Breaking the cocoon into a butterfly from the net of pain - An interview with Wang Stan, producer of "Slayer of the Devil and the Journey of the King"

On October 18th, the 5-year fantasy action movie "Slayer of the King" was exclusively launched on iQiyi, which broke through the combination of two very different elements of Eastern Immortals and Western Magic, telling the story of eastern swordsman Fan Chen and Yangyan Guardian Lilian and others working together to seal the demon Alsa with the holy sword. For the audience, "Slayer of the King" is a hundred minutes of film, with special effects scenes of passionate battles, which can get a good visual experience. However, for Wang Stan, who is in the main creative team, the creation of these five years is not an easy and freehand process.

Chasing dreams is not enough to have passion

Wang Sitan is not a film production professional, he initially worked as a reporter and host for CCTV for four years, with rich experience in hosting and interviewing, "In fact, my career change can also be regarded as a variety of coincidences. Wang Stan said that at the beginning, Wang Sitan wanted to try to start a business with friends, and it just so happened that his college classmates had a movie dream, so many years of work experience also made Wang Sitan know some friends in the film industry, under various coincidences, Wang Stan from a reporter, host to start a business, became a film producer.

"The Journey of the Slayer of the Devil and the King" is not Wang Stan's first work as a film producer, he and Zhao Renqi, a director who graduated from the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy, have already cooperated many times before, and this film is also a collaborative work between the two. When talking about his experience in starting a business in the film and television industry in recent years, Wang Stan said: "Recently I have always had the idea of wanting to write something, and over the years, I do have a lot of dry goods experience, and I want to share it with people who want to start a business or want to pursue film dreams. Among the young people who are full of infinite passion and dreams, many people regard entrepreneurship as a simple thing, "When we are young, we pursue dreams, want to break the circle, want to constantly break through their bottlenecks, and constantly rush forward, in the process of rushing, we will find that there are many deeper problems in the process of entrepreneurship and growth that we need to face." Wang Sitan said when reviewing his own experience, "In the process of our growth and entrepreneurship, we will encounter many problems, how to face difficulties when encountering difficulties, how to face problems when encountered, and how to re-establish trust and gain understanding when we are questioned." Especially when entrepreneurship becomes a long-term career, these problems are not only problems that you need to solve personally, but also have a relationship with your family. ”

In Wang Stan's view, in the process of chasing dreams, simple passion can not solve substantive problems, for entrepreneurs, the perfection of self-requirements is the most important. "During this time, I was meditating, and I can better appreciate that when our dreams are impacted by reality, when we are free from the help of various platforms and really face the test of the market, we are actually very fragile. For entrepreneurship, there can not be a lot of unrealistic fantasies, to constantly examine their own beliefs, do not be overwhelmed by the passion of chasing dreams. “

As ambitious as it is, as risky as it is

The creation of the online movie "Slayer of demons and kings" lasted five years, with a total of more than 1,000 shots, and the creative team as a whole is a younger team. The collision of Oriental Immortals and Western magic in the film is a rather rare setting, "it can also be said to be a more bizarre mix-and-match." Wang Stan said this with a smile when talking about the setting of the film's world view. This young team is eager to make a different thing to prove that it is very unique and cool, in the Eastern Immortals, basically continuing the traditional Taoist style and the setting of Chinese martial arts, the Western knights are more referring to the elements of the games "World of Warcraft" and the American drama "Game of Thrones" and other works, the character appearance image and weapon setting are also traceable, on this basis, the exciting narrative style is adopted to tell the story of saving the world. "It should be said that the inner desire for success is the original driving force behind the creation of this film." Wang Stan said.

After the film was officially launched on iQiyi on October 18, it received a lot of feedback from the market, "This is a very ambitious work, and the risks we face are quite large." Wang Stan introduced that when this film was first created, there were relatively few restrictions on online big movies, and with the passage of time, various problems followed, the production and release requirements of online big movies have undergone many changes, the plot and editing of the movie have also undergone many major overhauls, and the epidemic has also had a huge impact on the production process of the movie, "Especially serious problem is the shortage of funds, originally our budget was six million, and the follow-up investment was fourteen million, not only my own savings were put in." And borrowed a lot of money. The risk was really high, and I was constantly asking myself if I wanted to continue working on the project or if I wanted to push it. But if you stop here, it is equivalent to the previous efforts of the whole team will be in vain. "The entire film, from the establishment of the project to the final release, actually encountered far more difficulties than the team expected. From the current market feedback, there are good and bad voices, but for Wang Sitan and his team, there is feedback that there is attention, whether it is a good voice or a bad voice, this is a kind of attention to their own creative achievements, they also have to be honest to face the voice from the market, "We thought, we did, we went together to feel the process of creation and challenge, this is a valuable experience." Wang Stan said. From an idea to the final piece, the process has brought great gains to everyone on the team.

Look at yourself, pain is also energy

In the process of starting a business, suffering is a more important energy. "In the process of starting my business, I encountered a lot of problems, these sufferings forced me to constantly adjust, examine, and transform myself, the process is of course very painful, very depressed and even depressed, but if you can look at these sufferings correctly, you can draw strength from them and get back up in the power of suffering." In Wang Stan's view, the grinding process of growth needs to be added to the suffering, in this growth path as a filmmaker, he realized that under the heavy blow of reality, it takes a very firm willpower to get back up, constantly reflect on himself in the process of entrepreneurship, perceive his own feelings, and how to look at the pain caused by the impact of real problems in the process of entrepreneurship, Wang Stan said: "Take suffering as a kind of torture, deny yourself and depression in this torture, I don't think it's a correct view of suffering, it's also an energy, a correct view of the difficulties you encounter, and a constant examination of your beliefs. In particular, we must focus on ourselves, constantly ask ourselves, feel ourselves deeply, make it clear what we really want, see clearly the path of our lives in the process of constantly asking for inquiries, and do not be afraid of pain, pain is a good energy to transform yourself. ”

Yangzi Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Shen Zhao

Proofread sheng yuanyuan

Source: Purple Cow News