Business Nurtures Passion for Arts

Artists of all fields (dance, singing, drama, painting, etc) shift to or enter into business not only to make extra income but also to keep their passion for arts.

Currently, I am a deputy director of Hanoi Investment & Communication Joint Stock Company (HI-C), which is involved in communications, advertising, event, film production and TV shows.

 

Although I have already reached the age of retirement, I still feel healthy enough to continue working. I have been very active and used to travel a lot for decades. If I put my feet up and stopped working, I would become worse for sure. So, my friends, my students and I opened a company to practice our profession, indulge our passions and doing something for the arts. And, more than that, I wish to share with my colleagues and students the professional knowledge and practical experience in cinematography and television that I have gained in decades of working.

 

My company began operation in 2008, not a long time for a business. Notwithstanding initial difficulties, we managed to create our own brand by producing a relatively big, deeply social and political television programme called “36-street Hanoi" game show (an entertainment programme which covers knowledge of history, culture, customs and practices in Thang Long - Ha Noi on the occasion of the grand millennial anniversary of the capital city). This programme was aired on VTV3 and VTV4 channels from October 10, 2009 to October 10, 2010, which actively contributed to the propaganda, advertisement and education of Thang Long - Hanoi on this special occasion.

 

Our first ‘secondary’ job (from the film production to game show production) with the ‘36-street Hanoi’ programme was highly appreciated by our colleagues, proven by International Sports and Tourism Film Festival Gold Medal and Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Hanoi People's Committee. But more importantly, it caught the attention and affection of TV audiences, particularly young viewers, both in Vietnam and Vietnamese people abroad.

 

As this was our first programme, we did not put the profit target on top. Essentially, with this programme, we felt more mature, and built up a young, dynamic, well-trained and practical workforce. Personally, I felt I was younger and more satisfied when I worked within a young environment.

 

Following the end of the 36-street game show, we coordinated with our colleagues in Ho Chi Minh City to produce a five-episode “Spring kiss” film which was aired on VTV3 channel in the first days of the Year of Cat (2011).

 

After nearly three years of operation and involvement in big programmes, we are aware of our own strengths: The ability to create television programmes and produce new films. In addition, we can also organise events in unique styles.

 

Based on our strengths, we will carry out a new format which combines feuilletons and news this year. This educational programme is designed for countryside people; thus we use situation comedy (sitcom) format with easy to view, easy to understand and easy to practice contents. The programme will be broadcast on VTV1.

HI-C also masters some other television programmes and events which will be carried out from now until the end of 2011. And, of course, the name HI-C will appear more with its new programmes and events where it acts as organiser or producer.

 

Actually, it is very easy to fade away because I now cannot spare my entire time for writing scripts or directing films. But I have also thought of this and told my colleagues that creative projects, feature film production, and television programmes involving film elements (played by actors) are always our strengths and on the priority list. I also have many plans to cooperate with filmmaking and television companies to attract senior filmmakers to produce movie films and television films. I also would like to add that I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Cinema Association in late 2010, and am currently a deputy director of the Vietnam Cinema Association Film Company (HODAFIML). Hence, I have more opportunities to mobilise 1,800 composers and scriptwriters who are members of the association.

 

In the coming time, HI-C will collaborate with Ancom Communication Company to produce the next season of Ma Lang (village ghost) called "Ma Lang 2" or "Bam Duong Village 10 years later." I will write the script and direct the film and Hi-C will provide casting and call for sponsorship and advertisement for the film.

 

In 2007-2008, television audiences enthusiastically supported "Ma Lang” (screenplay by Nguyen Huu Phan and Pham Ngoc Tien; directed by Nguyen Huu Phan and Hoang Lam; and produced by Vietnam Television Film Production Centre.) The content of the film (now called Ma Lang 1 for easier reference) ended in 1990 when the land reform policy went into effect. So, 10 - 15 years later, what will villages in Bam Duong, like Do, Lo, Tam, Nghiep and Mua, be like? Surely, the television audience cares about this very much. "Ma Lang 2" is actually a fresh story about countryside farmers and villages in the reform era. But, I do not want to make a totally new film which is independent of the previous season but connected with the previous one (Ma Lang 1). This will provide a progress-based content and demonstrate different fates of Vietnamese farmers through different historical periods.

 

Of course, as a scriptwriter and director, when I made this decision, I was under very heavy pressure because if it failed, it would cast a shadow on “Ma Lang 1.”

So, my partners and I have to keep our heads down.

 

To date, it is said that artists and entrepreneurs are different, even opposite to each other. It is said that artists are always romantic and daydreaming. But with modern arts, particularly cinema and television, they must comprehend many things in detail and know to calculate everything in arts, production and technique stages: Which technique will be used, how does it work and how will the capacity of the company be brought into full play? So, contemporary artists cannot be daydreamers.