UK, like for like family, but there's definitely a lot of Malaysians for sure and Singaporeans. And for someone who maybe doesn't know where Maldives are, can you tell us where it's located? So it's a South Asian country. It's right by Sri Lanka and India. And also quite close to Malaysia as well. It's about a four-hour flight. Hence why we moved to somewhere that was nearby when I was a kid. And it's a very, very small country. I couldn't give you the exact population now because it is growing. But I would say I'm from the capital, which is called Mala. And it's right in the center. And if you look at it on the map, it's basically a bunch of atolls.

Starting point is 00:03:12 They're called that are sort of like dispersed vertically and the capital's right in the center. And you could walk around pretty quickly. Like it's really not a big island. But obviously, I mean, for most people that know the Maldives, they see it as like a holiday destination. So it's like, you know, all the beaches and resorts. And whenever I see I'm from the Waldoos, it's always like, well, like, why do you move here? Why did she stay there? But local life is very different. It definitely also depends on your family background. And if you are privileged enough to even have the opportunity to move and study abroad and things like that. So I actually worked on this short. documentary about the Maldives and the capital and where he's from in my final year of uni when everything was online. So yeah, I'll share that with you, but that itself was also like a massive challenge because obviously COVID was very unexpected and given film is a very

Starting point is 00:04:21 practical course. I had like about a year and a half of it completely online. So I sort of to make do and figure it all out. I started in 2018. Now, COVID happened in my second year. But then at least the third year was normal or kind of normal, right? So it did get better. Like, I know there were groups that were able to shoot in person. Obviously, there were so many restrictions and, you know, how we have to get everything greenlit.

Starting point is 00:04:53 It was a lot more restrictive in terms of what they were allowing us to film. do of course. So I remember I decided to go back to the Valdeus right before the lockdown happened because I just, I didn't want to be stuck here alone and like, you know, be away from my family. Like no one really knew what was going on. So I flew back, finished the rest of my second year. And then when third year began, we were still online. And everyone was in their respective countries or still in the UK. And we basically had to make the decision on what we wanted to do for our final year films, of course, which we kind of had already started working on, me and my team. We were very ambitious in terms of what we wanted to film. So it was a risk in itself to go ahead with the idea.

Starting point is 00:05:50 And in the end, sort of like the further along, we went and like preparing for it. just, you know, like our DOP and producer and people in the team were, you know, still a little bit unsure of like how realistic this was in terms of carrying it out. Not everyone was also in the country. So we were going to be flying back in. And so we just made sort of like the collective decision to let go of that project that we'd been working on and do our own thing. So that's how I ended up working on the documentary that was set in the momentary that was set

Starting point is 00:06:26 in the Maldadis set in the capital and basically I had a huge family, a lot of cousins, so I got all of them to like help me be my little because actually made them follow me around everywhere with the equipment and I made it work. It was fun. It was a very different experience. I didn't have all the equipment that I wanted and I just kind of had to make do. Yeah, I just wanted to really explore, the one question that everyone would ask me when they asked like, oh, you know, like the Maldives and why did you move? And so I wanted to dive into sort of the lifestyles and the different backgrounds and the different classes that you see in the capital. And in conditions, some people are more fortunate where, you know, there are people that are definitely struggling to make a living

Starting point is 00:07:22 in the capital so it's very interesting i got to interview quite a few different people and i did the best that i could and i managed to get something done out of it but i still do have like a longer version that i have yet to finish but life happened and i'm working full time so are you still bled in to finish it yes of course i have to because there's like people that i interviewed that deserve to be heard so how long was the version that you submitted and how long will be the version that you plan to make i think the one that i submitted might have been just under 10 minutes and then once it's completed i would say at least half an hour not super long but just enough to you know it be like a short documentary to me it sounds like really interesting topic for the documentary because as i

Starting point is 00:08:19 said there aren't many people or I haven't met anyone from Maldives. So it's something that people just don't know about. So I would be curious to watch it and find out more. Because I'm not going to lie. My question was if Maldives are like these beautiful tourist destination, where people just fly to the beaches, you know, for swimming in the sea. And as you said, I didn't probably realize it or didn't think about it that way that obviously they are different.

