The channelAPA.com team has met lots of people in entertainment in front of the camera and behind the scene. Recently, we had a chance to chat with movie producer, Dan Lin. You may not know his name, but we’re sure you’ve seen the films he’s helped get made including “The Departed”, “10,000 BC”, “The Aviator”, “Alexander”, “TMNT”, “Invasion”, “Unaccompanied Minors”, “Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed” and “Torque.”
He didn’t get there overnight. While he was working toward his Harvard MBA in 1999, he took an summer internship at Warner Bros. At the end of his internship, he was offered a position as creative executive, the lowest position as an executive at Warner Bros. From there, he climbed up the corporate ladder over the next 10 years. At that point he decided to transition from executive to producer, he wanted to work on less films, but go deeper with each one by building relationships with the on-screen talent and behind the scenes creatives.
Eventually, he created his own production company, Lin Pictures, based at Warner Bros. Since his company’s formation in 2008, Dan Lin has produced films that have grossed over $975 million in worldwide box office sales. In September 2008, he was already named one of Variety’s “10 Producers to Watch.”
One of the first films produced out of his company was the hit mystery thriller “Sherlock Holmes” (2009) starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Rachel McAdams under the direction of Guy Ritchie. “Sherlock Holmes” wasn’t an easy sell to get into production. He stated, “It was a period piece set in the 1800’s with actors speaking with British English accents. These were big obstacles to overcome.” Many directors passed on the films because they didn’t see the same vision as Lin. However, Guy Ritchie got the concept and added his own style to the production. The team were able to take the “buddy cop” film script and make it relevant to today’s audience. The moviegoers loved the film, which took in over $500 million worldwide on a production budget of about $90 million.
With the success, Dan Lin is hoping to turn this into a franchise. In the sequel, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”, the main characters are back, but the story goes more in-depth. Lin said, “We always wanted to go deeper on the second film with the characters, their family, their background story, and the archnemesis Moriaty. The buddy dynamics of Sherlock and Watson develops even more as the period movie is told in a contemporary way with dialogue, acting, and special effects.” One thing you’ll notice is use of a Phantom camera, which has the capability to capture fast paced action and playback at a super slow motion. Things like bullets and punches get a whole new look and effect with this camera where things are sped up and slowed down. In addition to this camera, a spider phantom camera was used in the sequel with the capability to move up to 70 mph and capable of shooting a different speeds. Ultimately, you get a visually stunning experience that doesn’t take away from the period, but keeps it modern with technology. Take a look at the trailer to get a peek of this technology.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows featurette
You can get tickets to “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” on Fandango or movietickets.com.
With his achievements, Dan Lin continues to give back to the Asian American entertainment community. Lin serves on the Board of Directors for the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and is a mentor for both the Producer’s Guild of America and the Center for Asian American Media. Additionally, he is currently producing “Gangster Squad,” a period crime drama, starring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and slated for release in Fall 2012. He is also producing the animated “Lego” movie, being written and directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. He also has a number of projects in development, including “Gods and Kings,” “Godzilla,” “Yucatan,” and “ACME.”
