An Exclusive Interview with Gao Mantang, the Chairman of Jury

Gao Mantang’s work is familiar to everyone, with hits such as Choice, Soldiers Sortie, Rush to the Northeast, and Blowing Winds from North. At the opening of the 16th Shanghai TV Festival, we feature an interview with Gao, who will be the chairman of the Magnolia Awards honoring TV movies and series.
 

 

Daily News: You have indicated that two factors characterize your work —— meaningful and interesting. Could you explain what this means?
Gao: The artistry must be meaningful, and interesting work is produced by a thoughtful process. The reason that I put the meaningful factor first is because of the importance of the works’ artistry. Only when connecting artistry and thought together, there will be something to enjoy.

 

Daily News: Most literary works and artistic works are original. Does that mean we have to write something that others do not realize?
Gao: I think there always be a habit when facing life, which will be reflected in your life, and it is necessary to bring this habit and experience into writing. Of course, the most important is innovation, writing something others have not found.

 

Daily News: What things are unique to your works?
Gao: Many people write something either tragic or comic. However, everything has two sides, so when writing a tragedy, I can also take in interesting and humorous scenes, which offer an analysis from many perspectives. In fact, there are several trends for Chinese TV series, including increasing vulgarization and imitation. This does not lead to breakthroughs. I like to produce a series that’s representative and unique every two years, that is enough.

 

Daily News: What’s your opinion about the advantage and disadvantage of our domestic films?
Gao: As for shortcomings, I think we have lost originality. The creative input to TV series mainly comes from three parts. First, the writer producing an original screenplay. Second are adaptations and remakes. Thirdly are works which follow other styles. But they have to be original. However, original work is rare nowadays. I never adapt, and my works are all original except Choice.

Daily News: Why is this?
Gao: I think the loss of originality has two reasons. First, the lack of confidence and social sensitivity, and the second is the shortage of understanding of contemporary subjects. What is more, we do not have a perfect censorship for contemporary works and fewer works reflect modern society.

Daily News: What’s the advantage of Chinese productions?
Gao: Of course, we do have some advantages, such as strict television production quotas and the increase of funds. The cost for shooting a single scene used to be about 400,000 RMB to 700,000 RMB, but now it is more than 800,000 RMB. Now our TV series are more refined and enriched. During the past two or three years, there are indeed some flourishing works, which are very worthy.

Daily News: From your experiences of screenwriters and judges, are there some good unpopular works?
Gao: Maybe one or two, but overall no. The audience and judges are similar in tastes——after all, great minds think alike. However, there is a field in which this is not the case.

Daily News: Are some awards unpopular with audiences?
Gao: I think it is rare, or it should be relatively. The aesthetics of audience and the judges are not contradictory, but still differ. Juries always judge by different standards but audiences are in favor of fun and personal preference.

Daily News: Are the series made in northeastern Chinese style suitable for Shanghai audiences?
Gao: To tell the truth, we need to address this problem. Series in northeast style have low ratings in Shanghai. One of my works, Fault Love, is popular in the northeast but nowhere else. Shanghai people have their own TV habits, different cultures and traditions.

Daily News: Do Shanghai shows reflect national trends?
Gao: Indeed they do, like Good Times of Daughter-in-Law，which has a rather profound effect.

Daily News: What do the domestic series do when facing the shock of American TV series、Japanese TV plays and Korean TV series?
Gao: I think Korean and Japanese shows are going downhill. In contrast, China\'s TV is maturing, and I think the most important thing is to adhere to nationality and learn from foreign countries, but not to imitate, because there are many differences in regions and customs.

Daily News: Compared to foreign TV series, what are the advantages of domestic productions?
Gao: The advantage of domestic TV series is that all have high-quality productions and show a profound expression of society and its contradictions, reflecting China’s long history and reality. Another is our huge market. All in all, I am confident in the future of domestic TV series, which has great potential.

 

Daily News: What role does Shanghai TV Festival play in the national market?
Gao: In a word, the festival offers distinct guidance to the market.

 

By  Pan Xin