Sebastian Tan, Group Managing Director Photographer, Director Shooting Gallery Asia
China
Sebastian who entered the market as a fresh-eyed art student soon became a much sought after photographer and director. He has been known to be a maverick possessing a unique and effective blend of creativity, fiery passion and foresight.
Never giving up his dream of becoming an art director one day, he showed gritty persistence and imagination in his first stint as a photographer’s assistant. Even while he was constantly kept busy by the demands of his job, he honed the skills of the trade from the bottom up.
Armed with only a 35mm camera, a couple of lenses and the proceeds from the sale of his car, The Shooting Gallery was born in 1987 out of his necessity to survive.
Perhaps one of the few things that The Shooting Gallery, or Shooting Gallery Asia of today has in common with its humble roots is the professionalism of Sebastian and his team. A diversified and major player in print and television commercial production, the brainchild has expanded to include production subsidiaries and dedicated digital imaging facilities, Wishing Well The Imaging Station. The collective enterprise has bagged practically every major advertising award in the world including Gold Lions at Cannes, secured long-term deals with major clients and teamed up with top-class professionals from around the globe.
To date, Shooting Gallery Asia is a collective of 18 companies with offices or studios in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, New Zealand, The Maldives, China and the Philippines.
There’s also an office in Paris to market the group and support work from Europe. In July 2012, Sinema Media group joins the Shooting Gallery Asia family of companies.
Sebastian sits on the advisory panel of Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Design and the Institute of Technical Education’s Design and Media Academic Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency’s Media & Communications Manpower Skills & Training Council and also an Advisory member of the Singapore Film Commission and a Board member of the Singapore International Film Festival.
He has also served and judged in various Award Shows like, the Creative Circle Awards, The Hall Of Fame Awards, The Crowbars, The Phoenix, The Kodak Gongs, The Asian Television Awards, The Apollo, The Aperture Awards and many more. At the 2005 Creative Circle Awards, he was one of five individuals honoured with a ‘Champions of the Creative Circle Awards’ for his contributions to the industry. He has also been awarded the Spirit of Enterprise, 2007 and been named in Marketing Magazine’s ‘The Singapore 20’, a select list, identifying experts whose decisions truly impact the Singapore media scene. He was awarded the Most Promising Entrepreneurship at the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards, 2009 in Singapore while Shooting Gallery Asia has been recognised by Marketing Magazine as the Production Agency of the Year at the Agency of The Year Awards, 2009 and again in the year 2012. He is also a recipient of the Successful Entrepreneur 2010 Award and the SME1 Asia Award, 2011.
Occupying an office space of 17,000 square feet in Singapore and a 15,000 sq ft facility in Shanghai, Sebastian’s achievements have far surpassed his dreams. Although responsible for creating a multi-million dollar entity from scratch, Sebastian remains the same humble man as when he first opened the doors of The Shooting Gallery.