​  Prestidigitator. That’s what Zheng Huang is; not the type with a cape and a cane but still one who uses magic for entertainment. As a producer, Huang is a master of maneuvering the components involved in manifesting a production and doing it in a way that inspires surprise, emotions, and astonishment. Master magicians have an expertise of focusing your attention on the things they want you to look at while using all of their talent and dexterity to accomplish things out of your vision, allowing for the fascination we all crave. As producer on the film “Bamboleo”, Zheng took a spark and enabled director Philip Masters to create a blazing fire. A producer is often the director’s closest confidant. Masters states, “Zheng is a great friend and partner when he is working. He was incredibly supporting on the project Bamboleo. We had a really short time frame to do the preproduction, which is never comfortable for a director let alone anyone else involved. As a producer, Zheng is a super talent.”
  In a benevolent deception, “Bamboleo” is a film that is not at all what you expect. It might be described as a modern day fairytale that has more to do with the silent films of yore than its contemporaries. Focusing on the actions and internal emotions of the main character, a dancer named Malene Ostergaard, the story has more in common with Cinderella than Black Swan. While viewers are captivated by Ostergaard’s exceptional dance abilities, it’s the pressure brought about by her domineering teacher that creates the conflict in the film. She escapes into an illusion where a prince (played by Riria Niimura) helps her learn to dance. The inevitable return to reality is accompanied by setbacks.
  In reality, the film’s version of the prince is Zheng who continually confronted and overcame the many setbacks that almost every film faces; this is the definition of a producer’s role. Paramount to every film is the cast. No matter how high or low the production value, the right cast can drive a film to success while the wrong one can sink it. Masters claims brilliance on the part of Huang in locating an exceptional cast within a very defined set of qualifications. He notes, “I still can’t believe that he found our amazing cast in an astoundingly short amount of time. This cast might be the best I will ever have. I was very adamant and demanding to Zheng that I required a great actor and actress who can dance exceptionally well. Without this there would be no film. He did several rounds of casting and finally found Malene and Riria. Not just that, they are awards winners as well; that really met any casting needs I had for the film. On our entire two-day shoot, everything went smooth with him there.” 
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  Interpreting what your director says they want and what they truly want is a large part of being a great producer. Having studied the script and knowing the director well, Zheng adjusted his casting requirements accordingly. Because the dialogue is so brief in “Bamboleo” and the focus is exceedingly on the dance, Huang concentrated on this aspect for his potential leads. Malene is a professional acclaimed dancer with acting abilities, rather than vice-versa. The producer had previously worked with Malene on a short film called “Dancer from Picture” and had a feeling that she would be perfect for “Bamboleo.” With a knowledge of the background his director had in photography, visual emphasis on storytelling, and the script of this film, Huang had a clear idea of how the shooting would proceed. He explains, “I was eager to do this film for a somewhat selfish reason. This was essentially my first film as a producer that was a ‘song and dance’ movie. I was confident that I could handle it but it’s always good to test yourself with a real application. It’s a very different type of film. The dancers are in motion, the dolly is in constant motion…there is a unique sense of timing and thus artistry to these type of films. It was very intereseting for me to be a part of this. Of course, it was reaffirming to prove to myself and others that I could handle whatever the needs were for the entire production.”
  You can plan all you like for making a film but, as in life, it’s often the surprise events that teach you what you are truly made of. When one single incident threatened to derail the entire shoot, it was Zheng who made it his job to assess the situation, support everyone, and keep a cool head. When Malene’s ankle was injured during the shoot, everyone on set was concerned for her and the film. Speaking with the actress and director, Huang made the appropriate alterations which included shot changes and pain medications (followed by an immediate visit to Urgent Care after wrapping) to allow everyone’s needs to be met. Very often, professionals are willing to go the extra mile for the benefit of the group…they just want to be heard, which happens to be this producer's forte.
  Finding more budget-conscious locations with tools like Airbnb, making concessions to cast and crew, and fulfilling the director’s desires; none of these things seem cumbersome to Zheng. He confesses, “I didn’t get into filmmaking because I thought it would be easy. No one does this. It’s a calling. Some people avoid work in independent films but I think there is a lot of freedom and creativity in them, especially for a producer. Money doesn’t make things easier or harder, just different. Sometimes having a limited budget forces you to be creative and you find out things about your abilities that even you weren’t aware of. Ultimately, I think the budget of the film should be used in front of the camera, starting with the venue. If there is money after that, give it to the art department and the actors because these people are making the show in front of the art of the camera. I’d follow this with equipment, good equipment to bring unexpected results to the film. These are simply what I feel based on what I’ve seen so far in my experiences. I know that I see my abilities improving with every project I work on, that is the main compensation for me. As I improve, I get to work with others who I learn from. All of this is very exciting and what drew me to filmmaking in the beginning.”

