We recently connected with Haoyue Yang and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Haoyue thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

Filmmakers are storytellers, and fortunately, I am one of them. As a producer, when I read the script for the first time, I visualized the story, the characters, and the world in my mind, and thought about how to make the story more compelling. Then, the question that came up in my mind was the way to bring the story to reality. Based on realistic considerations, I must foresee the potential difficulties and problems in the script. Safety was always the priority. Next, I would make a schedule for the whole production, and pre-production was pushed to the right track. People thought producers were mean on budget, but our goal was to ensure that money was spent in the right place. Filmmaking, as a teamwork, consumes a lot of energy and money, so it is the art of managing time, money, and people. Producers might be the ones who live along with the story the whole time through pre-production, production, post-production, and final distribution. The time span varies from over a month to over a year. Passion about the story is the secret to making a good film.

In comparison with producing, my other job as an editor considers more creativity and techniques. An editor is the first audience of the film, so I must be true to myself. The first impression is important. How I feel about the dailies and what kind of emotions I can read from actors’ eyes, at a certain point, would impact the final view of the film. Directors sometimes have blind points. For example, they took so much time and money to shoot a fancy shot, but it did not work for the story. At that time, I was honest to share my opinion as the first audience. And there’s no absolutely correct editing. Different editors achieve the same goal from different paths. Aesthetics is personal. Being creative and never stopping trying something new is the core of being a good editor. I might spend a lot of time in the editing room. I might go in the wrong direction. Eventually, everything will come together because of all the effort I’ve done. Film won’t lie to you. How much time and money you spend on film will truly pay back to you when it is done.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born and raised in China, and I have been studying film production in the United States for over six years. None of my family members have worked in the film industry or any other art field. I’m the only one. I’ve never thought of myself getting involved in any art-related industries, let alone film. Yet, my family supported me to study abroad and gave me the freedom to live the life I choose. Living alone in a new country, adapting to a totally different lifestyle, making new friends from all over the world, and inspecting myself in a wider world made me where I am now.

I currently focus on producing and editing since both bring me a sense of achievement.

The short films I produced, such as The Summer I Got Tough (2021), Mind Over Fatter (2022), Fili (2022), have been selected for prestigious film festivals such as Palm Springs International ShortFest, LA Shorts International Film Festival, Maui Film Festival, and Los Angeles Asian Pacific film festival. I also co-edited the TV drama series, Provenance (2022), which won Best Drama at the 42nd College Television Awards. Additionally, After Sunset Dawn Arrives (2022), a thesis film I edited, won Jury Prize in Best Asian American Filmmakers at DGA Student Film Awards and Best LGBTQ Film at Indie Short Fest. The film has also been announced as the official selection of Student Academy Awards, Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC Film Festival, Thomas Edison Film Festival, BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, etc.

I enjoy helping talented storytellers to make their dreams come true. Film functions as a bridge to connect personal spirit with the world. As a filmmaker, I provided my perspective to my collaborators and clients from different aspects, upon their demands. Producing and editing share certain similarities but they require different skills. Thus, they have different difficulties that need to be addressed. As a producer, I was able to assist directors to get what they want while overseeing the whole production progress, making sure everything was on the right track and at the right time. A producer can be viewed as a project manager, and when things go wrong, everyone comes to the producer. I remembered once a location manager wanted to shut down our project. I negotiated with the location manager and brainstormed the new plan while comforting the director. Luckily, the location manager and I made the deal. Problems come from everywhere. Crew drop, unavailable locations, schedule change, worse weather, etc., all demand producers to either have a plan B in advance or formulate a new one in a short time. Sometimes, I feel like myself is a shared emergency contact, and I need to be on call all the time. Replying to messages and solving problems at 3 A.M. seemed like a small deal.

Editor solves problems from a different aspect. If the producer’s job is to prevent problems from occurring before production, the editor’s job is to fix the problem made by production. The most important job for an editor is to line up the pearls (scenes) and organize them in a particular order. The common problem I encountered was that the story on a script, on set, and in the post could be three different stories. Eyeline, goof, etc. were not a big deal. The performance and the logic issue of the story were more fatal. Thus, it is vital to communicate with directors and interpret what they truly want. Then, I would try different ways to approach their expression. Producing and editing share the similarities. Both require the ability to organize stuff and solve the problem.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I always joke with my friends, saying that because we love watching films, we start to make them, and then we have no time to enjoy them. It is a joke, but it reflects the changes in our status and perspectives while working in this industry. But we are still passionate about telling stories that shed light on the underrepresented perspectives. We have a naïve belief that our voices will be heard by the world. Before we achieve our goal, we just keep going. We make as many films as possible. Finally, quantity accumulates and evokes qualitative changes. Also, we need to have the ability to capture information, including the world’s trends, news, social topics, and literature. The more we can see and hear, the more valuable content we would create. Film as a form of art explores the border of humanity and society. Film not only can be entertaining but also can be introspective.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Well, for now, I want to dive into the industry and learn about how it works. I want to team up with more talented people, not only from the film industry but also from other fields. Together, I expect to build up a platform for underrepresented groups and ordinary people to speak out loud and communicate with the world. I expect different cultures to converge at a certain point and may the stories we tell have more diversity. With a small possibility, I wish I could be the starlight to twinkle on someone else’s life a little bit, as literature and art had been shining on my life and the path of social progress.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weikkkkke/
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12481907/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_q_Haoyue%2520Yang