The Chinese Film Market 1505 Cannes by The Chinese Film Market

1 May 09, 2015 | NO.30

DAWN OF THE MING EMPIRE Guo Jingming and the cultural empire he creates Ask us anything about the Chinese film industry

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May 09, 2015 | NO.30

CHINA SUMMIT

中国峰会

Content INTRO 05

Dawn of the Ming Empire

The Young Market

Guo Jingming and the cultural empire he leads

BRIEFING 07-10

TECH 23

Beijing – Shanghai – Hong Kong – Taipei

China’s VFX Industry

PRODUCTION NEWS 11

Four professionals shared their experience on China’s VFX industry: itspast, present and future.

China’s Production List in Q1, 2015

A SERIES OF CONFERENCES AND EVENTS TO MEET CHINESE KEY PLAYERS AND TALENTS

ROUNDTABLE 25 PITCH 15

Young Creative Minds

Roger Garcia Talks about the New HAF Project Hub

China’s best young creators talk about the market and co-productions.

一系列专题讨论会和活动会面中国电影关键人物和电影人

An archive for all HAF project submissions from current and previous editions.

SATURDAY MAY 16

COVER STORY 16

TREND 32

15:00

Attractiveness of French and Chinese territories (Espace CNC)

16:30

Strategies of exhibition of Sino-French coproductions in China and France (Espace CNC)

18:00

Cocktail Dinner by Bridging the Dragon (on invitation)

MIPTV 35

A Safe Source for Family Movies

MONDAY MAY 18 10:00

Chinese film market overview (Cinema Olympia)

14:00

Pitching sessions of Chinese Talents’ projects (Cinema Olympia)

China’s TV shows suggest quite a few concepts for family movies. Box Office 38

H Bronx (Paris) www.bronx.fr

TUESDAY MAY 19 10:00

Video On Demand opportunities in China (Cinema Olympia)

15:00

International production with China (Cinema Olympia)

22:00

Marché du Film China Night In partnership with China Movie Channel and Champs Lis International (on invitation)

Time to Remake Besides this kaleidoscope of possible remakes in China, email us if you have any other thoughts.

In collaboration with the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC)

Record from Jan. to Apr., 2015

Full program on: www.marchedufilm.com VENUES Cinema Olympia: 5, rue d’Antibes Espace CNC: Gray d’Abion Beach Access: Marché badges

SUPPORTED BY

MEDIA PARTNERS

CHINESE FILM MARKET PUBLISHING

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PRESIDENT: Wang Yu MANAGING DIRECTOR: Yin Xiang Editor-in-Chief: Xu Jia INDUSTRY CONSULTANT: Wang Fenglin, Isabelle Glachant, Lorna Tee EDITORIAL: Hua Yang, Teng Fan, Chen Xue, Guo Dan STATISTICS: Li Furong BUSINESS MANAGER: Song Yiran PUBLIC RELATIONS: Ren Jie GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Xie Xuequan

P 02 /Marché du Film China Summit P 04 / Marché du Film P 14 / Toronto International Film Festival P 22 / American Film Market P 38 /Beijing International Film Market P 40 / The 18th Shanghai International Film Festival

The Chinese Film Market is a monthly published by Chinese Film Market Publishing Hong Kong. Follow us on twitter, facebook, instagram and tumblr @cfilmart. Please send email to: cfilmart@qq.com for any questions or collaboration. Registered Publication Number: ISSN 1801-2409 © 2015 The Chinese Film Market Publishing. All rights reserved. Content is copyrighted and cannot be used without permission.

INTRO

The Young Market

Follow the road to the future of film

By Ninja Tsui

If there is only one word to describe the current China film market, that word should be YOUNG.

S TA R T

Join our panels Palais K

TINCTION raked in 318.2 million USD, an indisputable box office winner of the year. Still, in 2015, up till May 5th, FAST AND FURIOUS 7 has already won 375.1 million USD within 25 days, breaking China’s box office record.

Young audience

Daily at 10AM - WARM UP WITH KEY TOPICS

The total cinema admissions in the China film market in 2014 is 830 million. Over 80% of the movie-goers are from 19 to 40 years old. More specifically, over half of them age from 19 to 30 years old. Most are college graduates.

Audience Engagement, Transmedia Visions, Crowdfunding, Video Opportunities on Demand, Festival Digital Initiatives, Exhibitors in the Digital Age.

China’s box office revenue has surpassed 10 billion RMB within less than 100 days in 2015.

om .c es lm ann ufi C ed XT ch NE ar # m e: w. c w ra w he t in

SPRINT

Young people in Chinese cities have a relatively abundant life and regard going to the movies a daily or weekly social activity that needs no serious planning. Friends meet at the cinema, watch a movie, enjoy a meal together and then probably go shopping. All these can be done in one mega shopping mall – in China, there are thousands of such gigantic malls with wellequipped cinemas. In the year 2013 alone, 300 new shopping malls were built. Up to April, 2015, the number of screens has reached 27,000.

Meet the frontrunners NEXT Pavilion Village International Pantiero-side #225

All day long - CONNECT WITH EXHIBITORS and experience virtual reality with Innerspace.

Daily from 2.30PM - PARTICIPATE IN WORKSHOPS CNC, Connect4Climate, DFCN, Festival Tous Ecrans, FilmDoo, Gathr, HP, Institut Français, IPEDA, Power to the Pixel, ProDrone, Stage32, Ulule, Wallimage…

The young love exciting films: romance, comedy and action films are among the top 3 most watched local genre films by the young; while science fiction, action and animation are top 3 imported genre films best-received in China. In 2014, TRANSFORMERS: AGES OF EX-

FINISH Palais

The above-mentioned age group “19 to 30” means half of the Chinese moviegoers were born in the 1980s and 1990s. These young people have their new favorite stars besides the household names like Huang Xiaoming, Fan Bingbing and Wang Baoqiang. Here is a list of male stars born in the 1990s or late 1980s, who are on the way to become China’s next generation superstars. The Korean Wave (Hallyu) is so influential in China that the Chinese stars, to various extents, dress like their Korean counterparts. In fact, both Lu Han and Kris rose to fame thanks to their years of training in South Korea and their career in the Chinese-South Korean boy band EXO based in Seoul. Last year, both left the band and came back to China to find their place in the Chinese film industry. Besides these stars, it is important to note that actor Duan Bowen, whose recent role in THE LEFT EAR has once again won him applause, after BEIJING FLICKERS.

Lu Han

Li Yifeng

(Miss Granny, I am the Blind Witness)

(Gardenia in Blossom, Fading Wave)

Mingle at sunset

Young stars

NEXT Pavilion Village International Pantiero-side #225

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H Bronx (Paris) www.bronx.fr

Network in a relaxing atmosphere with a stunning view of the harbor.

Yang Yang

Jing Boran

Kris

(The Left Ear, Divas Hit the Road II)

(Monster Hunt, Lost and Love)

(Somewhere Only We Know, L.O.R.D) Ask us anything about the Chinese film industry

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You might find it hard to believe that the nation’s most celebrated band is a local one called TF Boys: Jackson, Karry and Roy – all under 15 year’s old. Karry and Roy have been cast in big budget films, to be released in 2016. Unlike the endless list of new male stars, the list of promising Chinese female stars looks somehow predictable. It is true that Angelababy and Yang Mi are the most talked-about actresses, but here are five that can act.

Enlight Pictures is the company to mention regarding supporting young creators: it is the key reason why actors like Xu Zheng, Deng Chao and Alec Su have directed remarkable local films winning over 2 billion RMB at the box office. Actress Zhao Wei also has Enlight’s founder and CEO Wang Changtian to thank: she realized her dream to be a director and made SO YOUNG, a film she called her thesis work for her MFA at the Beijing Film Academy. Both Su and Zhao’s films are adaptations from best-sellers. This summer, Enlight will release HOLLYWOOD ADVENTURES, a comic road movie it has made with Justin Lin’s team.

Both Yuan Quan and Qi Xi are theater actresses selected to act in films and are always stunning in different types of roles. While SO YOUNG made Yang Zishan recognized by more producers, MISS GRANNY made the Chinese audience remember her as a bright actress. Zhou Dongyu has already touched the public with her innocent role in MY OLD CLASSMATE, but her comic rough country girl look in BREAKUP BUDDIES makes everybody laugh out loud. Before, Sandra Ma was better known as famous actresss Jiang Wenli’s niece, but now, people remember her as Sandra Ma, the leading actress who illuminated the new coming-of-age film THE LEFT EAR.

Meanwhile, Wanda Media, Youku Tudou’s Heyi Film and several smaller companies like C2M Media and Fujian Hengye go to great lengths to promote younger directors and screenwriters. Not to mention, earlier this spring, Alibaba Pictures announced THE FERRYMAN, to be directed by its writer Zhang Jiajia.

Young creators

In the next 3 to 5 years, more and more films made by the young and for the young will spurt in China. And that is why in the 2015 Cannes issue of THE CHINESE FILM MARKET, we present a selection of young creative minds: one day, you are going to work with one of them, or watch the films they make.

These four years has witnessed more young directors emerging in China: a number of young writers and actors have succeeded in directing their debut or even sophomore films. One distinct trend is the film adaptation right of all the best-selling novels have been purchased by companies big or small at a price from 200, 000 RMB up to 5 million RMB. Not every book is then turned into a film, like in Hollywood – some are only bought because a Zhou Dongyu

Qi Xi

(My Old Classmate, Breakup Buddies)

(Mystery, Ever Since We Love)

BRIEFING

Beijing

company is afraid of losing it to its competitors. After taking romance, fantasy novel and period dramas, the recent hustle is to acquire sci-fi titles. In most cases, the writer of the original novel will be one of the screenwriters or producers.

airun Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures Asia revealed a five-film co-production deal in April, 2015. Founded in 2010, Hairun Pictures has director Jonnie To as one of its partners. The deal include film about former NBA player Stephon Marbury’s experience as a player in the Chinese Basketball League, a Chinese remake of South Korean thriller HIDE AND SEEK and the Chinese remake of a Hollywood police thriller, together with a rural drama MOUNTAIN CRY, a film is now under final post-production and about to release in China.

films until the end of 2017 under the agreement. The company will receive a share of their co-produced films’ global revenue and have a first-look distribution deal in China on most STX titles.