​  Hollywood and New York aren’t the only places where entertainment dreams come true, this also happens in Canada. Yes, Canada. The odd thing is, sometimes you don’t even know that dream until someone else places it in front of you. Consider Alexandra La Roche. She has many credits to her directing talents these days (CW’s “Flash”, Sci-Fi’s Emmy award-winner “Eureka”, etc.) but she was the script supervisor on multiple seasons of Lion’s Gate’s highly successful TV series “Dead Zone” starring Anthony Michael Hall when Shawn Piller and Lloyd Segan first approached her about directing. They felt * as if she had a big hand in directing a lot of the episodes anyway so why not take the helm. It almost didn’t happen though. Everyone had signed off except Lions Gate Films. The Network had approved her to direct but Lions Gate film was hesitating. Robert Petrovicz (“Dead Zone” producer) was in a meeting with the studio and announced that he would personally guarantee Alexandra’s work; stating that if La Roche shot one foot of film that they didn’t like, he would put up his own money for the reshoot. Alexandra was approved. The outcome was so exemplary that the two went on to work on the series “Eureka” together.
  Both the Stephen King book and film by the same title are well-known and have received immense critical and public praise. “Dead Zone” the TV series included many of the same main characters and themes but had a decidedly different take and sensibility. Both humor and drama were ever present in the TV production. Dead Zone the series was entirely its own creation. The series had its own version of the characters. They were very unique from the book and the movie. The show established stylistic methods for their interpretation of how things worked in this world. For instance, when Johnny experienced a vision, the show utilized a method called a “match move morph” wherein a Steadicam moved seamless around Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) in one setting, revealing him inside the setting where the vision is taking place.
   While the style and some of the specifics of the TV presentation were different from the film and book, La Roche’s five seasons serving as script supervisor allowed a seamless transition into directing. Her deep knowledge of the show, the actors, and the producers’ preferences gave her a substantial head start. As a SS, she had often whispered ideas to directors about shots or coverage or acting beats; now as the director, she finally got to streamline the process to create exactly what she envisioned. What didn’t come so easy was the ticking clock looming over her head to keep the production on time and on budget. She points to Producer Shawn Piller as her mentor for this experience. She recalls her interactions with him on her first day directing, “Shawn was with me. He and I both thought I would be a strong director with the actors but action was something entirely different. The first day of shooting was the big gun battle between SWAT and a religious sect in which the sect has set up an ambush. We had rigged explosions, live gunfire, dust hits, and of course lots of characters firing. Four cameras and a lot of moving pieces. By lunch, Shawn declared that ‘an action director is born!’ It was a great feeling to have everyone involved in the production feeling energized about having me direct.”
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  Alexandra relates, “One of my most vivid memories is getting to the set at five AM on a summer’s day with a seven AM call. We were shooting an episode titled ‘Vortex.’ ‘Vortex’ was about a vision Johnny gets where a little girl steps on a land mine and explodes. The episode revolves around him trying to prevent this tragedy. In order to do this, he and Bruce infiltrate a Waco style cult. Two of the followers of this cult are a little girl and her mother, who have no idea that the leader of the cult is planning on making them all martyrs to the cause by blowing up the whole compound. Meanwhile, the sheriff and federal authorities are also investigating and there is a lot of conflict about Johnny and Bruce being involved. Johnny is able to save all the followers except the leader, who ultimately dies in the explosions. The shoot was a big day, with the sect members escaping through a mine field where the little girl runs off and Johnny has to talk her into trusting him. We also had a flashback scene of the little girl exploding and the big explosion of the compound with six cameras. There was a great deal of gunfire and a lot of moving pieces that had to be mapped out. I remember walking the set and setting up flags; just me, visualizing each scene, where the cameras would be and where all the actors would start and end. It was a sunny hot summer morning and that silence before the storm was magic.”
  Anthony Michael Hall was not only the star of the show but had also sat in the director’s chair himself for “Dead Zone.” The duality of his acting and directing knowledge/talent made him a strong adversary on set. La Roche stipulates that she would take time to discuss her notes, blocking, etc. to Hall and all the actors to create a trust that would translate on screen. Hall professes, “Alexandra La Roche exhibited a driving force and strength as a creative team leader. Having directed an episode myself, I know how much knowledge she has of directing. Our cast trusted her input implicitly. Her ability to work with our incoming guest stars made her a strong support that we have all come to rely on.” Impact award-winner (for MASH) and Emmy-nominated David Ogden Stiers adds, “Alexandra’s grasp of the moment (dramatically and technically), her unflappability in the heat of confusion, and her precision is as dependable as the sunlight she brings to the work in the morning – and maintains throughout the day’s rigors. In conversation with other crafts and disciplines on set I’ve been amazed by their observations of her courtesy as well as her awareness of their tasks and consideration of their needs. There is a sort of nickname in New Zealand for a standout person: Tall Poppy. Alexandra is our Tall Poppy.”
