Archive for the ‘China Industry News’ Category
China film law won’t be ready for March
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News on September 8th, 2010
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i5d86cb3297fb74c58f3e40406fc6f7ac
Compliance with WTO ruling still up in the air
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Although the long-awaited draft of the China Movie Industry Promotion Law and the Dec. 2009 WTO ruling are not formally linked, the draft’s delay in the highest levels of China’s one-party government signals its cabinet’s continued central role in how Chinese and visiting filmmakers are to be allowed to make money in the movie business here. “The film law cannot come as fast as March,” La Peikang, deputy director general of the Film Bureau, said. La, answering questions on Wednesday in a forum about internationalizing La said the State Council, which oversees the State Administration of Radio Film and Television — of which his Film Bureau is a part — is reviewing the draft movie law carefully before handing it down to the NPC. “We will do it as soon as possible in our long process of lawmaking,” said La, a chief author of the draft. If passed, the draft would be the first law governing the film business in China. La said it would address barriers to market entry, industry administration, movie promotion and the protection of the domestic film industry. In the absence of a law, China’s soaring ticket sales, its cinema construction boom, its increasingly lucrative movie imports and its maturing distribution networks are governed by circulars and regulations that exist as guidance from Beijing and fall outside the jurisdiction of the country’s courts. These vaguely-worded documents have long left the power to determine what films get made, where they are shown and by whom firmly in the central government’s hands. In what appeared to some to signal a loosening, SARFT in July published a circular that said provincial level media regulators now can grant permits to filmmakers, La said. Previously, producers had to seek Beijing’s stamp of approval for their film’s content if they hoped to see it screen in China. La said SARFT officials meant the July circular to reduce the time it takes private companies to start filming, speeding the growth of the industry, where ticket sales were already up more than 80% from Jan. to June. As China’s wealth spreads – its economy is now the world’s second largest – 500 films will be made this year, up from 80 or fewer in 2002. While some in the industry have wondered aloud if the July SARFT circular might be a loosening of Beijing’s reins, La told the audience at the annual Beijing Screenings, “Those films of great importance and on important topics will still come to the Film Bureau in Beijing.” SARFT has rebuffed film ratings common in the West and Hong Kong, and its censors routinely offer “feedback” or reject scripts outright on vague grounds that their content bucks Beijing’s notion of a “harmonious society.” “SARFT’s Film Bureau realizes we must make great efforts to fulfill the requirements of the State Council,” La said. “Quality is the greatest concern.” When asked by a Chinese director in the forum audience about a connection between film censorship and the country’s lack of a ratings system, La said: “We do not need a ratings system to solve the sex and violence problem.” La’s questioner, director Feng Ke, is an NYU Film School Graduate whose independently produced debut feature “Letters from Death Row” follows a small-time crook as he records the last wishes of death row inmates. Although it was not shown in China, it was an official selection of the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2008. Trying to engage La in discussion, Feng was interrupted repeatedly by forum moderator Zhou Tiedong, president of China Film Promotion International, the sales arm of the state-run China Film Group. In front of at least three reporters for overseas media organizations, Zhou invited Feng to contact La privately. Also in attendance was Mike Ellis, the Motion Picture Assn.’s Asia managing director. Hong Kong-based Ellis said the MPA respects each country’s right to regulate its own film industry, but he questioned if censorship in the place of ratings was good for business. “Is that type of control that allows the artistic freedom to reach your audience? That’s a business decision and I’m very encouraged that there are now more Chinese film studios looking at this as a business with risks and returns.” Ellis declined to offer the MPA’s views on China’s progress toward compliance with the WTO ruling, which gives China until March to open its market to overseas greater participation in the distribution of copyrighted filmed entertainment. |
Chinese firms look to team up with Hollywood
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News, Studio/Network News, United States Industry News on September 6th, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090302853.html
Washington Post Staff Writer
BEIJING - When Scarlett Johansson strode across the screen in “Iron Man 2,” she was wearing a form-fitting outfit made by Semir, a Chinese brand and an official sponsor of the blockbuster movie this spring.
That wasn’t the first example of Chinese firms getting in on the Hollywood product placement game. In last year’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” a highway billboard featured another Chinese sportswear company, Metersbonwe.
