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"We all sang happy birthday to Tom Hanks. That's one of those moments where I thought, ‘I'm actually in the film industry."
For Lisa-Kim Kuan, a 30-year career in production finance began with a feeling rather than a plan. While working on Saving Private Ryan, there was a moment that made it real in a very human way. “We all sang happy birthday to Tom Hanks,” she recalls. “That's one of those moments where I thought, ‘I'm actually in the film industry.’”
That world was far from where she started. “I grew up in this small town in Malaysia called Klang, far from Hollywood and movies, but my childhood memories are built on films.” Cinema was not just entertainment, but a foundation for imagination that later shaped her career path.
Finding a path through accounting and film
Even though she initially resisted accounting, Kuan’s academic path kept circling back to it. She studied business in England but gravitated toward philosophy instead, not seeing herself as “a numbers person.” Still, practical experience pulled her in a different direction over time.
Her entry into film came unexpectedly when she landed an assistant accountant role at a small production company. Looking back, that moment became a turning point, even if it didn’t feel like one at the time. As she puts it, “there was a job for an assistant accountant for a small film company.”
That first step opened the door to an industry she hadn’t originally planned for, but would ultimately define her entire career.
Learning the realities of production finance
Early production work was hands-on, fast-paced, and often manual. Kuan recalls a time when accounting meant physically tracking paperwork across sets, describing it as “quite like a tsunami” of documentation moving through production offices.
On set, precision mattered in very real terms. From handling cash to calculating deductions in real time, she learned discipline through pressure. She describes the complexity of those early tasks, where “you had to deduct net national insurance contributions to pay the net amount, and you got to have the change as well.”
Those experiences shaped how she approaches accuracy, structure, and calm under pressure, skills that became essential as productions grew in scale and complexity.
Stepping into leadership across global productions
Over time, Kuan moved from assistant roles into financial controller positions, a shift that came through opportunity and trust. She reflects on that transition as something that grew naturally from experience, noting, “this has enabled me to step up and be the controller that I felt comfortable with.”
Her work expanded across major international productions, including Saving Private Ryan and Marco Polo, where she navigated both logistical and cultural complexity. Later, her experience extended into studio leadership at Netflix, where she gained perspective from both sides of production finance. As she explains, “I knew what pressure the studio went under looking after us.”
That dual perspective strengthened her ability to manage expectations between creative teams and financial structures.
Working globally and adapting to constant change
In global production, the biggest challenge is rarely technical. For Kuan, it is operational rhythm. She points to time zones as the most persistent challenge, saying, “I think the biggest challenge for me would be the time zones.”
Working across continents often means unconventional schedules, shared responsibilities across regions, and constant coordination. Despite that complexity, she remains grounded in perspective and mindset, emphasizing, “I always try and wake up, you know, with a sense of gratitude. Today, I'm going to have the best day of my life.”
That combination of adaptability and mindset reflects a career built not just on accounting expertise, but on longevity, collaboration, and global understanding.
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