The number of local production houses are increasing in China to meet the rising demand of video content. One such local production company, START Films, is an example of how local talent and knowledge helps them compete with the biggest names in China’s advertising arena.
为了满足国内视频内容不断增长的需求，中国本土制作公司的数量越来越多。START Films就是其中之一，它让我们看到本土人才和知识也可以让他们中国广告界跟大公司相竞争。
I’m ‘young’ and I know it 年轻无敌
“Clients walk into our office and see how young we look or hear how loud we are and often doubt we can produce high quality films”. This is what Kingsley Chen (陈学礼）, one of the two founders of START Films openly shares with me as we discuss the company’s position in China’s film production market. We are sitting in a shared meeting room attached to the open-floor office set up, a swinging chair with a plush red cushion hangs in a covered outdoor area. No one looks a year much over thirty. He continues, “when we enter the meeting room though, we are all business”.
“客户走进我们办公室，看到大家都很年轻，嗓门都很大，总会怀疑我们是否真能做出高质量的片子” ，陈学礼如是说，他是START Films两位创始人之一，我们一起讨论了公司在国内影视制作市场的位置。我们坐在一个公用会议室里，会议室连着开放办公区，外面的区域铺着地毯，上面有一把摇椅，摇椅上有一个毛茸茸的红色垫子。这里每一个人看起来都还不到三十岁。陈学礼说，“但我们每个人一走进会议室，就都开始认真谈事情了”。
Kingsley’s tone and demeanor errs on the side of over-confidence but perhaps for good reason. START Films produces work for China’s biggest tech giants, including Alibaba and Tencent, among other brands. The team recently came back from a shoot in Japan with Chinese mega star Fan Bing Bing.
陈学礼说话的语气和举止可能会看起来过于自信，但或许他完全有理由有这样的自信。START Films的客户包括中国的一些科技巨头，比如阿里和腾讯等等。最近，团队刚刚跟巨星范冰冰一起在日本拍完一个广告。
Client | 客户：Swisse
Agency | 广告公司 : Goodzilla 意类
Director | 导演 : Jess Zou
《自然对你好》
Kingsley’s first job was at a casting agency. After a few years he entered the world of production, landing an entry level job at WE Productions before becoming a freelance producer in 2011. He reached out to his good friend AJ Li (李文俊), who was freelancing as an assistant director at the time, to join him. Eventually their team of freelancers swelled to four, with an assistant producer, Allen Lan (蓝佳俊), and a location manager who goes by Mr. Yu.
陈学礼第一份工作是在一家经济公司，之后偶然的一次机会在WE Productions找到了一份工作，2011年起，他开始做自由制片人。后来他邀请了相识很久当时做自由副导演的李文俊加入队伍。再后来，助理制片蓝佳俊和地场经理小于也陆续加入，团队壮大到四人。
In 2013 Zero Lin came on board and started working as the team’s in-house director. Kingsley recalls Zero was originally skeptical of the production team’s capabilities because they looked so young. Zero was only in his late twenties then himself when he was first introduced, but he had shot with top international productions since an early age. There is now great mutual respect between the young producers and Zero.
2013年，Zero Lin加入团队担任导演。陈学礼还记得Zero最开始对于制作团队的能力还有些怀疑，因为团队看起来太年轻了。其实当时Zero刚加入的时候自己也还不到三十岁，但他很早之前就跟国际顶级制作公司合作过。现在，年轻的制片人跟Zero之间都彼此都非常尊重。
Breaking Traditions 打破常规
While they were receiving a steady flow of work, the team became frustrated producing for 4A agencies. They were disenchanted by the inefficiencies in the traditional creative process; they felt the system could be simplified; and most importantly they wanted production to be given more respect in the creative process. They wanted to weigh in during the early stages of the creative planning and not simply be shown a storyboard to execute.
公司一直有稳定的业务来源，逐渐对为4A 广告公司的工作渐渐麻木. 原因是他们认为传统流程上有太多能够优化的步骤以加快效率。 最重要的是，他们希望创意过程能对制作给予更多支持。他们希望能在创意策划的初期就参与讨论，而不是不加思考的按照创意脚本来执行。
Client | 客户：New Balance & Volkswagen 纽巴伦&一汽大众
Director | 导演 : Zero Lin
《总有另一条路》
By 2014 it only made sense to establish a production company. It was not only easier to issue receipts and comply with Chinese tax policy, but for the founders it was about more respect give to production.
到了2014年的时候，他们觉得只有创建制作公司才是出路。不只是能解决根据相关法律开具发票和订立合同的问题，但其实对于几位创始人来说，更主要的原因还是希望制作能给制片市场更多的尊重和支持。
At that same time smaller creative agencies were developing their place in China’s creative industry. These so called “creative hot shops”（创意热店) were the perfect match for a production company like STARTFilms. In these partnerships the creative agency and the production company would work together closely from start to finish. The partnership formed out of necessity because both were small and understaffed but also with the intention to foster a more collaborative environment with greater respect for each individuals’ particular skills and input.
