Gender would never stop Shivaani Tarmothran from pursuing her dreams in the entertainment industry, and rightly so.

This Limkokwing alumna has done her alma mater proud by winning the “Best Sound Design” category for the short film Mona at the Mannin Mainthan Malaysia (MMM) Short Film Contest – a discpline dominated by men.

The Malaysian lass who holds both a Diploma in Sound and Music Technology and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Recording Arts from the Sound and Music Academy, says her Limkokwing pedigree helped expose her to such “precious moments” as winning the award.

“At Limkokwing University, I worked on a lot of projects, but all those were done as a student, but when I participated in this contest with my team, it seemed like a brand new adventure,” said Shivaani.

She said that she was able to apply all the skills and techniques she picked up at Limkokwing, which was very useful in completing this short film.

Shivaani used to play instruments like violin and drums during her younger days and slowly started realizing that music is something she’d want to make a career out of.

Concerned that her participation in the contest would clash with her projects on campus, she was quite reluctant at first, but inevitably she knew she was ready to take up the challenge.

“I was also challenged in terms of time management as I had to cope with more important things which were my projects on campus, but I am truly thankful to my helpful friends and lecturers who made this achieveable,” she said.

Shivaani also thanked MMM for the once in a lifetime opportunity which she will treasure for a long time and hopes to participate in more contests in the near future.

My idol

Shivaani drew inspiration from her idol, Resul Pookutty, an Indian film sound designer, sound editor and mixer, who is also an Academy Award Winner for Slumdog Millionare.

Asked why she chose Limkokwing University to pursue her studies, she said that when it came to deciding, there really was no other choice for her.

As for words of advice, she urged students not to depend entirely on class assignments but to be involved in a lot of extra-curricular works which will give them a lot of valuable exposure and experience.

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