Blog was written by Matthew R. Reis, Cinema & Photography with an Art History minor, '13, FLEFF intern, Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey

Who is Karin Chien? She is a rising star in the world of Independent film distribution. I interviewed her recently and this is what she had to say:

So how did you get your start in film?

I moved to NY from California to work in independent film and I just started looking for an internship. I started at an internship in January 1999 and worked my way up as a crew-member for a year and a half. After a year and a half I got a Masters degree at Columbia in Comparative Literature. After that I graduated in May 2001 and started producing in June.

Since you didn’t go to college for film did you feel like an outsider when you entered this industry?

I guess I felt like an outsider not because I didn’t go to film school but because I’m Chinese American and 10 years ago, there was almost no one in the Asian American community working in film so I didn’t know a single person that worked in the entertainment industry when I started. So it kind of seemed like an odd thing to do probably to my whole family. But no I never felt like an outsider because I didn’t go to film school. I didn’t feel like film school was necessary to be honest. And there are a lot of people in the industry, maybe over half that did not go to film school.

What skills did you learn from your education in running a business and promoting films?

I mean to be honest I didn’t learn any skills from my education about that. I mean what I got from my education was a real peak and layered appreciation for narrative. A very thorough understanding of how storytelling works, different forms of storytelling, I mean really just a love of stories that I got from my education. I also got an ability to think critically.

The practical skills like how to run a business and how to promote my films came from on the job experience after I graduated with a literature degree from [UC ] Berkeley. After graduation I decided that I needed some kind of business experience so I wound up running a start-up. It was just a very small start-up, but it actually performed due diligence for sub prime mortgage securitizations. So I found myself in the middle of this industry that was going to turn into a bubble. But running that company was the best producing experience I ever got.

Would you comment on the differences between New York City and Los Angeles and what each environment is like for filmmakers?

Yeah LA is very much a film industry town kind of like Detroit is an automotive town. If you think of LA as a Hollywood driven town, I mean a one-industry town just like Flint, Michigan used to be right then it makes a lot more sense. So if you’re an independent filmmaker going to the studio owned town it kind of becomes a hard thing to sustain your work in that environment. But LA is where the industry is based and NYC is very much a strong independent film community. I wouldn’t necessarily say industry, it’s a community even though there’s a lot of shooting that goes on here and there are some companies here. But film is just one of many, many things that dominate NYC and isn't one of the five major industries. There is a lot of great contacts for storytellers and artists to be a part of and to take from and be inspired by. And that’s the beauty of NY.

To continue reading please look below for part 2.

Blog was written by Matthew R. Reis, Cinema & Photography with an Art History minor, '13, FLEFF intern, Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey

So what are your plans for the future? Are you content with where you are now?

To be honest I think its good never to be content. So I try never to be in that situation. I think that dGenerate films will continue to grow. There are a lot of opportunities and a lot of need for work to be done within China [in terms of] growing their infrastructure for independent filmmaking. So that’s something that’s really interesting to our company right now and something that we’ve been approached about. But there’s still a lot of growth that can take place in [terms of] our core mission which is, to bring these films to the US. We’ve just started to make a dent in the market here so we want to keep doing that and keep pounding the pavement.

Do you plan of staying with dGenerate films since you founded the company or do you want to embark on other areas outside of the film industry? 

Potentially, but I don’t think I’ll get tired of producing. I think producing allows a great lifestyle because it’s very free and its independent and you work in film, which is a very collaborative environment and you have access and exposure to really amazing things that you don’t get in other jobs and other industries. But the crux in the work to me is kind of this intersection of story and political concerns. Political not meaning like democrats or republicans, but just kind of some of the major issues of the day. That intersection of story and politics I feel is my interest. So whether that’s in film or in any of the arts or in another field altogether I will follow that passion. And I predict my passion will take me outside the film industry.

When you started dGenerate films did you have much support from your family and friends? Also did you have any contacts in Mainland China or did you have to initiate contact with the people over there by yourself?

Well I don’t know if my family really knew what I was doing. My family left China during the Communist Revolution so I think that their first instinct was [to have me] not get involved in that environment. So I wouldn’t say that they were supportive. They also maybe just didn’t understand what I was doing to give me any real feedback.

My other three partners at dGenerate films are friends of mine so there was a lot of support from them. They’re actually the ones that got me to do it because it was not something I was looking to do at the time. In terms of in China I knew one person there and I think when I realized that this was an idea that had to be tended to and invested in I flew myself to Beijing, China. I knew this one guy but basically I said, "I’m going to Beijing please introduce me." I would tell my friends in the US to introduce me to anyone they knew in China and when I met those people I would also ask to them introduce me to more people. So I just kind of went through like 2^nd and 3^rd and 4^th degrees of people that, you know, my friends in the US knew. I was very lucky that people were willing to help me. Very quickly I met [some of] the key figures in China. But I went there not really knowing anyone.

To continue reading please look below for part 3.

Go to Cinemapolis to see "DISORDER" on Saturday April 16, 2011 at 2:10pm! Karin Chien, the producer, will be in attendance.

Blog was written by Matthew R. Reis, Cinema & Photography with an Art History minor, '13, FLEFF intern, Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey

How does the changing world of film, from theaters distribution to online distribution impact dGenerate films?

It has and it hasn’t affected our work. It has affected it because we due put our films online for streaming, downloading, and renting. We started the company in partnership with this platform called Reframe. Reframe is a joint venture between Amazon and the TriBeCa Film Institute and they use, you know, a lot of digital technology for their distribution, but at the end of the day we are primarily distributing to the very traditional educational market. I mean this market is fairly traditional [in that] they sometimes still sell films on VHS. It’s a very traditional price point, it’s a very conservative market, you know films that are a couple of years old are still considered new to them.

So we’re still getting our primary source of revenue from a very conservative and traditional market even though we are participating in the digital [roll-out] platforms, the truth is that those digital platforms are not monetized which means they don’t bring in a lot of revenue. Some of them don’t bring in any revenue at all. We have to participate in these new platforms, [but dGenerate hasn't been] effected that much because we’re still making our primary revenue from traditional sources of distribution.

And before you go would you just like to say one thing about “Disorder” and why you think people should see it at FLEFF.

I think “Disorder” will offer a view of China that you’ve never seen before. It has sometime for everybody because it’s a film for cinephiles, [among others.] And it’s absolutely fascinating the way the film is put together and they way the director, Huang Weikai made it. It’s also a film for people who watch movies to be entertained. “Disorder” is really about the pure absurdity of everyday life in China. So it is humorous and it's kind of mind blowing to watch what’s happening onscreen and it’s a film for people who are interested in Asia or China specifically. It offers this unmediated, raw view of life on the streets in China and features the kind of stuff that you really don’t get to see anywhere else.

My thanks goes out to Karin Chien for taking the time out of her hectic workday to talk with me. I hope you all get a chance to see “Disorder” and talk to Karin personally.

Go to Cinemapolis to see "DISORDER" on Saturday April 16, 2011 at 2:10pm! Karin Chien, the producer, will be in attendance.