Cook said in a statement that the company will focus exclusively on the production, marketing and distribution of multi-generational family entertainment including live-action and animated motion pictures as well as television, digital product, video games, stage plays and related licensing.

uc Besson said at the Beijing International Film Festival that his French-China co-production WARRIOR’S GATE is set to begin shooting in May, 2015. Besson will serve as producer and co-writer. The film will shoot for three months in China first. The project is one of three planned co-productions between EuropaCorp and Fundamental. The latter also distributes EuropaCorp’s films in China.

uayi Brothers and US-based STX Entertainment jointly announced in April they have formed a strategic partnership.

Yang Zishan

Yuan Quan

Sandra Ma

(So Young, Miss Granny)

(The Continent, The Golden Era)

(The Left Ear)

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Huayi Brothers will cofund, co-produce and co-distribute nearly all STX

nounced at the fifth Beijing International Film Festival the launch of Dick Cook Studios, a new media company with a $150 million investment from Citic Guo’an Group, a division of the Chinese conglomerate Citic Group.

ormer Disney Chairman Dick Cook an-

eijing-based production house Jetavana, founded by Ivy Zhong, former executive in Beijing Galloping Horse said that it is partnering with French comic book publisher Humanoids to co-produce feature films based on Humanoids’ library of graphic novels. Zhong revealed they will co-produce eight sci-fi films first and each party will account for half of the investment. Filming of METAL will start next year with a Chinese male lead.

eTV announced a partnership with leading directors Tsui Hark, Zhang Yimou and Zheng Xiaolong in a new strategy centered on the group’s freshly launched smartphone in April. Under the new link-up, users of LeTV phones will have special access to TV shows by Zheng and to films made by Tsui and Zhang. LeVision CEO Zhang Zhao said the group had a three-part strategy involving Beijing, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.

he state-owned China Film Group joined with Universal Pictures to take a nearly 10 percent stake in the recently released hit FURIOUS 7 and had a small stake in January’s SEVENTH SON, from Legendary Pictures. China Film has also signed a deal with Warner Brothers in April and got the rights to sell merchandise derived from films produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Brothers.

Ask us anything about the Chinese film industry

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BRIEFING

Shanghai

Services office is set up within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, launched by the city government two years ago. The unit will be headed by former independent producer, April Ye.

he Shanghai International Film Festival signed a three year pact with e-commerce giant Alibaba in March regarding talent development, sponsorship and film ticketing. The two parties will jointly establish a platform that integrates support for newcomers, services and innovation. Additionally, Alibaba’s Yulebao, a crowdfunding product will be a festival sponsor, and its Taobao Dianying app will become a channel for festival ticket sales. The partnership will also see Alibaba’s Tmall Magic Box set-top device potentially extend the festival experience into millions of households’ living rooms.

The company’s Film Finances China Cultural Follow

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The school welcomed about 100 students last fall; their ages vary from 20 to 35.

roducer Shan Dongbing has joined Fosun Pictures, a newly hatched unit within Chinese investment conglomerate Fosun International. Shan was most recently with LeVision Pictures, and has previously held posts at Poly Bona Films. Shan announced there were many projects under discussion and that it was the early days for the film and TV business. Shan also revealed the company plans to do at least two films a year, which could be in Chinese or English.

Shanghai has unveiled an array of policies to boost the movie business, including allocating $32.25 million to help film development: film companies based in Shanghai can get a 15% tax discount, as well as incentives to support shooting and post-production in Shanghai.

BC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the UK public broadcaster, has signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Shanghai Media Group to expand their strategic partnership to include

Hong Kong program and format production, program distribution and co-production opportunities.

The agreement will see BBC Worldwide working with several SMG subsidiaries, including Internet TV service BesTV, documentary channel DocuChina, satellite TV service Dragon TV and others.

ccording to statistics from the Motion Picture Industry Association, Hong Kong annual box office revenue in 2014 was $0.21 billion, up only 1.32 percent from 2013.

The multiplex, called Cinema City, will be situated on the top the top two levels of Vivo City, a large-scale retail complex in the CBD district of Minhang in Shanghai, and is developed by the Mapletree Group of Singapore.

The number of films released remained the same, at 310, but the number of local films increased from 43 in 2013 to 51 in 2014. Two local films made it to the list of the top ten grossing films of 2014: GOLDEN CHICKENSSS with 5.33 million USD at sixth place and FROM VEGAS TO MACAU with 4.30 million USD at tenth place.

ong Kong production, exhibition and distribution company Pegasus Entertainment has signed a joint venture deal to open a multiplex theater in Shanghai.

The new complex will have at least nine screens, up to 1,400 seats and use 4DX motion technology. TOP GEAR from BBC

eading U.S. movie finance company Film Finances opened a branch office in Shanghai this Janaury, planning to bring modern financing to China.

ancouver Film School (VFS) set up Shanghai Vancouver Film School last year in partnership with the University of Shanghai and the Shanghai municipal government. The new school offers one-year non-degree professional programs certificated by both schools.

BRIEFING

orean screenwriters’ agency Writers Agency of Finecut (WAF) has partnered with Hong Kong-based sales agent Golden Network Asia to represent its talent in China.

industry relations between Korea and China. Last year China’s Huace Film & TV became a major investor in Korean company Next Entertainment World, and Tencent struck a deal to be the exclusive distributor of content from YG Entertainment, while Korea’s CJCGV has expanded to become the 10th largest cinema operator in China.

WAF pitched 10 original stories to producers at Hong Kong’s FilMart this March. The last two years has seen an upsurge in film

Fund of Hong Kong.

ong Kong’s Financial Secretary John Tsang said on Feb 25 that the government would inject an additional $25.81 million into the Film Development

ong Kong sales and production company Distribution Workshop has picked up international rights to Ringo Lam’s WILD CITY and Lo Chileung’s The VANISHED MURDERER in March. WILD CITY takes a look at Hong Kong’s seedy under-

In addition to the $25.81 million investment, the budget ceiling for an FDF-supported film will be raised from $1.94 million to $3.23 million. The FDF will also launch a subsidy scheme that provides up to $0.26 million for films that cost less than $1.29 million and bring back the First Feature Film Initiative that was launched in December 2013.

st Century Fox’s Hong Kong-based Pay-TV group Fox International Channels (FIC) is to back GUILTY AS SIN, an Asian mini-series that will begin production later this year. Budgets on the 6-8 episode series, which will tell a contemporary Hong Kong-set story, are expected to be around $1 million per episode. The production is led by former Warner Brothers executive Mia Hsia. FIC expects to green light another series about an Asian-American sniper later this year. It will likely be shot in English and destined for a regional or global audience. The move into original content production by pay-tv groups is a well-established trend in North America and Europe, but is relatively new in Asia.

belly and features Louis Koo, Shawn Yue, Tong Liya, Simon Yam, Yuen Qiu and Chang Hsiao-Chuan. THE VANISHED MURDERER, by Hong Kong writer-director Lo, stars Lau Chingwan, Gordon Lam, Li Xiaolu and Jiang Yiyan. It is a thriller set in the 1930s in northern China. Ask us anything about the Chinese film industry

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BRIEFING

Taipei

aipei International Film Festival and the Festival des 3 Continents, Nantes, France, will co-host PAS Taipei from July 28 to July 31 this year, aiming to help local producers develop their projects for international recognition and markets. Key European mentors in the film industry will be in Taipei to supervise all participating projects on a one-to-one basis. Since 2000, the Festival des 3 Continents has worked with organizations around the world, such as Produire au Sud Caracas in Venezuala in 2013 and Bangkok PAS in 2014

he Taipei Film Trade Association reported a small decrease in its box office revenue in 2014. Total box office revenue was about $120 million, down 2.55 percent. Out of a total of 433 films theatrically released in Taipei in 2014, 66 films were from the six major Follow

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PRODUCTION NEWS

China’s Production List in Q1, 2015 Hollywood studios. With a earning of $70 million, these Hollywood films accounted for 58.3 percent of the whole revenue. Only 33 Taiwanese films were released in 2014; there were 44 in 2013. KANO was the only local film that earned more than $3.28 million in Taipei. The total admission was roughly estimated as $14.5 million: on average, each Taipei citizen goes to the cinema 1.4 times per year.

aiwan’s independent film distributor Catchplay has inked a multi-picture deal with US New Regency to co-invest and co-distribute in the latter’s productions THE REVENANT, ASSASSIN’S CREED and SPLINTER CELL. The partnership is to be managed through an SPV, set up by Alpha Pictures Hong Kong and New Regency to establish a framework for long-term co-financing and co-distribution partnerships with China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Also, Catchplay will also distribute these films in Taiwan. Last year, Catchplay invested in two Mandarin-language films, PARADISE IN SERVICE

and 20, ONCE AGAIN!

titles per year.”

“F

BLIND MASSAGE by director Lou Ye, for example, can and was shown in Taiwan on January 23, outside the quota system, for it has won Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution during Berlinale and Best Feature Film at the Golden Horse Awards.

ilming Taipei,” a script-writing competition organized by Taipei Film Commission (TFC), is entering its seventh year. The competition will be accepting entries from May 1 to May 31 this year. The winners’ list will be released on TFC’s website in early September. By writing a 90-minute script featuring cultures and sceneries of Taipei City, applicants stand a chance to win up to $6,560 for the first prize. Some award-winning scripts have already been put onto the big screen. For example, first prize winner of the first “Filming Taipei” Screenplay Competition, WHEN A WOLF FALLS IN LOVE WITH A SHEEP, was directed by Hou Chijan and screened in 2012.

he Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs announced that, starting from 2014, any mainland film that wins any competition during Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Berlinale, the Academy Awards, or Best Feature Film or Best Director during Golden Horse Film Festival can be shown in Taiwan without being subjected to the quota of “10

Note: Translations in brackets only apply to those films that haven’t disclosed their English working titles.

