China Special: Limin Wang

It’s taken him ten years of hard graft, but having shot the biggest spot in the Chinese advertising calendar this year, as well as numerous campaigns for high-profile brands such as Levi’s, Uniqlo and YSL, Limin Wang is finally gaining recognition as one of China’s few native directors of repute. Turns out he’s just not that keen on talking about it…

In China, there’s a well-known proverb: dà zhì ruò yú, which translates roughly as ‘He knows most who speaks least.’ For Limin Wang, it appears to be a guiding philosophy; for me, as his interviewer, it’s a source of intense frustration. When I meet the 39-year-old director for tea in Shanghai’s former French Concession, Wang spends much of the interview hiding behind shy smiles and lengthy pauses, offering a few, economical words in response to my questions. Yet beneath this modest, unassuming exterior, there is a sense of deep, philosophical reflection.

Wang spent the last 10 years quietly making a name for himself as one of a (very) small handful of respected Chinese directors. A Shanghai native, he studied visual communications at a local university before moving to the UK for a master’s degree in film and TV production, followed by a further two years at the London Film School. “Going to film school abroad opened my mind to a different way of thinking,” says Wang of his time in the West. “When you’re trying to build your reel, a strong educational background and training can help persuade clients it’s worth taking you on.” 

Something more than mawkish

Nonetheless, it was a struggle finding work as a fledgling director on his return to Shanghai in 2004 and instead, he spent 10 months as an assistant director at the city’s largest production house, Gwantsi, before deciding to go it alone. Over time, he’s steadily built up his reel with high-profile campaigns for brands such as Shiseido, Uniqlo, YSL and, most recently, Levi’s.

However, it wasn’t until February this year, a decade after returning to China, that Wang was propelled into the spotlight with My Name, the official New Year PSA for state broadcaster CCTV (China Central Television). As breaks go, it couldn’t have been much bigger: aired midway through the Spring Festival Gala (often dubbed China’s equivalent to the Super Bowl), the two-minute spot saw an estimated 1.3 billion viewers sniffling at the personal backstories behind people’s first names. Stunning cinematography and lush visuals elevated the film far above the usual mawkish seasonal offerings.

Wang landed the job off the back of his 2014 gala spot, Chopsticks. Though that missed out on the coveted half-time slot, the client liked his “authentic documentary style”. Prior experience of shooting for the government network helped when it came to presenting his vision: he “knew the client’s limits, so within that space I could play around a bit”. Ultimately, though, there was little creative room for manoeuvre within the traditional Chinese New Year formula of cultural heritage, family ties and homecoming.

“China is so big, and people’s understanding of [creativity] is so varied, it was a huge challenge. The spot had to have a universal appeal, and to touch millions of viewers across China,” Wang explains. As an official public broadcast, there was red tape to contend with. One scene, which Wang had to fight hard for, featured a young boy sitting on a tall haystack, a ladder propped beside him. “The client was worried about the safety implications and kids imitating it. That was frustrating for me, but I convinced them to keep it.”

Asked to define his directing style, Wang is anxious not to be pigeon-holed. “I think I have quite a varied style; I’m not just a documentary director. A more authentic, truthful look can be beautiful, but so can something more staged.” His recent trio of films, Photographer, Foodies and Gamer for Skoda’s new youth-targeted Fabia model mark a definite change in gear: partially shot on Go-Pros, with fast-paced editing, they have a fresh, high-octane appeal distinct from much of the region’s auto advertising. This lighter tenor represents a development in the tone of Chinese ads, says Wang. “In the past, commercials had to show perfection and beauty, not real life. That’s changing now. Because of the internet, consumers can see the world – they’re getting a cultural education, they’re exposed to foreign advertising.” And increasing digitisation means that “these days, the creative ideas behind digital [executions] are often better than TV commercials. You get a lot more freedom as a director, too.”

Exporting a little Chinese cool

So what does the future hold? Could a move into feature films be on the cards, in the vein of his self-proclaimed idols Jonathan Glazer and David Fincher? While Wang acknowledges there’s “a huge amount of investment in young filmmakers in China” he says “a lot will depend on getting the right script,” adding that he’d continue to make commercials. “They allow me to try new visual techniques and they’re the best way to understand your audiences and what stories will touch them.”

Currently unsigned, Wang says he’s happy operating as an independent director, which is the norm in Shanghai – unlike Beijing, where directors generally set up their own production companies. And though the quality of scripts in China is “definitely improving”, he hopes the future will bring opportunities to work abroad, perhaps even return to the UK: “I hope one day to bring a more cool Chinese style of directing to the West.”

When I mention rising Chinese-American directing duo J+J, previously profiled in shots (issue 151), who signed to US production company Untitled last year, he bats away the comparison with an embarrassed laugh. “I just want to create something special,” he concludes, “so that when other countries see a Chinese commercial, they don’t see it as derivative, but something fresh and cool, something uniquely Chinese.”