Overwork, tension, competition, insecurity, office politics.
Sound familiar? Then you'll enjoy From Nine to None, a new
Chinese TV series about the Shanghai - and the universal -
workplace. Shooting is underway, Shanghai Daily
reported.
Nine to five are the traditional office working hours, but more
and more stressed white-collar professionals are used to longer
hours and working overtime. Their hours are more like nine to
"none."
Stories about work - the serious, the funny, the bittersweet,
above all the true-to-life - will be told in the new TV drama
From Nine to None, which started shooting last Wednesday.
It will begin airing late this year.
The TV series explores the heavy workload, driving ambition,
stress, tension and, of course, the ever-present office politics of
the workplace.
"Naturally, white-collar office workers with decent position and
enviable salary are the envy of many," says Yip Chiu-yee, director
of the drama. "But what we want to explore are the depression,
puzzlement and insecurity beneath their glorious appearance."
College students, new graduates and those just entering the
workplace will be key segments of the target audience.
The drama is the latest offering from the newly founded TV drama
production company of the Shanghai Film Group Corp. Hong Kong actor
Frankie Lam and the mainland actress Zeng Li will play a dating
couple - Jin Luyi and Peng Jingying who are both ambitious,
forceful and successful in their careers.
Zeng is known for her impressive performance as a tender woman
who is unable to defy the destiny in the late designer/artist Chen
Yifei's film The Music Box. Now for the first time she
plays bai gu jing, an evil sprite in the classic novel Journey
to the West. Now the term is widely used to describe the
"white-collar elite." Zeng plays a powerful senior executive. Her
ambitious lover tries to manipulate her.
?
"It is different from my former roles," Zeng says. "I have to
showcase both her competence and strength at work and her
femininity within."
Other characters also suffer from a heavy workload, continuing
tension and long-standing, intricate office politics, an
unavoidable fact of working life nowadays.
A veteran in TV drama filmmaking, Yip has participated in
directing many popular sitcoms set against a metropolitan backdrop
for Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) in Hong Kong, such as
The Greed of Man and Looking Back to Anger.
"People living in the modern fast-paced city, whether Shanghai
or Hong Kong, share similar emotions and pressures," Yip adds.
He says shooting will last for about two months and include
Shanghai's landmark office buildings and the Bridge 8, a creative
industrial park.
Contestants in the star-making TV show My Hero and
Timothy Chao, a host of the popular talk show Work Stuff,
will be guest performers.
Producer Zhang Wei says the boom in many entertainment
alternatives has made Chinese TV dramas less popular among the
young generation. The question is how many young people actually
watch TV these days.
"We hope to draw their attention back to Chinese TV dramas
through a work that is based on their real-life experiences and can
resonate with anyone who seeks the fine balance between work and
family," Zhang says.
New college graduates who will soon embark on a promising career
are also targeted audience of the series.
"There are still few TV productions to help young people know
the world outside the 'ivory tower'," Zhang adds. "This program
prepares students to be familiar with knowledge and skills of
working."
Television is not the only platform for the TV series as it will
also collaborate with Love Radio 103.7 and www.metroer.com to present its
special radio/online editions. The cast of the drama, including the
scriptwriter and director, will talk about office working with
local audiences.
(Shanghai Daily July 3, 2007)