Perhaps, this is a question that many people have on the road to chasing dreams. Neijiang-born director Zhu Jun gave his own answer-it is never too late to pursue dreams.
So, at the age of 35, he chose to start over and devote himself to a film career that he loved but never touched. In ten years, he changed from an actor to a role actor, and from an actor to a photographer, screenwriter, director and producer behind the scenes. With continuous learning and progress, the dream catcher gradually turned his dream into reality and made many movies.
Not long ago, Zhu Jun, as the chief producer, screenwriter and director, was shortlisted for the 2020 Antwerp International Film Festival, and nominated for three awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Foreign Language Film Director and Best Foreign Language Film Actress. At the same time, it was shortlisted for the feature film unit of the 7 th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival.
Pursuing dreams
He gave up business acting.
On February 29th, 2020, at 65438, I first met Zhu Jun in a cafe in Zizhong County. During the conversation, Zhu Jun's soft voice, gentle language and polite manners, together with the camera he carried with him, revealed a strong artistic atmosphere.
After busy, Zhu Jun returned to Zizhong, enjoying the joy of family reunion, and photographed the scenery and culture of his hometown with his camera. Over the past month, he has come to towns and villages such as Chenjia, Shuanghe and Shuanglong, taking photos and videos of local unique customs and natural landscapes and sharing them with foreign netizens through Tik Tok and his circle of friends.
Although it started late, with diligence and professionalism, Zhu Jun has occupied a place in the film and television industry.
Zhu Jun, 1975, was born in Zizhong. In the 1990s, I majored in accounting at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. In his sophomore year, he and his friends went to Hechi, Guangxi and opened a sugar factory to produce brown sugar. Six years later, Zhu Jun returned to his hometown in Sichuan and set foot in other industries.
At the age of 35, Zhu Jun decided to "change his life". He wants to pursue his dreams and live for himself.
When he was young, Zhu Jun was full of curiosity and fantasy about movies, but he just kept this love in his heart, because he didn't receive professional acting study, so he didn't dare to "dream". "In fact, I have always been very interested in performance, but I used to think it was far away and I couldn't imagine it. But at a certain age, I still want to try and see if I can do it. "
Zhu Jun told his family seriously what he thought. A 35-year-old man wants to enter a completely unfamiliar field and start from scratch. Is it too late? Although the family also had doubts, Zhu Jun's sincerity was fully supported by his parents and wife.
20 10 September, Zhu Jun got on the train and went to Hengdian, Zhejiang Province to pursue his dream. Through the Internet, Zhu Jun got to know many "wandering" netizens, making the journey of pursuing dreams easier.
"On the first day of getting the actor's license, the head of the actors' guild asked me if I wanted to act. I agreed without hesitation, and immediately went to the crew ... "Speaking of the scene when I took part in TV shooting for the first time, Zhu Jun couldn't help but get excited. It's a wartime play directed by Gao Xixi. Zhu Jun fought an Eighth Route Army. Because of his tall figure and positive performance, he was temporarily arranged to sit next to the hero and act together. He feels lucky.
As a dream catcher, Zhu Jun seems to be full of energy. In order to get to the meeting place at 4 am, he can get up at 2: 30 am and walk for an hour to become the first person in the whole crew. This habit has been maintained to this day. Sometimes when shooting location in the mountains, he will walk home for an hour or two regardless of the cold in winter.
When the reporter asked why he chose to walk home, he said that he felt happy with the stars and the moon on his way home and believed that success was getting closer.
Along the way, although many people threw cold water on him, these did not shake his confidence, but gave him greater motivation.
While the staff were waiting for the performance, Zhu Jun didn't want to rest, but watched the performances of other excellent actors. The crew became his best study class. Back home, he will learn acting and Mandarin through books and practice in front of the mirror again and again until late at night.
Zhu Jun is like a sponge, constantly absorbing nutrients, and his efforts and positive self-confidence also create opportunities for progress. On one occasion, Zhu Jun participated in the filming of a film and television drama by the Korean CBS TV crew, and a scene of that day needed to be read by one person. The live director temporarily wanted to choose one of the nearly 400 extras. Just as everyone was whispering and eager to try, Zhu Jun raised his hand at the first time and said, "I will come!"
With permission, Zhu Jun came to the director and read out the contents of the memorial with great interest. After examination, Zhu Jun was affirmed by the director and became the best candidate. In addition to getting the opportunity to perform, Zhu Jun gained more from this performance-the live translator told Zhu Jun, "The general director and executive director of this drama say that you are very promising, very photogenic, suitable for acting and very talented in acting. I hope you can stick to it. But it is still far from success and needs to continue to work hard. "
Confidence doubled, and Zhu Jun spent all his free time studying and sending resumes to various staff members. Every time he auditioned, he tried his best to do well. Sometimes, in order to get a chance to study, he doesn't even have to pay. Zhu Jun said that he printed 65,438,000 resumes at a time and sent them to the crew one by one. Although he was rejected countless times, he still didn't give up.
