Lanyang River Youth was the first work he directed. Cheng didn't betray any of the nervous jitters of a rookie. "I'd worked many times as a script supervisor and producer, and I'd shot commercials and documentaries. The basic skills were there."
《蘭陽溪少年》雖是鄭文堂首次執導，但他完全沒有新手的慌張失措，「畢竟我場記、製片都當過，廣告和紀錄片也拍過一大堆，『基本功』算是夠紮實吧！」