"Seediq Bale" Te-sheng Wei × Jimmy Huang: Dream brings money!

How to be "partners" without fighting? Partnership often ends with conflict of interests and opinions. This is a dialogue of the two passionate men.

Preparations for 12 years, director Wei Te-sheng's "Seediq Bale" will finally be released in September. $700 million of production costs is the record high of the Taiwan film history. Wei said, even if there had been no money, he would have finished the film. People are looking: Will it be a box office success? Market and money are always challenges for dreamers.

Fortunately, Wei was not along. The producer Jimmy Huang stood behind him all the way. Jimmy Huang was the planner of the Central Pictures Corporation. When he became a producer, all films above one hundred million were related to him. He cooperated with Wei since "Double Vision," and then there were "Cape" and "Seediq Bale”.

As partner, they must “like” each other. However, their personalities are very different, and they opinions are often different.

Take “Seediq Bale" as an example. Huang thought the shooting would stop within a month. When Wei wanted to stop, Huang decided to subsidize. They embrace same feelings for the movie. Wei is romantic and persistent, and Huang is pragmatic. They gave birth to "Seediq Bale". The director and the producer should fight about creativity and money, and support each other at the same time. That is the exact reason why they become the best partners.

Twelve years for a movie – Interview with "Seediq Bale" producer Jimmy Huang

Jimmy Huang just came back from the Cannes Film Festival, and will leave the country tomorrow. He began eating the breakfast of the convenience store with a smile, sitting in Wei’s office. He looks young. It is difficult to imagine he served as a producer of Ming-liang Tsai’s movie in nineties, and produced many famous movies. When mentioning “Seediq Bale” (Hereinafter referred to as “Seediq”), Huang traced back to the "Double Vision" (2002), directed by Kuo-fu Chen. Huang met Wei for the first time.

At that time, Huang and Chen chose the "In July" director Wei Te-sheng to be the assistant director and planner. “Chao-Bin Su's screenplay was very different from other screenplays.... Wei was only a local filmmaker, but he made a thick film storyboard.... In fact, Kuo-fu Chen asked Wei to shoot "Double Vision", but he refused because of the big budget." Nevertheless, Wei seemed to see a high specification of filmmaking. He showed his “Seediq” script to Jimmy and started the fund-raising in 2000.

First, Wei Te-sheng spent his own money, two million, in 2003, to shoot a five-minute trailer, hoping to help raise fund, but in vain. Wei and Huang solicited to more than 20 Venture Capital companies, and seek Su-mei Chin’s help, hoping to raise 2.5 million dollars, and another $ 2.5 million as the film cost, but still in vain. "Because of the huge amount of money and his inexperience. I went on other projects, and he stayed home to do storyboard and write. Occasionally he helped with TV dramas or movies. "

Wei began to work on “Cape” from fundraising and looking for investors. He even mortgaged his house. When the government granted 5 million dollars, Wei started shooting. Jimmy Huang was busy with “Monga”, asking Wei to be the assistant director. “He did the actor training. I told him to help Jay Chou, and then we could ask for Jun-Rong Yang’s investment (general manager of Jay Chou’s music company). He said he didn’t have time. Later, after I finished “Monga,” I surprisely found he already signed actors and music, but he didn’t like the music. I solved the problem. I didn’t like Van Fan and wanted Stanley Huang, but Wei convinced me.... He might see things deeper than I. I see from the business angle, but he let me see his choice is correct. "

Wei not only let the audience to see his story, but also brought hope to “Seediq”. "Cape’s success made people to believe in dream. ‘Dreams can come true!’ It was like Shui-bian Chen was elected ... With this sentiment, everyone believed in dream. That is the biggest reason why ‘Seediq’ succeeded and why we got the money. We borrowed from BenQ, Terry Gou, and Government Information Office. People were willing to follow him. We believed in him ....”

Huang said, "Seediq is very different from other movies. Not step-by-step and logical. From start to finish, we faced problems. Even with Cape’s success, people still worried about Seediq. Seediq was a fruit of determination."

From investment managers to chairmen, Huang could not gather the budget. "Our estimation is 700 million, and got back 1.4 billion. How? Everyone could see the possibility." Huang was not limited to the business logic of Hollywood and found his own way. "We need to find our own way for money and opportunities.... The market is depended on your vitality. The environment will be better with your success!"

He persuaded Terry Guo to set up a joint investment company. Huang raised a question: How do we cherish the value? Wei created a box-office record, and he chose a more dangerous road. Would you follow? "This involves the nature of the film. Only three out of ten movies can make money…. I see things from that angle. I told him, in fact, earning 450 to 550 million was a good deal for 700 million investment. This is worthy, and now is the time."

It may seem Guo was moved by his sincerity, but Huang knew that it was all business. He said, "If Guo did no invest. Wei and I would have given up. I knew Guo decided out of business reason." Guo may be moved by Wei and the story, but more importantly, he invested in movie to build brand and image and invest in culture business. It is logical, just like HTC Chairman Cher Wang’s investment in CatchPlay.

Despite of Guo’s aid, Huang faced the money problem for the whole year. Only lunchbox money cost 30 million dollars. Because of the weather, they spent four more months and owed a bunch of debt. Once, Huang flew back to Taiwan and received a text message: "the Arrow debt is due today.” They asked Cheng Ze Niu’s help to borrow money. “Finally, we ran to the bank with cash in hands". Huang Zhiming said: "It was my daily life. Luckily, I was not depressed. Just to relax." As for director Wei? "Every day he faced actors, staff, and their families. He got a lot of pressure. Many families and even actors hated this movie.... I did not tell him about this."

Taiwan does not have Manager Studio between producers and investors. Sometimes a Taiwan filmmaker has to play the role of director and producer. Some films are better such as "Monga". The producer is responsible for the finance. "We negotiate with investors and face the conflicts between movie copyright value and business." Huang believes that this is the government’s responsibility. In fact, “Seediq took a considerable amount of subsidies from the government, and some people criticized it,” but Huang believes the government's policy direction is more important than giving money: "too many subsidies and no system ... the government should have policies like the Korean Film Commission. We relied on subsidies for so many years, and now we have Chen-Zer Niu, Wie, Chao-Pin Su, “Night Market Hero", etc. Now we should rely on the investment techniques in order to make a larger market. "

Wei finally realized the dream after 12 years. Jimmy Huang is the backstage driving force, executor, and supporter. It is a "miracle" in Taiwan's film history, but the real battlefield is the box office.

Te-sheng Wei Jumping up from the Bed and Shouting “Yes!”
Promising to shoot firecrackers if getting into the Oscar top five finalists

Producer Jimmy Huang said, "We were very excited and texted with the director all night. I hope everyone to give us blessing. If getting into the Top 5 finalists, we will shoot firecrackers. "

"Seediq" set a box office record of 800 million in Taiwan, but Part II was less 100 million than Part I. Jimmy Huang was disappointed. "Seediq" squeezed into the top nine of Oscar Foreign Language Film finalists. Huang said, "I am happy that everyone sees our sincerity."

The full version of "Seediq" competed for an Oscar. Huang said, "A full story for 4.5 hours long. "Seediq" shows our competitiveness. I’m glad Taiwan's film continues to be seen in the world. "Seediq" is the only Chinese-language film in the finalists of Oscar Foreign Language Film.

Producer Jimmy Huang denied rumors, “Oscar judges are not like before. Big promotion is good, but the government has done a lot. We actively promoted through public relations. Many judges have seen "Seediq”. Although finalists are strong, we do not give up without a fight."