Zhang + Knight: A different approach

As a directing duo that is mixed gender, both of whom are gay and one half of which is of Asian descent, Linden Zhang and Hannah Knight, better known as Friend London directing duo Zhang + Knight, have a unique view of diversity within the advertising industry.

Here they candidly discuss how sexuality, gender and race has impacted on the work they do and how their identities - as individuals and as a team - can work both for them and, at times, against.

How has being queer, female or Asian impacted the kind of work you make? 

HK: It’s a tricky one to know for sure! But I feel like, as a queer person, you don't always feel like the world reflects you back. It’s something I’ve always been very aware of. A prominent aspect of our work is the settings, specifically the worlds that we craft: they are often otherworldly and dreamlike, and could not be more detached from reality. We’re unintentionally drawn to these fantasy playgrounds where colour and light are far more vivid, and the costumes are incredible. So, I wonder if we’ve gravitated towards a visual escapism so that our characters get to occupy ‘other’ spaces, where the rules and expectations are much more fluid and free. Spaces where they can be comfortable and liberated? 

I wonder if we’ve gravitated towards a visual escapism so that our characters get to occupy ‘other’ spaces, where the rules and expectations are much more fluid and free.

LZ: I have an interesting thought, actually. I think that queer people grow up quite guarded. There’s a fear that opening up and expressing yourself could be dangerous. The characters in our films don’t need to say a lot because the worlds we build for them are designed to communicate how they’re feeling on the inside. A melancholic blue room says everything about how a character is feeling. So, maybe we have carried across our own experience into our work, not with words but with image and colour. Our characters might be ‘guarded’, but the audience still gets to share in what they’re experiencing. For me, in that respect, style really is substance. You can say incredibly complicated things with visuals and aesthetic. 

Above: Linden Zhang, left, and Hannah Knight.

How has your experience as minorities informed the way you work as directors? 

LZ: I think if you grow up female or queer, you go into most situations and assume a hostile reaction. You always fear people aren’t going to listen to you, or respect you. You’re not seen as a traditional figure of authority. And I think, subconsciously, to protect ourselves, we started going into shoots insanely preplanned, with an anoraky level of detail. We will often make extremely technical booklets filled with scale diagrams detailing EVERYTHING pertaining to the shoot: where each cast member is going to be stood in each shot, exactly where the props should be placed, which colour of lighting gels we’ll want to use.You always have this irrefutable thing you can return to.  

If you grow up female or queer, you go into most situations and assume a hostile reaction.

HK: Yeah, it's less scary if you can just present a technical masterplan. It’s like prepping to be attacked or challenged by the people around you. Definitely, as a woman, all of your decisions are constantly questioned and triple checked by people, and it’s a big problem. Like, I'm a 20-something-year-old woman, who am I to go up to a 40-year-old member of crew who has been doing this for decades and be like, "Oh, I think we need to build it this way, actually!"? They're not gonna respond well to that. But if you’ve got a really thorough document to back you up it gives you credibility - you’ve done the homework and they can’t argue with that. It's a way of protecting yourself from people's natural biases. 

LZ: Nobody can refute the crazy masterplan!

Above: Zhang + Knight's short film for Dazed magazine, Qween's Speech.

You both have different identities with some crossover, how is your work different together than it would be apart? 

LZ: I think one of the most exciting things about getting to work together is the vastness of experience that we both bring to the table that one alone would not have. And I think that is exciting. I feel very lucky, it was never something I went looking for. 

One of my favourite things about being in a duo is that you get such a deep understanding and immersion in someone else's experience.

HK: Yeah, I mean, one of my favourite things about being in a duo is that you get such a deep understanding and immersion in someone else's experience. Like, I have a much more developed understanding of what it feels like to be racially displaced in the UK because of projects we've made together. And I think just as personal development and growth as a person, that's something to be cherished in a big way. 

Above: A film for Vogue celebrating Pride, directed by Zhang + Knight.

How has being in a duo (rather than solo directors) affected your experience of discrimination in the industry?

HK: I feel very strongly about this because I think, definitely for me, as a woman, I've managed to sidestep a lot of discrimination that I know a lot of other female directors face. Being in a duo can act as a kind of protective armour for certain scenarios. A location manager might not shake my hand and only talk to you because I’m a woman. But in those scenarios I can just send you in to handle it, and a solo female director can’t.  

Maybe I should fully face up to the discrimination but it is easier not to, and it's tiring.

LZ: Ugh, that’s so sad, but so true. There's definitely a privilege we have in working together. When you're working you just want to get the job done at all costs, right? If you’re a solo female director you might be forced to scream to make yourself heard, and it’s very messed up. Thinking about it, there’ve been incidents that we’ve confronted with, people ignoring you, or only talking to me about technical stuff, and I hugely regret not calling those people out on that in the moment.

HK: I don’t think that's anything to feel bad about. I think we're just there to get the job done as efficiently as possible. I don't have the battle scars of a lot of female directors who have had to go through the crap, because I know that people will to listen to you. I can stand quietly in the shadows and get on with my job. Maybe I should fully face up to the discrimination but it is easier not to, and it's tiring. It's always minor stuff. It's always like, this construction person will ignore everything I say, and only talk to the producer. But it's just so draining and so debilitating. And I don't know whether to feel bad or whether to feel lucky about having the option to shield myself from that.

Above: The duo's promo for London Grammar's Lose Your Head.

What could we all be doing better when it comes to representation in advertising? 

HK: I can't speak from any other perspectives than that of a director, but I think pushing for diverse casting when everyone is telling you to not do it, and not giving up until you literally have to, is something every single director should be doing. We’ve worked with some really incredible creatives, really great agencies who are on the same page, and they will push and they will push and they will push as well. But meaningful change isn’t going to happen unless everyone pushes. That's something you do have some control over as the director. I think that's a moral responsibility of a director nowadays, to really push that quite hard.  

More than anything else, as a director, it's your responsibility to say that casting is the hill, I am willing to die on.

LZ: Yes! I think when you go into the making of the film, more than anything else, as a director, it's your responsibility to say that casting is the hill, I am willing to die on. Because it's so hard. Commercials are really complex, you have so many moving parts, you have so many people you have to please, you're making a product for a client, and it has to be great, and it has to work for them. It's so so easy to feel very overwhelmed by it all and give in. I think casting is fundamental. If you're there and and you're trying to put forward a really great, diverse cast, and people aren't getting it or aren't seeing why that's so important, you really have to like stick your heels in the mud.