Meet Karin Chien, currently nominated for the 2010 Independent Spirit Producers Award and producer of THE EXPLODING GIRL, which is being distributed by Oscilloscope in the next month.
Karin Chien is an independent film producer committed to uncompromising visions that challenge conventional paradigms. Karin works to encourage 
international dialogue and foster community through her films, distribution network, and curatorial projects. She has produced nine feature-length films, including THE EXPLODING GIRL (2009), THE MOTEL (2005), and ROBOT STORIES (2002). Her films have won over 60 film festival awards, premiered at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals, and secured international distribution. Karin is currently in post-production on two Sundance Lab projects: AYITI, AYITI by P. Benoit and CIRCUMSTANCE by Maryam Keshavarz.
Karin is president & CEO of dGenerate Films, a new distribution company committed to bringing the best of underground cinema from mainland China to U.S. audiences. Karin recently curated the Chinatown Film Project, an inaugural exhibition for the Museum of Chinese in America featuring original short films by Wayne Wang, Jem Cohen, Cary Fukunaga, and more. Karin is the co-founder and president of i love 2, a production company specializing in web videos, industrials, and short films.
Karin is heading a new Asian American mentoring initiative with the Center for Asian American Media, and developing a teaching artist residency program with the Rockhouse Foundation in Jamaica. Karin has served on the Rockefeller Media Fellowships selection panel, on the Hawaii and New York Asian Film Festival juries, and on the advisory boards for the IFP/New York and Tribeca Film Institute. Karin teaches independent film producing at New York University, School of Visual Arts and University of Hawaii.
Sustaining the Muse
A Producing Questionnaire
* Please name all the “hats” you wear as a creative producer.
Well, a sampling might go something like this…
The good – leader, collaborator, decision-maker.
The not so good – conflict mediator, messenger of bad news, the last resort.
The unavoidable – salesperson, accountant, travel coordinator.You take the good with the not so good and thank a higher power that ALL of the hats are challenging, creative and interesting.
* List all of the jobs you’ve held before or while pursuing a career in producing.
A select list… in chronological order -
Campaigner for universal healthcare. The parking lot is a tough crowd. I lasted 2 days, and gained respect for grassroots activists worldwide.
Camera operator for the University of California. I still can’t believe UC Berkeley gave 18-year-old me control over a broadcast booth with three cameras and a wall of tape decks. I never mastered the audio equipment, but I gained an enduring respect for technicians everywhere.
Executive assistant for a small performing arts festival. I considered a career in the non-profit world of performing arts administration … until I realized boards and funding cycles tied hands and limited ambitions. I will always revere the tireless champions of the arts in our de-funded American landscape.
Operations manager, then consultant, for a due diligence firm specializing in sub-prime mortgage securitizations. I was in the center of the bubble. Lehman Brothers, along with every major Wall Street bank, was a client. Even though mortgages may not have much to do with cinema, this is the job that taught me the most about producing. Running a start-up – where you either do it or it doesn’t get done – and managing multiple teams of freelancers – was uncannily the same business foundation that underlies much of independent film producing.
Along the way, these jobs taught me not to fear doing something I knew nothing about – operating cameras and underwriting loans – and to always, always work with people who were smarter and better at their job than I could ever be.
* Do you have a Big Dream or career goal as a producer? What inspires you to do what you do?
To transcend producing. This will be when I’ve challenged paradigms in storytelling, representation, production, and distribution, and in the process, built community, educated those younger than me, and created a free, critical, creative flow of dialogue. Where the work of producing no longer matters – and it’s what happens locally and globally after the film has been made.
Possibility inspires. That and a free existence.
* Please name five essential skills and/or traits a creative producer needs to sustain a career.
1. Focus (knowing what you want)
2. Perseverance
3. Anxiety and stress management skills
4. Another skillset that can pay your rent when you’re first starting out
5. A natural ability to work with others
* Name a movie, or several, that you wish you had produced. And/or, producer(s) you admire (living or passed on).
Anyone who has produced for over a decade and goes out of their way to help others is a saint! Ted Hope, Mary Jane Skalski, and Paul Mezey come to mind.
If I had produced the Three Colors Trilogy by Kieslowski, I’d be done. Where do you go from there?
* How do you define success for yourself?
To be in a position where I can do what I want, how I want…. while having enough time for myself, my family, my friends. I got the first part down, but haven’t figured out the second yet.
* What’s your motto when it comes to raising money for your project(s)?
This film has to be made.
* How long did it take to support yourself as a producer?
It’s still a daily struggle. But I’d say three to four years.
* Who do you turn to when you need a pep talk?
My friends! I have amazing friends, the best. And other female producers.
* If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My impatience. I often leap into the fire before being totally ready. Makes for an interesting life, but sometimes I wonder if things would be easier if I took it more slowly.
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What an inspirational person Karin is! Thanks for sharing this with us, Lorie!