Shooting on Location

Wang admits the brothers are adept at persuading advertisers to put their money into film. But he insists he is still primarily interested in the art of filmmaking, and is always on the lookout for new talent. "I can look into the eyes of a director and tell if he can direct our films," he says. "A lot of directors come to me, but in many of them I see that one eye says 'money' and the other says 'film.' With Feng Xiaogang, I just saw 'film.'" In the beginning, the Wangs sought out Feng because they felt he was in tune with the zeitgeist and had a refreshing penchant for using comedy to relate serious messages. Huayi has produced the last eight films Feng directed, most of them popular comedy-dramas about contemporary Chinese life. "Big Shot's Funeral," a 2001 coproduction with Columbia Pictures, is a reflection on China's embrace of capitalism. And "A World Without Thieves" tackles such themes as the urban-rural gap, migrant workers and growing crime.

In many ways, Wang Zhonglei is the epitome of his own target audience. Youthful, straight-talking and dynamic, he has the air of the successful young urban Chinese professional, the kind who enjoys well-made European clothing and smokes hand-rolled Dominican Republic cigarillos. Yet he is practical and cost-conscious enough to fly economy class from time to time, as he did on a recent trip between Beijing and Hong Kong.

Flexibility is key in navigating China's evolving entertainment sector. While the film industry has become a lot less regulated in the past decade, many restrictions remain. "There is still a political purpose," Wang says. "Most films still get investment from the government." Only about two dozen foreign movies get screened every year; stories with sexual content, superstition and political messages don't stand a chance of passing the censors. But wait: isn't "The Matrimony," the new Huayi film that just started shooting in Shanghai, a horror story? Wang laughs. "Yes," he says. "We had to figure out how to get that effect without breaking the rules. It will have ghosts but we have a twist that won't get us into trouble." Especially in China, ingenuity remains filmmaking's top currency.

© 2006