Interview Social entrepreneur Rachel Wang
Specialising in video production for the arts and heritage industries, Wang works with major museums, galleries and theatres all over the world. Through Chocolate Films workshop programme, she is also an advocate for improving diversity among the next generation of filmmakers.
Her impressive exploits don’t stop there – she is also a trustee for the recently refurbished National Portrait Gallery and the co-creator of 1000 Londoners, a large-scale video portrait of London you can expect to see more of next year.
THE WICK: Tell us about your typical Monday.
Rachel Wang: There is no typical Monday for me but I relish being flexible; I need to be agile in my position at Chocolate Films, and in my voluntary work. Today, I am hosting some super successful Black women who are coming to Nine Elms Studio to film for a social campaign. I will also be filmed so I need to think of hair and what to wear! Last week, I was preparing to go to Hamburg where I have been curating a year-long knowledge exchange programme, entitled the Relevant Museum, which brings together curators and directors from 18 museums and galleries across Northern Europe. My evenings are spent with the family and after the kids go to bed, I like to play piano; I am practising for my Grade 5.
TW: How do you hope to grow and develop the Nine Elms Studio?
RW: The studio launched earlier this year and we’ve had some amazing shoots in there already, not just for our work but for shoots with some really exciting photographers and directors. The dream is to build it into a hybrid space, which is used for professional shoots during the week and hosts workshops for children and young people at weekends.
TW: How do you think film as a medium can impact lives and be a force for good?
RW: Our vision at Chocolate Films is to empower people to express themselves through film. Chocolate Films collaborates with arts and cultural organisations to bring their stories to life. We use our profits to enable us to run filmmaking workshops where we train disadvantaged young people in filmmaking skills. Enabling underrepresented people to have a voice is a starting point to a more balanced society, where a range of perspectives are heard and shared.
TW: What is on your cultural radar?
RW:
Right now, I’m reading See What You’re Missing by Will Gompertz. I’m interviewing him at Wimbledon Bookfest this Friday, so I’m reading it in some detail. It’s a fascinating book about the way we see the world through art.
As a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, my cultural radar always centres around our wonderful permanent exhibitions. Jann Haworth and Liberty Blake have created an epic collaborative piece of work celebrating women that is so bold and inspiring. It features an image I created as part of the project, of the amazing Maggie Aderin-Pocock.
The Royal College of Art has an incredible research project of redefining age called the Design Age Institute. We have been a strategic partner in the creation of the video content over this three-year project and I am keen to highlight positive healthy ageing in the arts for 2024 and beyond.
I’m going to see the premiere of Ali Catterall’s film Scala about the King’s Cross cinema at the BFI this weekend, which I’m very excited about.
“Enabling underrepresented people to have a voice is a starting point to a more balanced society.”