Written by Hua Yang Edited by Xu Jia

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT, previously known as SARFT) have approved a total of 622 film projects in the first quarter of 2015. 88.8 percent are feature films; the rest includes 27 animations, 22 documentaries, 5 films of special genre, 5 science and educational films and 16 co-productions.

he UCLA Film and Television Archive will feature Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s films in a series called ALSO LIKE LIFE: THE FILMS OF HOU HSIAO-HSIEN. The series will be shown in movie theaters across Los Angeles including the Billy Wilder Theater from April to June in 2015. Richard Suchenski, director of the Center for Moving Image Arts at Bard College, organized the exhibition in collaboration with the Taiwan Film Institute and Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture.

Romantic Comedy

Ancient Myths

Sequels

Romantic comedy takes a big share, with over 20 film projects directly written from women’s perspective, such as 我为什么没有男朋友 (Why don’t I have a boyfriend), 他没那么喜欢你 (He’s not that into you) and女人的心思你别猜 (Don’t guess what woman wants). The focus of these women-driven films has been put on the heroine’s emotional journey: a search for Mr. Right, a love triangle between two men or a dilemma between work and a potential romance.

Chinese mythology-based stories also make a strong presence. Nezha, a rebellious warrior in Chinese mythology, appeared in two titles, 哪吒传奇之重生双子 and 哪吒传, while 八仙闹海之各显神通 (The eight Immortals crossing the sea) and (The monkey king 3) take another two spots, both are registered by Filmko Entertainment.

This Q1 production list also witnessed some sequels. GO LALA GO 2 continues the story of office girl Du Lala, who will meet a new rival, a wooer and a new boss in the sequel. The series have been a women-pleaser not just for its romantic story but also for its depiction of how a woman gets promoted. Andrew Chien has taken over the directing reins from Xu Jinglei, director and leading actress of GO LALA GO.

Women have been reportedly as the major moviegoers for recent popular rom-coms like MEET MISS ANXIETY and WOMEN WHO FLIRT, which prompted production companies to jump on the bandwagon.

Filmko released its first MONKEY KING film in 2014, grossing 182 million USD internationally. THE MONKEY KING 2 has already started shooting last November and will be released in February, 2016. The company revealed earlier that it would spend $563 million in the next 15 years to produce eight more MONKEY KING films.

Apart from GO LALA GO 2 and REBELLIOUS TEENAGES 2, 枕边有张脸2 (The face next to my pillow)、碟仙诡谭2 (Disc ghost),REBELLIOUS TEENAGERS 2 and WOMEN’S ENEMY 2 all made the list.

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Book Adaptations

Road Movie and Sci-Fi

Internet Companies Making Films

Many more Chinese popular novels have been adapted. Writer director Guo Jingming has started his next movie project, films of his fantasy series LEGEND OF RAVAGING DYNASTIES. As one of China’s bestselling Western-styled fantasy, this series focus on stories of cavaliers and sorcerers set in an alternate realm of four kingdoms. Guo’s previous production TINY TIMES series, regarding the luxury life of four young ladies and their boyfriends in Shanghai, raked in over $200 million, despite mixed reviews.

Shu Huan, screenwriter of China’s first home-grown 100 million RMB box office hit LOST IN THAILAND, is involved in four road movie projects on China’s 2015 Q1 production list, including 大闹天竺 (Lost In New Delhi), 追杀金顺南 (How Kim Sun Nan Saved My Life), 东奔西跑 (Run Around) and 再见约翰 (Goodbye, John).

Heyi Pictures, the movie business unit of Youku Tudou, unveiled seven film scripts in the first quarter. Six of them are romance films while one is based on Youku’s winning original mini series, SURPRISE. Youku Tudou has already enjoyed success on adapting a short video into a film: OLD BOYS: WAY OF THE DRAGON was created by Xiao Yang and Wang Taili, aka the Chopsticks Brothers in 2014, and reached a box office of over $32.8 million.

Taiwan writer Hiyawu’s novel 六弄咖啡馆 (an alley of life) is also put into adaptation. He is among the first online writers who writes songs and makes animations for his novel. The story talks about how one encounters different choices at different stages of life, just like walking down an alley.

Others include 爱上陌生人 (Fall in love with a stranger), an adaptation of 藏地白皮书, telling a story of a main-

The true love story of Fu Zhen and Mingji will be adapted into a film LOVE IN TIBET

land girl meeting a Hong Kong boy and falling in love in Tibet; BLIND SPOT, portraying a famous private detection on the Internet; REBELLIOUS TEENAGES 2 from Pei Bei’s youth fiction, post-90 writer Zhang Haochen’s 白开水小姐和可乐先生 (Miss Water and Mr. Cola) and 左手爱 (Incomplete Love), an adaptation of Li Ziyan’s novel of the same name. According to data from Xinhua News Agency, a total of 114 online novels have sold their film rights by the end of 2014, with 90 of them slated for TV productions while the remaining 24 likely adapted for the big screen. Follow

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Liu Cixin, author of the epic THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM, and Sun Xiaohang, co-write a sci-fi film 疯狂的外星人 (Crazy Aliens), telling a story of a zoo keeper who takes home an alien creature.

Major Production Houses Enlight Media Group, the leading producer and distributor of 2012 hit LOST IN THAILAND, is working on 失眠大师 (The insominia guru), a thriller about how an insomnia therapist solved the murder of his client’s girlfriend. Producer Fang Li’s Laurel Films that produced EVER SINCE WE LOVE and THE CONTINENT, revealed its new disaster film, 消失在印度洋 (Lost in the Indian Ocean ), telling the story of a ship that meets storm at sea. Fang is one of the screenwriters. Dalian Wanda Group Co Ltd., China’s largest commercial property company and the world’s largest cinema chain operator, gets involved in two fantasy films, 水漫金山 (Floods over Mount Jinshan), an adaptation of a Chinese mythic legend and admired TV series, and 西洋历险, (Zheng He’s Voyages), the adventure of China’s most remembered diplomat and explorer in Ming Dynasty. Bona Film Group Ltd., a leading film company in China, again takes a stake in a co-production film 魂断霞飞路 (Death on Xiafei Road), a story of a film actress set in Shanghai in the 1930s.

Ning Hao is said to adapt and direct sci-fi writer Liu Cixin's CRAZY ALIENS.jpg

Heli Chen’guang International Media Co., which produced Guo Jingming’s TINY TIMES and Zhang Yimou’s COMING HOME, involves in a new documentary MOUNT KAILASH, a story about people going on pilgrimage to Lhasa. Light Chaser Animation Studios, a CG animation film studio founded by Gary Wang, founder and former CEO of the video website Tudou.com, sets up a new project, 茶宠和小机器人(A Tang and Xiao Lai), which depicts the journey that A Tang and Xiao Lai go on together. Film director, screenwriter and actress Barbara Wong Chun-chun’s new work turns out to be 看不见的秘密 (Secrets), a story of family issues. Wong has been focusing on female characters and relationships and has directed successful films like GIRLS and THE STOLEN YEARS, with Fujian Hengye.

Among the six romance films, two of them have already been household names, because they are adapted from songs sung by famous Hong Kong singers Jacky Cheung and Eason Chan. 睡在我上铺的兄弟 (The brother in my upper bunk) by Cheung tells a story of a girl who found a long lost box loaded with too many memories about her and her young love, while 你的背包 (Your backpack) by Chan is a love triangle among two close friends and a girl. LeTV’s film unit, LeVision Pictures, showed interest in adapting popular songs as well. The company has been working with the nation’s most influential songwriter Gao Xiaosong to adapt his classic song THE BROTHER IN MY UPPER BUNK into a movie. The song was composed by Gao Xiaosong, and talks about college life. Another song by Gao, MY OLD CLASSMATE, has already been put on screen in 2014 and generated $73 million at the box office. LeTV also has a stake in the co-production of famous Taiwanese writer and television host Kevin Tsai’ s feature film 吃吃的爱 (Eat & Love), which tells the story of a young film actress who is forced to work in a restaurant. She is reluctant at first. But after many twists and turns, she decides to get serious and gets the help from the chef. Tsai is best-known for his role in hosting TV program KANGXI COMING that airs on Chung T’ien Television with fellow hostess Dee Hsu.

Foreign Elements Foreign elements have appeared in a bunch of projects, among which the US and South Korea have emerged as the top picks.

Graduated from UCLA, Cai Kangyong has been the nation's most admired variety show host

Eight scripts are related to the United States. They either introduce characters from the U.S., like 京纽奇缘 (Beijing boy meets New York Girl), or take place there, like 迷失纽约 (Lost In New York). Films set in the U.S. are not something new but are definitely getting more popular. FINDING MR RIGHT, a 2013 Chinese film inspired by SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, became one of China’s biggest ever hits and triggered massive upsurge in real estate purchase in Seattle, even though 90% of the foreign locations were actually shot in Vancouver, as told by its director Xue Xiaolu.

Co-productions Hong Kong continues to be the major partner of co-productions, e.g. Hong Kong director-producer Derek Yee’s film I AM SOMEBODY. The film itself tells the story of several small-time actors hoping to rise to fame while working as extras in the world’s largest film studio.

