The name Jia Wai Nam (賈偉南) might not sound familiar to Mainland TV audiences, but just mention a few of the series that he served as screenwriter or copy editor for and most likely many audiences will be very familiar. In Hong Kong, Jia Wai Nam is considered a 'golden' scriptwriter. Going as far back as the 1980s, some of Jia's works include "Love and Passion" 《萬水千山總是情》and "The Duke of Mount Deer" 《鹿鼎記》; in the 1990s, his series include "The Breaking Point"《今生無悔》, "Detective Investigation Files I to IV"《刑事偵緝檔案》, "Untraceable Evidence I & II" 《鑑證實錄》to name a few – all of these works had set off a ratings tidal wave back when each series aired in HK and later on became popular airing series in Mainland as well. In 2009, Jia Wai Nam's mega production costume drama "Beyond the Realm of Conscience"《 宮心計》created a 'ratings miracle' when it broke TVB's ratings record held for several years by Korean series "Jewel in the Palace"《大長今》[TN: "Jewel in the Palace" aired on TVB's Jade Channel in 2005].
Recently, TVB has been plagued by a severe drought in artists and behind-the-scenes personnel, many of whom had left to pursue better opportunities -- Jia Wai Nam was among one of those who left TVB to head up North (Mainland) to 'dig for gold'. On 4/24, our reporter interviewed this 'golden' producer.
Even though he has already shifted his career to the Mainland, Jia Wai Nam frankly expressed that his Mandarin is still at that "cannot speak it and can't really understand it" stage – nevertheless, this has not affected his confidence in developing his career in the Mainland. During the interview, Jia Wai Nam reveals much insight about the differences filming series in HK (aka TVB) versus Mainland China. He also expressed that "from this moment on, I need to throw aside the issue of ratings and work on productions that I truly enjoy."
Left TVB because he felt 'tired'
No longer a TVB employee, Jia Wai Nam is currently a free lance scriptwriter. It's precisely because of this freelance 'status' that he dared to bluntly point out the various 'maladies' that exist within TVB currently. During the interview, Jia Wai Nam unhesitatingly expressed that the series "Beyond the Realm of Conscience" -- which once broke ratings records – is actually the work that he dislikes the most. Coincidentally, it was precisely this series that served as the 'catalyst' for Jia Wai Nam leaving TVB and shifting his career to Mainland.
R = Reporter
J = Jia Wai Nam
R: You've worked as a scriptwriter at TVB for many years already and most of your works have had good results. What triggered your desire to leave the company?
J: I've worked at TVB for 30 years already. I chose to leave primarily because I felt tired, bored, and wanted a change in environment. But if we were to look in-depth at the more specific reason, it's really because I've been unhappy these past few years working at TVB and the 'adaptability' with some of the producers have not been too smooth. [TN: The article uses the term '磨合' which refers to the 'familiarity and adaptability between 2 organizations / parties'].
R: It's said that the series "Beyond the Realm of Conscience" was the direct reason for why you left?
J: Yes. That was a work of mine that I truly disliked, as some parts of the storyline were setup in a way that was very unrealistic. I suggested some changes to the producers, however they did not accept it. That's the way TVB is – the production department always comes first and those of us in the creative department [scriptwriters] are required to adhere to the production department's ideas. I felt that I did not get the respect that I deserved. When I finished this series, it was around the time that TVB was experiencing internal unrest – I thought about it for a long time and finally, in September 2011, I submitted my resignation and left the company.
R: Recently, there have been many reports of artists as well as behind-the-scenes personnel leaving TVB one after the other. How is the current situation with them?
J: In HK and the rest of the world, TVB can be considered one of the biggest Chinese language television stations. With such a big company, there will undoubtedly be some unreasonable policies that exist – this is something that as employees, there is no way of avoiding. Whether artists or behind-the-scenes crew, if they feel unhappy in that environment, it's natural for them to leave. Looking at it from a different perspective, it's actually a good thing. In recent years, TVB has encountered the forceful onslaught of the Mainland China television series market, with its effects extending even to HK – this has caused TVB to completely rethink the direction of their television business.
Of course, whether artists or behind-the-scenes personnel, one of the biggest reasons that many of us decide to leave HK for the Mainland is because of the higher pay. The TV series market in Mainland China is huge, resources are plentiful, and investors have a lot of options – as the saying goes, it's normal for people to head for someplace higher with more opportunities.
Ratings do not determine quality
Since shifting his career to the Mainland, Jia Wai Nam has received quite a few work offers. In terms of developing his creativity in the Mainland, his thoughts are: "The space for creative development here [in the Mainland] is far greater than in HK."
Jia Wai Nam expressed that if his career development goes well in the Mainland, he will consider continuing it. However, even if it doesn't go well, he is not worried, as he can always go back to HK and live a relaxed life in retirement. Making a decision at his age to shift career paths, Jia Wan Nam admits that he does not have much to worry about.