Starting point is 00:08:50 Yeah, there's always two sides. Yeah. I mean, I would say, like, I'm very fortunate to, like, when I go home, go to the beach and have that kind of nature around me. But, for example, when I first started working on the project, I had a lot of mixed opinions from, like, the older generation versus the younger generation in my family, because I would say with the Maldives, the tourism industry is, like,

Starting point is 00:09:17 the reason why, you know, we generated the wealth and has been able to develop the country in general, even though it's not exactly, you know, to a standard that some people would have hoped it to be. But there have been massive changes that have happened across the years because of tourism that's been generated. But at the same time, I think, like I said, there's a situation. whole other side that no one knows about that's shown online or you don't see it in ads. But I understand that because that generation, like my father's generation, their work, their whole lives to promote this like sunny side of life. So yeah, I mean, there's pros and pawns to it with working on the documentary I was doing

Starting point is 00:10:13 my best not to be sort of biased as well because I think especially given I didn't grow up there, I would visit every single year, but it's important that I'm able to have almost like no opinion in terms of like when I'm editing as well and just give the facts as it is. So that it's more objective rather than subjective, right? Exactly, exactly. So with the people that I interviewed as well, they were from different classes and different backgrounds, different walks of life.

Starting point is 00:10:47 So yeah. And then with the COVID, I assume that the whole country must have been impacted since people couldn't travel as much and tourism is or was the high source of revenue for the country. So was like the country impacted a lot by that? 100%. I mean, that being like the main source of revenue, I think, I don't know, I believe. Like there were a lot of resorts that may have had to.

Starting point is 00:11:15 close down for a bit, people not been able to maintain certain hotels. So it definitely, the hit was hard, but I think as soon as the country opened back up, sort of went back to normal. But I mean, I don't have like a huge like understanding on specifics in terms of what we have happened, but I definitely was aware of that being like a huge downfall during that time. But all is well now. And out of curiosity, how expensive is it there for tourists? Is it cheap or expensive? So it depends on what kind of holiday you want to have.

Starting point is 00:11:58 I think most people assume that you can only go there if you're planning to spend thousands and thousands of dollars. And five-star hotel. Yeah, but there's actually... ways to enjoy the country on a budget. I would say it's probably the flight ticket that's going to be expensive given where you're coming from because unless you're flying in from like a bordering country, it's not going to be as cheap. But there's this thing called guest houses in the Maldives. So they're not on their own individual island. So if you're going to the Maldives for a five-star luxury holiday,

Starting point is 00:12:37 the minute you land, you'll have, you know, someone from the hotel that has come to the airport to pick you up and takes you to your car. And if you're taking a speedboat, you'll get onto your speedboat and drive, you know, like all the way to the resort or they'll take you to your air taxi. So that's another thing. If your island or your resort is further away from the capital, you have to take like this small little plane that lands in the sea, which is like another experience, fun and cool. I mean, depends on what you're into. Some people might find it scary. So great, but I can imagine this is like for some millionaires or like proper expensive one. I mean, you definitely save up for sure for that kind of an experience.

Starting point is 00:13:22 But yeah, so that in itself, once you get to the resort, you have everything there. So it's just like any other hotel. You have your restaurants with buffets and you have your villas or your overwater villa. It's like all inclusive. Yeah, everything's there on one island. Some people say, you know, it really depends on what kind of a person you are. If you prefer to do more activities and be more adventurous on a holiday, you have to be very selective in terms of the resort that you choose

Starting point is 00:13:57 because I feel like majority of people that go to the Maldives just want to relax. So the minute they land, they're just by the beach tanning or reading a boat. and going for their meals and it's just repeat and doing like a few of water sports here and there but yeah you're not going to be you know climbing mountains anywhere or I don't know I guess it's not really

Starting point is 00:14:18 for like an adrenaline junkie but I think the snorkeling and the diving is like a huge thing as well in the Maldives so a lot of people go there to surf as well but yeah that's that one side of like super expensive kind of a holiday

Starting point is 00:14:34 and then there's also the other side where they have the guest houses and they're built differently. So it's like you'll have these three, four stories, small buildings with, you know, rooms, basically a small hotel. But they're usually located on a local island. So when you visit the island, you'll have people like actual locals living around you. And it's a completely different experience. whereas in a resort, you probably wouldn't see anyone from the Maldives except for the staff, probably, or any other Maldivians that are at the resort for their holiday. Yeah, so if you go to a guest house,

Starting point is 00:15:16 it is a lot more cheaper. Obviously, your experience is completely different, but I would say you have the opportunity to try more local food, hear the language, get to know people from the Maldives. Some of them are super welcoming in terms of inviting you to their home and like cooking their dishes for you which you would experience at a resort. But I would say, I mean, if you're fortunate enough to like definitely try to experience both because as different as they are, it's still special in their own way. Yeah, I understand. It will be maybe sounds like if you go to Airbnb and stay in someone's place.

