China’s box office gets set for the ride

“Revenue from China’s box office sales is only second to box office revenue in the US,” said Zhou Li, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily Asia Pacific. China’s box office generated $6.8 billion last year, still trailing the $11 billion in the US but growing faster.
Zhou was speaking on March 16 at the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable held during the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (Filmart) to discuss the opportunities brought about by the globalization of China’s film industry.
It was telling that the event was held in Hong Kong, which has long played a role as a bridge and a financing center.
“Hong Kong has, in the last 30 or 40 years, been preparing itself for the emerging market of China,” said Wilfred Wong Ying-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. “Hong Kong has been and will always be a hub.”
Wong believes Hong Kong is a natural gathering point for the industry, something the Asian Film Awards Academy, of which he is also chairman, aims to support by promoting “collaboration between people and filmmakers … we need to make sure these films can reach the audience”.
China’s own audience is increasingly important to filmmakers. Between 2010 and 2015, box office revenues grew 353 percent, said Michael Ellis, president and managing director for Asia Pacific with the Motion Picture Association.
“Get ready for the ride,” said Ellis, who called for a more even playing field for domestic and foreign films, fewer restrictions and longer screen times — Chinese films typically air for 47 days compared to 30 for foreign ones. One way to get past these barriers is to work together, as South Korea is doing. A new free trade agreement is also helping.
“Cooperation between China and Korea has stepped up recently,” said Park Keun-tae, CEO and president for China at CJ Group, which produces and distributes films through its CJ E&M division and has operations in China and parts of Southeast Asia.
“The culture content business is one of the driving forces of the international economy. Our core focus is to localize based on our knowledge, our culture and IT,” said Park.
“Localization takes into consideration the local culture.”
China’s film industry is still in the process of maturing. Ma Runsheng, vice-president of the China Television Drama Production Industry Association, pointed out that compared to Hollywood, the film industry is still weak.
“A lot of money does not mean that it is very mature,” he said. “China, as far as the film industry is concerned, is still a developing market, not a developed market.
“We have reached an age of huge expansion, rapid expansion,” Ma added.
The industry should continue to evolve thanks to both private and government efforts that include new policies to eliminate licenses, remove the need for pre-screening by government censors and better regulate advertising.
While filmmakers from abroad are looking for more exposure in China, the opposite is also true. Film festivals can help drive this mutual exposure.
There are more than 3,000 film festivals around the world but just two official events in the Chinese mainland, said Jeane Huang, former director of the Taipei Film Festival.
“Film festivals are a perfect window to other cultures,” said Huang. “For filmmakers, (festivals) are a perfect place for networking or to show your work.”

In the 1980s, Thai audiences would go to see any Chinese films, most of which were made in Hong Kong, said Kriengsak Victor Silakong, director of the World Film Festival of Bangkok. That quickly changed in the 1990s, however, when the popularity of Chinese films declined.
Thailand is making 50 or 60 films annually, some in cooperation with other Asian countries. The problem there is access to theaters, with just two big chains controlling virtually all screens.
“We must know more what are the needs and the likes of local audiences,” said Amy Liu, a member of the organizing committee office of the Beijing International Film Festival. “This is very helpful for Chinese films to go international.”
This internationalization of Chinese films is key but difficult to achieve.
“When we speak of the internationalization of film and the opportunities it brings, we must know that films are very unique products,” said Chen Bin, senior vice-president of DMG YinJi Film, Television, Entertainment & Media Company.
“Catching up is not our aim. We aim to surpass,” Chen said. “We cooperate with any filmmakers that will give us a way into the world.”
The growth of the industry can certainly be a boon for companies that can tap into it, said Hao Bin, executive director and chairman of SMI Culture Group, one of China’s largest filmmakers.
“The Chinese film industry has benefitted from government policies that stimulate rapid growth,” said Hao. At the same time, “there is a huge population of consumers and this is a huge bonus for the industry”.
A third factor driving growth, he said, is a large pool of writers, producers, filmmakers and other talent.
“We are learning from each other, Hollywood and us,” Hao said. “As an investor, we focus first of all on our domestic market. Second, we want our films to be distributed on the international market.”
One example of a successful film in China is The Mermaid, which broke box office records since opening last month and became the highest grossing Chinese film of all time, but has had limited reach abroad.
Eventually the Chinese market will overtake the US but when that happens is less important, said CT Yip, executive director of the Media Asia Group.
“There is no question that we will become the number one market. The question is what happens after,” Yip said. “Everyone has their eyes on the number one prize. And growth is likely to be a two-way affair.
“Hollywood goes to China and China goes to Hollywood. This is a dual thing,” said Yip. “Capital goes where the market is.”
A word of caution, he said, is that economic growth does not always translate into art — and movies — with global appeal.
Wanda Media is trying to minimize the problems that this lack of correlation creates by investing in high-quality content creators while also tapping into universal values.
Cary Cheng, deputy general manager at Wanda Media, said: “If we excel in the pan-China market this is good enough. This has been a target for Wanda for a few years and we have had good results.”
The company funded and produced the movie Southpaw (2015), about a boxer played by Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal, to good success.
“Last year, the focus (of this forum) was ‘opportunities and challenges’. This year we only have opportunities,” said Li Yansong, president of iQIYI Motion Pictures.
The numbers bear this out, he said, but production and distribution channels are as important as content. Big-budget Chinese films don’t always sell very well, for the time being, even if the domestic market is big enough to generate profits.
“The Chinese film industry is certainly developing very fast and on a scale that is attracting the attention of the world,” Li added.

Source: http://www.chinadailyasia.com/2016-03/18/content_15403160.html