Tanida Hantaweewatana's full-time job is to be up in the air. But when she's on the ground, she writes the script for the TV hit, Hormones The Series, a programme known for its bold and honest portrayal of teenagers, which started its second season two months ago.
"At the moment, I think of myself as a flight attendant who also writes scripts," Tanida said. "People don't think they go together very well, but in many ways they complement one another."
Tanida Hantaweewatana and director of the second season of Hormones The Series Kriangkrai Vachiratamporn.
A career in the film industry has always been the 30-year-old mass communication graduate's dream. In her final year at Chulalongkorn University she took charge as both director and head of the scriptwriting team for the faculty's annual play. The experience of working on such a huge production further confirmed her idea of what she wanted to do in the future.
After graduating, however, her life took a completely unexpected turn. She was offered a job with Thai Airways, a job she's been doing ever since.
"Before that, I was part of the scriptwriting team in a production house for three months," she said. "I guess at that point I was feeling lost. It's weird because I knew I was doing something I really liked, but I didn't feel like I was actually good at it. I guess eight years ago, my thoughts, ideas and the person I am weren't as matured as they are today. I wasn't sure I could make a living out of it, so when another opportunity came by I decided to take it."
A career choice as a flight attendant wasn't too surprising — it's a job her mother works, as well. Tanida admits, however, that it doesn't quite fit her personality.
"As a kid, I got to travel to many different countries with my mum. It's something that most people don't get to do. I have more material than other people — I got to see plays, visit museums, eat good food and see a lot of interesting things."
During her first five years with the airline, with many of her friends working in the film industry, Tanida admitted feeling envious of them getting to do what they loved.
"Being a flight attendant is very exhausting. You fly to places and when you're home you want to rest for days because you are so drained. Then about three years ago, I started to feel more settled. I could manage my time and energy better and that's when I started asking people I know for a chance to try my hand at scriptwriting again."
It was during that time that Songyos Sugmakanan, who directed the first season of Hormones The Series, was looking for a female scriptwriter to join the current team of five. Tanida jumped at the chance.
"I was very excited," she said. "I was ready for that. I would say yes to anything."
Apart from the difficulty in finding time when the writers were all free, another challenge, Tanida said, was juggling her two jobs.
"I remember once I was working on the script with the team from the afternoon until the evening, and then I had to go home and prepare myself for a flight to Zurich that night," she said. "On the flight I worked for more than 10 hours, barely getting any sleep. When I got to the hotel, I had to finish the screenplay for two episodes. So for the next 24 hours I sat in front of my laptop and worked on it. From time to time, I would fall asleep right there at the table or go down for something to eat, but most of the time I just sat there and wrote. After I had finished, I packed my stuff and went on the flight, working all the way back to Thailand."
From season one on, Tanida has been responsible for creating the two completely different characters — the demure Kwan and the bold, promiscuous Sprite.
"There are so many characters in the series and the background of every single one of them has been laid out, from when they were born, to their family and childhoods. We split the responsibilities for each character because we didn't have time to get into all the characters together in such limited time."
Tanida said she draws inspiration from people surrounding her.
"For the character of Sprite, I was inspired by a friend of mine," said Tanida. "Her thoughts are completely different from other people's. And just because she's different, she has to face a lot of pressure from society even though she does nothing wrong. I wanted to present this angle to a mass audience and make them understand."
Tanida said being a flight attendant in this regard has proved very beneficial — she's given an essentially bottomless well from which to supplement her creative work.
"Being a flight attendant, I get to see so many different kinds of people, passengers and colleagues, and I can take that and put it into my writing. I learn to be more understanding of people with different ideas and thoughts. I think being a good scriptwriter is about making people who think differently understand one another, creating a peaceful dialogue between people."
Tanida during the brainstorming and scriptwriting process at Nadao Bangkok studio.
