During a fateful few days in Taipei, a former DEA agent and a former undercover operative revisit their romance, unaware of the dangerous consequences of their past. This unfolds in “Weekend in Taipei,” written and directed by UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television professor George Huang and released to U.S. audiences on Nov. 8.
The action/adventure film, which stars Luke Evans, Gwei Lun-mei and Sung Kang, was co-written by Luc Besson, whose credits include the “Taken” franchise and “The Fifth Element.” Wanting “the plot to be as spontaneous as possible,” the duo spent two years perfecting the script and fine-tuning the action scenes.
Huang began his Hollywood career working as an assistant at Paramount Pictures, Universal, Warner Brothers, Disney and Columbia. In 1995, he turned a decade of experience fetching coffee into his writing/directing debut, “Swimming With Sharks,” starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes and Benicio del Toro. The Independent Spirit Award-winning film has been adapted as a stage play in London, Singapore, Toronto and, most recently, Mexico City with Academy Award nominee Demian Bichir in the lead. It is currently being adapted as a TV series for the E! Network.
Huang is a finalist in the TCL Studio AI TV/Film Accelerator Program called TCL Film Machine, for his film “The Audition.” The short films of all five finalists premiered on Nov. 19 at the TCL Chinese Theater.
As writer and director, what were the main difficulties you had to face?
The biggest challenge of this project — but also its greatest asset — was the international dimension of the team. Most of the team was from Taipei, and there were a few French supervisors, notably for the physical stunts and cars, and camera ... and others, like myself, who came from Hollywood. Some spoke Mandarin, some French and some English. Sometimes it's a bit complicated, but you just have to take the time to explain your vision better. It's also exhilarating to work with people who have different approaches to cinema, and to draw from the best of each culture.
How did you orchestrate the casting?
Let's start with Luke Evans. He's a star! He's the kind of first-rate actor you dream of working with but tell yourself he's unattainable. We sent him the script and he very quickly responded positively. I think it's a role that stands out from his previous films. He's done a lot of physical training and he's grown in stature. We'd never seen him in an action film with such muscular scenes. But he's also a very sensitive actor. For the lead role, we couldn't have wished for an actor who combines these two facets better.
We also met Gwei Lun Mei, who is extraordinary and whose work I knew. She plays dark, brooding characters in films like “Black Coal Thin Ice,” but she also has a bubbly side. It was great to be able to draw on both. She can also cry on cue. We often joked that she had something of Margot Robbie's character in “Babylon.”
As for Sung Kang, he's another wonderful actor. We knew each other a little, because there aren't many Asian-American actors in Hollywood. I was impressed by his commitment to his craft. He wanted to arrive two weeks ahead of schedule in Taipei to train for fight scenes and stunts. Above all, even before taking on the role, he was particularly keen for us to pay close attention to the representation of the Asian community in cinema.
How did you go about directing the film?
Frankly, the greatest source of inspiration was the city of Taipei. It's a city of extraordinary visual richness. You can be right downtown — in the heart of a bustling, glittering metropolis with all its lights — and then, 10 minutes later, find yourself in the middle of the mountains and lost in the forest. This biodiversity became the visual signature of the film.
I can't wait to see how other foreign directors can make use of the Taipei setting. After all, we've only filmed a few locations, and there are many more to discover. I'd also like to make a special mention of our production designer, Wern-Ying Hwarng, who orchestrated all the film's decor and costumes.
Can you tell us about teaching directing and screenwriting at UCLA?
I teach graduate screenwriting in the MFA program, a class in which students have to write a complete and original screenplay in 10 weeks. We review ideas, structure, outline, action and character — all of the parts of a screenplay — and then students have to write anywhere from 10 to 20 pages per week to complete it in the quarter. That is a small graduate seminar class, and we workshop the screenplays in class.
I also teach “Introductory Screenwriting” and “Intro to the Art and Technique of Filmmaking,” with 280 students from across campus. I review all of the elements of filmmaking, starting with screenwriting and following a film all the way to marketing. I teach it through watching and reviewing heist films, because filmmaking is like pulling off a big heist. There are many lenses from which to view the heist film: There are foreign films about heists, blockbusters, horror movies and male-centric versus female-centric narratives.
What do you learn from teaching at UCLA?
Teaching at UCLA pushes me to do my filmmaking. Filmmaking is hard. You have to leave your family for a year to make a movie, and there are parts that are hard. I feel it’s my responsibility to be current and take what I learn on set and bring it back to the students so they have information about the most-up-to-date tools and methods being used to make movies.
