Originally Appeared 9/15/10 Midnight Madness Blog
Midnight
Producers Part 5: Daniel Yu - The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman
This is the fifth in the ongoing
series, Meet
the Producers of Midnight Madness 2010
Let me introduce you to Daniel Yu, producer of The
Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman.
Daniel Yu is a well known producer and active member of Hong Kong's film and
entertainment industry. In 1990, Daniel co-founded Team Work Productions with
renowned actor Andy Lau. The company’s debut film Saviour of The Soul was
commercially successful across Asia, and was awarded Best Art Direction and
Best Cinematography at the 1992 Hong Kong Film Awards.
From 2004 to 2006, Daniel was Chief Operating Officer for Andy Lau’s Focus
Films Limited. There he oversaw all films in which Andy Lau starred, invested and
produced. The year 2005 was particularly fruitful for Daniel. He wrote and
directed one of the Hong Kong box office’s top 10 of that year: All About
Love, starring Andy Lau.
That same year, Daniel spearheaded and produced a series of films which achieved
tremendous success at various Asian & International film festivals.
Particularly notable was Crazy Stone by chinese director Ning Hao, which
was praised as the most creative commercially successful film in China's
history. Currently, Daniel holds the position of Senior Vice President for
UnionVoole Technology, as well as Chief Executive Officer for Voole Pictures.
How much has the business of funding films in HK/China changed since the
handover in 1997?
The climate of funding and financing in
HK has changed significantly since the traditional markets for HK films has
somewhat been taken over by the growing dominance of local films. After China
granted HK films a status of local films that could be released in china
outside of the quota system, it presented itself as a new key territory for HK
filmmakers to show their films. Now with the increased number of screens and
investors in China, China is a key territory not just for HK films but also
major Hollywood films. In China, previously, most filmmakers focused on making
art house films with the possibilities of winning awards as the exhibition
sector was not mature but and the handful of filmmakers making commercial
films, collaborated with HK film crews/ cast to make commercially more viable
films. Now, filmmakers in china are reaping the success of the china economy by
having investments, audience and cast to match those of the rest of the world.
Are films primarily funded by the
government or are private investors approached?
In Asia (with the exception of Taiwan
and Singapore), films are generally funded by film companies, private investors
and commercial sponsors. In China, now city governments are coming on board to
support film production but that is an exception and not the norm for most
filmmakers. For art house auteur directors, a number of them still work closely
with Europe to receive funding grants from European funds.
What were some of the difficulties in
getting the film The
Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman made?
Wuershan being a very successful commercial
director was one of the few directors that didn't have a track record yet to
investors and distributors. The film he wanted to make is also is kinda fresh
in approach and people are not sure if the vision he wanted to create would be
achieved within the budget the producers were comfortable would recoup. Yet,
though the shoot and budget kinda went beyond what was planned, things worked
out well. We are happy to collaborate with a good team of cast and crew and now
finally we are collaborating with fox international productions and Doug Liman
on the film which is very exciting for all of us in the production to bring the
film beyond Chinese audiences.
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