famous directors are stepping out to supervise the production. is it reliable?
2024-09-13
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◎yu xiaoyu
the recently popular tv series "snow labyrinth" puts "zhang yimou's production" in the most prominent position in the opening of each episode, and its intention is self-evident. interestingly, "waterside past", which just took over "snow labyrinth", was also produced by a famous director (cao baoping). in recent years, the phenomenon of "famous directors serving as production supervisors" has gradually extended from the film field to the tv field, becoming a routine operation in the industry.
however, can a tv series or film with the blessing of a famous director be successful? what kind of help can a famous director bring to the creation of a tv series or film? in other words, compared with the directors that the audience is very familiar with, what does the identity of "producer" mean? perhaps, in exploring these questions, we can understand why "famous directors as producers" is so popular.
the necessity of "artistic control" by producers
who is the core figure in film creation? the public may blurt out: of course it is the director. indeed, in recent years, we have often brought up the so-called "fourth generation", "fifth generation" and "sixth generation" of film generation divisions, and social media is full of terms such as "100 million yuan director club" and "three major chinese film directors", which shows that the public has long been accustomed to the concept of film creation centered on the director.
however, the "director-centered system" has also brought a series of problems. for example, many directors have made many excellent films because of their adherence to "authorship", but sometimes the "authorship" is too strong and interferes with the narrative and theme of the film and television works, leaving flaws. some directors with strong artistic personalities are prone to excessive self-promotion during the creative process, ignoring the needs and feelings of the audience, and the direct result is often "highbrow" and poor box office.
with the marketization and industrialization reform of chinese films, the entertainment function and commercial characteristics of films have been highlighted. the advent of the digital technology era and the creation of "chinese blockbusters" have made practitioners and audiences tacitly recognize the irreplaceable nature of film marketing. against this backdrop, supervision is gaining more and more attention from the industry and academia.
although "producer" and "supervisor" overlap in roles, positions, responsibilities, and functions, there are also differences. in the current context of the chinese film industry, the two are still quite mixed, but they can be roughly distinguished as follows: the former is mainly responsible for financing, budgeting, management, and marketing, while the latter is mainly responsible for filming plans, supervision, and assisting the director in various specific tasks. it can be seen that if the producer is responsible for "opening up the market", then the supervisor is responsible for "artistic control", and its core role is to ensure that the film will not "derail" in the process of industrialized production and minimize the commercial risks of film production.
“old employees bring up new employees” and “1+1>2”
from a practical point of view, the presence of supervisors in the current film and television production is getting stronger and stronger. for new directors who are first or just beginning to touch the film and television creation, if the supervisor is a famous director with extensive connections and abundant resources, it can indeed solve their "troubles", achieve a balance between business and art, and play an important role of "old and new".
the most successful example is perhaps the film "dying to survive" (produced by ning hao and xu zheng, and directed by wen muye), which was both a hit at the box office and word of mouth. ning hao's production work focused on the early script creation, film positioning, and actor selection, while xu zheng's production work focused on the later publicity and distribution stages. it was precisely because both of them were "famous directors" and had market appeal that wen muye, a new director at the time, had more room to play.
there are many similar examples. "sherlock on the plain" directed by xu lei was produced by rao xiaozhi, "priceless treasure" directed by zhang dapeng was produced by han sanping, guo fan was the producer of "space exploration editorial department" directed by kong dashan, tian zhuangzhuang was the producer of "spring" directed by bai xue, ning hao was the producer of "all or nothing", chen sicheng was the producer of "the third squadron", and so on.
as an "implicit author", the producer can not only serve as a bridge for the dialogue between the director and the producer, but also help the director to complete his personal creation more freely and with higher quality. if the styles of the director and the producer are highly compatible, a chemical reaction can often occur, achieving the effect of "1+1>2". chen sicheng served as the producer, allowing "the vanishing girl" to accurately grasp the market hotspot and become the leader of the summer movie season that year. "the waterside story" has both realistic cruelty and mysterious suspense, which is not unrelated to the fact that cao baoping, who is good at crime themes, served as the producer.
high threshold and participation degree
however, the seemingly beautiful "famous director as producer" is not omnipotent. for example, "the ferryman" is closer to the style of producer wong kar-wai than director zhang jiajia in terms of theme, casting, and post-production marketing. although this has raised the audience's expectations, it has also brought a greater gap in viewing. from the finished film, "the ferryman" is more like a hybrid, a mixture of many styles, and has not formed a complete work. this reminds us: the delicate balance of discourse power between directors and producers is not easy to master.
at the same time, there are two issues worth paying attention to when it comes to "famous directors serving as producers". first, can an excellent director necessarily become an excellent producer? a producer must be able to grasp the artistic quality of a film and integrate the creative resources of the film, which is not the same as a director who is always fully committed to the creation. in the words of hong kong filmmaker wen jun, "this is a position with a large workload and heavy tasks, and you must accumulate years of experience and experience to do it well. this cultivation is wild and automatic, and it cannot be placed in a garden, and artificial cultivation is not possible." in other words, there is a "threshold" for being a producer, and there are high requirements for practical experience. if a famous director does not have awe, and thinks that he can cross industries, break out of the circle, and rush in just because he is famous, then in fact it will only bring chaos to the entire film production process.
secondly, how much have famous directors actually supervised? many film directors who are producers of tv dramas and movies often do not have a deep involvement in the production of their works. this requires us to be wary of many so-called "famous directors and producers" who only care about traffic or are "kidnapped by personal connections" by publicity and promotion. director feng xiaogang has repeatedly called for removing the popular "nominal producer" and giving the real producers the status, reputation and remuneration they deserve.
in addition, the supervision of tv series and movies is different. the production process of the former is longer, and even the shooting of each episode may be handled by different directors. this also means that from story to casting, from scene setting to post-production, the supervision of tv series may face more complex communication and overall planning work. then the question is, can the famous directors who are already busy and have full schedules really devote themselves to the work of tv series supervision without distraction? "snow labyrinth" deliberately released a video of zhang yimou sitting on the set to guide in the publicity, which shows the value of director zhang's supervision. however, can every famous director be present throughout the production of a tv series? to what extent does the producer need to intervene in the production process of the tv series? these questions are probably difficult to conclude.
whoever is famous has the final say?
the fundamental purpose of the transition from the "director-centered system" to the "producer-centered system" is to provide industrialized production standards for chinese film creation. with standards, great works of art may not necessarily be produced, but at least the quality, box office, and profits of the film can be controlled and will not fluctuate too much due to the performance of a single director. this is of course beneficial to the entire chinese film market.
when talking about the role of supervisors, director peter chan once said: "i have always been very skeptical and resistant to 'famous directors'. i hope to establish a system led by supervisors so that everyone knows that directors and producers are all part of a commercial film. you don't necessarily need to know who the director is to determine whether a film is good or not."
the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is still harsh. the original intention of "famous directors as producers" is to let famous directors guide their juniors and realize the good vision of compatibility, tolerance, complementarity, diversity and win-win in the process of film creation. however, if the famous director who is supposed to play a supervisory role is arbitrary or perfunctory, who should supervise him? in fact, if the industry mentality of "whoever is famous has the final say" is still not broken in specific practice, there will always be some unstable factors in the production process of chinese films.
in this regard, the talents in various links such as production, planning, screenwriting, directing, acting, publicity, marketing, etc. need to cooperate with each other in the overall operation of the film, so as to achieve the optimal combination in the dynamically developing industrial chain. the production supervisor does not necessarily have to be a famous director, but he should be a professional who understands art and the market.
(source: beijing youth daily)
