Ads used to be here |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Janet
Yang Interview
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
[Continued from Page 1: Talking with Janet Yang] StudioLA: For all the investors in our audience, what is a typical investment? Janet: I believe the way to start is through a slate of films. In fact, I am talking to investors about it. Because history has proven it again and again and again. You don't want to bet on one movie because the film industry is very unpredictable. But slates of films do very well. If you take any 6 or 8 or 10 films, overall, they'll do very well. Usually, you'll have a couple that will really hit big, and several that won't, but those will more than cover the slate. So one film does not do it. My goal is to make big, medium, and small sized movies, but particularly now what's happening is big and small... The studios are making big event movies, and I will always want to...be able to make big films. High Crimes is considered a biggish film, you know. With movie stars where they're going to put tens and millions of dollars into the marketing and more than that into the production. And that's always going to be a certain kind of film that's very marketable, that's always going to have movie stars, and it's gotta open wide the first weekend, they want to get lots of people in. So only certain kind of movies will do that. There are movies, I'm convinced, that I want to make that are of international scope that have good Asian subject matters that fit that category. At the other end of the spectrum, which is also interesting to me, is independent film. Things that are very much the vision of the filmmaker that have a very unique voice, that are not necessarily mainstream but can be big. Those films are getting more attention these days because there's an incredible hunger on the part of the audience to see films that feel very real, that feel very human.
The studios are not making those, they are making giant budget movies that have a lot of pyrotechnics, that have a lot of action, big broad comedies, whatever. People are hungry for things like In the Bedroom, and Monster's Ball, and The Deep End, because they've not seen that many films [like that] anymore. So those films are supposed to be so small that people wouldn't be necessarily notice, it would be like TV movies, are now getting a lot of attention. So that's the good news for independent films. I'd like to make films that have more than one language in them, in some cases. I mean, Joy Luck Club must have been, I realize, over half of it is subtitled. But it's sold as an American movie. But I would like to make movies that are international in content where there's parts in China that are shot in Chinese, there's parts in America, combined, you know what I mean, there some subtitles, some not. And there's a lot of movies that are being made in this sort of pan-Asian way, like Korean and Chinese and whatever. And I believe there are subject matters that can withstand that, and I would love to find new Asian and Asian American and Asian any voices, you know, to make small movies. There's no typical budget. There's only the budget that's right for a particular project. Some projects, you want to spend $50 or $80 million, some projects you don't want to spend more than five. For every project, you have to determine beforehand, what is the probable audience size for this, and what is it going to take to market it, and then you have to determine the budget based on those things. StudioLA: Have you noticed a change in terms of Asians and Asian Americans being interested in the film industry as the result of the success that Crouching Tiger has had? Janet: Definitely. Crouching Tiger has single-handedly changed the shape of the market. The Hong Kong film industry was dying, there was practically nobody left there and they weren't putting films into it, and what has happened since Crouching Tiger is, it's been - not only investors from all over Asia, but also this sort of Sony Asia that's putting money into films, and the Miramax's and there's money coming from here being put into Asia, and there's more money coming out of Asia to make films. So now of course, everybody wants to make a Crouching Tiger, and it's not going to happen to that degree without much difficulty, but at least, again, there is a level of comfort. Maybe it's not going to make $200 million, but maybe there's a movie that you can put in ten and make a $100 million or $50 million or whatever. So it's a much whatever field now, it really is. And I am forever grateful to Ang Lee for that. Truly, I think that he has accomplished the seeming-impossible, to make a Chinese language movie of such huge, you know. It's not even necessarily my favorite film of his, and I love his work, but I'm so happy for the phenomenon. StudioLA: Ang Lee is a role model for a lot of Asians. He's one of the most versatile directors. He can make something very small like The Ice Storm and then do something very action-oriented like Crouching Tiger. And now he's working on The Hulk. Janet: He is very versatile. He's never lost his human-ness, his humaneness and [is] a lovely person. The first film I worked on was a documentary film when I helped this person leave China. I was living in China in the early 80's, and I met a young writer there who I helped get a scholarship... and he came over and he decided he wanted to make a film about, called From East to West and what it really was a road from the eastern United States and western United States. And we gathered this crew from NYU - New York University, and Ang Lee was our soundman. That was about 20 years ago! StudioLA: Could you share some experiences working with Steven Spielberg and Oliver Stone?