“More and more Chinese brands would like to get their products placed” in Hollywood films, said Ben Ji, head of Angel Wings Entertainment and the man behind getting Semir clothes into “Iron Man 2.” His goal: to get a Chinese car in a James Bond film.
Product placement is just one example of China’s new love affair with Hollywood. Chinese production companies are looking to partner with Hollywood firms to make films and manage China’s growing number of theaters. Rumors persist that a Chinese company - spurred by the government, which wants to extend the country’s “soft power” into the cultural sphere - is on the prowl to buy a U.S. film studio.
The affection is not unrequited. Hollywood producers and directors are flocking to China, looking for scripts, locales and potential investors for the growing number of Chinese and Hollywood “co-productions.”
“I run into Hollywood executives here every week,” said Jonathan Landreth, the Beijing-based correspondent for the Hollywood Reporter.
After recent co-productions such as “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” China and Hollywood collaborated this year on the hugely successful “The Karate Kid,” starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, and “Shanghai,” with John Cusack, Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat (which premiered in Beijing in June to lackluster reviews).
In what would be the biggest - meaning costliest - co-produced movie, the U.S. company Hollywood MovieWorks has teamed with Beijing entrepreneur Sheng Boyu, 30, to make “Double Lives,” a film about a modern-day treasure hunt for two ancient Chinese swords. The film will star Pierce Brosnan and will be directed by Rob Cohen of “The Mummy,” who first became enamored with China when he directed “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.”
“Double Lives” has a $100 million budget, and Sheng said the Chinese side and Hollywood will approach it as equals.
“Our ratio is 50-50,” said Sheng, looking the part of a Hollywood producer in black suit, open-neck black shirt and black Gucci loafers. “My cooperation with Hollywood is an equal cooperation. I think it’s a trend that future filmmakers will cooperate and make more co-produced films, and Chinese audiences will enjoy the best of both Chinese and American filmmaking.”
For Chinese filmmakers, Hollywood offers the chance to produce on a wider stage for international audiences and break out of the familiar niche of martial arts films.
For Hollywood, the reason for the sudden interest in China might be described as more mercenary. Hollywood traditionally runs on other people’s money - and China has a lot of cash to spread around these days.
“Hollywood would figure out how to shoot in Greenland if they offered the right financial incentive,” said Larry Gerbrandt, principal of Media Valuation Partners, a Los Angeles firm that studies the economics of the entertainment industry. “Between the collapse of hedge fund financing and the grinding U.S. recession, coupled with the capital crunch, it has been extremely difficult to fund new productions. To the extent that China offers lower production costs and experienced local talent, that helps.”
Monica Chuo, a Los Angeles-based producer and former executive with Paramount, called China “a potential gold mine for all industry sectors, including film. We’ve all taken a hit, and those intending to survive will have to maneuver and think outside the box.”
There are lures besides the investment cash, not least of which is the explosive growth of box office receipts in China, the fastest-growing film market in the world. According to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China’s box office receipts totaled $780 million in the first half of this year - an 80 percent increase over those from the first half of 2009, with much of that attributed to the colossal success of “Avatar” here. The 2009 box office receipts were up more than 40 percent over 2008’s.
Ji said that as more newly affluent Chinese go to movies - instead of watching DVDs at home - the number of movie houses being built is soaring. “Two new screens per day - that’s crazy!” he said. Foreign companies are allowed to build cinemas in China but not manage them directly, Ji said, adding that he is confident the rule will be relaxed next year.
Ji predicted that China might also relax rules that allow just 20 foreign films a year. An increase in the quota could give further incentive for Hollywood producers to make films that appeal to Chinese audiences.
Co-produced movies do not count as “foreign” films under the quota. Filming and hiring local workers is much cheaper in China than in many other countries.
Gerbrandt said that U.S. box office admissions have been stagnant in recent years but that increased ticket prices have helped the industry grow. “Hollywood must open new markets to keep growing, and China and India are obviously the largest,” he wrote in an e-mail.
But the governments of both countries object to the content and morals of some Western movies, he said.
