Hailing from Ipoh, Ranjinder now heads Hollywood PR firm

MALAYSIANSKINI | At 42, Ranjinder Hans is partner and vice-president of Talent Relations and Awards at EBComs LLC a public relations firm in Los Angeles. 

She has led several successful Award Campaigns at EBComs in these past few years, including winning the “Trifecta” for Best Cinematography - ‘Dune’ for Greig Fraser (Oscars 2022, BAFTAs 2022 and the ASC Award) and garnering an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography of ‘The Trial Of The Chicago 7’ in 2021 (Phedon Papamichael).

It’s a far cry from her roots in Sungkai, Perak, where she was born and raised before her family moved to Ipoh when she was 12 years old.

In 2009, Ranjinder was a rookie in the public relations industry, trying to gain footing in a new industry after working as an accountant at IBM Malaysia.

Realising that being an accountant was not what she was meant to do, she leapt into public relations when offered a job in Arcis Communications. She said she will always be thankful to her bosses at Arcis as they provided her with the stepping stone and training she needed.

Humble beginnings in the US

After that, she worked as a marketing communications manager in a food and beverage company before working for the Sepang International Circuit. She then ventured out into the public relations world on her own, handling public relations and managing events such as a Shah Rukh Khan concert and “dinner in the sky” events.

“I went to Los Angeles in 2016 to kick off a project. It was a Malaysian project that was to be held there. While I was there I did a lot of networking and made a lot of friends. The project did not take off and so I came home. In 2017, I decided I wanted to do something different.

“The pool of work here in Malaysia became small and it just wasn’t challenging enough. I just needed something to maximise my potential. So I went to Los Angeles, though I did not have a job offer. I started teaching yoga. I am a certified yoga instructor,” recalled Ranjinder.

She also did odd jobs working for a company that supplied staff for banquets and catering events.

“I was a server at the Emmys and Grammy after parties. I remember telling myself I hope that one day I would be attending these events, which is what happened. It is like full circle for me. It was a very humbling experience.”

She said never had the experience of working at fast food outlets after major exams in Malaysia, the way some young people did to earn some extra pocket money. This was because her parents never allowed it.

“It was strange to have to do these jobs later in your life. It was a humbling experience. While doing these jobs, I kept applying for other opportunities and I got a position at a public relations agency. I stayed there for a year and then got an offer at EBComs.

“What we specialise in is that we represent the people behind the camera. It was something I had to learn. When it comes to film, we tend to talk about the actors and directors only. Nobody talks about the producers or the people behind the camera.

“There is a whole world in Hollywood that is dedicated to the craft people behind the camera. We are one of the few agencies in the world that represent the talent behind the camera,” explained Ranjinder who joined the firm in 2019, just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

She was officially made a partner in the company in May this year.

Essentially, the agency works to make sure the works of these talented people get pushed to the forefront, especially during awards season.

Her current clients include ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ cinematographer Claudio Miranda and ‘Elvis’ cinematographer Mandy Walker.

She was at the world premiere of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ in San Diego and even saw Tom Cruise in the flesh.

Ranjinder said that when one lives in Los Angeles, they get to attend events and see their favourite stars. She did that and saw Tom Cruise at an event for ‘The Mummy’.

Now she works for the studio behind a Tom Cruise movie. Incidentally, she is a huge fan of the first ‘Top Gun’ film, describing it as “the coolest movie ever.”

So, imagine how she felt when she got to do public relations for the movie

“I will tell you now, they used minimal CGI. It is amazing how the whole movie was filmed. It will be a great contender for next year’s Oscars,” enthused Ranjinder.

Though some of the movies her firm works on have been watched by millions across the world, she has also done public relations for movies that aren’t mainstream.

She spoke about ‘The Trial of Chicago 7’, which was shown on Netflix. Ranjinder said the hard work that went into the cinematography may not be as obvious as in epic films such as ‘Dune’ because it was a courtroom drama.

The movie was released in 2020 when everything got postponed, giving her and her colleagues more time with their promotion campaign.

The movie got nominated for Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards in 2021.

For the hot biography ‘Elvis’, her firm worked with cinematographer Mandy Walker, who was also the cinematographer for ‘Mulan’.

“Directing and cinematography is a boy’s club. Our company also advocated for female directors and cinematographers whom we believe deserve a place on the world stage. We hope good things will happen for Mandy this year,” said Ranjinder.

Though her company mainly represents cinematographers, it also represents some directors and production designers.

Ranjinder said all this still feels surreal for her because when she was still working in public relations in Malaysia, she only dealt with her counterparts in Hollywood instead of the studios directly.

“Sometimes I do pinch myself when I am talking directly with a public relations person in Warner Bros or I am directly talking to a director. Just recently, I sent an email to the assistant of Baz Luhrmann. As I was drafting the email and the pitch I had goosebumps because I knew that Luhrmann was going to read it.“

She also described interacting with Denis Villeneuve, the director of ‘Dune’ who she described as “the nicest person”. She had the opportunity to talk to him about his work and the movie.

“It is insane. They are real people and they are so talented. It just blows my mind.”

Anyone who had to deal with Bollywood stars can attest to the amount of diva attitude they have to put up with. But it was her experience working with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan that gave Ranjinder the confidence to try new things with her career.

“When you work with him, the first thing he will ask you is, ‘what is your name?’ He will then remember your name. I had a great time working with him. The next day after the concert, when we were taking a group shot, he remembered my name. For me, that was a big deal. Oh my God, Shah Rukh Khan remembers my name! He meets so many people every day!

“That helped boost my confidence. I have worked with Shah Rukh Khan. So what is next? I am always hungry for more.” 

Ranjinder was in Los Angeles when the lockdowns across the world were taking place to curb the spread of Covid-19 in 2020.

“We thought it was only going to be for two weeks,” she laughed at the recollection. However, while other companies struggled to survive, the firm grew.

“All the Holywood people had, all this time, to think about what they could do to update their profile and what they could do with their brand. That is when they got hungry for PR and our company just grew bigger and bigger during Covid-19,” Ranjinder added.

Malaysianskini is a series on Malaysians you should know.

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