YOU WHO CAME FROM THE STARS

Korean elements also appear in 8 film projects and these stories all take place in South Korea. A film based on the pop TV series YOU WHO CAME FROM THE STARS is one of them. It is about a handsome alien who landed on Earth and falls in love with a top actress in the modern era 400 years later. The TV series’ screenwriter also writes the film script. It is important to note that the drama series YOU WHO CAME FROM THE STARS received over 1 billion clicks on China’s video websites.

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Because our audience makes all the difference. TIFF Industry would not be what it is without the people it attracts. Last year alone we welcomed over 5,000 delegates from 80 countries, and more than 2,000 buyers. We hosted 71 professional development sessions and over 250 speakers, presented 1,200 screenings, and much more. Early-bird registration opens May 5, 2015. facebook.com/TIFFIndustry twitter.com/TIFF_Industry tiff.net/industry

Roger Garcia Talks about the New HAF Project Hub CFM: Since HAF has already been a financing platform, why build another hub? What’s the budget of this archive and who is the financier?

Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), a film financing platform spearheaded by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS), is about to launch a new project called HAF Project Hub. Targeting members of the international film industry who are accredited with HAF, this hub would become the official online repository and reference archive for all HAF project submissions from current and previous editions. Here’s an interview with HKIFF’s executive director Roger Garcia.

Over the past few years we have experienced almost 100 percent increase in project applications to HAF. It is of course impossible to accommodate everyone, and our resources do not allow us to make significant increases in the number of projects we choose for HAF. Therefore we thought that the best way to help filmmakers was at least to offer them an international forum where interested producers and financiers could take a look at the projects that we could include in HAF. The start up budget for the hub is under $100,000 and is financed by the Hong Kong Film Development Fund. CFM: What is your expectation for the hub? What will the platform achieve in the coming years? We expect that producers and potential investors among others, will visit the hub online and on a regular basis to look for possible projects. In addition there will be producers and potential investors looking for particular types of projects so we hope the hub will make their search easier. We do recognize that the hub will take some time to establish itself. We are also looking at the possibility of opening up the hub further to non-HAF applicants, and other members and representatives of the film business community. We will also introduce a registration scheme under the hub so that filmmakers can establish a chain-of-title to their property. CFM: How would you differentiate this platform from other financing platforms? HAF is mainly devoted to projects with

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PITCH

an Asian angle and element, and also mixes both emerging and established filmmakers. I think HAF is different from other financing platforms because we emphasize a very targeted system of matchmaking between filmmakers and potential producers and investors; and we try to make our networking events both enjoyable and productive. CFM: How would you balance the quota for emerging artists and established ones as some have kept returning to the HAF? We try to maintain a roughly 50:50 balance between emerging and established filmmakers. Sometimes this will change depending of course on the quality of projects. Some filmmakers have returned to HAF and we are somewhat conscious of the need to avoid a very regular return of filmmakers to HAF. At the same time, it is also important for us to assess the prospects of various projects to be actually realized and turned into movies – whether these are by emerging or established. CFM: How would the platform protect the IP rights of the submitted projects? On the other hand, what if there are not enough users? If there is really a breach of IP rights on a project we will advise the filmmaker to take action accordingly and we will also caution the alleged breach party that legal action may be taken against them. Our system will record users and visitors so we can in fact check whether someone has visited the hub and looked at a particular project, and when. It is true that if there are not enough users, not all projects will reach investors or producers. However we see the hub as a long-term project that will need time to be established.

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COVER STORY

remained supportive anyway. Those against him would mention this repeatedly in the years to come.

Dawn of the Ming Empire

Written by Jazz Writer Guo Jingming has been reshaping the Chinese youth’s reading habit since 2002, while director Guo Jingming shocked the China film market in 2013. In 2014, Guo ranked 27th on the Forbes China Celebrity list, earning 25 million RMB. But the cultural empire he creates is worth much more: a latest report from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences suggests that Guo and his Shanghai Zui Culture Development Co. takes over 60 percent of China’s young adult publication market share. Born in 1983 in Sichuan province of China, Guo Jingming was not just another small town kid. Longing for the outside world, the teenager Guo found refuge in writing. On the Internet, he wrote under the name “the fourth dimension”. Going to Shanghai to attend “New Concept Writing competition” in Follow

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2001, Guo was dazzled by this metropolis. Back in his hometown Zigong, there was no metro, or skyscrapers. Winning the nation’s top competition in spotting new writers did change his life. He published a collection of essays in his final year of high school and then registered in the film and television department in Shanghai University. Puzzled by local teachers’ persistence in speaking the Shanghai dialect, he managed to learn it in 3 months and made a number of friends. But university education did not interest him much. After publishing his first novel CITY OF FANTASY in 2003, he left Uni and continued to publish 2 books that year. One year later, he united 4 friends to create a literary magazine called “i5land”. Unlike conventional literary magazines, i5land had a distinctive brand image: Guo made a daunting move to put exquisitely designed fantasy cover and insert lots of his

own artistic pictures. The magazine became a tastemaker among teenagers – finally there appeared a collection of writings that expressed their struggles, sentiments and loneliness; finally, they discovered that they were not alone as there were people with similar feelings. Guo has turned his name into an industry and was invited by director Chen Kaige to adapt his film THE PROMISE into a novel. Thus far, his novels are more about solitude and melancholy. He kept posting his cute pictures and daily life with best friends (colleagues) on his blog. Quite a number of Chinese Teenagers adored him the way North American kids worship Justin Bieber today. However, Guo lost the lawsuit accusing him of plagiarism and paid a fine of several thousands to the original author. He never made an apology or admitted the violation and his fans

Towards the end of 2006, Guo established a company called Ke Ai Culture and started publishing ZUI NOVEL. Stories written by savvy writers and the latest fashion picked up by chic editors never failed to attract young adults. CRY ME A SAD RIVER got published in 2007 and sold over a million copies. Guo became the first “post-’80” generation writer to be admitted into China Writers Association. The same year, a TV series based on one of his novels went to production. It was also in the same year that Guo’s chief graphic designer Hansey and chief literary creator Luo Luo left him to build another magazine ALICE. Hansey and Guo have been friends since high school. H was invited to join i5land since the beginning because his design and photography looked unique to Guo. Luo Luo, however, is among the writers discovered and made popular by Guo Jingming. When they first met, she was still an editor at a comic magazine. Impressed by some of her writings, Guo decided to mold her into an author. He then enthusiastically recommended her to his fanatic fans, marketed her at various literary gatherings, and published her stories on i5land. By 2005, she published two novels and won hundreds of thousands of fans. They just left. Guo was too astonished to respond: he lost two major business partners as well as two of his best friends. He began to restructure the company and establish an applicable business management system from the scratch. For each business conduct, there would be a rule. His different roles then left no room for sentimentality or melodrama. His waved his past romanticism goodbye.

His writings started to turn calmer and colder. And friendship would be bound by social contract. “More realistic”, as he would say.

He was illuminated that friends might leave him for one reason or another, but as long as he continued to generate content, his values remain. When people read books, he’d work with publishing house. When people change to read e-books, he’d work with digital platforms. Not to be subject to one or two individuals, he signed more stylish writers.

NOVEL. It ended up selling 750,000 copies. Shanghai Zui Culture Development Co. came into being in 2010. ZUI FOUND is to exhibit new edgy writers while ZUI FOUNT is to offer story that cures, respectively managed by Di’an and Luo Luo. ZUI COMICS is quick to mature as the young’s best comic publishing platform. Style is what Guo cares the most in choosing ZUI writers. He selects comic writers, graphic designers and photographers with the same standard – different styles can attract various readers, in order to maximize the size of fans.

One year later, Luo Luo came back to him. In the fall of 2008, Guo published TINY TIMES 1.0, the first book of a trilogy about the stormy life of four young girls and their romances, a vanity fair based in urban Shanghai. The girls wear luxury fashion and get tangled in relationships. Guo once expressed that was his depiction of the young graduates’ desires and encounters. That book was the no.1 best-seller in 2008. It seems everything he touches turns into gold: Di’an published her third novel MEMORY IN THE CITY OF DRAGON I after serializing it on ZUI

His ambition went beyond publication. In 2012, after repeated invitation by different film companies, Guo announced to adapt his TINY TIMES trilogy into four feature films, and he would be the director. Hailed as a gift for its 23 million readers, the first TINY TIMES 1.0 film was released in June, 2013. Like almost all his other works, this film received polarized reviews. Fans could go and watch the film for several times, while screenwriters commented its resemblance to a lengthy fancy music video;

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film critics took it a mix of THE DEVIL WEARS PARDA, GOSSIP GIRL and TWILIGHT.

By the end of August, 2014, the TINY TIMES series have won over 200 million USD in China. The average age of his audience is 20.3. Older audiences are not on the same page, thus declare his producers. Debates and jokes about him and his films never ceased. Buried in different occupations, he did not have time to care. In fact, he never had enough

The last film of the TINY TIMES franchise is scheduled to screen in July, 2015, but Guo has already announced his new film projects long ago: to co-produce with Zhang Ziyi a film called THE BABY FROM UNIVERSE; to direct his new film series L.O.R.D. based on his novels of the same name. Fan Bingbing, Kris and one of the T.F. Boys have confirmed acting in the film – the nation’s most talked-about actress, pop idol and teenager.

Even Luo Luo is now working on her feature directorial debut based on her best-selling novel QUEEN STAIN, a story about the so-called leftover girls. Guo, founder of this Ming Empire, believes efforts can change it all.

The cover art of L.O.R.D.

His social media account was flooded with mixed loud voices. He never bothered to explain. He did not need to. The film’s all-star cast and its 78.09 million USD box office revenue revealed his influence in this new arena. Just to create content for his fans – he was more determined than ever.

time to sleep after running the company. After becoming a director, he needed to run even faster than he used to. He thinks to take a vacation is a mere waste of time. Even if he needs to travel, it is work.

Imagine the number of literary property he owns and how many films he could make in the years to come.

