Eye Catcher Incubation Programme 2023/24
Date: 6 January, 2024 (Sat)
Guest:
Shan Zuo Long | Producer
Looking back at the book Tales of Honey: A Collection of Interviews with Post–80s Directors from the Greater China published in 2015 and written by Eric Tsang. Zuo Long, being one of the interviewees in the book, talked about the time when he worked as a documentary filmmaker on Song of the Mulberries, as well as his 5 years’ experiences in curating the Hangzhou Asian Youth Film Festival (HAFF)… Over the years, Shan Zuo Long has worked as a producer for the films Kaili Blues, Long Day’s Journey into Night and Love Is a Gun. As a producer, what was his experience participating in numerous international film festivals like? What has Zuo Long observed about Chinese-language films and directors from his experience?
“It’s a place where challenges and opportunities exist together” Facing all the challenges and opportunities over the years since he worked as a producer, Zuo Long appeared to be very sincere and honest. With the awareness of the system within the industry, HAFF was shut down after 5 years of mission of nurturing a group of cinema fans. Zuo Long then joined Dangmai Films, where he shifted his focus to collaborate on 2 films together with director Bi Gan.
A lot of producers went on to become directors, but Zuo Long was the opposite. The works of a producer shall delicately balance the desire and ego of the creations of the directors, while giving careful consideration to all their working partners, digesting the good and bad news from all sides before communicating them with the director, etc. It’s a constant challenge – because the producer is always the first to be notified of the news. “It’s always failure rather than success”. From the pandemic, to the resulting changes in the industry, Zuo Long has been working with new directors in recent years, which allowed him to better understand the different approaches and marketing strategies for films on big scales and small scales.
During the season of the Cannes Film Festival, Zuo Long occasionally felt like a secret agent: gathering and analysing all kinds of information, figuring out what the festival committee jury want; starting with emails and also asking film critics etc. to convince programmers. From the very beginning as a producer in Kaili Blues, to Love is a Gun (2023), Zuo Long has often used non-narrative concepts, with perspective and values on what he saw from those film projects, trying to convince them directly and with sincerity.
“The local market is very important, but stepping out of that is also very important.” Referring to the post-pandemic state of the film industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where he noted that it’s almost like a vacuum in the film industry. We might as well be more daring, and tap into the styles and mentalities that the international film market will be interested in; to tap into the things we want to accomplish even if we have to fund them by ourselves.
奪目影像孵化計劃2023/24
日期：2024年1月6日（六）
嘉賓：
單佐龍｜電影製片人
回看2015年出版的《蜜糖不壞：華語80後導演訪談》，講到作為紀錄片導演那時拍攝《陌上桑》等的想法，還有一手一腳籌辦、策劃5屆杭州亞洲青年影展（HAFF）的經歷⋯⋯多年過去，從《路邊野餐》、《地球最後的夜晚》到《愛是一把槍》，作為製片人身分的單佐龍，在參與各國際影展的經驗中，對於華語電影和導演，又有甚麼樣的觀察呢？
「那是一個挑戰與機遇完全並存的地帶」，對於這些年來角色轉換以來的各種機遇和挑戰，嘉賓單佐龍顯得十分率直和坦然。對於境內的制度大家都心照不宣，HAFF用5年的時間培養了一群藝術電影影迷後停辦，佐龍加入了蕩麥影業，並把重心基本上都投放在與畢贛導演兩部電影的合作上。
不少製片人後來都會轉去當導演，而自己是恰恰相反。這個位置在於衡權主創們的自我慾望（ego），為身邊所有的合作夥伴考慮，消化各方不論好壞的消息再告訴導演等等，都是一些持續的挑戰，因為製片人永遠是第一個知道消息的。「日常是失敗，不是成功」歷經了疫情和大環境影響產業的變化，近幾年與更多新導演的合作，均讓佐龍能夠更好拿捏大片和小片的不同做法和行銷策略。
康城影展季的時候，偶爾會感覺自己的工作就像是特工式的：搜集和分析各種的情報；推敲影展委員會的選片人想要甚麼；從電郵開始，有時透過周圍有權威的影評人等等，去說服選片人——佐龍如此打趣的說道。從最開始的《路邊野餐》，到2023年的《愛是一把槍》，他都是用支點和概念，而且通常都是非敘事性的，透過自己從項目中所看到的、新的價值，把支點放大，繞過試探以真誠去推銷、說服他們。
「本土市場很重要，但走出去也很重要」提及後疫情港台幾乎面臨真空的影業環境，佐龍坦言大家膽子不妨再大一些，挖掘那些國際多元電影市場有興趣的、關心的風貌和精神狀態，挖掘那些即便是要自己出錢、找資金拍也想要完成的東西。