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Is This The Most Elaborate Wes Anderson Job Application Ever?

If this doesn't get an aspiring filmmaker hired, then we should all give up and delete our LinkedIn accounts

Last week, The Creators Project received a somewhat suspect email from a media artist living in Germany named Youyou Yang. She told us that she was doing an art project regarding Wes Anderson's upcoming full-length, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which recently filmed in Görlitz, Germany, despite what the film's title might suggest.

Yang explained that she made a "peculiar job application" in hopes of getting Anderson's attention for a future film gig. Her subsequent explanation was so elaborate and damn-right creative that we suspected it was the film studio pulling one of the most intricate marketing stunts we'd ever heard (though the Devil Baby stunt from last week was certainly interesting), even though there was some coverage of the "application" on other sites.

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After we sent Yang some follow-up questions, though, we have to admit--this may not be a gimmick, and Wes Anderson should consider hiring this young artist ASAP. Let us explain…

Using leftover set pieces and collected anecdotes from local Görlitz residents who worked on the film, Yang created four, unauthorized trailers for The Grand Budapest Hotel (seemingly without breaking any copyright laws) that keep Anderson's unmistakable aesthetic style in tact.

The "trailers" are quick clips in which an anonymous chemist/doctor/archaeologist takes "samples" from antiquated-looking jars and "archaeological relics" from Gorlitz (which are marked with labels including various actors' names from the actual film--Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and so on…) and examines them under a microscope.

From the microscope's perspective, the zoomed in "data" turns into film clips that look like quick cuts from Anderson's own B-roll archive: tight shots, anachronistic-yet-stylish furniture, and parlor room music. Understandbly, there are no recognizable actors, songs by The Kinks, or Anderson's signature pan-shot. Again, Yang maintains the director's infamous artistic sensibilities without directly ripping him off or including actual material from the film.

In addition to the four fake trailers, Yang

created a website

that includes photos of her collected relics, a diary of her ambitious endeavor to get the director's attention, and other ephemera that stay consistent with Anderson's distinctive color palette and penchant for cursive.

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The Creators Project asked her a few questions about her project. While Wes Anderson is yet to be in touch with Yang, she's hopeful that they will collaborate in the future. We hope so, too.

Keep reading for our discussion with the precocious artist. We're still a little suspicious that her project is too clean, but based on our conversation we'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt. If this isn't the best job application ever, we don't know what else it takes to get hired in the film industry these days.

Youyou Yang: Everybody knows how difficult to reach Wes Anderson personally. I met him briefly last year during the shooting time in Gorlitz. I asked him to look my first work (by then I just started to work on videos), but he was too busy at that time.

Officially, I don't think he or his crew knows about the project. I sent an email to one of his assistants I found on LinkedIn, but I didn't get any reply. I also got inquires from the German co-operation company during the time I was doing the research in Gorlitz last summer. After I promised them that I'm not going to reveal any photos/videos of the set and stories from the extras, they stopped contacting me.

I have the same concerns as you. I don't want to make Wes Anderson and the company angry. That is the reason why the trailers are even more mysterious than the official trailers. I could easily leak the stories I got from Gorlitz, but that would hurt both works--his and mine. It was a big challenge to work with facts, but not reveal anything, and at the same time keep the possibility to trace it back to the film.

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I'm interested to see the audiences' reflection to my project after the movie released. I really have to clarify that I'm doing it with good will. And I think everyone would like to see a sweet ending to my story.

If this is your job application for Mr. Anderson, what would be your ideal position working for him? Becoming his assistant? Art director? 

Some of my friends have the same question. First of all, this bizarre and maybe "naive" job application would have totally failed for other directors, but it might work for Wes Anderson. I don't know how the film industry work, so I'm showing my creative abilities with this project. I'm sure he doesn't need anyone who works as a first-class specialist (lighting, sound, graphics--he has those roles filled), and I'm not qualified for those positions.

But as you mentioned below, you first suspected that it's a marketing stunt. I'm quite flattered, which means they could have paid me to do this. So if he does want to hire me, I'll tell him I'm not going to start as an intern because I already did.

Personally, I'm more interested in the new ways/possibilities in terms of promotion/media circulation/getting specific attention in a good way.

Do you have any earlier projects available online that I could see? What else have you worked on before this? 

I have one project that I can show to you, called Time Machine. Before that I didn't work with videos, I studied industrial design, which is one of the reasons why I didn't make my job application through the normal procedures. It wouldn't work in that way.

@zachsokol