Ji has had problems with censorship as Angel Wings has prepared to release its first film this fall, the romantic comedy “Color Me Love.” The censors thought one kissing scene was too long and ordered it shortened. “We are very good at self-censorship - very good,” said Ji, 43, a veteran of Walt Disney Corp. “The moral thing - that’s kind of tricky to figure out.”
Many in the industry, and industry watchers, are skeptical that a Chinese company will purchase a Hollywood studio soon. Some point to the Japanese giant Sony’s $3.4 billion acquisition of Columbia Pictures in 1989, which led to massive losses and a series of big-budget flops in the 1990s.
“China will find Hollywood extremely open to deals, partnerships and investments from Chinese players,” Gerbrandt said. “Where it gets much more difficult is for a Chinese company to wind up with an ownership control position in a Hollywood studio.”
“The Hollywood infrastructure is very open to other people’s money,” he added, “but they really only want to do creative deals within the community and to hire from within.”
China plans to make more films, build theaters
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News on August 19th, 2010
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j_BhCHIfxH0iaCzFU29X74a21_mQD9HMGBL00
BEIJING — China said it will expand its movie industry by making more films and building more theaters to meet growing demand.
“So far this year, we have already matched the number of total theaters built last year, but we still have yet to meet the increasing demand,” Zhao Shi, deputy director of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said at a news conference Thursday.
The disaster drama “Aftershock” set the all-time box office record for a Chinese film with $79 million in ticket sales earlier this month. “Aftershock” overtook the “The Founding of a Republic,” which earned $62 million.
China remains highly protective of its film industry and limits the country to 20 imports each year. James Cameron’s 3-D sci-fi epic, “Avatar,” raked in $204 million this year.
Zhao said there are no plans to implement a ratings system for movies in China, since research has shown it has not been an effective method of preventing young people from watching certain movies.
China, Singapore sign film co-production agreement
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News on July 28th, 2010
http://www.indiantelevision.com/aac/y2k10/aac449.php
MUMBAI: China and Singapore have signed a film co-production agreement on the sidelines of the 7th China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Co-operation (CSJCBC) in Beijing, China.
The agreement was signed by Singapore’s Parliamentary Secretary for Trade and Industry and Information, Communications and the Arts, Sam Tan, and Vice Minister Zhang Pimin, from China’s State Administration ofRadio, Film and Television (Sarft).
The co-chairs of CSJCBC, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng and China’s Vice Premier Wang Qishan, witnessed the signing.
The China-Singapore Film Co-production Agreement covers theatrical feature films and telemovies, across live-action, animation and documentaries. It is expected to pave the way for more film tie-ups between the two countries as co-productions will enjoy the same access to government funding and incentives as do national productions in each country.
Official co-productions are also treated as national productions in each country for the purposes of content regulation.
Sarft Vice Minister of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television Zhang Pimin says, “In recent years, both countries have embarked on film-related exchanges such as importing each other’s films and co-organising film festivals, which set the foundation for closer collaboration in the future. The signing of the China-Singapore Film Co-production Agreement provides direction and guidance for filmmakers from both countries to pursue co-productions, and creates favourable conditions for partnerships in content and technology development.”
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts Sam Tan says, “With a rising global interest in Asian media content, this Film Co-Production Agreement presents immense opportunities for filmmakers in China and Singapore to collaborate, as well as share experiences and resources to showcase the rich heritage and culture in our two countries internationally through films. There is also potential for filmmakers from both countries to collaborate in new growth areas, such as stereoscopic 3D productions”.
The negotiations for the Agreement started in late 2008 and took about one-and-a-half years to conclude, a relatively short time for such agreements, and a testament of the longstanding and special relations between Singapore and China.
The Film Co-production Agreement will be administered by Sarft Film Bureau and Media Development Authority (MDA), on behalf of China and Singapore, respectively.
To facilitate greater exchanges between filmmakers from both countries, the Sarft Film Bureau and MDA plan to embark on a regular China-SingaporeFilm Festival Exchange. This follows a successful pilot that saw the inaugural Singapore Film Festival in Beijing and Shanghai in 2007, and the first China Film Festival in Singapore in 2008. In addition to reaching out to the movie-going public, these film festivals will serve as platforms for filmmakers from both sides to meet and exchange ideas.
