"Gold Medal Producer" Zhang Jiazhen: Making movies should not follow suit. Producer and director are parallel

Most ordinary viewers will still feel unfamiliar with the name Zhang Jiazhen, but when it comes to his films as a producer, I believe everyone knows that "Traversing the World" and "Mission Impossible 2", and today's "Pacific Wheel", etc., are all large-scale productions. In his early years, Zhang Jiazhen and John Woo collaborated and made many popular and popular films. After "Taiping Wheel", the two had their own partners. Zhang Jiazhen founded Qiancheng Film and Television and announced five new films and new plans at one time.

Original title: Zhang Jiazhen: Audience tastes must be cultivated. The producer and director are parallel.

Most ordinary audiences will still feel unfamiliar with the name Zhang Jiazhen, but when it comes to his films as a producer, I believe everyone knows that "Traversing the World","Mission Impossible 2", and today's "Taiping Wheel", etc., are all large-scale productions. In his early years, Zhang Jiazhen and John Woo collaborated and made many popular and popular films. After "Taiping Wheel", the two had their own partners. Zhang Jiazhen founded Qiancheng Film and Television and announced five new films and new plans at once, including "The Adventures", which Feng Delun will soon direct.

After "Taiping Wheel", it was separated from John Woo. The producer and director were parallel.

Zhang Jiazhen has many famous actors and countless big-name directors who have worked with him. John Woo should be considered the longest. The two went from Hong Kong to Hollywood, and later to the mainland to film. It was not until the release of "Taiping Wheel" that this cooperation came to an end. Today, John Woo is busy filming "The Hunt", and Zhang Jiazhen has also begun to contact the new director. As a senior producer, in his eyes, the director is the most important thing to make good plays. However, in the mainland, the director is often the center and the producer is ignored.

Reporter: Why do you want to start a company again?

Zhang Jiazhen: One of the company's businesses is acting as actor management. The most difficult part of making movies now is finding actors. Many times, there is a lack of actors who can be recognized by the distribution company and have box office appeal. There are many actors in China, but many times investment companies want to have those few people, and that part is the most difficult.

Reporter: Will you train some actors yourself?

Zhang Jiazhen: He also has his own training plan, but cultivating actors still requires his own training plan, and there is still a film project to foil him. This is also one aspect of the new company's business, and the other aspect is investment and operation. Moreover, my ability alone is limited. In the future, I want to cooperate with many different young directors. They may not necessarily be young. The older ones will also cooperate and make more movies.

Reporter: You have been working with director John Woo before. Why did you choose such an opportunity to do it yourself?

Zhang Jiazhen: I used to work with director John Woo, mainly producing his films. His films were time-consuming. Relatively speaking, I don't have so much time to cooperate with others. For example, people outside may not know that it took me nine years to make "Taiping Wheel", but it turned out to be like this. It's not a way to go on like this. I also want to make more movies. Of course, Director Yusen is very amazing. I had to take care of his things most of the time and didn't have so much time to develop other projects.

Reporter: Is there still any cooperation with Director John Woo now?

Zhang Jiazhen: There is no cooperation, because after "Taiping Wheel", we decided to separate for a period of time and try to cooperate with others.

Reporter: What are your views on the current cooperation model between directors and producers in the mainland?

Zhang Jiazhen: In the mainland, there has always been a director system. John Woo and I have gone through three stages. Hong Kong, Hollywood, and the mainland. The best time for cooperation is when we are in Hollywood. Everyone's work is clearly divided and they cooperate well. When we arrive in the mainland, the director has the final say. There is a problem.

Reporter: Only producers and directors perform their respective duties is conducive to the development of films.

Zhang Jiazhen: That's right, commercial movies must be like this. "Hundreds of Birds Facing the Phoenix" is a director-centered drama, but commercial films must be parallel between the producer and the director. Directors cannot do whatever they want regardless of the budget. It is impossible.

Reporter: If you come out and do it again this time, will you insist on being the producer?

Zhang Jiazhen: It can't be the main focus. It's just that producers and directors must cooperate and have a common goal. If everyone has different concepts, there is no way to cooperate. I won't say that the director must do something. Everyone must have a consensus on the film. If I don't give him his personal strengths and style, why should I invite him? Of course, I want him to show something about him.

Reporter: Have you ever had an argument with the director?

Zhang Jiazhen: Of course there is,"Taiping Wheel".

Reporter: In fact, the poor results of "Taiping Wheel" are also due to the changes in audience tastes?

Zhang Jiazhen: Part of it is, part of it is that I thought the script was very good, so I found so many big stars to act with reduced pay, and some even acted for free. However, the director later added the script to a long length. As a result, the investors said that they spent so much money to divide it into two episodes, which I think was fatal.

Reporter: Nowadays, more and more Hong Kong people are coming to the mainland to cooperate. What do you think of this?

Zhang Jiazhen: The market is constantly changing. When we were filming in Hong Kong, there was no mainland market. We had Japan and South Korea. The taste of Hong Kong films back then was relatively international. But now the filming is very regional. Taiwanese films are for Taiwanese. The humor is limited to the local area. It is very rare to have a movie like "My Girls" that resonates with everyone after watching it. Hong Kong films have the same problem. They are too regional. This was not the case before. We used to shoot "Traversing the World" and hoped that every place in the world would be popular. At that time, this was the goal we wanted, but now it is not.