  Directing “Dead Zone” may have been La Roche’s early foray into directing but was far from her last. Her path hearkens back to the early days of film when director’s learned by experience on the set. She concedes that her course was not through film school and, although she notes that this path has worked well for so many directors whom she admires, she values her years working with directors as a support. She admits that the many gracious and talented directors whom she worked with taught her a great deal about being prepared, being flexible, expecting the unexpected, and communication. It is often those unobvious professionals who shake things up and present their own unique approach and voice in the arts. Taking notice of Alexandra La Roche might be the smartest thing you can do.

​  Most musicians/artists dream of pop stardom. Their desire is to create a hit record which captures the public fascination. Eiko Jin has achieved this in a very unusual and surreal way. While she has spent most of her career as a composer for films, she has never pursued the path of a pop star. Nevertheless, she was called on by composer Russell Spurlock because of her immense talent and multilingual abilities to create an iconic 50’s era style J-pop (Japanese pop) song for the film Humor Me starring Elliott Gould and Jemaine Clement. This English spoken film required a Japanese pop song from the mid twentieth century, and this composer was just the artist to supply it. The most odd facet of this circumstance is that Jin is Chinese and not Japanese. It’s not surprising for those who are familiar with this multitalented individual who has proven herself to be a versatile and inspirational part of every project she becomes involved in. Besides singing in Japanese, Eiko is a Japanese kendo player, a Japanese traditional dancer, and speaks fluent Japanese. It would seem that this production’s missing piece of a J pop song was perfectly suited for Jin.
  Russell Spurlock is the co-composer of the song for Humor Me. He was searching for someone who could supply the authenticity that he required. Though he was already an integral part of the film, Spurlock was not fluent in Japanese and as well versed in J-pop as someone like Jin. He comments, “When the producers reached out to us asking if we could create a traditional sounding Japanese track in a certain style, I knew Eiko was our only chance of pulling it off.  Eiko possesses the rare ability to sing in nearly any style and multiple languages. We sent her the brief and within a few days she’d researched the specific style, composed the lyrics and melody, and recorded her parts perfectly. As a result of Eiko’s talents and professionalism, HMX was able to deliver the track very quickly and the client was thrilled. Eiko is a rare talent with a unique skill set that makes her a valuable asset to the music business. She is one of the best we have worked with. Eiko’s unique skills as a composer and singer made the Humor Me film job possible for us.
  Humor Me is a film created by writer-director Sam Hoffman. It centers around a group of retirees at the Cranberry Bog retirement home. Elliott Gould appears as Bob, the father of Nate (played by Jemaine Clement), a struggling playwright who has recently moved in with his father due to marital woes. Nate takes on coaching a group of women in the community who are attempting to put on a production of the “Mikado.” In one particularly hilarious scene, Le Clanche du Rand attempts to seduce Nate. It is during this scene that du Rand opens the door in her kimono, and the song sung by Jin is the vinyl background. The character is surrounded by Japanese elements such as a kimono, hairstyle, and sake. The music needed to be Japanese to be congruent with the seduction plan.
  Spurlock had created the instrumental track but left it to Eiko to create the melody and lyrics that would shape it into the perfect song for the filmmaker’s desire. Russell went to great pains to match the music to the J-pop of the 50’s era, which expedited Jin’s work. Because Japanese is not Eiko’s native language, it took slightly more time for her than she would have liked. She comments, “It has to be heard as a poem/lyrics. The J-pop songs of that era are all in a very slow tempo and minor key. All the singers’ voices are recorded very thin, almost as thin as possible. Most of the themes are about missing family, missing the love of their life, singing about their tragic life, singing about general sadness. I think Japan and Korea both like that kind of negative minor key folk song; that’s my understanding that I used to create this song. I have a flexible voice personality that I can sing in very high pitch and sounds very girly but I can also sing almost as low as a man’s voice. For the recording of the vocals, I imagined myself as a Japanese singer who works in the bar, singing tragic songs for the customers. It worked great in the film.” Working much like the actors she enables with her compositions, Eiko Jin took on the personage of a Japanese female singer of the 1950s and did so quite convincingly. Being able to mold oneself to the musical character of the film is as challenging and demanding for this composer as it is for any of the cast members of the film.