Sarft Film Bureau deputy DG La Peikang says, “In line with our common goal of promoting cultures and mutual development, Sarft and MDA co-hosted film festivals in 2007 and 2008. The first Singapore Film Festival held at Beijing and Shanghai in 2007 was well-received by Chinese audiences; similarly, the China Film Festival in Singapore in 2008 was equally a success. We hope the China-Singapore Film Festival Exchange would promote the development of the two countries’ film industries, and contribute toward enhancing the friendship between the peoples of the two nations”.
MDA CEO Dr Christopher Chia says, “The China-Singapore Film Co-production Agreement is a landmark agreement that will spur greater industry collaborations between the two countries. It facilitates filmmakers from China and Singapore to pool resources and create a larger distribution network for the international market. China and Singapore share deep historical and cultural connections. This affinity in language and culture, warmed by many decades of friendly collaboration, will allow filmmakers from both countries to pursue common themes and unearth uniquely Asian storylines that can resonate with global audiences”.
MPAA President Emphasizes Need For Open Market In China
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News, Studio/Network News, United States Industry News on June 21st, 2010
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=131271
Hollywood and China’s entertainment industry must work together to address a number of challenges before the film market there can reach its full potential. This was the message delivered to almost 500 Chinese government officials and key film industry executives today by Bob Pisano, President and Interim CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America.
During his keynote speech at a forum of the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival, Pisano highlighted the economic importance of the motion picture industry. “The worldwide entertainment industry is one of the leading sources of new venture creation, employing hundreds of thousands of individuals with skills ranging from acting to carpentry. It contributes billions of dollars to the world economy annually and has demonstrated the capacity for near-exponential growth,” said Pisano.
Pisano touched on how free access for films is the way for local film industries to expand their capabilities through increased investment and collaborations. “An open international market can produce benefits for all concerned�studios, industry employees, consumers and governments alike” said Pisano.
Stressing the need to further liberalize the country’s film market and better fight piracy as necessary to the creative industry’s continued prosperity, Pisano reiterated the commitment of MPAA and its members companies to help “�nations to create strong and sustainable business models that enable them to produce more films, to increasingly use more local talent, to win international recognition for their products, to compete on equal footing with films produced by other nations and to profit from our communal endeavors”. China is now is one of the biggest movie markets globally. While the rest of the world is still recovering from the worst economic recession in several decades, the market in China has demonstrated exceptional resilience. This year’s box office got off to a record-breaking start with Hollywood’s 3D blockbuster “Avatar,” which grossed close to US$200 million dollars in China. Box office revenue has grown from US$120 million in 2003 to US$909 million in 2009. The number of movie screens from 2003 to 2009 quintupled to more than 5,000 - with an average of close to two movie screens being added to the market each day.
Originated in 1993, SIFF is China’s premiere and the only A-category film festival accredited by FIAPF. Organized by the Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group, the 13th SIFF runs from June 12 to 20 during the World Expo in Shanghai.
Money matters
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News on June 21st, 2010
http://life.globaltimes.cn/art/2010-06/543475.html
By Mao Renjie in Shanghai
As the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) drew to a close Sunday, the topic on many attending filmmakers lips was “investment,” this year’s President Lecture veering off-topic Thursday to highlight the importance of the urgent need for the smooth and healthy development of China’s film industry.
Originally billed as a discussion on “What other films do we need?” Jury President John Woo instead used the occasion to express his concerns on what is keeping China’s film industry from developing. Lecture participants including Chinese mainland director Wang Xiaoshuai, Hong Kong director Pang Ho-cheung and Taiwanese director Doze Niu, pointed out that the low level of local film investors is a key adverse factor in the local industry.
“An experienced and far-sighted film investor is always the backbone of a film’s success,” commented Woo. He pointed out that there are too few investors on the mainland meeting this requirement and many simply seek quick money from a rapidly growing local film market, with filmmakers moving away from their own styles as a result.
“Investors should respect directors and their distinctive styles,” Woo said, while criticizing the mainland film industry for lacking diversity and originality. “Though generally the industry is on the rise, with more films produced each year, there are few outstanding films with their own characteristics, many are merely copies of the successful mode of previous blockbusters.” He also said that there should be more productions that tell really good stories about present day life in modern China.
