90 Seconds Creator spotlight: Ying Li Looi

Table of content
  1. Introduction
  2. How did Ying become the prolific creator that she is now, with such big-name clients?
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90 Seconds
7 years ago・5 min read

We recently caught up with Ying Li Looi, a creator in our Singapore community who has completed over 150 contracts since joining 90 Seconds in 2015. Her portfolio is comprised of one impressive brand after another, and once you have her work, you’ll see why. And we know from working with her that she consistently delivers on time and proactively communicates with us and our clients on every project.

How did Ying become the prolific creator that she is now, with such big-name clients?

Before her career as a freelance creator, Ying graduated from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication majoring in TV Production.

After a short stint at Mediacorp, she joined the production industry with freelance jobs on the photo and video shoots. To expose herself to as much work as possible, she often found herself accepting any available roles that she could. They include locations, wardrobe, props, casting, and assistant producing.

Those experiences eventually led her to a job at D’Arcy, an advertising agency of the BCom3 group. She was Producer and Art Buyer on Print Ads and TVCs for clients. Some names include Mars (M&Ms), P&G (Whisper), Roche, Australian Tourist Commission, and NEC.

With the closing of D’Arcy, her career returned to its production roots at The Right Angle. It is a production house with broadcast and corporate video services. Although her first project was a TV series about the Singapore Arts Festival, she naturally moved on to producing corporate videos.

Some of her clients are Singapore Airlines, SingTel, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Media Development Authority (MDA), British High Commission, SingHealth, Novartis, and others.

For two years, Ying was making ads and tutorials for action camera apps at muvee Singapore. Afterward, she shot, edited, and delivered stories for the BBC and Forbes magazine. From there, she started doing additional work for UBS, JLL, Accenture, DBS, Mastercard, and NZ Trade+Enterprise.

It may seem obvious with a background like hers. But we wanted to ask a few more questions to learn how what else helped her advance her career:

Did you always know you wanted to be a filmmaker?

I have always loved cinema, art, design, literature, music, and filmmaking. I was asked once: “ Do you have a story to tell?’ It’s not something I ever thought about but I automatically answered, “ I am a filmmaker because I want to give the voice and visual for other people so that their stories can be heard.

What was the hardest part about starting your career as a filmmaker?

The hardest part was and continues to be learning new workflows and technologies. Fortunately, being part of and watching the journey of modern-day filmmaking cross disciplines and stereotypes makes it worth battling the learning curve.

How did you make the transition from hobby part-time work to professional with epic client list?

Volunteering and collaborating on community and charity projects provided the stepping stones for me to advance to corporate videos.

What advice would you give to new creators who want to develop their careers?

I credit my secondary school teacher with this. And it’s advice that I still regularly remind myself: “the fruits of labor are the sweetest.


Her hard work has paid off and continues to bring her to the top of the client’s minds when hiring a creator. 90 Seconds producer Katherine Kirana has worked with Ying extensively. She recently commented that “Ying is one of our star creators who brings out the best in every project. She is very approachable, has a great eye for details, and has been producing various content with great success. One thing that sets her apart is her ability to take ownership of the project to help clients find the best angle on a story to captivate viewers.”

You can see more of her work on https://llyingg.com/

Connect with Ying: Instagram | Vimeo | Facebook | LinkedIn