22 Facts About Zhang Jizhong

Zhang Jizhong was born on May 23,1951 and is a Chinese film producer, director, teacher, and writer.

Zhang Jizhong is known as one of the more prominent television producers in China.

Zhang Jizhong's best known productions include the CCTV adaptations of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, namely Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin, as well as adaptations of Louis Cha's wuxia novels.

Zhang Jizhong is known for building large film cities with the support of local government authorities, sets that have later been developed into tourist attractions.

In 1974, Zhang Jizhong became a teacher in a coal mining town in Shanxi and taught history, Chinese and biology.

Zhang Jizhong led a literature and art performing troupe that consisted of coal workers and assumed the roles of director, screenwriter and composer.

In 1983, Zhang Jizhong met Zhang Jizhong Shaolin on set, who would become his long-term working partner.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, was the first work Zhang Jizhong did as a producer for China Central Television.

One month later, Zhang Jizhong received a note from CCTV saying that changes had been made to the production team, and there was an open position to film the fourth part of the show.

Zhang Jizhong accepted and went on to produce 13 of the 84 episodes for the series, when he had endure over 10,000 kilometers of travel in 11 months in the remote areas of Yunnan, Qinghai, Tibet and Inner Mongolia, as well as battle scenes involving thousands of extras and hundreds of horses.

Martial arts were an important aspect of the production process for The Water Margin, and Zhang Jizhong worked with choreographer Yuen Woo-ping.

Zhang Jizhong faxed Cha a reply and the next day, Cha gave Zhang Jizhong the permission to choose one from his 14 novels.

Zhang Jizhong bought a frame, carved some patterns on it, inserted a one yuan note and gave it to Cha, who was pleased by the gift and the two have collaborated since then.

Zhang Jizhong has produced several television series based on Louis Cha's wuxia novels from 2000 to 2006.

Besides producing wuxia television series, Zhang Jizhong has produced dramas including Farmer Labourer, which exposed the reality of farmer labourer problems at the time and Days of Passion and Spirit, which depicted military life.

Zhang Jizhong is in the pre-production phase of his film adaptation of Journey to the West, another one of the Four Great Classical Novels, with the story focusing on Sun Wukong, a household name in China and in other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea.

Zhang Jizhong has hired Neil Gaiman as a screenwriter and the two were introduced to each other by James Cameron, who turned down the role as director, but has agreed to help with the special effects of the film.

Zhang Jizhong is developing a theme park, an online game and a television series based on his company's digitized content of Sun Wukong and Journey to the West.

In recent years, many of Zhang Jizhong's works have brought in strong social and media response and considerable financial benefits.

In China, producers usually only play the roles of logistic managers and accountants, but Zhang Jizhong redefined the role of a film producer in China by coordinating all the aspects of the production, bearing responsibility for screenwriting, directing, creative staff, investment, media relations, casting, social issues, and personal matters.

Zhang Jizhong has built large filming sets and villages in coordination with the development of the local tourism market.

Zhang Jizhong was nominated as a candidate for the 2007 Green Chinese Awards, an award ceremony run by the China Environment Culture Promotion Association.