Meet Zhongbo Ren

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zhongbo Ren. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Zhongbo, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

For me, as a production designer for film, I’m always facing different challenges or difficulties in various film projects that I did. For example, the budget, time limitation, or rising problems from other departments. Most of the time, I will try my best to solve those problems. But sometimes, I must make some sacrifices to guarantee the entire project is going well and not dive into too much detail at the beginning. Thinking about the whole project from a macroscopic perspective and dividing the entire script or project into several pieces will be very helpful in overcoming creativity blocks. Hence, I could clearly know which part that I need to spend most of my creativity and more energy to design. I could focus on the main problem or challenge first, rather than thinking about thousand of problems or ideas at the same time.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My name is Zhongbo Ren and I grew up immersed in traditional painting from an early age. I have always loved creating and painting to express my life and imagination. It is part of the reason why I want to become a production designer. Since moving to Los Angeles, I have worked on a variety of short films and music videos and new media projects, acting as either production designer or art director. My projects have been recognized for multiple awards, including an Apex Short Film Award, and La Shorts Award, among others.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The first important quality would be the cooperative spirit of the group, especially in the film industry, There are tons of crew members from each department working on different sets every day. In the art department, we have a construction team, set decoration team, prop team, art team, etc. Some people we might meet or know before, but most of the crews will be fresh. And we are all working on the same goal, which is making the film better. Therefore, it is crucial that we have the ability to work with different people. There might be misunderstandings or miscommunication happening on set. But we should try to solve the problem or manage it together, rather than blaming other people.

Obviously, the second one would be communication skills. Because we face different people every day. Making sure the information is understood correctly and communicated clearly is the key in film industry. Don’t afraid to ask if something is unclear.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

For me, I’d like to take a deep breath at outside. Especially, getting closer to the nature, like ocean, forest, or some places that could help me to clear my mind and refresh my brain. Also, it is a really good way to solve the creative block issue. Because It is really easier to draw a clear line on an empty paper, instead of drawing a line on a paper full of scribble notes. I’d like to re-start my thoughts when I feel overwhelmed. It much easier for me to find the source of the issue and figure it out quickly. Other than that, I’d like to do exercise to keep me energetic to confront various problems.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zhongbo-ren.com/
• Instagram: zhongbo_ren
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhongbo-ren-29961226a/