Film producers in Vietnam are prioritising profiteering rather than the quality of television films and series, a director has revealed.
Director Do Thanh Hai
Do Thanh Hai, director of Vietnam Television Film Production Centre (VFC) told DTiNews that a capital shortfall is one of several major reasons for the low quality of TV productions.
“In comparison with foreign countries such as South Korea and China, we are still at a lower level in terms of TV films and series. They are professional when it comes to film scripts, production, and film studios. Yet several Vietnamese film producers are struggling to find good film studios,” Hai revealed.
In fact, almost all TV film makers in Vietnam learn how to make films for cinema first and then switch to producing TV series, he shared.
According to Hai, China produces around 10,000 episodes of TV series per year. They spend at least USD100,000 on every episode. However, Vietnam by comparison spends only a tenth of that.
TV films and series have recently faced fierce criticism, including “Anh chang vuot thoi gian” (Man who passes through time) and “Xin the anh noi that” (I swear I tell the truth). In Hai’s opinion these series lack real quality as the film producers may have prioritised profiteering rather than quality.
He said viewers complained that they found it increasingly difficult to find good series to watch.
“In order to complete production as quickly as possible, some film producers opt to shorten the film making process. Some directors are paid based on the number of film episodes they make, so they may spend only an hour per episode. I’m not sure what they can do within such a short space of time,” he noted.
Hai thought that directors should shoulder the majority of responsibility for the success of a character’s portrayal, not an actor.
“The director should shoot a scene again if the actor isn’t doing a good job. If the worst comes to the worst, he can change the actor,” he added.
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