Starting point is 00:15:59 Yeah, I mean, I guess depends on the guest house, I would say. but the guest houses themselves, they still sort of operate the same way as a hotel. So you'll have other guests staying there as well. It's like you're on a local island and you see the homes and, you know, the beach is different. And you mentioned language. What language is spoken there? Yeah, so the local language is called Diveji, which is not very popular at all. So, I mean, I think to a foreigner, if you were listening to the language,

Starting point is 00:16:32 it would basically sound like any other South Asian language. So there's influences from like Sinhalese, Hindi, a little bit of Arabic. It's a mix of a couple of different things. But I think any other South Asian languages, it's influenced by. And I would say obviously we also have other dialects. So if you go to an island that's further away from the capital, you know, they speak differently. I wouldn't be able to understand. So it's so different.

Starting point is 00:17:03 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think my mom would be able to, but it's the way they pronounce certain words, completely different. What was the level of English? Is it because of tourists higher? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I would say, like,

Starting point is 00:17:17 it's taught in all the schools, whether international or public school, pretty much everyone knows how to speak English. I think if you go to a local island, the fluency may vary, but like you said, because of the tourism industry and people that are coming into the country from so many different backgrounds, it's pretty important that you're able to speak English, but also there are a lot of people that work in the Maldives now

Starting point is 00:17:43 that are from countries that most of the guests are from. So you'll see a lot of Italians or Filipinos, Indians. and yeah, it sort of like helps them feel what we're welcomed, I think, of course, seeing people from similar backgrounds when they can just speak and ask questions without being misinterpreted. So that's helpful. And yeah, it's definitely changed a lot. And the demographic in terms of people that visit the country, I feel like has changed over the years as well, which is interesting. It sounds definitely like a beautiful destination or interesting one to visit. Yeah, you should like 100%. visit one day.

Starting point is 00:18:26 How many hours is the flight from London? So I've taken a direct flight once, and I believe that might have been over 10 hours, and I personally will never take a direct flight again, so whenever I go back. I just have to walk and stand, I just like can't. So when I have been back, ever since I moved here, I always take two flights, so I do my transit in Dubai. So from here to Dubai is about five to six hours, a little bit more, give or take. And then from Dubai to Maldives is about four to five hours. It takes kind of like a whole day, depending on how long your transit is. But I would recommend trying to land in the Maldives in the

Starting point is 00:19:14 morning if you're going for a holiday just so you can make the most of the day as soon as you land. And yeah, actually seeing the ocean and like, you know. Enjoy your time there. So what was the reason for you moving to Malaysia? Definitely better quality of life and education. So it was a huge sacrifice in general, sort of moving away from all our extended family. At the time, I had one other cousin that had already moved to Malaysia. So that was pretty much the only other family we had there at the time.

Starting point is 00:19:48 but yeah my parents made the decision I just have an older brother so it was me and my older brother that moved with my mom to Malaysia and my dad continued working in the Maldives so he would visit us sort of like be back and forth and yeah I always wonder what life

Starting point is 00:20:07 would have been like if I just grew up in the Maldives but I'm very very thankful that I had the experience of growing up in Malaysia because I had people from so many different backgrounds around me growing up. I went to an international school. So, yeah, I mean, my closest friends, I have Singaporean friend. I have a lot of Malaysian friends.

Starting point is 00:20:32 I have people. I remember in so many different backgrounds, a lot of British expats tend to, like, move to Asian countries. So when they move, their children come into the schools as well. And so, was it also to capital? I believe it's Kuala Lumpur. Yes, correct. I live in Kwan Lumpur, and it's pretty big.

Starting point is 00:20:54 So, I mean, compared to the capital and in Baldy, it was big to me. I lived in this area called Kamanthun for like my whole life. And I went to a school that wasn't really that close by. I had to take a bus to school and take at least 30 to 40 minutes by bus. but yeah I went to the same school from year one until I graduated in year 11 so I grew up with the same people so everyone kind of felt like we were siblings or something yeah like a family yeah I kept a pretty close group of friends like my closest friends today are the friends that I made in Malaysia pretty much what do you call your home now do you call home a Maldives or Malaysia

Starting point is 00:21:46 That's the biggest question. I could make a documentary on this question. I think, you know, I haven't been back to Malaysia and about, I think, three years now, which is a while and I really miss it. I think the older I get because both my parents now live in the Maldives, and I think home is wherever your family is, at least for me. So I do feel like the Maldives is more home, but nothing compares to when I land in Malaysia and I hear the language again and I smell the food. I just the tiny little things, the difference in the air and the places that I used to go to as a kid. It's also home, but in a different kind of way. I guess I have more than two homes.

