http://www.zimbio.com/Ang+Lee/articles/e-KQr3rk0-W/5+Lessons+Can+Learn+Ang+Lee
5 Lessons We Can Learn From Ang Lee
By michael72b on February 28, 2013 | From prosperitytodolist.com
The Academy Awards has been quite hot with Ang Lee winning 4 coveted
Oscars in the following categories: Director, Cinematography, Music
Score and Visual Effects. This was his second Oscar win for Best
Director, after winning his first one for the movie “Brokeback
Mountain” in 2006.
I didn’t watch the Academy Awards on TV but when I heard “Life of Pi
” and Ang Lee winning 4 Oscars that night, I was inspired to distill
5 important lessons we can learn from this highly respected movie
director.
Ang Lee at the 2006 Oscar
5 Lessons We Can Learn From Ang Lee
1. Attitudes shapes your future, not your personality
I am a shy person – Ang Lee
When it comes to success in life, it really doesn’t matter if you are
an outgoing or a more introverted type of personality. You might
evolve as you grew up and gain more life experience, but in my own
experience, it is not so easy to change an introvert to an extrovert
or vice versa. For example, I have an introverted personality (INFJ
according to the Myers-Briggs personality test) . In fact, in the
past I would never have considered to start a blog at all. (What, put
my thoughts, heart and soul for the world to see? No way!) . But
since then I realize that a blog is an excellent platform to share
ideas with a wider group of people so naturally I pick up blogging
even though I would never want to be too much exposed in the lime
light.
What counts as success is your attitude, your persistence and
commitment and also the results you deliver that earn you the respect
and fame, not whether you are an introvert or extrovert.
Similarly, Ang Lee became highly regarded as a movie director because
of his talents and excellent work despite his admittance that he is
quite shy.
2. Learn from every experience
Many times when you make a movie, it feels like your biggest mistake.
But even if a film isn’t a hit, you shouldn’t view it as a mistake
– Ang Lee
The most important lesson in this quote is that we should see our
mistakes or failures as not something negative and to be put away
from our memory as soon as possible. Instead, it is important to
rather see “mistakes” as learning experiences or stepping stones
for greater achievements. Nobody is perfect and if you can recognize
that failure is being human, that you can take pro-active steps to
turn any mistakes or failures to even greater things.
3. Be proactive
When I started out, nobody gave me scripts, so I had to write – Ang
Lee
As Ang Lee recounts his early years in the US, he was unknown and he
has to take odd jobs to make ends meet and support his family. He
face rejection from production companies for his early screen plays
but that doesn’t deter him from giving up. He keep going and write
screenplays until it was picked up and was able to make his own
movie. After that, the rest is history: he became famous for many
movies including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Sense and
Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain and the most recent Life of Pi.
4. Commit to lifelong learning
I did a women’s movie, and I’m not a woman. I did a gay movie, and I
’m not gay. I learned as I went along.
I love this quote because it captures the essence of what makes one
successful: commit to learning and understanding anything you want to
work on. As Ang Lee says: the fact that he wasn’t gay or a women
doesn’t prevent him from making these types of movies.
5. Have Faith in Life and in Yourself
“To me, faith can be elusive, but .. As a Taoist would say, ‘That’s
the apple’s truth.’- Ang Lee (source: Reuters.com)
Having faith in yourself is what pushes you through the “dark night
of the soul”: the period in life where you didn’t know what to do
next, or what your purpose is in life. I went through this period in
2009 when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I was devastated and
at that time, I resign my job, left Canada and went to be with my
mother to give her emotional support.
The doctors told me and our family that it is a very rare type of
cancer and there is not enough cases for them in the world to fully
understand the treatment options for this type of cancer. They give
us a time frame and I remember being upset for half a year afraid
that my mother would leave us forever. That was also the point in my
life where I turn to do a lot of prayers. Thankfully my mother
situation has stabilized and I am extremely grateful that she is
still with me and our family.
What push me through this period was my faith in my mother’s strong
survival ability and my increasing faith in the Divine. I was truly
grateful that my mother was able to handle the cancer treatments
really well and I believe that faith from me and family in her
recovery was a big contributing factor.
I came across this beautifully told story by Ang Lee with English
translation from Irene Shih:
In 1978, as I applied to study film at the University of Illinois, my
father vehemently objected. He quoted me a statistic: ‘Every year,
50,000 performers compete for 200 available roles on Broadway.’
Against his advice, I boarded a flight to the U.S. This strained our
relationship. In the two decades following, we exchanged less than a
hundred phrases in conversation.
Some years later, when I graduated film school, I came to comprehend
my father’s concern. It was nearly unheard of for a Chinese newcomer
to make it in the American film industry. Beginning in 1983, I
struggled through six years of agonizing, hopeless uncertainty. Much
of the time, I was helping film crews with their equipment or working
as editor’s assistant, among other miscellaneous duties. My most
painful experience involved shopping a screenplay at more than thirty
different production companies, and being met with harsh rejection
each time.
That year, I turned 30. There’s an old Chinese saying: ‘At 30, one
stands firm.’ Yet, I couldn’t even support myself. What could I do?
Keep waiting, or give up my movie-making dream? My wife gave me
invaluable support.
My wife was my college classmate. She was a biology major, and after
graduation, went to work for a small pharmaceutical research lab. Her
income was terribly modest. At the time, we already had our elder
son, Haan, to raise. To appease my own feelings of guilt, I took on
all housework – cooking, cleaning, taking care of our son – in
addition to reading, reviewing films and writing scripts. Every
evening after preparing dinner, I would sit on the front steps with
Haan, telling him stories as we waited for his mother – the heroic
huntress – to come home with our sustenance (income).
This kind of life felt rather undignified for a man. At one point, my
in-laws gave their daughter (my wife) a sum of money, intended as
start-up capital for me to open a Chinese restaurant – hoping that a
business would help support my family. But my wife refused the money.
When I found out about this exchange, I stayed up several nights and
finally decided: This dream of mine is not meant to be. I must face
reality.
Afterward (and with a heavy heart), I enrolled in a computer course at
a nearby community college. At a time when employment trumped all
other considerations, it seemed that only a knowledge of computers
could quickly make me employable. For the days that followed, I
descended into malaise. My wife, noticing my unusual demeanor,
discovered a schedule of classes tucked in my bag. She made no
comment that night.
The next morning, right before she got in her car to head off to work,
my wife turned back and – standing there on our front steps – said,
‘Ang, don’t forget your dream.’
And that dream of mine – drowned by demands of reality – came back
to life. As my wife drove off, I took the class schedule out of my
bag and slowly, deliberately tore it to pieces. And tossed it in the
trash.
Sometime after, I obtained funding for my screenplay, and began to
shoot my own films. And after that, a few of my films started to win
international awards. Recalling earlier times, my wife confessed, ‘I
’ve always believed that you only need one gift. Your gift is making
films. There are so many people studying computers already, they don
’t need an Ang Lee to do that. If you want that golden statue, you
have to commit to the dream.’
And today, I’ve finally won that golden statue. I think my own
perseverance and my wife’s immeasurable sacrifice have finally met
their reward. And I am now more assured than ever before: I must
continue making films.
You see, I have this never-ending dream.