Janet: To me, to think that I worked with Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone and Milos Forman, the greatest directors. Steven is... I mean it was the first big film I worked on. It was in Shanghai. I just remember, it was a very, very tough film to shoot. And there was one day where we had all these extras in pouring rain and they were having to do this scene over again and over again for a lot of different reasons. And everyone was kind of getting exhausted. Everybody looked to me because I was Steven's person, counter[part], you know, I was Chinese, a person they could talk to get to Steven. So I was by Steven's side the whole time and they were like, "When's this going to end? Why does he have to shoot again?" And I said, "Steven, they're really losing energy, we're going to have to do something. We're in this big theater, it's a holding room for all the extras." And you know, he's like, "Okay, I'm going to go talk to them." So I went up there, I marched onto stage with him, and they're all sitting there getting really tired on a break. And he said, "YOU ARE ALL HEROES!" And you know, I translated into Chinese, he said, "I couldn't make this film without you!" - and again, I cry very easily, but I think about this - "I couldn't make this film without you. You have done an incredible job." And they were so....he really understood. And it's probably the same thing you would say in any country, but particularly in China because they were so sensitive about getting respect. And they're playing beggars and prostitutes. And they were playing in old China, it was like the 1940's so they're all in scraggy clothes and they're playing poor people, and part of them was probably thinking, "Why the hell am I doing this for an American movie?" And hearing Steven getting on stage and saying these incredible things, I mean, it worked like a charm. I'll just never forget it. He had such an instinct for what touches the human heart, both on film and in person. He just has this incredible, deep sweetness about him. And so talented. We were prepping this film for 6 months in China, he didn't show up until like days before shooting. He went once on a location scan and then he showed up, and I was like thinking, "How in the world is he going to...?" There were so many things to figure out. And he would just arrive on set, he needed very little preparation, He'd arrive on set every morning, and he's like, "The camera is going to here." And by instinct, he seemed to know the best shots to get. And there's this huge place and all the locations, and we cordoned off huge parts of it. And then Oliver, in some ways is like the opposite personality. Steven, around him, you notice that everyone is like, "Yeah, Steven!" He was almost like a little kid and you wanted to protect his bubble, and he's always like, "Wouldn't it be great...?" and everyone would be like, "Yeah, that would be great!" Everybody kind of felt child-like around him. With Oliver, it's almost the opposite. He would see right through you, and go, "What do you really think about this? Oh no, you don't. You're lying." He'd find your weakness, or he'd really want to know the truth. He didn't want to know just the happy truth. He wanted to know the bottom line. He was prepared, his mind and his body, his constitution, was of somebody who could handle a lot of controversy, shades of grey and darkness. He just wanted to know the truth. He has an incredible mind and incredible nose for truth and authenticity. You can't get away with anything. You can't bullshit Oliver. He can see right through you. So I just learned very early on, I'm just gonna tell it like it is. Because he can't handle bullshit. He always just wants, even if it means, even if you're telling him, "Oliver, you're being an asshole." He'd rather hear that than hear you butter him up. So Oliver was very influential for me. Because although he made Hollywood movies, the spirit of Oliver was very independent-minded. He's not afraid of taking chances, He always felt he was battling against the system. He was like an adolescent. He became more and more accomplished, but he still felt he had to fight. Whatever he had to do, he was going to put up a good fight. I really appreciate that about him because he never got complacent.
StudioLA: Any words of advice for people trying to break into the industry? Janet: Follow your heart. Don't do anything that you don't love. If you are going to do this, it's because you love it, and not because you want to make money, not because you want to be famous. You love it and you are willing to sweat for it and then you never can go wrong if you are doing what you love. If you don't love it, don't do it. Only do it if you love it. You can't look to somebody else and say, "Oh...look I want to do what that person did." Forget it... It takes so much energy. The only thing that feeds energy is the love for what you are doing. It can't be ambition alone. --StudioLA's Paul Lee with Suzanne Kai |
|||||
| AsianConnections wishes to thank Janet Yang for contributing her valuable time for the interview. |
 |
|||
|
 |
|
|
| | About Us | Disclaimers and Legal Information | Advertise With Us | We welcome your comments. Send e-mail to us at info@asianconnections.com Copyright ©1999-2002 AsianConnections.com |