Starting point is 00:22:38 No, it's understandable considering how much time you spent there and was your childhood. So it was hard to say and both played a big role in your life. Yeah, for sure, in very different ways. Yeah, and then I guess I eventually moved here when I was 17 and I came here for a foundation year. I went to a college for international students in Brighton, super random. but that's what I did. So I lived in Bryson for like a year when I was 17 and I went to this college. But it's another beautiful city, isn't it?

Starting point is 00:23:18 Yeah, no. Just go to the sea. It was great because I could just walk down to the pier after my classes and be by the beach. Very different kind of beach to the Maldives, but still a beach. In Maldives it's like rather sand and pound. In Brighton, it's more of like a pebbled beach, I would say. But yeah, I would say given Brighton's like a smaller city in London, obviously, there wasn't as many cases to go to. It started getting very repetitive, but I think for a year it was a good experience.

Starting point is 00:23:54 I would say I kind of lived like a boarding school pretty much. I lived on campus. So when I was on campus, I didn't really feel like I was in the UK because there were people from Malaysia. Thailand, Iran I sort of just didn't really click until I would go out and have to run my errands and, you know, spare my independent life pretty much. I did have a culture shock when I first moved here

Starting point is 00:24:20 with like so, then of course the weather because I pretty much grew up under like the heat of the sun my whole life and I came here. And why did you pick Brighton? Why not London in the first? place. So I think when I finished school in Malaysia, I pretty much knew I wanted to do something related to digital media in general. But at the same time, I was sort of figuring out whether or not I wanted to do another two to three years of like A levels or if I could basically take a shortcut

Starting point is 00:24:59 and do a foundation year and go straight to uni, which is what I did. And in Malaysia, they didn't really have as many subjects that I would have been interested in doing in my A levels in terms of being more creative and things like that. So I remember I went to one student fair and I came across the stall that were promoting this college. And they did have a campus in London as well, but I think the one in Brighton was a lot more safe, especially at the age that I was going to move away from my family and you know everything being on campus just seemed a little bit more preferable at the time i didn't really have a major understand like i knew like everyone you know knows of london but i didn't necessarily like have a preference i knew that brighton was super close i have an older

Starting point is 00:25:54 cousin that also lived here around the same time so she was already here by the time i moved but in london so I could like visit her but yeah I mean it sort of just happened that way and that particular campus was more suitable and I just wonder how come that Brighton was present in their uni in Malaysia so far away how is it possible or why I think because they're like specifically catering towards international students so yeah like I said there are a lot of Malaysian that went to this particular college as well. So, yeah, that's probably why they were this student fair. Of course, there were other unis as well, but yeah. And weren't you also thinking about the different countries?

Starting point is 00:26:47 I look so, I think most students from the region that I grew up in, and even in the Maldives, once you graduate for your higher education in general, it's like either the UK, the US, Australia and New Zealand, those are like the main countries. My parents would have never let me go all the way to the US, so way too far away. And I also would have been like, okay, maybe it's a bit too far. So I never really considered. And I think when it came to Australia in general, I didn't have any friends or anyone that I knew that was planning to go there at the time. Now I do have very close friends that live there, but I don't know, nothing really stood out to me.

Starting point is 00:27:34 Also, just knowing I had one cousin here made the big difference. And yeah. Yeah, it's understandable. It makes sense. Just a quick one. If you enjoy our podcast, please give us a review on your favorite podcast app, subscribe or share it with your friends. For more information, visit the show notes. Thank you. And back to the show.

Starting point is 00:27:58 So how did you find the foundation? in Brighton. Did it meet your expectations? I didn't know what to expect actually when I first moved. I think. And sorry, can you just briefly say what did you actually study before in Malaysia? In Malaysia, so it's based on a British curriculum. So we did the IGCS at the end. So we had our O levels and A levels. But at the tutoring my school, they weren't doing A levels. We stopped at oh, and then you have to go to a different school to complete your A and then go for uni. So pretty much our syllabus was according to the British curriculum, but our teachers were

Starting point is 00:28:42 from everywhere. So we would have local teachers. We'd have British teachers, American. It's sort of like a huge mix as well in terms of like the people that we're teaching us. In terms of the subjects, it's like the same things that you would study. geography, maths, English. Yeah, so like in general, not focused on it.

