Film producer says it starts with a good story
Print Edition
HOLLYWOOD producer Bill Borden knows the industry inside and out.
He has many years of film and TV production experience and is well known for films like “Mission: Impossible III,” “Desperado,” “Kung Fu Hustle” and “High School Musical.” He is also the producer behind the MTV musical “The American Mall.”
On July 31, the animated movie “Dragon Nest,” produced by Borden and Mili Pictures, will hit cinemas across China.
The fantasy 3D film is adapted from a popular online game of the same name. As the first in a “Dragon Nest” trilogy, the film is about freedom, growth and adventure. The film’s crew includes Grant Major, who received an Oscar for best art direction on “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
According to Borden, the Chinese-language film is Western in character and story, just like the game.
Q: Is “Dragon Nest” the first Chinese animated film that you have produced? What makes the film different from your former works?
A: It is my first animated movie in China. The only other animated movie I produced was Disney’s “Meet the Robinsons.” The process is the same in developing a script, but the process of making it is completely different. Slow!
Making a movie with actors in front of the camera, and working on sets and locations has a lot of stresses; weather, sunlight, tired actors, dangerous conditions, big equipment. But with animation you can imagine something and the animators can make it without worrying about the sun, rain, scales of the action, etc.
Q: As a veteran film producer in Hollywood with so many credits, what’s your secret of success?
A: I wish I knew my secret. I try to choose material to make films that I love. It takes years to make a movie, if you don’t love the material you can’t stay with a movie and work on it for years.
Q: What’s your criteria for a good film?
A: The story needs to work first and foremost. Without a great story you never have a great film. After making movies you know the level of quality you want in the look of the movie, the acting, the writing, the directing. I push all the people who work for me to make the best movie we can.
Q: The Chinese film industry is booming these days, but it still lags behind Hollywood in many aspects. What’s your suggestion to Chinese cinema?
A: Chinese filmmakers must spend more time in developing scripts and better stories. Chinese films do not “travel” well. In the future, the Chinese will learn to develop scripts better and make movies that have an international story and production value. In the past, and currently, most Chinese filmmakers don’t really care if their movie works outside of China. I think with the new awareness of their own art form of making movies, they will want the whole world to appreciate their films, so the filmmakers in the future will keep one eye open to make sure the films will work outside of China.
Q: Some high-grossing Chinese films such as “So Young” and “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons” failed at the box office when they were released in the United States. What’s your advice to Chinese filmmakers seeking a global audience? In your opinion, what kind of Chinese movies can be well received in the States?
A: “So Young” and “Journey to the West” are wonderful Chinese films, but the stories do not work for a US or international audience. They are much too China-centric. They don’t make story sense to an international audience. “Kung Fu Hustle” worked outside of China. Stephen Chow took the time and the advice to make the story more international. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” worked outside of China because no one had ever seen wire work and a great story combined.
American people generally do not go to subtitled films. Americans want their movies in English. I think that China could easily make movies like “Spider-Man,” or “Iron Man,” etc. And they would work around the world even subtitled, if the stories and characters were interesting.
Q: While many co-productions have been done over the years, is it true that China is becoming more involved in the cooperation rather than simply offering backdrop support? Is it a win-win approach for both parts?
A: Co-productions are difficult in China due to the subject matters that can be filmed in China. No contemporary violence and crime can be made in China, and many American movies have those elements. Family movies are much easier to make as co-productions here. With China’s increased box office and amount of theaters, co-productions here are starting to make great financial sense.
With a co-production, the Chinese market is open and will allow movies to be shown in China that before would not be, due to the quota system. So those co-productions can add value to their movie.
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