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Kylin article

Bohan Gong. You probably don’t know the name of this successful film producer but then again, you don’t know the name of many film producers unless you’re in the film industry or a cinephile. It’s a better bet that you know the marquee names of the films he has enabled. Tom Cruise, William Hurt, Pierce Brosnan; these names might be more familiar and they’re all part of the productions that Bohan has contributed his talents towards. Gong is a key player in facilitating the collaboration of Hollywood and China’s film industries. With Kylin Pictures and other companies, Bohan has worked on multiple Oscar-winning films and delivered the kind of compelling stories that are captivating regardless of one’s geography and culture. This newly burgeoning association has already proven itself beneficial to both the professionals who create these films and the public who hungers for them. Still, expanding this territory requires navigating the laws of both countries and the operating structure of the insdustries themselves; something which Bohan has continually proven himself adept at managing.

The Mel Gibson directed Hacksaw Ridge is the story of Medal of Honor winner Desmond T. Doss, a conscientious objector who served at the Battle of Okinawa and saved many lives. The recipient of two Oscars, the story depicted bravery in union with opposition to taking the lives of others. As co-executive producer, Bohan researched and created a marketing strategy for this film that appealed to the Chinese market and resulted in its status as a massive success. From obtaining the legal obligations for displaying the film to analyzing the data concerning its release, Bohan was the springboard to this film’s embrace by Chinese audiences. Gong repeated this for the Tom Cruise film American Made, based on the true story of an American pilot who smuggled for government agencies. As lead producer for The King’s Daughter (starring Pierce Brosnan and Oscar-winner William Hurt) Bohan negotiated distribution with companies including Disney, Fox, Universal, SONY, Open Road, and others. Additionally, he oversaw the 2D to 3D transfer work that took place between LA and China based companies. His varied responsibilities, which often require a comfortability in both languages and decorum of America and China, confirm that this producer’s talent is matched by his ability to work easily in different environments with professionals of vastly different backgrounds.

As the world becomes an increasingly smaller community, international collaboration and films about the mixing of cultures become more popular. 2016’s Birth of the Dragon tells the story of the iconic Bruce Lee. Recipient of the Golden Angel Award at the Chinese American Film Festival, this feature film amassed a loyal audience in both the US and abroad. As producer on Birth of the Dragon, Bohan returned to a familiar role of facilitating interactions between filmmakers and foreign markets. His most recent work with Kylin Pictures is producing on the upcoming feature film Shanghai Sojourners. Notably, Bohan helped secure the acclaimed Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook, My Sister’s keeper) to direct. The film is a love story of a man and woman from different cultures set in World War II Shanghai

Streaming films have become much more than a safety net for the industry, it has provided a viable means of supporting filmmakers. Hits in the Chinese market like Los Angeles Kidnapping (seen on China’s iQiyi) and Hot-Blooded Youth (available on the Youku streaming platform) have received millions of views. Both of these films share the common point of having Bohan Gong as the producer. It’s essential for the viability of the global film industry that the most accomplished of professionals like Bohan take part in a variety of productions. Delivering exceptional stories on any platform gains the trust of audiences and ensures that a great story is always that…simply a great story. Across international borders and across different platforms, great talent produces loyal audiences.

When Yun Huang was just a young child, growing up in China, her passion for film was born. Her grandmother was a movie projectionist and would share stories of her job with her granddaughter. She encouraged Huang to not only watch films, but to appreciate them. Since then, film has been an important part of Huang’s life, and she knew it was more than a hobby. Now, as a seasoned editor, Huang works in filmmaking every day, living her childhood dream.

Having worked on several successful projects, Huang is an internationally sought-after editor. Earlier this year, her commercial “Choice” amassed millions of views online, and her work on the film Stardust led the project to many awards at several prestigious international film festivals, including Huang herself being honored with Best Editing at Festigious International Film Festival.

“It’s important as an editor not to have one specific style. Your job is to help the director to create their own style. You can provide different editing styles that you think can be used, but you must respect the director’s thoughts. That is what makes a great editor,” said Huang.

One of Huang’s ongoing projects is Unveil China Outside China, a documentary series that allows her to share her country with the rest of the world. The series is distributed on people.cn, a large-scale news platform built by The People’s Daily. The People’s Daily is the biggest newspaper group in China. The paper is an official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, published worldwide with a circulation of 3 million.

“Yun was our video editor when we were doing the post-production of this documentary series. I have known her for a couple of years and always like her work. Yun works effectively and always has a good attitude for communicating with the crew. I believe her talent in editing will bring even more fancy artwork to the world,” said Leiqi Lin of The Oriental Vision, Inc.

While making the series, Huang and her team have conducted many interviews with foreigners, from American politicians to ordinary people in the streets of San Francisco, from the founder of international think tanks to the engineers of Silicon Valley. The idea of this, from an overseas perspective, is to let them tell the story of China. What kind of role does China play in today’s world? How does the world see the development of China? What is the expectation of the future of China? Through their narration, the audience can find different answers.

“The documentary series include aspects of Chinese achievements, innovation in China, ‘Made in China’, Chinese diplomacy, China’s economic globalization, important meetings of the Chinese government, reform and opening-up, and so on. We interviewed many foreigners who told stories of China in overseas perspectives. I like to know more about China in different angles. I’m so proud that I can introduce China to the world by editing this series,” said Huang.

Having had previous documentary experience, Huang knew she was up for the task of creating and launching Unveil China Outside China. The monthly series involves a lot of work, and when Huang receives the footage, she only has a few days to turnout a compelling installment. At first, she found this to be a challenge, but now she finds it exhilarating.

“I only have three or four days to finish an episode, which was a challenge for me in the beginning, because I also have to work on the stock footages and special effects, find the background music, and more. However, after I had edited two episodes, I knew that I enjoyed such high intensity work. It let me have a sense of accomplishment. I believe resilience is a skill that all editors should possess,” she said.

The first episode premiered in October of 2017 and was published on both people.cn and People’s daily app. The premiere received over 810 thousand views in its initial month of being live, and Huang knew then and there that they were making something special. Now, they have ten episodes, each more successful than the last.

Unveil China Outside China is just one of the many projects that exemplify what a versatile and talented editor Huang is. She knows that the most fundamental aspect of her job is storytelling, and she encourages all editors that are looking to follow in her footsteps to make sure they know just how to do so.

“Try to learn more things rather than simply editing, such as fine art, music, literature and so on. These are extremely important skills and knowledge while you are editing videos with various subjects,” she advised.

You can watch one of Huang’s most recent episodes of the series, Unveil China Outside China: Riding on a bullet train is fabulous, here.

Written by Annabelle Lee

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