Chinese and American executives have found plenty of things to discuss at the fourth annual U.S. China Film Summit in Los Angeles. The summit featured six panels of leading figures from the industry, sharing their experiences and strategies for the China market.
This year's U.S.-China Film Summit focused on two major aspects: how to make films in China and how to build effective relationships between the world's two biggest film markets.
"Here at the fourth annual US China Film Summit some of the most influential movers and shakers in the film industry from China and the US are sharing insights on recent advancements on Hollywood and China partnerships and collaborations," CCTV correspondent Kristie Hang said.
As China is soon to become the world's largest theatrical box office market, Hollywood’s eye is on China and is witnessing more development in U.S.-China co-productions. However, that does not mean Hollywood has figured out how to make films in China. Ellen Eliasoph, CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures Asia, shared her experience of movie making for the Chinese audience.
"I do view myself - and my colleagues do view themselves - as part of the Chinese audience because we really think that that’s the best way to insure that – well, it never insures that you’re going to have a blockbuster – but at least it’s a way to hopefully insure that you’ll make a movie that feels current, that feels engaging, that feels relatable for the Chinese audience. And then in terms of working with local crew and cast you have to fit yourself into their style of working. They definitely will be respectful if you’re a foreign filmmaker, especially somebody who has experience. Conversely though, you’ll be respectful to them if you want to succeed in the China market you’ll probably have an opportunity to learn from them as well," Ellen said.
If localization is a must-learn for Hollywood, then both sides have to openly exchange cultural and artistic opinions. The Summit’s keynote speaker, Greg Foster, suggested that all bilateral conversations are welcomed but Hollywood and Chinese companies need to work out issues quietly between themselves.
"There tends to be a lot of chest beating sometimes when there’re challenges and I think that often what works best is that when partnerships have discussions on the challenges privately and work them out instead of making everything a big, dramatic public media occurrence. I don’t that’s always necessary," Foster said.
In 2013, several Chinese movies tested the waters in the U.S., yet few made it into the domestic mainstream. Ivy Zhong, Vice President of Galloping Horse, said that the language is no longer the only barrier between China films and American audiences.
"They must learn the market here. Most people think that the Chinese movies that come here cannot sell at the box office is because the movie is not good. Actually I think it’s because they don’t know the market as well. They don’t realize that if you want to distribute a big movie the marketing fee is very high. I think at least 30 million – something like that. So they must learn. I think it still takes time," Zhong said.
Carrying the assets of former visual effects pioneer Digital Domain, Ivy Zhong was credited as the executive producer of the new blockbuster Ender's Game. With several projects being developed, she said making a good film for the international market never has a set formula.
"Even if we have a new animation movie, it"s actually a local movie, but we still try and find a good writer from here because they are good at the structure. So it totally depends on the projects," she said.
Though projects vary under different circumstances, there are some rules both sides could learn when it comes to investing in co-productions.
"China likes co-productions to be investments from both sides; and the story needs to be something that is valuable to China. After all, coproduction requires the movie to have a third of the main cast as Chinese. We need to find a middle ground where we can both equally invest in a product in a way that co-productions cater to the right market," Zhang Xun, President of China Film Co-Production Corporation, said.
With China expected to be the largest movie going population in five years you can expect to see more US Chinese collaborations in the future.
Source: CCTV