The cute actors and blinding fashion in TINY TIMES partially satisfy local young girls' fantasizing about romance.

Here is an interview we have with entrepreneur Guo Jingming.

The Chinese Film Market: What is your idea of Zui Culture Development Co.? What philosophy you always emphasize in the company? Guo Jingming: I position Zui Culture as a young, energetic and absorbing company. I always emphasize “diversified youth”- our target audience is the young people, but for different types of readers, we sign varied young writers and designers, publish differentiated magazines. Now that we have marched into the film industry, we are again and again trying new films genres and themes. We start with detailed audience segmentation of a certain field, and try to excel in each section of this field. CFM: The Chinese film companies have been fiercely fighting for literary properties since last year. What is your vision of your company?

young from different eras live in different surroundings and enjoy different things, they need to face the things all human beings need to take care of: family, romance, friendship and coming of age. These are the things no one could avoid and the themes that the young from different ages would feel resonant. CFM: How do you depict the profile picture of “post-’00” generation in China? Guo: I think they are a more individualistic generation. Since they are digital natives, they might need not as much real-life interaction with others.

ciency: he needs to understand each component of filmmaking, have a good taste, be creative and communicative, and be able to execute his ideas. Writers are surely creative, but not necessarily capable in all these functions. I will tailor a career path for each writer we have signed and help him or her improve. Directing is only one of the options. But of course, I will help him or her to become a director when appropriate. CFM: During the 2015 China’s Nebula Award Ceremony, several sci-fi writers thanked you for what you have done for them and for China’s sci-fi publication. What would be the challenge in making sci-fi films in China these years?

quite energetic with little sleep. I am not particular about my workspace – just give me a laptop, and I can write at any place. Meanwhile, I have different teams in each department of my company: publication, filmmaking, business, etc. It is then like a brain giving instructions to each part of the body and the final result will flow to the brain, so that I have got the time to balance my different roles. CFM: Which one is more important to creators: talent or acquired techniques? Guo: In a scale of 0 to 10, talent is what goes from 0 to 1, while the acquired techniques and efforts can determine your final score. Without talent, it is absolute 0, end of the story. But if you are not hard-working enough, you can only remain 1, literally the lowest score in the creative business.

Guo: I think what the Tiny Times series shapes is how a group of young college graduates stimulated and forged by the society, and stand up for what values to them. Such an experience is universal, although the story is based in a contemporary setting.

Guo: Local audience still find it hard to accept local sci-fi. They have been very accustomed to a sci-fi story happening in New York or Tokyo. But if it were happen in Beijing, or Shanghai, they might find it not so credible. In China, sci-fi literature is still a very small market while there is no widespread atmosphere for sci-fi films yet. In this way, people will find the stories hard to believe. So to nurture such an atmosphere or a craving is very necessary.

CFM: Do you think young people from different eras share something in common? If so, what would that be?

CFM: Luo Luo is now making her debut film – we can help wondering whether there will be more writers from Zui Culture to become directors, for instance, Di’an?

CFM: How do you accomplish the “mission impossible” to write novels as well as manage a growing company with many other young creative minds?

CFM: What is your favorite Chinese character?

Guo: Sure. It is the growing pains and gains. Although the

Guo: I think to be a director requires comprehensive profi-

Guo: First of all, I am a workaholic. If it is work, I can stay

Guo: Dream.

Guo: We will develop our novels and comics into films and TV series, video games and relevant merchandising, etc. To explore various commercial possibilities of these literary properties. I think the ideal vision is to combine the cultural industry with the entertainment industry – this should also be the ultimate goal of a company owing a huge tank of literary properties.

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CFM: Have you ever hope the “Tiny Times” you create will become the mainstream values some day in China?

CFM: Do you have faith to lead the youth market in the next 20 years? Guo: To stay ahead of the time, the important thing is to keep a youthful mind, a hunger for knowledge and above all, aspiration. Stay curious, stay hungry. New creations always attract me.

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TECH

China’s VFX Industry

8 DAYS

Interviewed by Zhao Xiao Edited by Chen Xue Proofread by Hua Yang

A new era of blockbusters is coming and VFX is getting more important than ever. So we invite four professionals to share their experience on China’s VFX industry: its past, present and future. Liu Lu, leader of Production Department in Light Chaser Animation (once worked for PIXAR and RHYTHM & HUES); Niu Chuang, senior VFX artist in Oriental Dream Works (once served BASE FX and DOUBLE NEGATIVE, and worked for IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, THOR: THE DARK WORLD, TRANSCENDENCE, GODZILLA, PACIFIC RIM, OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, LOOPER, etc. And he); Luo Kun, a film producer in Post Production Office Group (once worked in Technicolor and BASE FX, and worked in UNTITLED TRANSFORMERS SEQUEL and TRUE DETECTIVE); Li Geng, synthesis department leader of BASE FX (once participated in the making of PACIFIC RIM, I AM NUMBER FOUR, SUPER 8, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, BLACK SAILS, THE LAST SUPPER, THE FOUR, etc.).

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Characteristics and existing problems of domestic VFX companies According to Luo Kun, China’s VFX industry has witnessed great developments driven by the booming film industry. However, it will still take some time for the Chinese film industry to accept VFX, especially to increase the involvement of VFX in a film. Currently the domestic talent flows fast, which in the long run can be a good thing. And the talents are

getting more competent and more producers from abroad are willing to participate in Chinese projects, which will definitely benefit the exchanges and cooperation.

artists and technical advisers of different production process. Generally speaking, employees who work for the last few links tend to work much longer.

He also noted that the quoted prices of VFX vary tremendously. For those who didn’t pay attention to the preliminary arrangement at the beginning could easily find themselves in trouble. It could take much more time or money to edit their shootings than they thought. Sometimes the programs are also outsourced, and it is usually much simpler to communicate with the foreign film producers: Firstly, VFX is relatively mature overseas as it has a better mechanism; secondly, foreign film producers know what the professionals want and their division of labor is clear-cut. In general, good producers should be equipped with not only specialized knowledge but also many other skills including accounting, calculating and so on.

Third, the information asymmetry is obvious between local and foreign artists. Many foreign websites are blocked in China so that it is not easy for VFX artists to search materials online and study. However, even if they can retrieve related information, only few of them could understand. Although there are more and more websites translating foreign information about VFX, their ability is still limited. In this way, the information and technology we get is always outdated.

Niu Chuang on the other hand offered four features of Chines VFX companies. First, Chinese companies are always willing to employ art directors with rich overseas experience. With their experience and knowledge, these companies can arrange all the processes before delivery and take control of the whole VFX process. Second, working overtime is quite common in VFX companies. For companies with good system and management, things are a bit better. But for those that are not so well organized, working overtime happens quite frequently. Even within the same company, it is not the same case for

Fourth, for most companies, the equipment is rather poor. Only those big companies are able to purchase high profile equipment, but it does make much sense for them as they lack artists with enough experience and abilities. On the contrary, companies with excellent artists always lack the money to purchase equipment. This is because the lack of quality awareness in market, and there are also some companies think that it is unnecessary to invest on the expensive equipment. But in fact, better equipment such as high profile machines and enough resources can double the work efficiency. Meanwhile Li Geng considers the management of time as the most common problem in VFX industry. The time for the first few departments is always sufficient. But when it comes to the synthetic phase, time is also very limited and people have to work

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The American Film Market is produced by the Independent Film & Television Alliance I www.ifta-online.org

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ROUNDTABLE Zhou Zhiyong

Shu Huan

Zhang Ji

Chen Shu

Yi Xiaoxing

Lu Hengyu and Li Shujie

Young creative minds overtime. This is unavoidable even in some foreign companies including Hollywood. It is caused by many factors such as the duration of the project, changes in customers’ demands, degree of difficulty and so on. But good VFX companies can balance artists’ work and life through advanced management, and they can also make up the overtime by providing vacation with pay when the project is finished. Another cause is the overdependence of synthetic work. Synthetic work has to solve all the problems because it is the last segment. But if the problems caused by the first few departments are left to the synthetic phase, their own standards will be lowered. All these problems result in the profitability concerns for VFX artists when they start their own business. The VFX industry is highly competitive and not very profitable due to the low threshold, low demands of customers and a large number of competitors. Cooperation experience with foreign VFX art directors In Li Geng’s opinion, Chinese art directors should learn the control of the scenes and the ultimate pursuit of details from foreign peers. Foreign art directors know not only technology but also every segment of the filmmaking. And commonly they have Follow

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learned systematically about the filmmaking theories that help them better understand the demands and feedbacks of the directors. And they can in turn provide some creative ideas and transfer their non-professional and perceptual feelings into technical words to improve efficiency. Liu Lu also introduces some areas Chinese could learn from the foreign counterparts. First, he believes the combination of project management software and production software is the most important link to maintain the efficiency. But Chinese companies always fail to do that. The extra cost caused by the poor information and ill management can be very high. However, the situation is becoming much better. Second, we can make better use of the computer calculation. Machines lying idle at night could be used to do automatic inspections and testing apart from working in render farm. Expectations of Chinese VFX movies’ development How China’s VFX movies could survive and develop under such a competitive environment is an extremely urgent problem. Liu Lu believes domestic VFX industry will continue to develop rapidly. On the one hand, it can be much more competitive in the international market after improving its technology; on the

other hand, domestic demands for VFX are growing rapidly. However the dilemma for VFX industry is that it still locates in the low-end of film industry and lacks its own intellectual property, which caused the fall of the US VFX industry and is a problem Chinese artists have to face with in the future. Of course the problem in China is not that serious due to our low labor cost and high rate of quantity and price. However, Niu Chuang is much more optimistic about the future development of the Chines VFX industry. He thinks VFX is only part of the films and its development depends on the film industry. Although the Chinese film market is quite abnormal, it’s still developing rapidly. VFX can serve as a useful tool to the films, and sometimes it is even the shinning part of a film. So if more and more new directors start to respect, understand and appreciate VFX, the two industries will be able to help each other.

