Report for the 1905 Movie Network

The creation season competition of short film based on young director, named “China Influence Young Director Competition” was organized by CCTV6 and Kweichow Moutai Group Co., Ltd, Hong Kong director Stanley is a mentor in this program. He said it is very gratified to see these creative young directors, "they kept on amazing me in every aspect."

In the late 1970’s, Stanley entered the entertainment (show) business as a martial artist. To recall the past, he commented that there were only few platforms provided for the young directors to show their works at that time, "I feel that it is the best time to enter show business for young directors, never been better". Stanley passed his rich production experiences to the players during the competition, from his view, the young directors have to know what they want to express, also should understand that films need to be classified, not greedy want everything.

Young directors do not greedy when they create their work

Although Stanley directed a number of successful films, such as “Rumble in the Bronx” (1995), "The Myth" (2005) and so on, but in the early entrant stage, he also experienced setbacks, the first film that he directed was lost 2 million Yuan. From these chastening experiences he learnt some useful lessons, and stated, "when you finish your film, you can't just narcissistic by yourself, and throw it to the advertising firms to do the propagandas". Hence, Stanley suggests young directors that they have to understand score type in the beginning of creation, "I don't want young directors have been too greedy."

Q: What potential did you see from these young directors?

Stanley: Film should be “all flowers bloom together”. I got in touch with forty students, and they are all different. They have different personality, different preferences, some students are the animation director, and some students become the feature film director from the advertising director. I can see they all love films. Some directors are relatively mature, and more professional, can make films quite well; some directors have ideas, but they are short of technology, which need to be improved; some directors are particularly strong in ability to improvise, but not a good story teller; some directors can well illustrate a story, but his ability to improvise might not be strong.


Q: Can you describe how you give them helps in a specific way?

Stanley: Film director should be at the helm of comprehensive arts. Before you start to work on your film project, you have to ask yourself: what is the theme? What do you want to tell? You must have a goal. And I suggested that they had better be classified genre, if it’s a light comedy light comedy, romantic love, action, thriller or suspense, it should be a pure light comedy, romantic love, action, thriller, or suspense. Why to classify? I don't want young directors to be too greedy, if a film includes love, thriller, and martial arts... it is impossible to do marketing for such a film, for another aspect, the different types of films fit different type of movie actors, and has different group of audiences.

When you understand how to classify, it can be scheduled according to the type of finished film project. In the study of genre, they will learn how to form the character step by step. I found that they have the ability to learn things quickly, and getting great feedback, for example, they will understand and go according to the method that I taught them. I see hope from them.


Q: Did you pass your own experiences to the students?

Stanley: My first film project was lost 2 million Yuan, the investment was 8 million Yuan, overspend 800000 Yuan, the reason for its failure is I wanted to be the innovator. However, the distributer said, "we have not issued this type of film, our team don't know how to issue it." I thought my duty is to make good films; I have nothing to do with the distribution company. But in the reality it is reversed. They told me, "Being a director, you should think us as an idiot, because we only have nine people, we issue more than two hundred films per year, if the film doesn’t have been classified and without stars, and you are a new director, what makes us to think more about what we can do for this film?"

In the process of script writing, the director have to think how to propagate the film and what are the selling points. When you are making a film, you can't just narcissistic by yourself, and when you finish it, you just throw it to the distribution company, let them to think how to promote your work. This is the lesson I have learnt from my first failure film, and the lesson gives me a lifetime of benefits.

Now is the time for young director into show business, and you need to be persist in the film industry

Talking about today's film industry, Stanley said, "I feel that it is the best time for young director into show business, never been better, in the past, there were few platforms provided for the young directors to show their works." Although there are lots of opportunities in the film industry, but Stanley admitted that the difficulty is inevitable, you have to stick with it, "the industry has a lot of frustration, and not everyone doing well."


Q: What is the quality that young directors need to have?

Stanley: Overall, the most important quality for being a director is: making decision and judgment. Taking video as an example, you have to make the storyboard. When you are making it, you will know the shorts, and make sure that all your staffs are understand it. The first thing to know is what you want to talk about, then, you have to communicate with different people, it is important for the director to communicate with the staffs. It is impossible to produce a high-quality film without persistence, and without it, it is difficult to succeed in the film industry, the industry has a lot of frustration, not everyone doing well.


Q: What is your standard to eliminate students?

Stanley: Actually, I am relatively objective. Now we are in the competition, it has an evaluation standard. We have to follow the rules, such as, test their improvisation, to do a creative work in a very short time, image the pictures while listening music and etc., I think these young people amazed me in every aspect. Sometimes I don’t think I will do it in this way, or I don't realize it can be present in this way. They all have different ideas; I think it's pretty cool.


Q: What’s the difference between past and present of film industry?

Stanley: I feel that it is the best time for young director into show business, never been best, in the past, we don’t have Internet, and there were only few platforms provided for the young directors to show their works. Young people can show their talents through microfilm, online film, and network drama. In the past, we can only show our film project via a film company, and the company needs to satisfy following condition: having a distributor; cinemas are willing to screen; television station is willing to buy... Main control platform have a crush on you, you only organic meet with the audience. But now, you can make a short video, and upload to the Internet, you will get millions of hits, otherwise, you can sell it to earn the money, so now it is the best time.


Q: what you want to say to these young directors?

Stanley: Each director is different, as the growth of each person's personality is different; the director is the soul of the film, his character will be reflected in his works, so I said that the movie is “all flowers bloom together”, they don’t need rules. If you like to be a director and you like the industry, no matter how difficult it is, you have to stick with it.