Words of Wisdom: JANET YANG

By Rebecca Green

In the summer of 2023, a small group of veteran producers got together to talk shop and discuss all the ways in which producers were struggling. From working for free during years of development on a project, to not receiving health and pension contributions from employers, to the degradation of the producer credit, these producers felt it was time to use their leverage to make lasting, positive systemic change for all producers, current and future.

Now more than a year later, that small group has grown into the official organization, Producers United, which is made up of over 130 film and television producers.

To identify producers who have a focused expertise in all of the stages of content creation, production, and exploitation—and who are compensated solely for producing, Producers United coined the term “Career Producers” and created a list of tangible activations to reverse entrenched and destructive industry practices and to strengthen the career of producing for those who will enter this profession and to prevent producing from becoming a fading career path.

You can read more about Producers United, what it means to be a Career Producer, their activations to establish sustainable best practices for Career Producers, and how to join Producers United on their website and in the Deadline Hollywood article, Producers United Is Launched By 86 Top Film & TV “Career Producers” To Change Fee Structure, Get Health Benefits & Stop Gradual Ecosystem Erosion.

As a way to highlight the work of Producers United, Dear Producer has asked a handful of its members to share some of their words of wisdom with all of you.

First up is Janet Yang, who is currently the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and who has worked with some of the most formidable filmmakers and talent in the world. She came to prominence through her collaboration with Steven Spielberg on EMPIRE OF THE SUN followed by a long partnership with multiple Academy Award®-winner Oliver Stone—where she served as Executive Producer on the iconic THE JOY LUCK CLUB and as a Producer on THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT. Her most recent credit is as an Executive Producer on the Oscar®-nominated animated feature, OVER THE MOON, based on her original story, the film was directed by legendary animator Glen Keane and released on Netflix in 2020.

Committed to fostering global understanding, Janet is a co-founder of Gold House, the non-profit collective of influential Asian cultural leaders. She was named on “The Hollywood Reporter’s 2024 Women in Entertainment Power 100” list, Variety's “Power of Women 2023,” and was featured on the Forbes 2024 “50 over 50” List.

Here is what Dear Producer asked Janet…

Why are you a producer and what do you love about the craft?

Being a curious person, I love that I’m always learning new things. Each project you engage with brings you into a different world, and no two days of work are the same. Producing is being a serial problem solver. You are faced with very disparate situations and opinions and you have to find the right balance between being firm in your beliefs and flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances. You’re constantly discovering things about yourself, and how you handle different challenges and different personalities. It’s very much a spiritual journey of self-realization in the end and there are very valuable life lessons. At the same time, it can be lonely because you are rarely given the credit you deserve, but must stay in the mindset of serving the project – which can also mean serving the director, serving the star, serving the studio.

What was the path you took to get to where you are now and is that path replicable today?

Mine was pretty unusual. I went to live in China after college, purely to learn the language and to understand the birthplace of my parents, and get to know my dozens of relatives who still lived there. I was also intrigued by a society that was so utterly different in every way from the one I grew up in.

One of the biggest takeaways from that year and a half in Beijing was that for the first time in my life, I saw movies by, for, and about Chinese people. While I always loved movies, I never saw any with respectable characters that looked like me. I also never imagined I could actually work in the movie business.

I wanted others to see these movies and ended up running a company that distributed Chinese cinema in North America. Then I was hired by several studios to sell American films to China, which had been closed off since 1949. I ended up working with Steve Spielberg on his epic movie, EMPIRE OF THE SUN, which was shot partially in China. That’s when I figured out what I really wanted to be.

My exact path is not easily replicable, but the notion of finding something you’re really passionate about, no matter how niche, could lead you to much wider opportunities.

How do you decide, when do you know, when an idea or script is worth making into a film or TV show?

Through pure instinct. There’s no formula. At least, not for me. It’s first: do I love this, can I live with this for an interminable or indeterminate amount of time? And then, is there a place in the market for this? Will actors want to jump on? Will the audience find something meaningful? In that order.

The writing has to hold your interest right off the bat. And then the idea and story have to be compelling enough to keep you reading. It’s rare to find something really great. I can get seduced by good writing, because I’m a sucker for good character work. But then the plot may not hold up. Or vice versa. It needs to be original and distinctive. It needs to have themes that resonate with you. It’s difficult to find all the elements integrated.

What is the hardest part of the process for you and how do you get through it?

Convincing people of something you know is worthy when they are using a separate yardstick. They are as convinced that it won’t work as you are that it will.

What’s the longest it has ever taken you to get a project into production?

Some movies I’ve been carrying for decades and the end is not yet in sight. So I can't say what the longest is! But of the ones made so far, about 7 years.

Knowing what you know now, what would you tell your younger self just entering the business?

The business has changed so much. When I started, you went to a handful of your favorite people at the studios to set up a project. Now I would say there are far more opportunities, but you have to be much more inventive.

What about the future excites you?

As the world becomes more divided, I find storytelling more important than ever. We are privileged to be able to transcend the world of politics, and the material world, by literally putting our dreams on screen for all to see. These dreams can help shape the world as we would like it to be. I am counting on our community of artists to preserve humanity, to not be defeated by robots and AI, and to continue cherishing our collaboration as a microcosm for general human interaction. We are not just a bunch of data points, we rely on intuition and ingenuity to keep defining and redefining what makes us human. We are hitting a low point at this moment in time, but I truly believe that it is just another wake-up call for us to fight for what we believe in and know is important.