Starting point is 00:29:01 It was pretty much general. And then towards the end, I think it's about five to seven different subjects for all levels, but remember anymore. The only creative thing that I could do was art and design. And, yeah, everything else was your standard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It makes sense, yeah. So how was the foundation?

Starting point is 00:29:20 Like I said, I didn't really know what to expect because I was moving away from my family for the first time. And I'd also never had to make new friends since I was like six years old. I grew up with the same people. I remember when I first went into the campus and my parents dropped me off and it was last day that they were in the UK and did my goodbyes and I went back to my room and I just remember sitting in my bed thinking like, wow, I'm just here. I have a kid. I don't know how my parents let me do that. And just thinking like I need to go and make a friend. And then I met this really lovely Iranian girl. She was there to study English.

Starting point is 00:30:02 So I very quickly became her friend that was helping her in terms of improving her speech and the way that she would communicate. And it was fun. Like everyone was there for different subjects, you know, and the foundation here in general. So I did media studies. It wasn't a really big class. I think there was maybe five. of us in total, like very intimate, like we knew our teacher very well and I think we had three different terms and we had exams at the end of each. But outside of our media studies class,

Starting point is 00:30:41 we also had to do compulsory, I think English and some life skills class and like, you know, just your standard thing. But there was also something to do with. So there was like a couple other things on the side, but the main course that I was there to do, I really enjoyed it because it was the first time that I was able to focus my interests of one thing and not have to like really study anything else at the time. And yeah, it was the first time I was able to like really explore my capabilities and have the opportunity. need to use bigger equipment and like things I would have never gotten a hold of backhole. So was it both theoretical and practical?

Starting point is 00:31:34 Yes, kind of half of. So we got to work on, I remember doing like a music video. And then I think we had to make like a small portfolio show reel of our work. So some editing work. We had to create some magazines at one point. So it was like a mix of different things, given it was not specific to do with film. but rather a medium general. And then from there, I pretty much went back home.

Starting point is 00:32:02 So I went back to, I don't remember if I had gone back to Malaysia, the Maldives. I remember my mom had not permanently moved back to the Maldives just yet at the time. But I remember I had to very quickly start applying for my visa to come back. and it's like a very long procedure. So I actually was probably would have started in the same year that you did. But I didn't get my visa on time. I had to defer one year. For that year, I was pretty much in the Maldives,

Starting point is 00:32:40 just sort of like doing random things and like preparing tools to the UK eventually. So I had a little break in between uni. At least not, it must have been much easier to move. again, although to a different city, but at least you tried before, so it wasn't so new and so scary. Yeah, but suddenly enough, I was a lot more emotional when I moved for uni, even though I was older and I had already been here. Because when I moved for that foundation year, I knew it was just a year. And I was going to see my family again.

Starting point is 00:33:18 But then moving for uni, I was like, okay, this is like a three. thing, it's set, you know, anything could have been. And London is obviously still quite different to a small place like Brighton. So I had visited before when I was in Brighton as well, but living here is so different. I've gotten so used to it now, but back then, I was definitely overwhelmed. I'm not surprised. I was as well when I moved here. So it's understandable. Where did you move from? From, Czech Republic and I'm from a little town so like just a few people in a town like everyone knows everyone and then I moved to London which is just a little lower population than the whole country so it's crazy and did you know that you wanted to go to study to London

Starting point is 00:34:10 after you finished in Brighton? Yeah so we basically had to start our cast's applications during our course. So we had classes or specific guidelines in terms of helping us and make our applications when I was in college. And so I remember at the time

Starting point is 00:34:33 my tutors they put a lot of emphasis on like going for open days. So I'd actually applied to I think Leeds and Manchester and a couple other cities as well. but I kind of knew I wanted to be in London

Starting point is 00:34:53 just because it was where my cousin was as well, a capital. And also probably the best place for film industry? Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it kind of just made sense. I went to an open day in Brennitch University and then, like, shortly after I went to the open day at Middlesex. And I remember I went to this short introductory recession and I was sold. I remember thinking, okay, Kenden's not in Central, like it's not

Starting point is 00:35:28 super close to Central London, but the campus was nice and facilities were great. And I think at the time, like, I don't know what the ranking is now, but I just remember that particular course was rent pretty high at the time. And yeah, that's how London came to be. And I was always sort of leaning towards London in general. But with the ranking, as you mentioned, I remember the same that I heard it, that it was ranked very high. And actually, when I spoke to some other people about the reason why they chose Middlesex, they also said that Middlesex was ranking really high. I don't know if it was only in London or in the whole country, but must have been true.

