Piyarat Kaljaruek, vice-president of Kantana Group Plc, has had a long day working on The Face Thailand season 3 auditions at his studio in Bangkok's Ratchadaphisek area.
After the shoot, the show's executive producer is exhausted, but also proud of the popular reality modelling competition because it reflects the new face of 65-year-old TV production firm Kantana.
Mr Piyarat with mentors of 'The Face Thailand Season 3': Namthip Jongrachatawiboon (left), Marsha Wattanapanich (second left) and Metinee Kingpayome.
Mr Piyarat is the eldest of 13 third-generation members of the Kaljaruek family that runs Kantana Group. The family has guided the firm through the country's roller coaster economic cycles for more than six decades.
He began working with Kantana in 2006, and his major responsibility now is to modernise it, creating a variety of innovative content for Thais.
"It's been five years since I was appointed vice-president," Mr Piyarat says. "The group needs to focus more on creating various innovative and quality TV programmes. Content is always king to draw audiences and survive in the TV business."
He overhauled Kantana's old image of Thai-style soap opera catfights and horror dramas. Mr Piyarat started to add fresh content to draw younger viewers and began using online technology and social media to promote the content.
He describes the current content as more up-to-date and lively, while still retaining the same professionalism and production values.
"Actually, I think the core values of Kantana didn't change," he says. "We still work the same way, but with social media so influential, we have to know how to use and live with it."
Mr Piyarat, 38, is passionate about the lifestyle and fashion business, and in 2014 he travelled to France to make a deal with Shine International, the international distributor of The Face, to bring the show to Thailand.
The Face has three supermodel coaches who help the contestants as they compete. It first aired on the Oxygen network in the US.
"I think the branded content we decided to buy is already successful in terms of its global popularity," Mr Piyarat says. "The way to make it popular among Thais is to adapt it to our culture and find what's suitable for our country."
began airing in October 2014 and found immediate success with high ratings. It became the talk of the town as the mentors and contestants dealt with controversial issues in the first two seasons.
Mr Piyarat stands by a wall portraying his grandfather, Pradit, the famous producer of Thai horror dramas.
The Face Thailand
Season 2 was nominated for best adaptation of an existing format at the 21st Asian TV Awards in Singapore last December.
"Season 3 just started airing on Feb 4, and we hope the series will continue to be successful," Mr Piyarat says.
Kantana is an integrated content provider that supports many digital TV channels. It has several international licensed TV programmes, such as The Face Thailand, Ugly Betty and Gossip Girl Thailand, as well as its own dramas.
The group's content can attract many different groups, from kids and teenagers to adults and the elderly, Mr Piyarat says.
"Some people might think that Kantana produces only Thai-style soap operas, but we produce TV dramas, movies and animation, as well as completing post-production work," he says.
The Kantana empire began in 1951 when Mr Piyarat's grandparents, Pradit and Somsook, set up a radio drama troupe before branching out into the television business in 1958 with the production of their first TV drama, Ying Kor Mee Hua Jai (The Woman Also Has Her Heart).
The company went on to produce feature films, commercials and documentaries. It created more than 200 TV programmes, including game shows, talk shows and reality shows. Kantana also produced 18 drama series for Channel 7.
In 1980, Kantana Video Production Co was established to pioneer the Thai film production business, shooting in an outdoor studio. In 1990, Kantana Animation Co was formed as an animation graphics studio.
'If our content is strong enough, we have nothing to fear,' Mr Piyarat says.
Kantana Animation released the first Thai computer-animated feature film in 2006, Khan Kluay, which took three years to make and cost 150 million baht. The story of a blue elephant earned 91 million baht at the box office and won several awards.
The group also owns Kantana Movie Town, a 800-rai outdoor studio in Nakhon Pathom that is claimed to be the largest in Asia. Inside the town sits Kantana Academy, which educates TV production staff.
Mr Piyarat says Kantana is proud to be still standing after many TV production houses closed their doors. The industry has changed a lot with the emergence of digital TV and viewers' changing behaviours.
The group has three core businesses: TV production, film and post-production, and "edutainment" and government relations.
The strength of Kantana is that it can serve as a production house and studio for many TV operators in Asia, such as in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The group produces content for operators in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, as well as for Kantana In Japan Co.
Kantana sees the digital platform as the key to survival, as viewers are attached to their digital devices all day long, Mr Piyarat says.
"If our content is strong enough, we have nothing to fear if we are on every platform, until audience preferences change again," he says.
In the next few years, he wants to focus on event organising and the concert business to strengthen the group's core.
He credits his father, Jareuk, and his grandparents for serving as his role models in the business. Mr Jareuk has a lot of experience in TV drama production.
"I learned from their specialised expertise and knowledge, applying it to my work today," Mr Piyarat says.
Before joining the family business, he wanted to start his own business but eventually dropped that goal. Mr Piyarat grew up in a TV production environment, and this shaped him.
He is very concerned about his staff and respects teamwork. No one man can produce a TV programme, he says.
"Whenever we have a problem, we will closely evaluate what caused it and then we will fix it immediately, careful not to let it happen again," he says.
Many of Mr Piyarat's 12 siblings ended up working for Kantana. As the head of the third generation, Mr Piyarat says his goal is for the group to remain in the Thai media industry long after he retires.
His passion for what he loves is the key to his success, followed by the courage to be unique, he says.
"Just as a car is driven by petrol, I'm driven by passion," Mr Piyarat says with a big smile.
He describes himself as a hopeless optimist and is inspired by travel and surfing the internet, where loads of information can provide new ideas for work.
In his leisure time, he watches exotic foreign TV programmes because they explore different content, enabling more creative ideas.
The best way to relax is sleep, he says, as it will freshen his mind, allowing him to overcome problems.
Family ties are important, as he believes the unit can harmonise each other if they stay connected and strong.
"Luckily my work is associated with my family, so I have no problems with this issue," Mr Piyarat says.
