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The upcoming 2nd installment of the Sherlock Holmes series, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the intellectual and iconic buddy film starring Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr., splashes across screens tomorrow.

Dan Lin who also produced the first film along with Joel Silver, Susan Downey and Lionel Wigram, all return with his cast including Rachel McAdams and of course the uber-cool Guy Ritchie who reclaims the directorial chair for this go-around as well.

I had a brief chat with Dan Lin, who brings to light his own skyrocketing career. Lin is part of a new guard of Hollywood power players. As the CEO of his own production company, Lin Pictures, formed in 2008, he already has an exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. Lin is excited to bring the latest Holmes/Watson gang to the big screen again.

Oh and did I mention that he is only 38? Yup.

As a Taiwanese-American, Dan's similarity with the South Asian community is in the recognition of the inherent cultural challenges when pursuing a job that is outside of the expected vocational and traditional norms. Of course his family had hesitations, when he landed himself at the studio lots, with his freshly-minted Harvard MBA degree.

Thanks to an internship program between his first and second year at Harvard Business School, he was quickly taken under the wings of producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers) who immediately hired him 1999, literally the "next day" upon graduating from the prestigious academic institution. Along with further mentoring by Warner Bros. execs, Jeff Robinov (the current President of Warner Brothers Motion Pictures Division) and Alan Horn (who served as the Warner Brothers President and COO), Lin was clearly in good hands. Laying the groundwork for a pretty remarkable career.

Lin quickly rose to becoming Senior Vice President of Production for Warner Bros. Pictures. During his eight years, he oversaw the development and production of such films as Martin Scorsese's The Departed and The Aviator; Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC; and Oliver Stone's Alexander. The Hollywood trades, quickly realized that they had something very special budding in their midst and in 2005, The Hollywood Reporter included him in their "Next Generation List", quickly followed by Variety naming him as one of their "10 Producers to Watch" in 2008. Not bad.


Now armed with his latest project, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Lin is excited to bring back the iconic buddy flick, introducing the historic characters to a newer generation as well as reuniting them to their die-hard Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fans. Shot on entirely in London U.K, the film itself, takes place in France, Germany and Switzerland, the famous detective along with his pal, Dr. Watson, have to deal with their new nemesis, Professor James Moriarty (played by Jared Harris), an intellectual match to the duo. With a global industrial plotline, the latest flick continues to reinvigorate the Holmes/Watson chemistry.

As a producer at the helm of his own production company Lin has a pretty straightforward three-part formula, when considering new projects. "The Hero has a clear call to action. The Hero enters an exciting new world, and there's a clear aspirational theme."

He equates his role in the entire film as a "COO" where the director is the CEO. As for both Sherlock Holmes movies, his duties are more akin to laying the tracks for the cinematic vehicle. "Producers are involved with the movie from the beginning," Lin explains. "From the germ of an idea to the very end." With the first Sherlock Holmes film, Lin noted that it all started with a graphic novel. "My partner Lionel Wingram had a graphic novel made on [Sherlock Holmes]. I was an executive at the time and I bought it and brought it to the studio. [Lionel] invited me to produce the movie. Then we got a great script and decided to hire Guy Ritchie, who rewrote the script. Then went to Joel Silver, Susan Downey and Robert who all joined forces to make Sherlock one."

Currently Lin is in production with a few more films including Gangster Squad with Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone — which is slated for a Fall 2012 release; an animated "Lego" movie, "Gods and Kings"  and "Godzilla".

What about Bollywood? Well he was that close. "I'm always open to Bollywood stars and film makers" Lin enthused. " [We] are doing a remake of The Bodyguard set in China and we have an Asian star playing the female lead. We met some actors from Bollywood just in case the story was going to be based in India."

When it comes to following his passion in an unconventional career, far from the standard doctor, lawyer or engineer as part of the family culture of Asians and South Asians, Lin is adamant about being proactive with respect to mentoring future Asian story tellers. "They prefer that you take the more professional career like a doctor and lawyer, going to Hollywood is not very encouraged." Lin explains. "I'm hoping to serve as a mentor that if they have a story they are dying to tell, there is another track they can take."

His advice to budding film makers? It's having healthy doses of imagination and work ethics. "Hollywood is race blind. [It's all about] who can tell the most compelling stories in the most interesting way possible. You have to take a risk in Hollywood. I had to start at the bottom. If it's truly your passion in life, you have to take a risk."

BY: HINA P. ANSARI / POSTED DECEMBER 15, 2011