In this year's Cannes issue, THE CHINESE FILM MARKET invites China’s best young and established creators to share their insights. We listen to award-winning writers whose box office revenue have surpassed 1 billion RMB, directors with mini series winning millions of clicks online, and creators making the ground-breaking achievement of realizing 2D animation feature for the local adult audience. This market is now witnessing an unprecedented blend in filmmaking and the IT industry, a steady growth in co-productions and remakes, and a continuous need for new talents. Listen up.

It is now a golden time for VFX industry’s development. Throughout the world VFX history, VFX always grows along with the development of film and technology. Although there are still some structural problems, VFX still gains the producers’ and audience’ favor as it can expand the space and scope of films. VFX will be an important segment in the film industry. Ask us anything about the Chinese film industry

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Some day, we are going to write films with Hollywood companies. I cannot see why not. "

hou Zhiyong became well-known for writing AMERICAN DREAMS IN CHINA, CRAZY RACER and CRAZY STONE. Zhou is now working on his third directorial feature. Shi Fen Qing Lang, a script workshop he founded in 2010, is unique in training new screenwriters.

The problems with the China market Fifteen years ago, film professionals would chat about Kurosawa and Tarkovskij, but now, more are talking about GDP, IPO and stocks. The Chinese film industry is short of producers: capable project managers to find proper screenwriters, suitable actors and competitive directors to arrange the production and distribution. Currently, it is all mixed up. On training new screenwriters Every Sunday, I’d run a screenwriters’ workshop called Qing Lang Private School. Established screenwriters come to talk about their professional practice and this really attracts young talented writers. This interactive community gathers the like-minded. So there is no threshold in my company – as long as you can write scripts, you could stay and claim your fame and fortune. We have already signed about 50 screenwriters, but still no enough. It takes time to nurture a screenwriter – we help them distill their best imagination within three or four years, during which we offer them financial security; satisfy their hunger for fame and help maintain their respect towards story-telling. Sometimes I think us Chinese is a bit cruel towards aging: for example, once a girl turns 25, people would say she is old. And she might no longer lead an exciting life and stop being curious about the future. I invite all the writers I work with to dream big and stay curious. This is the way we cooperate: if you are good at writing romance, I will offer you a sum of development fee and you choose your work partners among the 50 writers within the company. They might not be so familiar with romance like you do, so you become a project manager and responsible for their writings. After that, there are 5 stages of questioning by different parties. Finally, there is an internal review by 400 people from different backgrounds. Conversely, if I am good at writing crime stories while you don’t, then you need to

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Zhou Zhiyong practice writing crime with me. I require my writers to bear conflicts in mind – you cannot refuse writing what you are not so good at, because you need to be a professional screenwriter. New plans Observing people, reading and getting on the road were on my priority list before I was twenty. Reading alone only generates vicarious feelings, so I keep on walking the earth. Even today, I think about the ultimate questions like who I am, what I am doing and where I am going. In 2016, my business partner and I are going to South Korea to study filmmaking. The Koreans have been successful in blending American style with Hong Kong elements, and they are quite systematic in production. They are so good at filmmaking that there is no comparison between the top 10 Chinese films made within three years and the top 10 Korean films made within half a year. Some day, we are going to write films with Hollywood companies. I cannot see why not. On being a director Many people advice me not to direct films. They think if I flunk, no one will ask me to write scripts any more. But it will be absurd if I stop directing films just because of their concerns. I remember similar discouraging voices before I completed my first film script. It is important for me to learn directing via doing it. I am about to direct my third film and I am better in screenwriting than before, thanks to my directing experience. If I continue making films and there are investors who have faith in me as a director, then I can be a much better screenwriter than I am today, because I can help the director and the actors with more perspectives. I am not afraid of failure. If I fall down, I would stand up on my own.

Shu Huan

hu Huan is the screenwriter of LOST IN THAILAND, a story of two businessmen searching for their boss in Thailand, was a box office miracle in China (over $200 billion). This film ushered China into a new era of homemade blockbusters and an explosion of local tastes. Shu also wrote LOST IN HONGKONG, a new comic film to be released soon in 2015.

The screenwriters deserve more attention than they are given."

Screenwriting in China The first film I wrote was CALL FOR LOVE starring Xu Zheng in 2006. It got an investment of $322,000; with advertisement, we had a budget of $644,000. The film did fairly well, scoring $1.93 million in total. The film market back then was plain and calm. A large number of screenwriters were writing TV series and I could not even name one professional screenwriter. Even for writers like Liu Zhenyun and Wang Shuo who only co-operate with director Feng Xiaogang are not technically professional screenwriters. Professional ones should be able to adapt to different genres instead of tailoring scripts for one or two. It is very different now. First of all, the Chinese film market is experiencing a huge surge. Secondly, screenplays have been given more attention. With the rapid development of TV series, quite a number of A-list writers have dive into the TV industry, but the picture of screenwriting in China is still a blur. The screenwriters’ paychecks vary tremendously. Some may only get $5,000 to $8,000 for one script. I have even seen one contract saying that the company would not pay until the film is finished shooting. It’s hard for writers to defend their rights in today’s environment. A lot of work may have been put into a script and then the project is shut down without much explanation. Though China produces 500 to 600 films a year, only less than half get the chance for national theatrical release. Each year, there are about 30 films that can succeed at the box office. Currently, all the major production houses have already begun to put emphasis on scripts and gradually build their own project development team, but most knockoff companies and

speculators still don’t pay much attention to screenplays even though. If the industry wants to develop, then screenwriters should be respected. The training of screenwriters I learned more about screenwriting after my graduation from the Central Academy of Drama (CAD). CAD sees itself as a top learning institution, focusing on masters rather than techniques, so not many practical techniques about how to actually write a script are taught at school. I also work with a number of writers that once majored in computer science or finance. After all, I respect a certain creative rules. I am always slower than planned, but this is my way: to let it simmer. I am also trying to balance these two things. One way is to expand my team by partnering with more great writers – we are now a team of over a dozen screenwriters. New film project My focus in 2015 is a film about a journey in India, a co-production with Oriental DreamWorks, which is based on a German comic novel. This film might later be remade into a Hollywood movie. The way DreamWorks works is quite different from that in China. They take the story very seriously. For example, if learning one famous actor is interested in a story, a Chinese company would decide to sign a contract right away, but not Dreamworks. They put the story before anything else.

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Zhang Ji Always try new genres is my best way to dig deeper in screenwriting. "

Chen Shu For me, script is more like architecture or math as it strives for structure, rhythm, logic and imagination. " About the China film market

About The Chinese Film Market It is indeed growing on a daily basis with cinemas all over the country. Young people consider it a very cheap and rather exciting way of entertainment, so the admissions grow dramatically. But on the whole, the creativity and production of the film industry still need major improvement. The operation of genre films and local originality are especially below the audience’s expectations. Therefore, faced with the competition from Hollywood, we are under greater and greater pressure. About Screenwriting The Chinese screenwriters need to improve in: 1. Know-how. Too many are apt to talk more than they think; 2. Pursuit. Too many are so anxious to make profits that it affects the creative process; 3. Teamwork. A screenwriter cannot be too self-centered. To write a script, one needs to be humble and patient, in order to improve his or her craft in both conception and techniques. To find one’s place in a team is also important, because filmmaking takes a collective effort. A professional screenwriter should, first of all, respect film genre and know his or her own aptitude; should meet some level of professional standards; and should communicate well to work for the common goal of the team. Personal faith and inspirations I write for the audience with the belief that each age group of audiences would long for respect, communication and love. Often, reading and talking to people inspire me. Personally speaking, my habit of watching Follow

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films every day and take notes was a very important period of preparation; and then I went to write TV series; the first time I wrote a movie script is also a great turning point of my career. Every important event in your life would influence your writing and rekindle your curiosity of the world. You then desire to know others and begin to question yourself. I got to know that film is about dream, fantasy, light and show via Fellini’s films, a way to connect dreams and reality, memory and presence. For me, Akira Kurosawa is best director in story-telling and visual presentation. The Coen Brothers are so cool and humorous in telling the absurdity of human beings’ struggles. Richard Curtis has a unique sense of humor and the ability to deliver the heaviness of life with light-hearted plots. And then Aaron Sorkin – he is the best scriptwriter in terms of writing dialogues. I spent quite a few years in writing TV series and now I choose to write film scripts only. The films that I would like to write would be the genres I have never written before, or those that are not so well developed in China today. It’s not like I enjoy challenging myself all the time – it is just the best way for me to learn to operate different genres by doing. I think sci-fi films will have a very bright future in China. About Transnational Cooperation in Screenwriting My point is, a screenwriter needs to try hard to write local stories, though in terms of the methodology, one can learn a lot from western screenwriters. In the long run, to enhance originality is a blessing for ourselves, and for the industry.

hang Ji has just won the Best Screenwriter Award at the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards for writing DEAREST directed by Peter Chan. He is also one of the screenwriters of Chan’s AMERICAN DREAMS IN CHINA.

