Indie Entertainment Media - AFM 2022 Special Edition

Santa Monica

Indie Entertainment Media indieentertainmentmedia.com

Publishers Gotham Chandna Nicole Goesseringer Muj

Editor-in-Chief | Managing Editor Nicole Goesseringer Muj

Chief Digital Editor Gotham Chandna

Contributors Lena Basse Claude Brickell Nicole Goesseringer Muj

Editorial Assistant Rachael Fisher

Graphic Design Arina Kipurova Photos Courtesy of: Cover Photos Courtesy of David Lafaille. Additional Photos Courtesy of HFPA, Movie Stills DB, Nelson Shen, Tshombe Sampson, WikiCommons.

Kultura PR International | Cloud 21 International ©2022. All Rights Reserved.

EILEEN TASCA

Founder, Alien Films, Italian

Producer, Poland's Oscar Submission "EO"

Chairman, CEO Threshold Entertainment Group

COLIN COSTELLO

Writer, Director,

GOLSA SARABI

Actress, Executive Producer, "Back In The No"

Producer, Founder Shane Gang Pictures

WITHOUT BORDERS PANELISTS MODERATOR

Production without borders

Eileen Tasca

Eileen Tasca is managing director of Alien Films and Task Films, a production company whose co-shareholder is legendary Polish film director, Jerzy Skolimowski. In 2015, she was executive producer of Skolimowski’s  11 Minutes that premiered at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. The film won top prize at the Lisbon Film Festival and was selected as Poland’s entry for foreign language film for the 2016 Academy Awards. In 2010, she co-financed  Essential Killing, also directed by Skolimowski, that garnered numerous awards at the Venice Film Festival.

Working again with Skolimowski, she is the Italian producer of Cannes Jury Prize Winner  EO, a parable focused on the life of a simple donkey, set against the backdrop of today’s maddening reality. Previously, she worked in venture capital at Citicorp and as a journal ist for Variety and several other trade publications.  She is a member of the International Academy of the Television Arts and Sciences.

Golsa Sarabi

Golsa Sarabi is an international star and an action actor, who was born in Tehran, Iran and now resides in Los Angeles. Golsa boasts a diverse experience in performing arts, which includes film, stage, producing and scriptwriting. She was one of the executive producers on the film Dreams I Never Had and was nominated for the Best Actress Award at the Burbank International Film Festival for her lead role opposite Malcolm McDowell and Robin Givens. She has produced four short movies and has finished the short, First Title Above Billing , which received three nominations. She also played one of the leads in the TV pilot By Design.

Golsa was the first winner of the “Young Acting Award” at the Lee Strasberg Institute in

Larry Kasanoff

Los Angeles, where she completed a two-year intensive method acting program. Motivated by the desire to empower women, she was the first Persian woman after 35 years since the revolution who represented Iran at the Queen of the Universe Pageant, and won the coveted award. Currently, she is in development process on her first feature titled Mia, as one of the main producers and will star in the lead role. The film is based on a true event that happened in Iran about 40 years ago. She is an executive producer of the feature film Back In The No.

Larry Kasanoff is Chairman and CEO of Threshold Entertainment Group. He makes movies (Terminator 2, True Lies, Mortal Kombat); animated movies (Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out) and theme park rides (Star Trek: The Borg Adventure; Marvel Superheroes 4D; The Baywatch Experience).

Previously, as president and co-founder of Lightstorm Entertainment, Larry supervised production, marketing, publicity and merchandising for the four-time Academy Award-winning hit Terminator 2 Judgment Day. He produced two movies with Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow. As a producer or studio head, Larry has made over 250 feature films, including Dirty Dancing, and Academy Award Winning Best Picture Platoon. He has raised well over a billion dollars in the film business. In the music world, he has packaged or produced video projects with several of the world’s biggest talents, including Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones and Dick Clark. For Terminator 2, he produced MTV’s top video of the year, “You Could Be Mine” with Guns ‘N Roses.

Michel Shane

Quebec-native  Michel Shane  has been a successful entrepreneur for more than 30 years, having achieved great success in the film industry as a movie producer and founder at Shane Gang Pictures. He is best known for his work in developing, creating, and executive producing the blockbusters Catch Me If You Can and I Robot, and financing Northfork, to name a few.

