[Overseas Member Interview] A trilingual marketer with 10 years in China’s entertainment industry finds a place where she can fully utilize her strengths

This time, we spoke with Shuling, who joined Gridge in October 2025 as a full-time employee (Shanghai, China)

With 10 years of experience in China’s entertainment industry, working on drama and variety show promotion, she moved to Japan after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joining Gridge after working at a Japanese drama production company, Shuling shared her current work, in which she leverages her marketing experience from China and her proficiency in three languages, as well as her future aspirations.

Contents:

• Falling Into Japanese Dramas in University Years

• 10 Years in China’s Entertainment Industry, Building Strong Social Media Skills in the Field

• Transitioning to Japan’s Entertainment Industry After COVID-19

•   “AI Can Do Translation”—Finding a Place to Fully Utilize Her Real Strengths

• From Data Analytics to a Frontline Role—The Scope of Her Work Continues to Broaden

• Transcending Borders Through Music: The Spanish-Speaking World is Next

Falling Into Japanese Dramas in University Years

▍First of all, could you tell us about where you are from and your university years? 

I’m from Shanghai and majored in journalism at a foreign language university in Shanghai, and took Japanese as my second foreign language.

▍Why did you choose Japanese?

Because I liked Japanese dramas and anime.

At the time, there was a fan community called “subtitle groups” in China, and they shared Japanese and foreign dramas with Chinese subtitles for free. From there, I started exploring many different works, particularly detective dramas and series like Gokusen.

After graduating from university, I became a fan of Japanese idol groups as well. So even in my university days, I had a vague sense of wanting to work in a foreign-driven field. 

10 Years in China’s Entertainment Industry, Building Strong Social Media Skills in the Field

▍What kind of career path did you take after graduating? 

This was a bit before graduation, but in my final year of university, I worked as an assistant director for a variety show at a TV station in Shanghai.

However, there were hardly any full-time positions at TV stations, so I decided to expand my prospects and started looking for jobs in the entertainment industry, and joined a company that specializes in promoting variety shows and dramas.

▍What kind of work did you do there?

I handled various aspects of promotion, including social media account management, content creation, collecting materials on set, and handling media relations.

I had the opportunity to go on business trips to Turkey, Italy, and Thailand, and I realized again that I wanted to work overseas. I also started to feel that “I could do this abroad, or rather, that I might be better suited to an international environment.”

▍You’ve also built your experience at production companies and major streaming platforms afterward, right? 

At my first company, client marketing budgets gradually started shrinking and we began receiving requests only after projects were completed, which made me think about changing my career. I moved to a drama production company, thinking, “I want to be part of and involved in the earlier stages of proposals.” After that, I joined a major streaming platform in China, which is similar to Netflix, and worked as a variety show promotion team leader, managing all promotional activities from social media operations to handling media relations.

▍Do you have any especially memorable experiences over your 10-year career?

The most memorable experience was when I was at the production company. The drama I handled grew its Weibo account to about 200,000 followers in two months, and later won “Web Drama of the Year” and “Digital Marketing of the Year” awards from a streaming platform. It was all a team effort, but I was really happy that the project I was part of received recognition. 

▍I heard you also worked on social media marketing for idols. 

While preparing to study abroad in Japan, I worked at an entertainment agency led by an artist with tens of millions of followers internationally, and I managed social media marketing for the agency’s idols. 

I took charge of creating and managing Weibo, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for idols featured on a popular Korean audition show, covering all aspects related to social media, from brand strategy and content planning to filming, editing, and platform coordination. 

Reaching over 100,000 followers within just two months of launching the account, I feel this experience has been a great asset in my current work at Gridge. 

Transitioning to Japan’s Entertainment Industry After COVID-19

▍Given the career that you have established in China, what made you decide to move to Japan?

The biggest reason was not being able to travel abroad for many years during the COVID-19 pandemic. The feeling of wanting to travel overseas only intensified during that time.

At first, I approached it as a gap year more than a career move, and I wanted to study abroad in Japan for a year, so I decided to study Japanese at Waseda University.

▍How did you find living in Tokyo?

It’s really similar to Shanghai, so I got used to it very quickly.I’ve visited Japan at least ten times before COVID, but it was primarily in Osaka and Fukuoka, so this was my first time in Tokyo.

I did find filing all the ward office paperwork to be complicated, so that was tough at first. (laughs)

▍Can you tell us about your career in Japan after graduating from Waseda University.

I began with a planning role in a drama production company.Since manga and anime franchises are often adapted into live-action productions in Japan, I would go over the original source materials and propose which ones would work best, and I’ve been involved in filming as well. However, the production set crews were mostly all Japanese, so I didn’t feel like I was leveraging the strengths of my foreign background all that often.

I also did some information gathering from overseas and compiled reports for the content industry. So while I was able to utilize my strengths in that role, I often felt that the core responsibilities would be more efficiently handled by a Japanese colleague.

  “AI Can Do Translation”—Finding a Place to Fully Utilize Her Real Strengths

▍Was that the turning point that made you consider a career change?

Yes. Even when it comes to industry reports, translation is done instantly with AI now, so I no longer felt like my strengths were being utilized in a meaningful way there either.