Nearly local 200 film projects have already received official approval for production within the first 100 days of 2015. More investments and productions are entering the growing industry as the audience base and box office continue to expand. Sometimes it seems that everyone around me is working on a film. The framework of the industrialized film market has been built, so what is left is to produce content that can be on the same page. The problem with the Chinese film market is that screenwriters don’t create many original stories. It is indeed that some external elements like censorship and investors’ lack of trust could make it more difficult for writers to develop their own story. But the vitality of the industry stems from the core of our originality. Talent and training are the most fundamental and important things for a storyteller. It is not hard to find people with talents considering China’s large population; at the same time, the booming film market offers lots of training opportunities. My way in screenwriting I graduated with a master degree in screenwriting. The first film script I wrote was an animation for a competition at Central Academy of Drama. I was surprised that the story, recommended by my tutor, was successfully sold to a French producer. Later on I wrote MY SPECTACULAR THEATER, which was sold again and this time even got produced. The two experiences set me on a career of screenwriting. I’m always hoping that the script I write is concerned with our contemporary life. It doesn’t matter whether it is a modern story or not. We could embellish an ancient story or a

hen Shu has scripted seven films in the past five years, including a Ming Dynasty legend BROTHERHOOD OF BLADES, a thrilling female racing driver drama SPEED ANGELS and a low-budget romance MY SPECTACULAR THEATER.

future one with the feelings and questionings we have right now. I cannot write about a world that I am not familiar with. Script to me is not a play of words or an art. It is more like architecture or math as it strives for structure, rhythm, logic and imagination. How do I pick whom to work with? When I was new in the business and not so sure what I really wanted, I was willing to work with different projects to test the water. Gradually, I find whether I like a project or not matters, because it will influence my dedication and faith. I love science fiction and animation and I prefer passionate and imaginative writings. One of my recent two stories is romantic comedy; the other is a soft sci-fi. I love flying high and I have been practicing how to land gracefully. Multinational cooperation The Chinese film market has drawn more global attention, leading to a rise in co-productions. For stories that are set in China, led by a Chinese actor or targeting the Chinese market, they will always need a Chinese screenwriter. Local screenwriters could even serve as the only one link that cannot be replaced by foreign counterparts. Take one of my projects for example. Foreign screenwriters may have more experience of executing commercial films from a better international perspective. But when it comes down to the writing itself, the Chinese screenwriter will take the lead as it is written in Chinese after all. It is up to the Chinese writers to choose what words or structures the script will use.

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Yi Xiaoxing

It is important to buckle down in a historically rich but challenging film market."

i Xiaoxing has been earning Internet fame for his wacky short video clips since 2007. He co-founded UniMedia in 2011 and started releasing web series SURPRISE, the story of a young man for whom things often go wrong, in 2013. The series turned out to be a huge hit and has received more than 800 million views so far.

About the Chinese Film Market

UniMedia

The Chinese film market is experiencing a period of enlightment and a period of blossoming. It is a bit like the Koran film market back in 2002 when comedy led the way and all genre films and young directors could easily achieve success. This is certainly a good sign for the Chinese film industry, proving that the market is flourishing and the audience is growing. At the same time, the Korean market’s development curve could be a reference for us. Audience may have enough of comedy a few years later and thus look for something deeper.

When I was a civil engineer, I posted many clips online. But it wasn’t enough for me to just be an amateur. I quit my job and came to Beijing in November 2011 to set up UniMedia with Tudou’s Fan Jun and Bai Zhongchun. When we first started, we only had 12 members from Tudou’s production department. Then we got around 80 and a fair rise in advertising revenue before the release of SURPRISE in 2013. After that, our company has been developing on a fast track. We have more than a staff of 220 by the end of 2014 and have more projects on our slate.

But the problem for the market is that with so many oppotunies, few people could really buckle down and do their job. It is your work that makes you respected.

UniMedia is a company that focuses on literary property. Literary property was underestimated in the past. Its value is probably going to be more than doubled in the next few years as creative force has been given more attention. What we need is someone who knows the rules of the Internet. We have a mentor system in our company to help rookies learn. If you are gold, you will shine.

SURPRISE （万万没想到） SURPRISE is a mixture of my ideas and some foreign elements including the French sitcom BREF, American ONION NEWS and Japanese comic GIN TAMA. But after all, it is one of the kind. I have been working on the movie version of SURPRISE. To get a better sense of the film industry, I have analyzed quite a number of movies in term of their structures and plots. I did feel a little anxious as a movie is a whole different thing from the web series. They don’t have much in common, making it a huge challenge for us.

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To me, Internet is all about respecting the users. We need to think digitally, keep all the trouble to ourselves and let the users enjoy. The Future As the country will sign a new agreement on its quota system with the World Trade Organization in 2017, more foreign films may get the chance to roll into China. But it’s not the imported films that threaten the local films the most; instead, it is the co-productions that will matter because they will undermine the cultural independence.

Lu Hengyu and Li Shujie

u Hengyu and Li Shujie co-directed the animated comedy film ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BAD JOKES released in December 2014. This 2D animation once raised over $200,000 via crowdfunding and eventually scored $19 million at the box office. It is based on a comic series first published in 2009 that mingled ancient Chinese stories, Western fairy tales and adult humor. This film is ground-breaking in China’s 2D adult animation market: before, animated content was primarily targeted for children.

If you make a good story, audience will like it naturally, not the other way around."

About the Chinese Animation Industry Chinese animation had its glorious times when people made films for art itself not for profits. The industry was not market-oriented and films were made without much financial pressure. That led to a large number of high-quality projects. Later, when the western countries and Japan outsourced lots of their work to us, quite a number of people got the chance to receive professional training. Later, after the Chinese film market opened up and original films were needed, no one was willing to take the risk. So when the world animation was marching forward, we were, however, left behind. Chinese companies only tried to lower the prices to get more outsoucing deals. Consequently, the industry witnessed a sharp drop in its quality. Now few companies will outsource to China as other countries like North Korea are much cheaper. The emergence of two forums Flash Empire and Flash8 in 2000 made an exception. Many good works and talents emerged with the popularity of flash. And the government tried to encourage the animation industry by offering preferential policies. Unfortuantely, these policies only took quantity into consideration. Some people started to take advantage of the loopholes in these policies to maximize profits. Then a large number of companies bankcrupted or left the animation business for the vidoe game Industry. We were lucky to witness this era as I met a lot friends during that time. We are still working with some of them today in our various projects. What the industry needs are those with patience and love. Sometimes it is just a question of will. Not many people love animation enough to tacle all those obstacles. We all know that animations like THE LEGO MOVIE and BIG HERO 6 are great ones. It’s important for us to realize that there is still a

long way to go to compete with them. U17.com U17.com has provided a platform for creative animators who are looking to promote their work to a general audience. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BAD JOKES is one of those popular comics serialized on the site. There were many comic magazines when I was in junior high school. It was the time when making animation could be considered as a career. Then suddenly most of print comic magazines were gone, creating a panic among artists. U17 seized the chance and developed the first online comic platform. The site’s basic setting is similar to YouTube: UGC. It makes everyone an animator. But animation itself still needs commercialization as it does not have the character of a product. It is a different world now – before it took an artist quite a long time to draw comics. But now, take ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BAD JOKES’s author Hanwu for example: sometimes we are amazed that he uploads something like a rough draft online; sure enough, the readers are less impatient and Hanwu can create much more works this way. The Future A popular animation is a great advertisement itself, such as THE TRANSFORMERS. But most Chinese still choose to follow others instead of creating their own things. Many parodies of ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BAD JOKES have popped up. We believe if we make a good story, audience will like it naturally, not the other way around. We keep testing our limits and our new project is not a comedy any more. Ask us anything about the Chinese film industry

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TREND

Time to Remake Special thanks to Xiaoban, Wang Yao, Maria A. Ruggieri, Ari Gunnar Ă&#x17E;orsteinsson, John Berra, Ye Xindai, Paolo Bertolin, Liu Xiaodai and Zhou Jianwei for their insights and input in this topic. If you have some other ideas about remake possibilities in China, please email them to us. Lots of Chinese producers would love to get in touch with you. Follow

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Ask Ask usus anything anything about about thethe Chinese Chinese film film industry industry

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MIPTV

A Safe Source for Family Movies Written by Peng Kan Translated by Guo Dan

In the recent 2 years, 4 films have been made from reality show WHERE ARE WE GOING? DAD and RUNNING MAN and generated 1.47 billion RMB, that is, 237 million USD. Young Chinese audience go to the movies with their family and other loved ones, and this creates one box office wonder after another.

The success of these films will inspire more film companies looking into the TV industry for applicable stories.

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Almost every popular variety show format in China is introduced from overseas, such as THE VOICE OF CHINA, WHERE ARE WE GOING? DAD and RUNNING MAN, etc. This number reached 56 in 2013, arousing Chinese government’s concerns about its cultural security, so the government announced restrictions in late 2013. According to this policy, each comprehensive satellite TV channel is allowed to import only one more licensed TV show from overseas in 2014. In fact, this policy cannot stop Chinese channels’ passion for foreign variety show formats. Statistics show that 61 variety shows were broadcast nationwide on TV and video websites in 2014, 30 were newly introduced and 31 were sequels based on the original shows. Actually many TV channels import foreign variety show formats, including ZJSTV, Dragon TV and Shenzhen TV, but in order to bypass the quota, they always choose a sneaky way to cooperate with foreign counterparts for co-development or co-production. There are two obvious trends of TV format import in 2014: the first trend - South Korea has replaced the U.S. as China’s largest source of foreign TV format import. 12 South Korean formats have been localized in China, and the figure is likely to double if new shows co-developed with South Korean TV stations or production companies are included. After variety shows based on the Korean TV formats meet the audience, such as WHERE ARE WE GOING? DAD and I AM A SINGER, a hunger for imported TV formats skyrocket in China. Thanks to the geographic proximity and convenient transportation, original production team from South Korea can fully participate in the production of its Chinese version, but very few European team is available. For instance, the first five episodes of Chinese RUNNING MAN from Zhejiang Satellite TV are produced with the original production team from South Korea. With the similar oriental cultural background, South Korean TV formats are more likely to succeed in China than the European ones, which explains Chinese TV stations’ enthusiasm for Korean TV formats. The other trend – there appeared more outdoor reality shows, though the traditional production of documentary-style programs regarded outdoor-themed TV shows as troublesome and unattractive. The Chinese version of WHERE ARE WE GOING? DAD produced by Hunan Satellite TV, however, has broken the spells surprisingly. There are several contributing factors to explain its phenomenal success: parent-child theme, all-star cast as well as a combination of competitive game show and documentary. There is no doubt that this show gives impetus to other outdoor-themed reality shows in China. With the explosive growth of outdoor-themed reality shows in 2014, there are approximately 30 such shows in China, including 6 South Korean formats and 1 American format of the popular outdoor-themed reality show THE AMAZING RACING imported by Shenzhen TV. Most of them achieve high ratings and have more advertising value than studio shows Follow