Michel  has just completed a documentary on the horrors of the Pacific Coast Highway in California titled 21 Miles in Malibu. This passion project created to bring awareness to the dangers of this iconic roadway will be released soon. He is also preparing a multi-part television series on

Moderator Colin Costello

WGA-East member  Colin Costello, a biracial genre, comedy and horror writer and direc tor.   The former award-winning advertising cre ative director has written two family feature films. 2013’s,  The Stream  which stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. His debut short film, that he wrote and directed, 2018’s  The After Party has played in 25 festivals and won five. His other short film, 2019’s  Dreamwisher  has won ten awards in the United States and internationally. His latest short Storage is currently making waves on the festival circuit.

In late 2018, he was selected by The Champions’ Program supported by the WGA Committee of Black Writers and designed to obtain writers of

Michele Sindona, the Howard Hughes of Italy, who had his fingers in world affairs for over 20 years and at one time was one of the richest men in the world, that no one knew. He is co-founder/co-CEO of Infinite Percent Partners, a natural products pharmaceutical company based out of Hawaii, California, and the UK. Michel is the Chair of  The Emily  Shane Foundation. In 2015, he received a Lifelong Achievement Award from President Barack Obama.

color representation or staffed.  Colin’s writing has gotten the attention of Spike Lee, with whom he helped launch an ad agency, Michael Bay, Dr. Maya Angelou, Reginald Hudlin, Tim Burton, Jan DeBont, Marcus Nispel, Pam Thomas, Disney, ABC, Netflix and The Montecito Picture Show Company.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Colin is currently editor for industry news outlet,  Reel 360 News, a  screenwriting instructor at UCLA Extension and a volunteer for Young Storytellers.

Mrs. President Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore led the jury of the 79th Venice Film Festival, which on September 10th selected the winners from 23 films in competition

Julianne Moore, who presided as the 79th Venice Film Festival jury, spoke at its opening about how she first came to Venice in 1986 as an actress from the American soap opera As the World Turns . “I never, ever in my life thought that I would be the head of the jury. And if you had told me that one day, I was going to head the jury of the Venice Film Festival, I would have fallen into the canal, honestly.”

Luckily, she didn’t need to fall into the canal because after her impressive and long career nobody, including herself, would question her competence in filmmaking and therefore her ability to lead the judging. Indeed, the jury of the festival, not only succeeded but also met the expectations of those who know Julianne Moore’s dedication to the Women’s Movement. After carefully selecting from 23 films in the competition, three of the main awards, the three Lions, went to female filmmakers. The Red Lion of the Future as well as Special Lion of the Grand Jury prize, that is considered as the second-place award, went to French documentarian Alice Diop for Saint Omar, the narrative feature debut based on a real story about the trial of a young mother who killed her 15-month-old daughter. The Gold Lion was presented to Laura Portras for her documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed about the life of a photographer and activist and her efforts against holding big pharma accountable for the opioid crisis.

At the press conference, Moore explained the pro cess of choosing winners: “We were looking for

films that make our hearts beat faster, that makes us feel rather alive and we are seeing the world that we are living in.”

Looking back on her artistic choices, it is exactly what she was after during her long career. Moore is one of those actresses who achieved her success gradually. While many Hollywood actresses have become famous in large part due to the irresistible charm of youth, she, who certainly has a bright appearance, achieved recognition at a mature age. The most prestigious Oscar gold statuette was awarded to the actress when she was already over fifty years old. Then, having played the role of a university professor in the film Still Alice, who is rapidly losing her memory due to developing Alzheimer’s disease, Moore created a stunning in-depth image that evokes not only compassion in the audience, but also a deep respect for the person who resists the fallen man with all his might.

By that time, the actress had already played hun dreds of roles and had a huge life experience. Long before her acting career began when her name was

Julie Anne Smith, she, as a student, attended more than 23 schools. Her father whose middle name she took later as her artistic name, was a military lawyer and moved his family from city to city. After gradu ating from an American school in Germany, Moore entered Boston University, where she decided to devote herself to acting. Her first appearance on the screen was in the television series. But even after she started acting in films, she had a chance to play many supporting roles before she was entrusted with leading roles in films such as Far From Heaven and A Single Man. In The Hours, she played one of the three main roles, performing on a par with such recognized Hollywood stars as Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. Remembering the many di verse images she has created over the years, among which were the role of a prostitute in Boogie Nights, a feminist artist in The Big Lebowski, and a lesbian mother in The Kids Are All Right, it is still impossi ble not to notice that most often the directors saw in her a woman from the 1950s.

