WEIKO LIN | Screenwriting Between Hollywood & China
Weiko Lin was born in Taipei, Taiwan, & he continues to work throughout Asia, but it’s in Hollywood that he’s really made his name. His upcoming book, Crazy Screenwriting Secrets (Michael Weise Productions, avail July 1) is both a solid art & craft writing manual, AND a knowledgable how-to on navigating the often-treacherous waters between China and the global cinema industry, as epitomized by Hollywood. If you follow the world entertainment business with any degree of seriousness, YOU MUST LISTEN TO THIS SHOW. Just sayin’. Enjoy!
WEIKO LIN book:
Crazy Screenwriting Secrets - Pre-Order now on AMAZON:
https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Screenwriting-Secrets-Capture-Audience/dp/1615933018
BRENDAN DAVIS on “The Carl King Podcast”:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-carl-king-podcast/id1202709564?i=1000440895085
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/carlkingdom/brendan-davis-interview-carl-king-podcast-15-060619
or SEARCH “The Carl King Podcast” in your favorite podcatcher
SEARCH “If I Knew You Better” in all podcatchers OR listen / learn more here:
APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-i-knew-you-better/id1457785319 / WEB PLAYER: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/website/ LINKS https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/knew-resources
STEVE BARR: Screenwriting and Producing in L.A., New Zealand, and Beijing
#006 - Screenwriting and Producing in L.A., New Zealand, and Beijing | Steve Barr
“Over the last 30 years, they (China) have raised more people out of poverty than ever before in the history of the human race, which is amazing. (Most of) the young people in China have such an optimistic view of the future because their life has gotten better every single year.” - Steve Barr
This week’s episode was recorded on location from the 2017 Shanghai Film Festival, but the guest is one of my best friends from L.A. Steve Barr is a writer, producer, and occasional actor who has worked and traveled extensively throughout and between the very different film industries in Los Angeles, China, and New Zealand. His recent credits in one or more of those capacities include Born to Dance, Chronesthesia, Hang Time, and the remake of Pete’s Dragon, in which he had a small but memorable supporting role.
In this interview, Steve discusses the unique challenges and opportunities inherent to the various filmmaking systems, and he explains his working process with a level of detail and candor that will be especially useful to anyone working in a creative industry such as film. He also shares lessons and thoughts that will particularly resonate with anyone who’s spent significant time in China, but which are applicable to travelers in foreign lands regardless.
We cover a lot of ground in this one. As we say in the interview, I want to give full disclosure upfront that Steve and I are not only long time friends, but that we are and have been business colleagues in all three countries, too. Steve was a part of my previous company based in L.A., we are currently partners in a film production company in New Zealand with our friend Andy Conlan, and the partners in my Beijing film company hired him to write the screenplay for an upcoming historical epic film of ours. Steve is now part of that company too, so there are a lot of interrelationships here. Still, we make a serious effort to not be overly self-serving, as the goal of discussing some of our projects past and present is not promotional, but educational and practical. Because we have lots of shared real-world examples to draw from in our discussion, it helps us to be much more real than if we stayed strictly theoretical.
The episode is now available on Apple Podcasts, on most of the popular Android / Google apps, on the Chinese service Ximalaya - please search it in your favorite of those places - and of course on the Podcast player here. Of course I’m biased, but I do think it’s a fun conversation, and I hope you enjoy it! Please tell a friend, subscribe, or send me feedback below as you like.
"BFMK" Website:
https://www.crazyinagoodway.com
Brendan Davis on Twitter:
@VeritasInLux
Steve Barr on Twitter:
@BarrSteve
Steve Barr writing website (with Casey Zilbert):
http://www.scwheelbarrow.com
Carl King (composer):
http://carlkingdom.com
CHINAVERSARY
Hey! Thanks for checking out my site, and (hopefully) my new podcast, "Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom". I am writing this on May 20, 2017 China Standard Time, and today is my ONE-YEAR "Chinaversary":
It's the date I moved, after lots of visits and time spent here, to Beijing from Los Angeles. It was a big move, and a big deal for me at the time, but the weight and (mostly) powerful consequences of that decision grow by the day for me...so I wanted to talk about it with my friends, and as I've done so, lots of what they have had to say has been worth sharing with YOU, hence the podcast.
So I'm not sure how you ended up checking out this page, but I am glad you're here. There is a lot more to say about the hows and whys and ups and downs and benefits of me move, and on the podcast I will end up saying MUCH more than I would subject you to reading here. Hardly anyone reads blogs these days, right? Especially "groovy expat adventure" oriented ones.
But podcasts are a great, and growing, way to share information, insights, and entertainment with all kinds of people, in the comfort of their own ears and at their own pace / level of commitment, so...I humbly offer my contribution to that medium, and to the growing conversation focused on how East and West can best work, understand, and agree with each other.
The very first episode (featuring <7 minutes of me talking about the show and giving enough relevant backstory about myself to launch this sucker) is up and live NOW! You can check it out in iTunes HERE, search it on the Google / Android / Windows-friendly podcast aggregators by show name, or just listen to it online HERE.
But regardless of HOW you check it out, I hope that you DO - especially considering some of the interesting people I have lined up to interview for the subsequent episodes. I have venture capitalists, film and TV creators and personalities, standup comedians, screenwriters, philanthropists, artists and educators and business people of all kinds queued up to bring to you, one each week, and I really can't wait for you to hear what these folks have to say.
Okay! Please check out the show if you're interested, SUBSCRIBE if you like it, and and send me feedback or however you like. I am easy to find online and will reply as soon as I can. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the show!