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Table: TV formats imported into China in 2014

Channel CCTV-1 CCTV-1 CCTV-1 CCTV-1 CCTV-2 CCTV-2 CCTV-2 CCTV-3 CCTV-3 CCTV-3 CCTV-3 CCTV-3 CCTV-12 Hunan TV Hunan TV Hunan TV Hunan TV Hunan TV ZJSTV ZJSTV ZJSTV ZJSTV ZJSTV ZJSTV ZJSTV JSTV JSTV JSTV Dragon TV Dragon TV Dragon TV Dragon TV Dragon TV Dragon TV Dragon TV Dragon TV BTV AHTV AHTV TJTV TJTV SZ TV

SZTV

SZTV SZTV SZTV HBTV HBTV HBTV JXTV Xiamen Star Xiamen Star Travel Channel Travel Channel Guizhou TV YNTV HLJ TV CQTV Shaanxi STV Tencent Video Tencent Video

No.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

Name Thank God You’re Here Schiller Street You Deserve It Bet on Your Baby The Taste Super Nanny Upgrade Superstar Ding Dong Don’t Stop Me Now Give Me that Bill Bring Them Back Rising Star Dancing Nation I am a Singer Where are we going？Dad Take Me Out Your Face Sounds Familiar Anything Goes – Laugh Out Loud The Voice (of China) Poker Face Keep Your Light Shining Dad Came Back Running Man Doctor What Exit – X-space Still Standing Raid the Cage The (Super) Brain Chinese Idol China’s Got Talent Super Diva The Secret Millionaire Immortal Songs Figure 꽃보다 할배 Two days one night 해피선데이 Top Gear China Duets Mad for Music Holding out for A Hero A Celebrity Is Living At Our House I Want A Million Friends The Generation Show The Battle of the Sexes - Men vs. Women You’ve Got Mail Gadget Show The Amazing Race Perhaps Love 우리 결혼했어요 I Love China The Big Guess Who’s Family Show Crack Them Up The Kids Are All Right My Dad is Better than Your Dad The Symptom Baggage 닥터의 승부 The Best Doctor Big Town Dance Entertainment Experience Miracle Audition The Imposter Are You Normal? The Hit

Origin Australia Germany Germany USA USA USA Israel Ireland UK Netherlands Turkey Israel Argentina South Korea South Korea UK Spain France Netherlands UK Turkey South Korea South Korea Japan Japan Israel Israel Germany USA UK South Korea UK South Korea South Korea South Korea UK USA Netherlands UK South Korea Spain Belgium Netherlands Italy UK USA South Korea Netherlands Netherlands Ukraine UK USA Thailand USA South Korea UK Netherlands South Korea Spain USA Ireland

because of the appropriate content. For example, 12 brands put product placements in the second season of WHERE ARE WE GOING? DAD, which shows the great commercial potential of TV shows of this type. Why such enthusiasm? Importing foreign TV formats has been a global trend of transcultural communication since 1990s. The global market for TV format trade approached € 20 billion in 2012. Still, a proliferation of overseas TV format purchases has out-paced general expectations. A number of factors exist, such as originality, production and industry, etc. As for originality, the Chinese TV program industry, just as other cultural industries, is in a dilemma due to the lack of feasible original ideas. And well-received originalities of foreign TV formats from different countries, which have been tested through the market, can fill in the gaps to some extent. Considering the cutthroat competition among different programs, TV stations are more cautious about choosing program formats. Also, senior TV executives are less willing to take risks, so prefer to import successful foreign program formats. In terms of production, it’s more efficient and cheaper to import. Thanks to the numerous tests and optimization, the production process provided by the foreign teams can help avoid detours and improve ROI. Take THE VOICE OF CHINA, for instance. Its Dutch counterpart has offered several-hundred-page guide, which provides all the information a producer needs to know to replicate a show, including staff delegation, multi-camera shooting, production period, even the detail of holding a microphone and chair design. A flight producer from the original team gives guidance and oversees all the details in the production process in China, ensuring the quality of Chinese programs. The production procedure of American and European TV industries are highly professional and systematic after decades of industrial operation. And China’s best TV channels have been quick to import and learn, such as Hunan TV, Zhejiang TV and Jiangsu TV, etc.

awkward position. The Chinese government, the TV stations and senior executives of production companies – they all want to improve this situation. Therefore some leading TV stations and production companies start trying to develop Chinese format of local original shows and promote them in overseas market with the power of international distribution companies. For example, NOT A STAR YET (I’M NOT A STAR) has reached a total of 6 seasons, which is developed by Zhejiang TV into its own format and distributed worldwide by Israeli company Keshet. In April 2015, Jiangsu TV, the sponsor of MIPTV’s opening party, promotes its original format of SUPER COMBAT TEAMS to the whole world in Cannes. Shanghai Canxing Culture & Broadcast Co., a leading production company in China, has developed a music talent show on CCTV -- SING MY SONG and authorized British broadcaster ITV to distribute it all over the world. Vietnam Television has bought the format and will produce its local version. It is the first time the format of an original Chinese TV talent show has been exported. In addition to the development of original TV formats, Chinese TV stations have also made moves to promote innovation. The original format contest has been held by Zhejiang TV since 2014. Award-winning formats can be made into rushes with the financial support, which might lead to a broadcast for the entire season. OATH OF ANGELS, an award-winner, has ended its run and will be developed into the original format for sale in overseas market. With the rapid economic development, China has a huge domestic market. Some leading Chinese TV stations and production companies have gradually learned how to develop and produce TV show formats. Benefiting from various reforms, the Chinese TV industry is more market-oriented. All these factors contribute to a better environment for the development of Chinese original TV shows, which could generate more concepts for family movies, just like in the case of WHERE ARE WE GOING? DAD and RUNNING MAN.

Thanks to globalization, a successful TV show format is usually a world-famous brand. Localized programs based on imported format are more likely to get advertising sponsorship. The prospects of Chinese original shows On the one hand, importing foreign TV show formats definitely improves the quality of Chinese TV programs. On the other hand, overseas program formats dominate the Chinese TV market while few Chinese formats export from China for the lack of originality. The imbalance between our import and export format trade places China in an Ask us anything about the Chinese film industry

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Box Office from Jan to April

Top 40 box office films in China

Keywords in the first four months of 2015

Rank

Movie Title

Countries

Box Office

Furious 7

US/JP

$330,500,800

The Man From Macau 2

HK/CN

$155,587,200

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

US/NZ

$122,480,000

Dragon Blade

CN/HK

$118,769,600

Wolf Totem

CN/FR

$111,284,800

Big Hero 6

$83,644,800

Wolf Warriors

$84,086,080

Running Man

$69,400,000

Cinderella

$68,467,200

The Taking of Tiger Mountain

CN/HK

$68,320,000

Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal

CN/HK

$65,307,200

20 Once Again

CN/KR

$58,449,600

Night at the Museum 3

US/UK

$51,654,400

Boonie Bears: Mystical Winter

$47,209,600

Let's Get Married

$45,371,200

Jupiter Ascending

US/UK

$45,321,600

Somewhere Only We Know

$45,305,600

The Left Ear

$40,710,400

Kingsman: The Secret Service

UK/US

$39,100,800

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

$35,971,200

Where Are We Going Dad? 2

$35,676,800

Love and Lost

CN/HK

$34,070,400

Taken 3

$32,156,800

Seventh Son

UK/US/CAN

$27,644,800

Triumph in the Skies

CN/HK

$24,993,600

Ever Since We Love

$22,678,400

One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes

$19,137,600

Emperor's Holidays

$18,177,600

Paddington

UK/FR

$15,785,600

Love on the Cloud

$14,392,000

Crazy New Year's Eve

$11,147,200

One Night Stud

$10,832,000

Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf - Amazing Pleasant Goat

$10,822,400

The Grandmaster 3D

CN/HK

$10,164,800

Home

$9,118,400

The House of Magic

BEL

$7,264,000

Insanity

CN/HK

$7,155,200

The Right Mistake

$6,227,200

An Inspector Calls

CN/HK

$5,972,800

Unbroken

$5,884,800

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Action

Transformation

DESEN INTERNATIONAL

Museum

New Line Cinema Costume Drama

Wechat

Huayi Brothers

Battle

Comedy Animation

Culture

Sequel New Year's Eve

Hero

Wolf

Adventure

DRAMA

Walt Disney

Pilot

China Film Co

Kidnap

BEIJING CHUNQIU TIME Road Movie

Lionsgate

Anti-hero

Heyi Film

War

Father

20th Century Fox

Peasant Worker

Teenager

Cat

Investigation

Dream TV Series

Reality Show

Black Comedy

Grandmother/

Sci-fi

Robbery

Gamble FAMILY

Co-production

Children

Kaila Pictures

Adaptation

Yaolai Entertainment Marriage

Bear

Thriller

Conflict

Car Racing

Le Vision Pictures Circus

Romance

Phycology

Stolen Painting

Enlight Pictures

Memory

Bona Film

Beijing Wenchuan Shiji

Fantasy Kung Fu

Missing Brother

Conflict

Planet

FAIRY TALE

Universal Pictures Sport

Biography

Apprentice

SPECIAL FORCE

Underprivileged Kids Headmistress

Decode

Unplanned Pregnancy Crime

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