I came to believe that the true advantage of an international background does not simply lie in language skills, but rather in having a broader perspective and a different way of thinking. That’s what made me want to pursue a role where I could better apply those strengths.

Also, my previous workplace was what you might call a very typical Japanese company culture, where communication was roundabout and the feedback was often indirect. I didn’t really feel that environment was the best fit for me.

▍So how did you come to find out about Gridge?

I found it on Wantedly by inputting keywords like: marketing, English, and entertainment in my searches.As I browsed the company website, I remember thinking “Oh, this person isn’t Japanese,” while I was going through employee names. It immediately caught my attention that the company had members with international backgrounds.

▍Ultimately, what was the deciding factor that made you join Gridge?

While the mission of “Delivering J-POP to the world” definitely resonated with me, it was being told, “If you have something you wish to express, be it in English, Chinese, or any language, it’s all fine,” and that was very impactful to me. At the time, I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my Japanese, so I did have my concerns about having to do all my work solely in Japanese. But here at Gridge, you’re free to use any language. That level of freedom and open atmosphere really became the deciding factor.I believe it’s truly rare to find a company like this, from my experience working in Japan.

From Data Analytics to a Frontline Role—The Scope of Her Work Continues to Broaden

▍What have your responsibilities been since joining the company?

My first assignment was with a team supporting an artist whose music videos have amassed views in the tens of billions.This was a supporting role where I analyzed metrics like views and engagement across the different social media accounts, compiling weekly reports on why some gained strong reactions while some didn’t. I’ve always enjoyed looking at data objectively, so I found this work to be really engaging.

After that I became involved with the promotion of another artist, this time targeting the Chinese market, which included coordinating with Chinese social media platforms and negotiating with KOLs. The relationships I’ve built with the platforms in China have proven especially valuable, since I can reach out to them directly should any issues come up.

Starting this year, I’ve also been assigned as a front-line contact for a popular artist that’s currently on a world tour.I’ve always wanted more involvement in the upstream stages of the strategic process, so I’m really enjoying getting to take on these new challenges.

▍Have there been times you’ve felt your experiences from China prove beneficial in your work?

There are two, actually.

The first is the ability to build schedules while anticipating what lies ahead.

Back in China, I would proactively schedule content calendars, so when there are tours or releases coming up, I would already be planning content strategy months in advance to align with them. I would typically deliver content to clients two or three days ahead of time before any of it goes live, so even today that approach hasn’t changed. The other is prioritizing the generation of ideas first.In China, there’s a culture that encourages putting ideas out on the table first, things that “might be possible” are welcomed before getting into whether it can truly be executed.I work with the same mindset at Gridge, where if something doesn’t work I quickly move on to the next idea, which enables small, rapid PDCA cycles. 

Transcending Borders Through Music: The Spanish-Speaking World is Next

▍At what times do you find your work at Gridge to be the most rewarding?

Before we even talk about what’s rewarding, I should first say that it’s not so much that I like global communication, I believe it has become a genuine necessity in today’s world.Which is to say, international relationships are not exactly in the most positive place right now.

However, through the arts, with things like music, television dramas, and films, people around the world are able to experience another country’s culture. And the possibility of better mutual understanding can come from that, which is a belief I’ve held since my college years.

So more than just delivering music, to me the work plays a role in “making global communication smoother and encouraging greater mutual understanding,” so that makes it meaningful to me every day.

▍Is there anything you’d like to challenge yourself with in the future at Gridge?

I’ve mentioned it to our CEO, Yabui-san, at the beginning of the year as well, but I would really like to bring Japanese culture to Spanish speaking regions.Looking through each artist’s social media data, countries like Chile, Mexico, and Colombia among others in Central and South America have shown a high level of interest in Japanese music and culture.I am confident that there absolutely will be new opportunities there, so I have been studying Spanish little by little as well.

 ▍Lastly, please leave a message for anyone who might be interested in joining Gridge.

When you work in Japan, there will be companies that have opportunities for work using both Japanese and your native language, however Gridge is different.We have a collection of members from a variety of countries, so you’re constantly exposed to global ways of thinking and values, not only Japan’s or your own country’s.  

For example, recently a Korean intern collected data from a Korean fan event expediently, but this is information that would have been difficult to grasp unless you understand Korean and have that local perspective.

In that sense, this environment where you can consistently get a feel for information and values exclusive to being on the ground locally is quite rare.

So for those who desire to work in a truly global environment and build an internationally impactful career, Gridge provides a well-suited environment for that. I would love for anyone with that interest to apply.

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How did you enjoy this?

Having spent 10 years in China’s entertainment industry, but still seeking a “place to truly utilize her strengths,” Shuling went overseas to finally arrive at Gridge.

Leveraging her language skills in Chinese, English, and Japanese along with a decade of experience in entertainment marketing, social media data analytics, platform partnerships, and now as a front line contact for artists, she continues to broaden her activities in Gridge.

If through Shuling-san’s interview, you’ve felt like

“I want a career where I can make better use of my international experience and perspective,” or “I want to deliver Japanese entertainment to the world as part of a global team,”

then please feel free to apply.

We are looking for team members in various roles — contractors, full-time, or interns.

We are also seeking Japanese applicants, so please apply if you want to join Gridge’s global team and work internationally.