Starting point is 00:36:08 And it persuaded a lot of people. Yeah, I think it was like the whole of UK. Yeah, which is impressive. Yeah. And once studying, did you feel like that foundation year was helpful, that it gave you like some foundation to start with? Yeah, I mean, I would say like just having the experience of using bigger equipment, you know, directing smaller projects. Even if it was a team of like three people, still read a big difference. So I think I had better understanding of the practical side of things.

Starting point is 00:36:46 And given, you know, it is a very hands-on course, it definitely helped. Would I have maybe done A-levels instead? I think maybe if I had the opportunity to study other subjects more relating to what I wanted to do, I might have. But yeah, I don't necessarily regret it. I think I did it like in a year and I qualified me to go to uni. So that was the aim. and I was very sure of what I wanted to do. I feel like I've just always been very creative.

Starting point is 00:37:22 Like my mom's super creative. My grandfather's used to paint and draw. So it's in your genes. Yeah, it's in my gym. But yeah, I just remember like how I very specifically got into the idea of like film in general was I got my first laptop when I was about, I think, I think 11, 12 years old. And it had the webcam on the front.

Starting point is 00:37:51 And I just remember using that camera to like start filming things. So I would hold with my laptop. So I would like hold up my laptop and like go around. And then I'd speak this laptop back to the Moldiv. So this is when I was living in Malaysia. And I force all my little baby cousins. to be actors for me and I like made a whole horror film and like using the little little editing system and then I would invite people to like watch the film in my living room.

Starting point is 00:38:27 I think I just never got tired of it. I always found it fun and interesting so I feel like you know what also I think I'm just very fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to actually choose what I wanted to study. I know a lot of my cousins or just even close friends that sort of have this set out from like what their parents may have wanted them to do, especially from my background, like being South Asian, most people would expect to, you know, go into like engineering or you know, law and medicine. But I genuinely never had an interest in that field. The only other thing I I did sort of always find interesting was, I think, criminology or forensic signs. So I watched a lot of crime documents.

Starting point is 00:39:19 And I was like, you know, I don't know if that's the way to go. So I just left it. And did you also know what role did you want to focus on? Like specifically to do with like editing or stuff or anything like that. I think when I joined uni, I had already done a lot of editing work in general because, In school, I would edit a lot of work for like the different events that would happen, presentations and things like that. So I used like Final Cop Pro and that's pretty much what I was the most familiar with.

Starting point is 00:39:55 And by the time I got to Middlesex, I think I wanted to sort of continue forward and that field of editing. I prefer being behind the camera rather than in front. So that's where my head was at. But I don't know if it was in the first or second year, I made the decision to direct something. Just to like see if I could do it, push myself and like, you know, go out the box a little bit. And I think I did well. And I felt like as challenging as it was, I found it very interesting to like just go through the whole process of working on the storyboards and like, drawing everything out to casting the actors and just everything in general.

Starting point is 00:40:45 Having that experience, I knew that, you know, I was able to do other roles as well. But I would say directing and editing was what I ended up specializing in towards the end in the final year. So did you, in the final year for the final project, did you focus on? Oh yeah, you did both because... So basically in our second year, we also were meant to do short film, but that got cancelled immediately because of COVID. And that short film was the same film that we picked up to complete in our final year. That's what we wanted to work on, me and my team. And my role in that was to direct and edit.

Starting point is 00:41:32 and then in my final year when everything was online I sort of did everything I mean I had my to help me you know hold the microphone or like hold the camera in place things like that but yeah yeah and I wonder because we spoke about it before

Starting point is 00:41:51 as you were filming the documentary where did you get all the equipment or how did you go about it so one of my cousins Her dad had a camera. I think it was a Canon, just a regular DSLR camera, but the quality was great. I had like a huge lens. And I'd borrowed that camera.

Starting point is 00:42:14 And the same cousin had a friend that had sound equipment. So not like anything too fancy. It was just one of those clip-on mics. And then I think had another cousin that had a small GoPro. both. So my cousins sourced the... Now I see, as you mentioned before, you have a big family back there. So it also helped. Yes, it came in clutch.