那时候，小型创意广告机构努力在中国创意产业立足。这些所称的“创意热店”经营理念正好与诸如STARTFilms这样的公司完美契合。这样的合作模式可以让创意机构跟制作公司可以从头到尾紧密合作。这样的合作一定程度上也是出于一种必需，因为双方都小规模而人手队伍精简，且在这样的环境下，个人的专业技能和投入都能得到更多尊重。
START Films now shares an office with UM Shanghai, one of these ‘creative hot shops’. Their relationship started before START Films officially launched, when Kingsley would step in as a freelance producer. While the two companies frequently still pair for projects today, Start Films also works selectively with other smaller creative agencies or even bids for projects with 4A agencies if they feel the project fits their skill set.
START Films现在跟UM上海共用一部分办公空间，后者就是一家“创意热店”。早在START Films成立之前，双方的合作就已经开始了，当时陈学礼会经常以自由制片的身份参与UM的一些项目。现在，两家公司依然有着密切的合作。另外，START Films也会挑选合适的脚本与小型创意热店合作, 也根据能发挥自身特色的脚本与国际大型4A 参与比稿和合作。
Client | 客户：Taobao
Agency | 广告公司 : UM上海
Night Warriors | 《夜操场》
The team more recently is approached directly by clients. This is why despite being a production house, three of its fourteen staff are fully dedicated to creative. Forming their own creative team, Kingsley finds puts them on equal footing before the first PPM. He twists slightly the large skull ring on his right middle finger while firmly reiterating to me his belief that “all sides – client, agency, and production – should be treated equal in the creative process”.
现在，一般都是客户直接找到START Films团队。正因如此，虽然他们是一家制作公司，但是十四位团队成员中有三位可以全身心专注创意。陈学礼觉得，有了自己的创意团队，在第一次做项目之前，就可以有一个很平等的立足点。他一边慢慢扭动右手中指上造型浮夸的骷髅戒指，一边坚定地再次重申了他的信念：“所有各方 – 客户、广告公司、制作公司，在创意过程中都应得到平等的对待”。
Forever young 活力常在
In the future START Films wants to do more than produce videos for the advertising market. Next year they plan to register an IP so they can create feature films. Proud of the freedom to only pursue projects that interest them, Kingsley is convinced producing feature films is the best direction for the company.
START Films以后不仅仅是想制作广告片，未来几年，公司还想注册IP，这样就可以做长篇电影了。公司引以为傲的是可以自由选择自己感兴趣的项目去做，陈学礼深信制作长篇电影才是公司最好的发展方向。
“We always want to be a company that stays fresh and is open to new ideas. If you have twenty years experience it doesn’t mean you deserve to be the manager, for us it’s more about what you can deliver”. He stops our conversation briefly for a smoke break and then returns to delve back into the complicated topic of ‘relationships’ (guanxi) and ‘connections’ (renqing) in China. He wants the company success not to be based on insider relationships or policies that exist because of tradition.
“我们公司希望能永远有新鲜感，也愿意接受新想法。即便是有20年的经验，也不意味着你就应该当经理，我们更看重的是你能交付什么成果”。他出去抽了根烟，回来继续跟我深入探讨中国“关系”和“人情”的复杂问题。他不希望公司的成功依仗的是过去的关系人情。
START Films Team | START Films 团队
It’s Friday late afternoon by the time we finish chatting and the team is still at work. They pause to let me snap some photos of them. It’s hard to find the best angle with the afternoon light flooding the office and a clutter of desks taking up most of the open space. In the end they work together to move the black office couch into the middle and crowd around it, giggling.
采访结束已经是星期五的傍晚了，但是团队依然在奋战。他们停下手头的工作，我给他们拍了张合照。傍晚很难找到最佳的拍摄光线角度，大会议桌占据了大部分开放空间。最终，他们一起把办公室很沙发搬到场地中间，围在一起让我拍照，还都咯咯笑不停。
Before our interview ended, Kingsley reminded me one more time, “it’s not about the money, we are a team passionate about producing the most creative work, that’s it”. Part of START Films success may be because they care so little about conforming to the conventions and traditions of the advertising industry. Their naivety, for the time being, is perhaps a blessing.
采访接近尾声的时候，陈学礼又一次说道，“大家不是为了钱工作，我们的团队充满激情，想要打造最有创意的作品，就这么简单”。一定程度上，START Films的成功或许正是因为他们一点也不想在广告界墨守成规。暂时来看，他们的天真或许是一种福分。
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