This Feels Like Home

I remember the moment well.

I woke up with a start on a bright morning at the tail end of July 2023. My eyes opened quickly, darting left and right. My heart was pounding, half adrenaline, half anxiety. I was excited and nervous. There I was, in my 50s, starting the day with an entirely new career. After launching a record label, then working in the music industry, then the tv industry, then the film industry, then an international OTT role, at the end of July 2023 it all came full circle. I became Chief Explorer of Komet, a company I had just launched.

Yes, I called myself Chief Explorer. Somehow, it seemed to fit with my idea of myself. Not Chief Executive Officer, or Creative Head or anything like that. Chief Explorer. To go out there and explore the worlds of film, TV and music. And to explore with a fresh approach that was both unique and personal, sculpted from years of hard lessons and priceless experiences. 

Yes, I had a plan, a blueprint of what Komet is and should be. It wasn’t a new plan. In fact, the plan had always been in my head since around 2010. How to produce content, how to invest in content, how to distribute content, how to keep doing something new and progressive and at the same time build something that like-minded people would want to be a part of. How to make a difference. And most importantly, how to do it from a place of love, a place of passion, a place where we enjoy ourselves immensely, our experiences full of fun and satisfaction.

It was also a plan of action. A plan to incisively launch into something new right from the start. To hit the ground running. To experiment and go places no one else goes. To take those experiences and learn from them quickly, and then go again. And again. And again.

Like a comet. Or shall we say, like a Komet. 

I have always kept that blueprint in the backburner, always so busy with never-ending work all these years that at times I myself wondered when I could ever work that plan. 

Well, the stars aligned in 2023 to enable me to chase after that vision.

I started out working from home, holding meetings at coffee places. That didn’t stop me from dreaming big. I hung on to my vision and focused on the goal. I didn’t give myself a plan B. I didn’t give myself a fallback plan. I knew if I did, I will fall back on my original plan.

Komet is now 2 years old and has a nice cosy and warm office we call home away from home. It’s not just been involved in some pretty big blockbusters across Southeast Asia, it’s not just been investing, distributing and producing pretty cool movies but it’s also been a meeting point, a hanging-out of like-minded people. We get visitors of all types. We have a small team but a steady stream of wide-eyed interns coming through the door.

And the feedback is always the same. After they have worked at Komet, or hung out at Komet or had meetings at Komet, they will always say, “This feels like home.”

It does. 

Welcome to Komet.