A Youthful Direction with Chenyun Huang
How does the youth of today view the world they will inherit and what course will they take to manifest the one they desire? A new documentary series from Vice China will explore the leaders of this group as they pursue the next big thing. Tencent Video series (the biggest video streaming platform in China) presents this follow up to the massively viewed Vice China productions Just Street Dance (38 million views), Young Chinese (viewed 50 million times) and the Chinese alternative music series Trap in Southwest (19 million views). This latest forthcoming docuseries is expected to surpass even these huge numbers. Created for a Chinese audience, the program will spotlight the decentralized global youth culture which finds the sources of trends from different countries and people, powered by hype culture. Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and other major publications have already written about this unique and insightful production, indicating that the world is waiting for it with great anticipation. Chenyun Huang, 1st assistant director and location manager of the Makeup Episode of this series offers what she can, prior to airing, about the workings which have crafted this exciting program.
This yet to be titled series takes place globally. As location manager and 1st Assistant Director, Chenyun was in charge of scouting locations and pre-interviewing cast and crew across multiple time zones. Huang quite literally secured and established the environment which allowed the show’s director, cinematographer, and all departments to realize their creativity. Providing this is not only beneficial to the cast and crew, it’s essential to the story as Hosi Simon (Vice CEO Asia-Pacific) professes, “Young people in China are at a real inflection point. Taking inspirations from every corner of the world, they’re putting them through their own, very distinct lens to create something very unique and new; freely and at an unprecedented scale. This Tencent Video content series will track and champion this change and their celebration of identity, giving voice to new culture creators the world over.” Concerning his experience with Chenyun’s work on this project, cinematographer Ben Mullinkosson declares, “When Chenyun became the first assistant director, all of our problems started to go away. She was like a magic wand. She is firm but nice and fun; a rare characteristic in a first assistant director. She also locked the locations as our location manager so well! We had some of the best locations. I recently saw first cut of the film and was very impressed! Her locations are what gives our movie a unique texture and feel.”
There’s not much information being leaked to the press at this time but the little bit which has crept out indicates that the “Makeup Episode” communicates how even the most different of us share something in common. It’s a theme that the world could hear more often these days. From a vocalist and Goth makeup artist for his local music scene to the popular YouTube makeup vlogger to the NYC Drag Queen to the avant garde makeup artist who has cultivated a unique and original career; these and other individuals featured in the “Makeup Episode” prompts viewers to consider how one single factor can have so many different interpretations and meanings for vastly different people. Because Tencent is one of China’s biggest online video platforms with over 100 million daily users and over 82 million paying members, the contributions of Chenyun Huang and her crew will promote the concept that we can all find something we share to unite us.