Starting point is 00:42:40 The only thing I used for myself was my app top to edit. That was pretty much it. I hadn't brought anything else with me. No, it's great that you still managed. Yeah. That you had resources, equipment, and sounds good, yeah. I'm very lucky to have completed that. So I don't really want to just write something or...

Starting point is 00:43:01 No, it makes sense. Yeah. We wanted to do something practical. So how was it after the university? How did you start your entry into the industry? So I remember I had started interviewing for roles during my final year. And obviously, given I was in the moldy, it was very difficult in terms of visas and things, because obviously you're no longer in a student visa.

Starting point is 00:43:29 And for myself, it was either I applied to the graduate visa that had come out at the time, which is like a two-year thing, or you just get sponsored to work as like a skilled worker here, right? And at the time, given like just the experience that I had, which wasn't much, it was just uni. And I did like a small placement in between. I felt like the likelihood of me getting sponsored to work in the UK might have been very small. So I basically took the big risk of flying back here without a job guaranteed to apply for the graduate visa because you have to be in the country to apply for it, I think. So I flew back in 2021, I believe. and it was the end of 2021.

Starting point is 00:44:21 I came back. I applied for the visa. And then I was pretty much on the hunt for jobs. I had to find a way to live here. So I ended up picking up an opportunity that I wouldn't have expected to be in. So for the first year, the graduate visa, I pretty much worked doing content for an estate agency in North London. So they had no creative department or like marketing or anyone doing things for their social media. And so, you know, I thought it was an interesting

Starting point is 00:45:03 opportunity, but I was like, I can't be picky. And I could have to tape whatever I'd get. So I remember I had one phone call and then they asked me to come into their office. And so I went their base like all the way up in Cockfosters, which is like the end of the Piccadilly line. So it was about like an hour away from where I lived at the time. But I went in and yeah, I just shared my portfolio. They asked a couple of questions and pretty much my role there was majority of it was filming for their tours. So their property chores. And that honestly was quite fun because I want to see a lot of different houses. And my manager at the time, he pretty much, like, sourced and bought all the equipment.

Starting point is 00:45:56 I just gave a list of, like, everything. You could have picked anything you wanted expensive, and they was good. I mean, I had my camera. So we stuck with that. And then I think we needed to get, like, a gimbal. So that was, like, a DJI gimbal. and then you got the sound equipment as well and then I believe we may have gotten like some lighting things as well

Starting point is 00:46:27 and also like subscribing to the Adobe softwares and all those different things but I was very clear in a sense that I didn't have anything on these so the way I could work for them is if they provide you so thankfully they did then I was kind of like a one 11 show I did all like filming and editing and everything. So it was quite tiring, but I was able to also work from whole because I was editing most of the time. But I also did small things on the side, like some graphic design work for like their email signatures, other social media posts.

Starting point is 00:47:09 Yeah, the content in general, it actually wasn't just. property tours. Given they're based in North London, you know, you want to promote the area as well for their clients. And they had offices for different areas. So we would go and sort of like contact small businesses in certain areas, make little promo videos for them, which was really fun. So we made one for a bakery, for a gym, for an art gallery. So there's always something new and different, which was also nice. And yeah, I ended up staying there for about 10 months, I think. I mean, I could have completed my two years there, but I think I really wanted to just challenge myself. I was doing what I already knew how to do. And I wanted to just always push myself to do more

Starting point is 00:48:00 and to learn. So I knew that eventually I would have to see what else was out there. And so, yeah, I started interviewing for the graduate internships that Warner Media had put out, and I'd actually interviewed with them before I'd come to the UK, but I didn't have the visa, so it was really difficult. And they had quite a few rounds. I'd made it towards the end, and it just flopped because it wasn't in the UK, and I, like, didn't have the visa. So that's why I was like, you know what, to even really get a shot at things,

Starting point is 00:48:36 I need to just take the risk, which is what I did. And so, yeah, I decided to interview with them again, but for a different role. And they didn't have that many practical positions for the graduate internship. So my focus was rather to just go into something where I knew I could still apply my skills and just making sure that the team had some sort of connection in terms of working with other teams that may be more production-based, you know, just knowing I could work with other people, even if I'm not working directly in the same teams and being able to learn was the biggest thing for me. And I think it's just getting your foot at the door is a huge blessing. So what was

Starting point is 00:49:24 the role? So the role is for marketing graduate internship, which is what I'm doing now. It is Warner Bros., right? Yeah. So technically, Warner Brothers Discovery, and WarnerMedia, it's like they sort of have a bunch of different other companies under them. So I work under CNN International Commercial and then there's also Cartoon Network and there's also TNP and Discovery. So there's a lot of different departments and people and teams and we all sort of are under the same umbrella. And so I knew I was interviewing for CNN. and the international commercial department, basically there's a lot of different teams from like sales to finance, legal, marketing, PR.

