Exploring Life & Business with Changjuanyong “Clark” Liu of Shanghai Feizhi Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Changjuanyong “Clark” Liu.

Hi Changjuanyong “Clark”, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m not sure why I wanted to make movies in the first place; it seems like I just started telling people I wanted to make movies when I was 19 years old. Every time they learn that their kid is studying filmmaking, even my parents still have an unusual feeling. I decided to major in cinema and digital media at UC Davis, where I found my calling as a director. I enjoy interacting with people and sharing the vision I have in my head with them. I enjoy producing affecting and potent visuals. I knew UC Davis wasn’t enough for me so I applied to LMU for a film production major, continuing to sharpen my craft. Where I met a lot of people that share my enthusiasm, leading to the establishment of our own production studios in Shanghai and Los Angeles.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Making a film is always tricky; you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Like I always tell my father; filmmaking is like making an airplane, and I as the director am like the airplane’s designer. I most likely can’t build an engine nor build the wings. It is team efforts that require many companies (specialists) involved, except, filmmaking is harder because you can’t “build the same airplane” twice.

One of the thousands of struggles that I can give; is in shooting my upcoming film Quicksand Three days prior to the shoot, I was sick with the flu and had a fever, and we were filming in a volcanic area in December with a 5:30 am to 5 pm call time. The nearest town was 50 minutes away. In a situation like this, there is no way to reschedule or otherwise. I directed in the days and had a terrible fever in the nights for the first three days of shooting. And this is just one of many struggles in process of making this film.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Together with others who shared my enthusiasm for filmmaking, I established Shanghai Feizhi Studio. We took a year off from school during the pandemic and returned to China to launch our own studio. We produced a lot of television ads, music videos, and imaginative short films. We also have a music department where music is composed. In addition to idea generation and script writing, we also offer post-production services including editing, color grading, and composing. One of the fantastic chances was being able to assist a game developer in making a “movie” of their game. It is called ” A Perfect Day”, and it is published on Steam.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Risk is risk, no matter what you do in life, risks always exist. Most people avoid risks, but if you do so, the bigger risks are generating in the future that one day you will be forced to confront them. Few people love risk, and they call it “bigger the risk, bigger the interest”, but they sometimes fall into the trap of being an opportunist.

I believe once I have made my choice to take a route, then when risks happen I have to confront them, there is no way to solve them by hiding away. The best way to take risks is to face them with an active and optimistic attitude and see it as a great opportunity, a challenge, to make myself a better individual.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.clarklcjy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarklcjy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003926053889
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/changjuanyong-liu/