R: Now that you're here in the Mainland, what are your plans?
J: Serving as a scriptwriter for series back in HK, whether the series turns out to be good or not is determined entirely by the ratings. Actually, in my mind, ratings are not a clear indication of a series' quality or lack of it. It's unfair to say that a series is bad or below average just because the ratings are low – on the flip side, it's also unfair to say that just because a series has high ratings, it's an outstanding or above average series. Take "Beyond the Realm of Conscience" for example – its ratings were tremendously high, to the point of creating a 'ratings miracle', yet all this time, I've never felt that it was a good series.
Here in the Mainland, many of the 'bosses' investing in the television industry are very open-minded. Perhaps because the market is so huge and there are a lot of options in terms of TV stations, they [Mainland investors] are less concerned about ratings, which makes my work less restrictive. Compared to working at TVB, I feel that I have a lot more freedom now. From this moment on, I need to throw aside this 'obstruction' (the ratings) and truly focus on creativity – this is the only way to produce truly good [high quality] works that are not just about sensationalism.
R: What do you feel are the differences between Mainland and HK TV series?
J: The difference is not that huge. As long you have good artists, a good script with engaging storyline, and are able to achieve the task of 'entertaining' audiences, the series will still become popular after being released into the market. However, one thing to note is that Mainland TV series are generally more 'straight' (正) in that there has to be a main theme that drives things forward. This means that during the creative process, it's necessary to first think about when the series is released, what type of lessons audiences will learn from it, then from there develop the storyline. HK series are very different in this aspect, as the series there follow more of a 'fast-food' type culture – you develop the storyline based on the audience's tastes and only at the end do you think about what it brings to the audience.
R: What are some of the differences between Mainland audience's tastes and preferences versus HK audiences?
J: To be honest, I've never done any specific or purposeful research related to this subject. In my opinion though, as long as the series is able to satisfy audiences 'after dinner' entertainment need and they feel the series is 'digestable', it doesn't matter whether the audiences sitting in front of the TV are from HK or Mainland – they will still find great enjoyment from it. In terms of cultural differences, I actually don't feel that it creates to huge of an impact.
Mainland TV actors, admires Hu Jun the most
Throughout the interview, Jia Wai Nam told the reporter a few times that he has not watched very many Mainland series, yet when the reporter brought up the subject of popular series currently airing in Mainland, Jia Wai Nam blurted out: "The Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan"《甄嬛传》right?" Jia explained that he had actually watched a few episodes of "Legend" and felt that the palace fighting scenes in there were pretty good, however in the end, he gave up on watching it – the reason is because he is currently working on a script with a similar Qing palace theme. In this type of situation, he would purposefully avoid watching series with similar subject matter to prevent the ideas from those series staying in his mind and affecting his ability to come up with new ideas.
At the end of the interview, Jia Wai Nam chatted with us about a few of his favorite artists.
R: At TVB, which artists do you admire most?
J: Out of the 'newer' generation at TVB, I feel that Bosco Wong (黃宗澤), Tavia Yeung (楊怡), and Fala Chen (陳法拉) have the biggest possibility of success because I feel that they have great potential when it comes to performing. Also, I like artists who are straightforward when it comes to expressing themselves. A lot of people say that Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎) has a bad temper when he's filming, but in reality, he's just very straightforward and direct. During the filming of "Beyond the Realm of Conscience", whenever he [Kevin] felt that a part of the storyline was unreasonable or didn't make sense, he would directly give his feedback to the scriptwriters. I feel this is the type of artist that will help the quality of TV series continue to get better – if everyone always just went about their way politely and not say anything, we as scriptwriters would never be able to see the flaws in the storyline and try to fix them.
R: How about in the Mainland? Who do you feel has most potential? Who would you like to collaborate with the most?
J: If I really had to choose, the first actor I wish to work with here in Mainland is Hu Jun (胡军). I've seen both his series "Painted Spirit"《畫魂》and "The River Flows Eastward" 《一江春水向东流》—both series are very realistic works that objectively reflect the fluctuation of human emotion as well as societal relationships. Hu Jun's performance in both series was very lively and real. In addition, I also like Guo Xiao Dong (郭晓冬) as well as Hu Ge (胡歌) – I've watched both "The New Marriage Era"《新结婚时代》as well as "Legend of the Immortal Swordsman" 《仙剑奇侠传》 and enjoyed both of them a lot. I actually have more of a leaning toward Yu Zheng (于正) works in terms of subject matter, so collaborating with them [Gua Xiao Dong and Hu Ge] would be most suitable.
Source: HK Channel (Original Source: Nan Guo Early Paper)
Translated by: llwy12 @ AsianFanatics