Starting point is 00:50:18 But I would say in my role in particular, I pretty much what I do, I would say it divided into internal and external communications. So most of the work that I do on a day-to-day basis is internal. So that's from editing newsletters. So I do a lot of writing, actually. So there's newsletters that go out weekly. So I have to sort of put those together. And it's to update everyone in the teams of like the latest events.

Starting point is 00:50:50 And the upcoming seminars, webinars, any thing that's gone on like a magazine or an article and things like that, pretty much. And there's a couple other newsletters as well that go out. And then other than that, I have to assist with like updating. So a lot of administrative stuff as well, like updating their systems, their intranet, putting things onto their website, updating their website, and kind of a handful of things. And then the external work that I do is the social media and their commercial website.

Starting point is 00:51:30 And there's also a newsletter that goes out to their clients. but I would say what I'm most grateful for, especially in this role as my manager, she's sort of been very accommodating in terms of making sure that when each graduate comes in, I think just really understanding their background and what they studied and where their skill set lies the best. So I have been able to like edit a lot of work for bigger events and like other countries and have that, you know, on my portfolio, things like that. And then also with the social media accounts in general. So CNN actually has an in-house brand studio, like a production company within.

Starting point is 00:52:17 So they don't, I mean, they do source externally as well, I would say. But with CNN, I see they have their own little team inside to do everything. So I pretty much handle that team's social media. So whenever they have any recent launches that they've worked on, if it's a sponsored film or a sponsored content site, I get to sort of take that on board. And I think the biggest project that I've sort of managed in this role, because I'm actually almost done this August, it'll be a year.

Starting point is 00:52:53 Oh, yeah. Yeah. So my sort of task, I would say, was to revamp and, like, given you look and feel to their social media accounts, because they were sort of just reposting content as it came. But I was like, you know, let's make this look a little bit more interactive. So to work with that team and their designers. So in that sense, I think depending on your skill set, they're very accommodating and, like, actually allowing you to do things that you. can put on to your CV and enjoy and that I know the intern before me she enjoyed doing more writing as well so she got to work on the website and like updating their website so it really

Starting point is 00:53:40 depends but yeah and can you say or do you want to say what is their social media called for example Instagram or Facebook so that we can have a look at your work yes of course so I think it's just create on Instagram. I will then put it to the show notes if someone wanted to have a look. It's CNN creates. So it actually took a while to get everything sort of approved. So I think like only a couple of weeks ago did we start implementing the different sort of look and feel and vibe that we were going for. So yeah, there's not too many posts, but a good number enough to see, I guess, what I've done now.

Starting point is 00:54:24 have a look afterwards. I was thinking if you want people to follow you, do you want to share to follow your work or even yourself, your social media or website or something? You know what? Why not LinkedIn? I think that's the best place. So I have my LinkedIn. I think it's just my name. So Louva, Rand, L-H-J-H-M-E. You can find my portfolio, your website and social media and everything on there. So. And do you know what are your plans when you finish this? internship. I'm currently very deep into the job hunt right now for my history. It's terrible. I think my aim is sort of just to still stay within the media industry, but I really wanted to sort of work in teams where I can work on new content constantly rather than like a feature length film. So I

Starting point is 00:55:17 figured that out when I was in uni that I didn't see myself going into like the bigger film industry. So I'm looking into a lot of like production-based roles, but also roles that might be a little bit more to do with project management. But yeah, it's very much varied. I think as long as I can apply my skill set, that's sort of the aim right now. Yeah, I'll see what happens and hoping for the best. Yeah, fingers crossed. Hopefully we'll find something that we'll enjoy and will be able to, you know, develop yourself creatively and express yourself. Yes. So yeah, thank you very much, Lujan. I will get in touch and wish you good luck in the meantime. You too and I look forward to the rest of the series and podcasts. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for listening to Produced by.

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Produced By - #23 - Luha Ahmed: Global Explorer Challenging Herself In Digital Media And Beyond

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