Today we’d like to introduce you to Wuliang Zhang.
Hi Wuliang, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hello, my name is Wuliang Zhang, a Los Angeles based on film and television producer, now a 2nd year Producing Fellow in American Film Institute Conservatory.
“Master Wuliang” is what my college mates call me. One reason is that my name, Wuliang, is one of a Chinese Buddha master. Another is that I am known for being a perfectionist in my schoolwork and film production. I instantly felt an aura of honor being called that way and started acting like a master: serious, theoretic, and prudent. Honestly, I am an actor playing the role of master because it has since won me many new friends and the chance to become a popular teammate. Once they get to know me better, my mates figure out I’m a funny guy who’s doing his best, like all of them.
I was born in Wenzhou, a southern city in China. My first encounter with film was being a minor performer on a feature film produced by my mom at my hometown. I was so excited and ate up all the noodles in my bowl. Then, I realized it was just a rehearsal. Then we went back to one, I ate up another bowl of noodles again. Finally, five bowls of noodles were in. I couldn’t bear to have one more bowl and gave out a loud burp in the action take which let all the crews burst into laughter.
Even though it was just one afternoon, the magic of film impressed my childhood, which make me keep engaging stage performances as well as short video shooting in middle school. Finally, the irresistible temptation guides me toward Beijing Film Academy, where I received my first professional training as a filmmaker.
Thanks to BFA, I got rich film production experience the direct opportunities to talk and learn from the frontline filmmakers in China. I gradually got training about each position on set and learned about what makes a good story.
When I thought I could take charge of a department alone in my sophomore year–producing a low-budget feature film, which, however, becomes a nightmare memory of my college. On the day before the shooting, our director renamed the scene numbers herself, but every department still followed the previous schedule. Endless confirmations decreased our efficiency and increased our mistakes, which led to a vicious cycle and a low-quality picture in the end. In contrast with this nightmarish experience, my junior year took me to Columbia College Chicago as an exchange student. I was surprised to see passionate and energized senior students doing their projects with the operation system used in Hollywood: from a standard script format, regulated working hours and professional filming auxiliary software to detailed daily reports. The well-prepared preproduction kept everything on track.
I realized the lack of a standard producing system is one of the most essential negative problems in the Chinese film industry. After doing research for my graduate essay, I became more certain that the Chinese film market is in great demand of talented producers with international industrial production experience. Therefore, my desire to use successful practices in Hollywood to improve China’s filmmaking system became the motivation for furthering my studies in the U.S.
Luckily, I got admission to one of the top film schools in U.S.— American Film Institute Conservatory, where all the productions run in a strict Hollywood Industry standard. So far, I have produced 8 narrative short films, line produced/upm 10 short narratives and 20 short commercials here. I am proud of what I have achieved and look forward to continuing to produce interesting stories further my way down with films and television both in U.S. and China.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There are a lot of struggles of course. Luckily, I am the type willing to embrace challenges.
Firstly, it is the language and culture barrier which limit me to deliver clear creative notes and communicate with my team when I just came to the U.S. Luckily, my fellow friends here are nice and friendly and willing to hear my voice.
I also found it difficult to balance the physical production and creative development at the same time. AFI has such an intensive program that keeps everyone running, especially for producers, who is the key position to coordinate with all the discipline and make sure all the plans will happen in time. I did learn to manage my time and schedule well, so I can still absorb fresh knowledge and develop creative materials.
From my three-cycle projects in first year of AFI, I feel there is a clear arc for myself from figuring out the logistic production toward having more and more creative input as I got more used to the environment and the pace here. A good outcome of my arc is my cycle 3 project, BELOVED, which is my original idea based on a true story of a Chinese pregnant woman under the pressure of patriarchal society and son-preference tradition. My biggest challenge for that is basically I have to build a China in LA! Eventually, we were able to build an authentic Chinese room at soundstage and find another standing set to decorate it like Chinese hospital. I am proud that after the film is screening at AFI with fellows, some non-Chinese friends came and told me how they were moved and touched by the character and story. I felt so happy that effort gets paid back and good story can touch audience no matter what culture background they are coming from.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Another project I am proud of is the thesis film I produced, THE BULLFIGHTER. It is ambitious project about a previous honorable bullfighter, now a parking lot attendant, stands out for a pregnant woman who is bullied by a bull-like man to complete the last bullfight in his life. It contains three time periods and locations, cop gunshot at LA downtown, giving birth while bullets flying by, action stunt, also a BULLFIGHT as it states in the title. It is a project that faculty doubt it could be made and other fellows were hesitated to work on. I felt it challenging, too, however, the pursuit for a good story finally overcame my fear and I took the project.
For me, producing a project is not a dating, is like a marriage. If I make the decision, I will try every effort to make it happen. I did a lot of research to understand the bullfighting as an event, also traveled to Mexico to get a sense of their culture context. I sent written notes and communicated with our director frequently to understand her vision the core of our story better. As we moved forward to physical production, I was able to be on top of everything with my producing partner and make sure we accomplished the steps steadily and effectively. Luckily, all my teammates are real “bullfighters” and are as ready as me to make a contribution. We broke down every complex scene and shoot video storyboards every week to make sure the whole team on the same page. Also, we were able to find creative ways to make the scenes doable but impressive. As the producer, I am proud that we were able to raise $60,000 budget and made all the scenes happened with multi-camera in a 10-day production window with a 70 crew’s scale. Every crew and faculty are surprised and pleased with our efficient cooperation and methodical organization during this process.
Gladly, we got an outstanding score while previewing at AFI. After this project, I am more confident that nothing is impossible if I am really passionate to get it made.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Being a good and trustworthy man. It is not easy for people to keep their principle under pressure and temptation. However, I always want to suit my action to my word. No man stands without faith. I believe one good turn deserves another eventually.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: steven_zhang_wuliang
Image Credits
Tim Toda, Eva Zheng, Miley Luo, Inga Zhang.