Reporter: That means that people in Hong Kong can film films released locally in Hong Kong, or they can cooperate with the mainland to achieve both approaches?

Zhang Jiazhen: You see that many of the films made by Du Qifeng are very Hong Kong flavor. They may not be so easy to accept in the mainland."The True Character of Heroes" may be a Hong Kong film, but it is actually not about Hong Kong underworld, but about loyalty and manhood. Audiences all over the world resonate.

Making movies should not follow the tastes of the audience. We need to cultivate

the current sold well movies on the market. Zhang Jiazhen has seen almost all of them, even "Where Are You Going, Dad" and "Run! Variety movies like Brother "have not been missed either. However, after reading it, he felt even more that he should make a better work and make a "movie that can be truly taken out without losing face." During interviews, he frequently mentioned Wu Tianming's posthumous work "Hundreds of Birds Facing the Phoenix" and believed that it was a good movie that deserved to be scheduled in theaters and appreciated by the audience.

Reporter: Will the company be established this time mainly to shoot commercial films?

Zhang Jiazhen: I personally like to watch art films, but all I shoot are commercial films. I have never thought of making a movie like "Pancake Man" that makes a lot of money. It is to make high-quality commercial films so that investors will not lose money. This is my wish. As long as I don't lose money, I will make a little money.

Reporter: So if you make money from making commercial films, will you invest in artistic films?

Zhang Jiazhen: (I) also support artistic films. In addition to the five-film list, there is a new director named Zhou Quan. His "That Summer" is a artistic film with a low cost, but it has nothing to do with Qian Cheng. I just helped him be a producer. That movie is millions of dollars. I like that story very much. It tells the story of a child's growth.

Reporter: Do you think there are fewer domestic genres now?

Zhang Jiazhen: Nowadays, genre films are just a swarm of people to shoot when they sell money. In fact, as long as there are good movies, they will definitely be popular. Nowadays, many people say that you must make comedies, but if you shoot too much, no one will watch them. It's the same if you have a high-quality movie that is not a comedy (popular). Back then,"Titanic" was not a comedy and sold for a lot of money. The taste of the audience needs to be cultivated and needs to be cultivated.

Reporter: But for investors, making money is the first priority, and it is difficult for theaters to show shows that have no prospects?

Zhang Jiazhen: Theater theaters don't schedule films because they think the kind of movies they show will sell for money, so the schedule volume is very high. They are just relatively conservative. Look at "Hundreds of Birds Climb to the Phoenix".

Reporter: At the venture capital project forum at the Shanghai Film Festival, most people said that it would be better to invest not too much in the first film of a new director. Do you agree with this statement?

Zhang Jiazhen: Yes, I agree.

Reporter: But in fact, some directors think that the more money, the better.

Zhang Jiazhen: That's not what I said. It also depends on whether he has previous experience in filming. For example, Li Yifan's films cost a lot. He has never made feature films but has experience in making TV series. I can rest assured if I have experience in shooting high-cost films, but if some directors have never filmed (long films) and have only filmed short films, the cost of the first film should not be too high.

Reporter: Recently, many people have talked about promoting new people. Jinbao Hong and Huang Bo have announced their plans. You will also cooperate with new people this time. Is there really a shortage of talents now?

Zhang Jiazhen: Actually, there have always been many newcomers. I don't know why many projects have been announced this year. I have been in contact with newcomers in the past two years. After "Taiping Wheel", I hope to get in touch with different directors, and I just happened to meet those young directors.

Reporter: Then do you think the current film industry lacks new blood?

Zhang Jiazhen: No matter what the box office is like, the quality and themes of movies have not been so strong in the past. Good box office is another matter. For example,"Where Are We Going, Dad" and "Running Brothers". I have watched all those movies. I just want to see why they sell for so much money. Are those movies? No way, it's just a TV show. Those selling money doesn't mean that China movies are very good, absolutely not. I think I still need to have movies that are truly available and not embarrassing. You can watch an ordinary American movie. Korean movies are of certain quality, but the ones you watch in "Where Are You Going, Dad" are definitely not movies. Now we really need to improve the level, and the audience's tastes also need to be improved. In fact, there are good movies (audiences) who are also willing to watch them. I like "Hundreds of Birds Climbing to the Phoenix" very much, that is, if there are movie theaters willing to show it, people will watch it.

Reporter: Do you feel tired and tired after making movies for so long?

Zhang Jiazhen: Yes, of course there is. Because actually making a movie is like... every movie has different difficulties, and I say I quit every day. But if the movie comes out with good results, whether it sells for money or not, it will have a good reputation. I am very, very happy in my heart and have the motivation to continue.

Reporter: Many people don't make movies with emotion. In fact, they just make a product. Are you a businessman or a sentiment?

Zhang Jiazhen: This is a contradiction. I want movies to make money, but I want to make good movies to make money. It's not that I make movies to make money, no matter what the quality is. I'm not that kind of person. I don't want to make something that loses money either. Of course, I have also made movies that lose money.

Reporter: How to achieve balance?

Zhang Jiazhen: It's very difficult. It's just a gamble. No one wants to shoot a loss-making movie at any time. The director needs to have confidence. In fact, it's often difficult to predict.

Editor: yvette