Woo warned that a sharp decline like the one that hit Hong Kong’s film industry in the late 1990s could also occur on the mainland, pointing out similarities in investors only focusing on popular themes and methods, instead of encouraging young directors and originality.
“The Hong Kong film industry was like real estate then, filmmakers only shot what was popular and had potential to sell, with investors only eying the present instead of long-term development,” Woo said. He added that audiences quickly became fed up with such “fast” films and the market crashed.
“A film market without originality and individuality is unlikely to survive and prosper,” he said.
Wang Xiaoshuai also emphasized the importance of filmmakers’ individuality. He pointed out that the current situation is related to society as a whole, which in his opinion, neglects individuality.
“It’s a crucial time for the Chinese film industry to have something of their own,” Wang said, adding that film investors should reserve a part of the market for films besides blockbusters to enrich audiences’ choice and taste.
Doze Niu, Taiwanese director whose Monga beat James Cameron’s Avatar at the box office in Taiwan, said that speaking from experience, it is impossible and unpractical for a film industry to only rely on a few mega-productions. Artistic films can also be made with a commercial approach, he said.
“Investors should focus more on ‘middle powers’ that can promote the diversity of Chinese cinema with moderate-budget films.”
Hong Kong director Pang Ho-cheung, known for his alternative film works, said that many local investors lack filmmaking knowledge and underestimate the complexity of the industry.
He said that he was once approached by a local mine owner wanting to invest in his artistic project, with the only requirement being to cast the owner’s girlfriend. “He knew nothing about film and the industry,” Pang recalled. “He said he did not care what film I was going to shoot, as long as his girlfriend would be walking the red carpet of international film festivals.”
Woo also admitted encountering similar situations during his career.
Pang said that the profit-driven film market has cost investors’ faith in making money with a good-quality film so they try to make money while shooting, via product placement.
“Product placement in many local commercial films has reached a level of being outrageous and shameless,” Pang snapped. He said that product placement could exist, but should not influence its plot and quality. “Filmmakers should respect and have a conscience for audiences who pay to watch their films by telling good stories, instead of making a 90-minute-long advertisement.”
Director He Ping, who presided over the lecture, concluded that investors should consider how unhappy product placement can make directors by influencing their works’ quality. He revealed that successful commercial director Feng Xiaogang, known for mass product placement in his films, was so unsatisfied with himself and the product-placement scene investors added in the film that after finishing shooting, he smashed all of the props on site. “Filmmaking is not a gamble,” He said, “we should have professional investors who really love the industry.”
Now showing: China
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News, United States Industry News on June 18th, 2010
http://www.todayonline.com/Entertainment/Movies/EDC100618-0000066/Now-showing–China
This year’s massive Shanghai Film Festival is a clear sign that China’s cinema industry is roaring
by Rachel Cooper
Shanghai is, as someone described it to me yesterday, “like New York on steroids”. Its skyline of gleaming skyscrapers seems to grow more populous by the week as high-rises shoot up in every available space to feed the appetite of China’s roaring economic tiger.
This engine-room of China’s economic growth is then an appropriate place to host a film festival that is evidence of the country’s booming cinema industry. Now in its 13th year, the Shanghai Film Festival, which comes to a close on Sunday, is the biggest yet. There are a record 2,327 submissions, illustrating China’s position as one of the world’s fastest-growing film markets - the Chinese box office topped US$900 million ($1.23 billion) last year, a rise of more than 40 per cent on 2008.
A record 450 films were made and screened on the mainland last year and, as China’s burgeoning middle class develops a ravenous appetite for cinema going - Avatar took US$193 million in China - cinema screens are springing up to meet the demand, with an average of almost two opening every day.
That rapid growth has, unsurprisingly, attracted the attention of Hollywood executives. Studio bigwigs keen to get a piece of the action have descended on Shanghai, and the Chinese film industry, which is notoriously protectionist and piracy-plagued, has shown some evidence of being increasingly amenable to accepting Hollywood’s hand of friendship.
There is a distinctly international flavour at the Shanghai festival, with submissions from 81 countries and regions, and, in a sign of a new spirit of openness, the festival is hosting a snappily-titled panel called The New Front For Industry Collaboration Between China And Hollywood, featuring a line-up of film business heavyweights.
