Having worked on several extremely successful films, such as Caged, which premiered at several prestigious international film festivals, and the Shanghai International Film Festival video Bride: Shanghai, I Love You, there is no doubt to what this producer is capable of when working on projects for the big screen. However, her versatility as a producer is not limited to film, and Zhang has had immense success working for projects on the small screen as well. Her work on the British television show The Cube was appreciated by millions, as well as her work on a commercial series for Alpine Dairy just last year.
“It’s always a mix feeling about producing. It’s the toughest yet the most fulfilled job. Producing life is that never-live-the-same-day-twice lifestyle. You can never predict what challenges you will be facing. Solving problems everyday can be really stressful. Even I might have faced similar situations before, it will never be the same exact solution. Without pain, there will be no joy. I love the moments that my team and I overcame something impossible. I love the idea of how we go stronger higher together,” said Zhang.
Zhang’s first true taste of television success came when producing the hit series Mei Hao Jia, translated as “Beautiful Home.” It is a TV show introducing ideas, concepts, and tips about how to design and renovate your home by inviting industry professionals to provide input, and showcasing ongoing home decor projects. Mei Hao Jia was distributed on a Shanghai local television station called Channel Young and online streaming platforms.
“It was my first TV show so I was really excited about it. I spent so much time and effort working on the construction and modeling home. I talked to the designer, talked to the constructor, talked to the homeowner and by the end of the day I consolidated the whole story. For five minutes screen of time, it took me 3 whole days, sometimes even more time, to gather the information and images. I was so into this project that I didn’t even realize I put that much time and effort in it until just now, actually,” Zhang described.
As a producer on the show, Zhang interviewed the industry professionals and created story rundowns. She communicated with sponsors and arranged the product placement in the show. She wrote host dialogues and oversaw the post-production. She followed-up with the guests on the on the home decor projects, and interviewed them for the progress and outcome. She was essential in the success of each episode she worked on.
“I have worked on many projects with other producers, but very few have the insights of mixing creative and business mind like Albee. She can always find a great balance to fit the sponsor's needs and also keeps the creative side in mind. She's always open to new ideas, which is a very important quality of being a producer,” said Yan Xiaoru, a co-producer of Mei Hao Jia.
The show was almost like an advertisement, as there was lots of product placement, but it needed to show more as a television show. Being able to seamlessly integrate these things is a vital task for the producer. Zhang created the story rundown and host dialogue, the backbone of the show, was in charge of the project cases, interviews and tests, and refined them by creating well-pacing narrative lines. Without her persistence, it would not have turned out the way it did
“It’s all about demand and supply. I needed to understand what the audience needs to know, what the sponsor wants to see and how does the show present it? From the audience point of view, you may be interested in where is the problem; how they never find a solution; how to solve the problem; what’s the cost for solving the problem and most importantly, a visually stunning outcome. The sponsor cares about how we presented the product and how we elaborate its feature and function. Now we have most main components and it’s the storytelling time to group these questions-to-answers, demands-to-supplies together,” Zhang explained, providing advice to others looking to follow in her footsteps.
At the time of the project, Zhang was working with MT Media, and was producing several other commercials. She had made a name for herself as one of the best, and was looking to experiment with a show. Although she was not well-versed in the matters of home renovation, she wanted a challenge. She created a teaser and two-episode-outline for the show runners to test what she could do, and they immediately recognized her talents.
“There was so much excitement of getting onboard to this new project. Getting to know the interior design the construction industry for me at that time was like asking a freshman college student doing a thesis project. I had no clue about the industry. However, the fun part of producing is learning so much about new things. We created a great outline, but we had so much research to do to fill out the ‘flesh’. I’m glad that my partner and I had such a great mutual understanding which made us the perfect team to start the show. No one was born to know how to do things. We figured things out while we were doing it,” said Zhang.
It looks like Zhang’s innate producing talents shone through, because even though she may not have known all the ins-and-outs of home renovation, her work allowed Mei Hao Jia to become an enormous success.