For Zhu Jun, the frustration on the road of chasing dreams is not terrible. He regards every experience of failure as an opportunity to learn, and sums up experience from it as a reference for his next progress.
In the end, his persistence and enthusiasm were appreciated by a director, and he was lucky enough to participate in a film telling the story of the Qing Dynasty. Seeing his name appear on the "notice list", I wish the army not to mention how happy it is. In the movie, he played a martial arts expert named "Cihu", which was the first time he played a famous role with a surname. There are more than 60 scenes.
Since then, his roles have become more and more abundant, and there have been more and more performance opportunities.
On the actor's road, I wish the army a step by step and move forward steadily, and the dream seems to be a big step closer.
diligent
He walked from the stage to the backstage.
Zhu Jun is full of enthusiasm for the performance. He is always the first actor to arrive in the cast. In addition, he loves learning and is ready to help others. The crew members like him very much, and his learning path is wider.
On one occasion, watching the assistant director busy arranging extras, Zhu Jun offered to help. He not only arranged the extras properly, but also learned how the actors performed. The assistant director at the scene saw Zhu Jun's strong learning ability and took the initiative to teach him some work experience.
Sometimes, Zhu Jun would steal things from photographers and ask some questions about photography. I spent a long time learning the composition of the picture, the use of the lens, the shooting technique, and how the director guides the actors to perform behind the director's monitor. Although it was a piecemeal study, Zhu Jun also gained a lot.
"The actors perform according to the script, and the director needs to have a more macro understanding and grasp." Having learned a lot of behind-the-scenes knowledge, Zhu Jun began to think about his future direction. After some thinking, he decided to realize his movie dream in another way-directing.
After arriving in Hengdian, Zhu Jun established a QQ group-"Sichuanese in Hengdian". The purpose is to unite Sichuan villagers in Hengdian, help each other, exchange information and pursue dreams together. One day, Zhu Jun heard from the group that DreamWorks, the star of Hengdian Studios, was enrolling students, and he could learn photography, directing and other courses for free.
Zhu Jun, who was eager for knowledge, signed up immediately. After being selected successfully, he studied hard here for two months. In order to practice the stability of holding the camera, he held the basin up and down the stairs with both hands until the water in the basin stopped overflowing.
20 1 1 August, the summer vacation is coming, and Hengdian Film and Television City welcomes the peak of tourism. Zhu Jun, who just graduated, was arranged to be a photographer in DreamWorks, shooting microfilms or MVs for tourists who came to experience microfilm shooting.
After the first work was affirmed, Zhu Jun was appointed as the director, became a fixed partner with the photographer and makeup artist, and formed an independent group.
In order to make the filmed microfilm better, Zhu Jun would take the script home the night before and read it carefully. For the ancient etiquette, language and vocabulary involved in the script, he will carefully consult books and related materials, make appropriate adjustments to lines and details, restore history and folk customs to the maximum extent, and give tourists a better shooting experience.
This kind of work has been done a lot. Zhu Jun is very familiar with filming any kind of micro-movie, and can even direct the play on the spot according to the number of tourists without a script. After a holiday, he directed more than 100 micro-movies, which was also affirmed and highly appreciated by the leaders and customers of Hengdian Studio DreamWorks. In order to improve his professional level, he also went to Beijing Film Academy to study acting and directing courses. In his spare time, he also writes his own plays.
On March 20 16, Zhu Jun founded his own film and television company, and successively produced the feature film "Shanghai Beach 1930" and the documentary "Long Yuan's Dream". In 20 18, the film "Shanghai Beach 1930" directed by Zhu Jun participated in the first Cannes China Film Honor Award held during the 7 1 Cannes International Film Festival. After being selected successfully, she was invited by the organizing committee to set foot on the red carpet of Cannes, one of the three major film festivals in the world. During the film festival, he met many internationally renowned filmmakers. To his surprise, his work won the best screenplay award in this unit.
From June, 5438 to February, 2020, Zhu Jun once again enjoyed good news. His film "Come Out of the Present", as the chief producer, screenwriter and director, was shortlisted for the 2020 Antwerp International Film Festival in Belgium, and was nominated for three awards: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Foreign Language Film Director and Best Foreign Language Film Actress. At the same time, it was shortlisted for the feature film unit of the 7 th San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival.
"This is a film about love and hope with the theme of domestic violence, which is expected to be released on 20021." Zhu Jun said, "I think every China film that participates in the international film festival can show its strong motherland and many unique China cultures and features in the form of movies, including tourist attractions and intangible culture, and also let more foreign friends see the rapid development of China's film industry."