Among those visiting Shanghai are the likes of Harvey Weinstein, who is promoting his aptly-named thriller, Shanghai, at the festival, and Bob Pisano, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, who is calling on China to open up its market to international players.
Earlier this week, Pisano was reported as saying that China and Hollywood needed to cooperate more to combat piracy and improve access to the market before the Chinese film industry could reach its potential. “An open and international market can produce benefits for all concerned,” he said.
Since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, there has been pressure on the film industry to open access to its markets, and, last year, the WTO challenged China’s dictum that only 20 foreign-made films a year can take a share of the Chinese box office.
However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, there is speculation that Avatar’s success in China could in fact propel the state to become even stricter and shrink the quota further.
And, in another sign that China might not be quick to open its doors to Hollywood, Weinstein has attracted the wrath of one of China’s most bankable directors, Feng Xiaogang, who was reported as saying that Weinstein is viewed as a “cheater” in the eyes of many Chinese film makers.
Feng also dismissed director Ang Lee’s Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as “Hollywood movies”. “They’re not Chinese movies,” he said. (See story on page T4)
However, Feng’s contempt for so-called Hollywood movies and his criticism of Weinstein’s business tactics perhaps illustrates not so much that China’s film industry has an active animosity towards Hollywood, but that it is merely indifferent.
While American studio executives scramble to get a share of China’s appetite for cinema-going with promises that an open market will help the industry fulfil its potential, China’s film-makers have demonstrated that they will not be easily wooed by the supposed charms of Tinseltown.
With - or without Hollywood - the Chinese film industry is prospering. The Daily Telegraph
Australian film delegation to visit China
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, Australia/New Zealand Industry News, China Industry News on June 9th, 2010
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i81776746af8563532f10a7636d4e4818
Filmmakers’ itinerary includes HK, Guangzhou and Shanghai
SYDNEY — National film agency Screen Australia and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have teamed up to send a delegation of Australian filmmakers to China to promote the Australian film industry in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and at at the World Expo in Shanghai this week.
Producers Jan Chapman (“Bright Star”), Antonia Barnard (“Last Ride”), Janelle Landers (“Wasted on the Young”), Bryan Brown (‘Beautiful Kate”), and directors Jeremy Sims (“Beneath Hill 60”), Gregor Jordan (“Ned Kelly,” “Two Hands”) and Ben C Lucas (“Wasted on the Young”), will take part in a presentation to the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, meet with Chinese producers in Guangzhou and have discussions in Shanghai about potential co-production opportunities.
In addition, four Australian feature films will screen in the Panorama section at the Shanghai International Film Festival. They include recent releases “Last Ride,” “Beneath Hill 60” and upcoming feature “Red Hill.”
A reception for the Australians and Chinese producers and industry representatives, from company’s including Shanghai Film Group, Hengdian World Studios, Shanghai Media Group, SCTVF and China Film Group, will be held on June 12 at the World Expo.
The mission aims to capitalize on the Australian cultural program that’s been put together as part of the World Expo in Shanghai and a government sponsored program, “Imagine Australia,” the Year of Australian Culture in China.
Australia and China signed an official co-production treaty in 2008. “The Children of Huang Shi” was made in 2008 as an unofficial co-production.
Singapore Makes Two Deals To Boost Its Film Industry
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News, Europe Industry News, Studio/Network News on May 20th, 2010
By DEAN NAPOLITANO
HONG KONG — The Media Development Authority of Singapore has unveiled two production and distribution deals, the latest moves by the government to expand the country’s role as a media and entertainment hub.
In the first deal, the MDA and Tiger Gate Entertainment over the weekend announced a four-year pact to produce and distribute films for the Asian and global markets.
![[tigergate0518]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-IN422_tigerg_D_20100518031817.jpg)
Media Development Authority of Singapore
William Pfeiffer, chief executive of Tiger Gate, left, and Christopher Chia, chief executive of Media Development Authority of Singapore
On Monday, the MDA and Fortissimo Films announced plans to set up a film development initiative to produce and distribute movies.
In recent years, Singapore has been seeking to become an Asian entertainment center. The MDA last week announced plans for a major film-industry market—called ScreenSingapore— to be held in June 2011.
