The Reel Enjoyment of Life— Lunch with Nansun Shi, Renowned Film Producer

Sometimes the most meaningful and inspiring conversations happen over casual meals. The Time Auction Blog is a snippet of our meetings with people who have found passion in their life and career, where we get a glimpse into their mentality behind their ventures.

Esteemed producer and Chairman of Distribution Workshop, Nansun is behind blockbuster hits like The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate and The Taking of Tiger Mountain. She was awarded the Best Independent Producer Award at the 67th Locarno Film Festival and the Golden Mulberry Life Achievement Award at the 17th Udine Far East Film Festival.In addition to her contribution to the film industry, she is also involved in the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, and serves as Vice Chairman of the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation.

Over lunch, Nansun shared about how she got into the film industry, and personal advice about how we can create our own opportunities and enjoy life to the fullest.

What is your life motto?

Be curious. Stay curious. If you’re curious, you’re interested in things. If you’re not curious, you might as well not be here.

Do you think that your career was a product of chance?

Yes, chance is about luck.

But you create your own chances. You create the situations where it could possibly happen.

If you let it go, then it won’t happen. If I decided to work with computers after I graduated, I wouldn’t have had those chances. I told myself, “I’m not going to go into the computer room and be isolated from the society. I’m going to do something that will allow me to understand how Hong Kong works as quickly as possible.” And then I went to person A, he referred me to person B, and so on. I helped myself to create this “luck.”

What is one habit that has significantly improved your life?

I finish things ahead of time. At first, since I was very lazy, I wanted to finish quickly and go play. Turns out that if you finish what’s on your plate, you’ll immediately be given more to do! But it’s for your own good, as you get more experience much faster.

If you were to give a lesson on a topic unrelated to your career, what would it be?

How to enjoy life. I love to go to places, see things, I love to eat, cook… Enjoying life!

What is one message or action you would like everyone to take away from this meeting?

I don’t want to sound ominous, but every day is so precious. You only get one day and it never repeats. And you’re so young, you don’t realize how fast it goes. Really treasure every day you have because it will go by very quickly, mark my words!

Thank you Nansun for donating lunch, and thanks to everyone who volunteered and took part in raising 131 volunteer hours to We Fight, AFS International Exchange, Scout Association of Hong Kong, Food Angel, Hands On Hong Kong and more. Big thank you to Dorsett Hospitality International for your generous sponsorship!

For more amazing opportunities, visit Time Auction to volunteer and meet inspiring mentors