In October, the MDA teamed up with Hollywood production company Hyde Park Entertainment Group and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Media Co., in a deal valued at around US$75 million to produce films over five years.
In a statement, MDA said its alliance with Tiger Gate “will seed the production of genre film projects, with a focus on action, horror and thriller genres for theatrical and television distribution in Asia as well as outside of the region.”
Terms weren’t disclosed.
MDA and Tiger Gate will jointly select projects, which will be co-produced with other partners. Tiger Gate will manage distribution of the films in Asia, while Lionsgate will handle distribution outside the region.
Tiger Gate is a Hong Kong-based joint venture between Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Saban Capital Group, a Los Angeles private-investment firm.
“The addition of the MDA-Tiger Gate initiative to our existing pool of funds translates immediately to greater opportunities for Singapore filmmakers,” MDA Chief Executive Officer Christopher Chia said in the statement.
In the same statement, Tiger Gate Chief Executive Officer William Pfeiffer said: “We are delighted to be working with MDA to bring to the world, as well as to Tiger Gate’s own channels KIX and Thrill, original films from Asia in the genres for which Asian productions are most renowned: action, thriller, and horror.”
The deal with Fortissimo is expected to produce three to five films in the program’s first year, Fortissimo Chairman Michael J. Werner said in a statement.
“This initiative is designed to give both Singaporean filmmakers and non-Singaporean producers a fast track through the process of developing their projects and accessing the varied and combined resources of the MDA and Fortissimo. The focus is on quality films with strong commercial attributes,” he said.
Fortissimo is a sales, production and distribution company based in the Netherlands.
China’s booming boxoffice buoys HK biz
Posted by: admin in Asia Industry News, China Industry News on May 12th, 2010
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3ie30e47167303d76ad5bc595deacc92f9
BEIJING — Hong Kong’s film industry had a good year in 2009, despite competing with big blue Avatars and world-ending Mayan calendars. The Special Administrative Region’s filmmakers can thank their northern neighbors for that.
Hong Kong entertainment of all kinds, particularly film and music, has been popular in the rest of China since the late 1980s. However, it wasn’t until more recently that more than just the biggest names — think Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau and Jackie Chan — could cash in more readily. They just have to speak Mandarin rather than their native Cantonese.
While the Hong Kong film industry hit the doldrums as it entered the 21st century, it is Hong Kong’s 1997 political reunion with China that has helped show it the way out.
Two main factors have helped the industry: a trade agreement between Hong Kong and the rest of the People’s Republic of China, and China’s rapidly expanding boxoffice.
Hollywood studios still chafe against a quota that restricts the number of revenue-sharing films imported into China to just 20 a year. However, Hong Kong co-productions face no such hurdle.
Thanks to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, co-productions that meet certain requirements, such as meeting minimum standards for investment from a China-based producer and the use of Chinese film crews, the resulting film can be released throughout China as a local production.
Although an economic boon, the CEPA, signed in June 2003, is a double-edged sword for filmmakers. It means bigger potential boxoffice, but to gain access to the lucrative China market, films must also pass censorship. This has eliminated several favorite Hong Kong themes, including the supernatural and stylized violence, from potential script choices. Even the industry’s top names have run afoul of the censors: producers of Jackie Chan’s “The Shinjuku Incident” didn’t even bother applying for distribution approval, fearing the required cuts on the violent film would be too extensive.
However, it is bigger boxoffice that has attracted a new corps of producers and directors. China’s total boxoffice could reach almost $1.5 billion this year, following a record 2009 that grew 44% compared with the previous year, with “Avatar” becoming the nation’s all-time No. 1 film earlier this year. China still has about one-tenth the number of screens as the U.S., despite regular cinema construction during the past several years.
Growing boxoffice numbers have led to new ventures targeting this rising market. The new crop of investments already is bearing fruit: “Bodyguards and Assassins,” directed by Teddy Chen and produced by Cinema Popular, a joint venture between Hong Kong’s Peter Chan Ho-sun and China’s Huang Jianxin, took in almost $44 million on a budget of $23 million. It is just one of 15 films the company plans to produce in its first three years.
– Steven Schwankert