And this is no coincidence, not only her natural gentleness, but the very deceptive complaisance that she gave to the screen images of her heroines, were the very virtues without which it was impossible to imagine the female ideal in the 50s. And yet she is much more than that. Besides the fact that she particularly known for portraying women in inde pendent movies, she is an activist who’s also known as a campaigner for gun control, gay rights, and of course, women’s rights. She was honored to participate in the movie The Glorias by being one of four actress who represented Gloria Steinem, an activist, who became nationally recognized as a leader and a spokeswoman for the American feminist movement in the late 1960s.

Lately, as a Venice jury head, Moore joined activists in a flash mob on the Venice red carpet to call for the release of Jafar Panahi, the Iranian director who was detained in Tehran in July.

About importance of curation

For me, oddly, the first curator I met was the pro grammer of the first movie theater I went to when I was 10 years old and I lived in Juneau, Alaska. They changed the movie every week. So, I would go and see a Disney movie like The Aristocats or something. And then, one day when I was 10 and I went to the movie theater again, I saw Minnie and Moskowitz,

the John Cassavetes film. At 10, to see that and say, “What is this? What’s this world out there? How do I fit in it?” That to me was the most important part of filmmaking and being in films. At that’s what I appreciate so much about Venice, where there has been such incredible curation.”

About the Women’s

Movement

I was a teenager in the 70s, so my awareness of the Women’s Movement was limited, because teenag ers don’t pay attention to anything (laughs). But I do remember the effort to pass the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) and I remember, I had a but ton, my sister had a button, and it was something that seemed imminent and important and then it didn’t pass. But I think the person that really made me aware of what was happen ing in the world, what had happened, was my mother. She was some body who didn’t have the advantages that I did, and pointed out, all the things that had changed in my lifetime: like availability of birth control and that you could have a credit card in your own name and all these things…that my parents were going

to save for my education and I was going to go to college, and they were going to pay for it, unlike when my mom grew up and her parents didn’t send her to college because they didn’t seem to think it was important. So, my mother was the one person who said to me: “you’re living all the advantages that we have gained for women.”

It wasn’t until I was older that I realized who Gloria Steinem was and some of these other women who are in the film. But the great joy about playing this is that I not only learned what they did more specifically, what Gloria did, but also, I learned about Dorothy Pitman Hughes and Flo Kennedy and Dolores Huerta and Wilma Mankiller. All of that they had achieved and how much they stayed in contact with one another too. It’s important –sometimes we don’t learn about things until we’re ready to hear them. I see that with my kids too.

About parity in marriage

My daughter went to a girl’s school. She just graduated from a girl’s high school, and I went and spoke to them about some other wom en, other women who were working in male dominated professions, about what their expectations should be of their lives. If you do have an expectation that you are going to have a family and a career,

I said you will not be able to have that unless you have a partner who believes in the same things that you do, who believes that you can have a family and a career. Because that’s what you need - you need two parents who are both invested in that. So, you can’t just raise a generation of women who think it must be that way, you have to raise men to think that too. And I do think that we’ve made amazing strides in that.

I’m certainly in a marriage where we have parity and we both are involved in parenting our children, and we’re both involved in our careers and making money and we contribute. And I think our children grew up seeing that so that’s what I want for them.

About birthdays

I think birthdays bring up a lot of stuff, but it does bring up the fact that we know that our time is finite. So, in that sense what’s important is then how have you chosen to use your time, are you doing the things that you want to do? If you know you have...it’s almost like having a bottle of juice or something like that, you know that you can drink it quickly or drink it slowly but eventually it’s going to go away. So, I think about that. I think more than anything, I think certainly with the pandemic it made everybody think - Am I living the life that I want to live? Am I doing things most effectively? Am I really enjoying my family? ... all that stuff. I think it gives us some time to think about that.

Lena Basse, Venice, Italy, 2022

Legendary Filmmaker Mike Medavoy on China, the film industry, and Brando

by Nicole Goesseringer Muj

Sample some of the best American films over the past thirty-five years and there’s a good chance Mike Medavoy played in a role in the success of many of them. From agent to studio chief to producer, he has been involved with over 300 feature films, of which 17 have been nominated and seven have won Best Picture Oscars.

His numerous awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cannes Film Festival in 1992, a star on Hollywood Blvd. in 2005, Chevalier of the French Government’s Legion of Honor in 2009, and the Chilean Order of Bernardo O’Higgins Award in 2014.

Medavoy began his career at Universal Studios in 1964, where he rose from the mailroom to be come a casting director. In 1965, he became an

agent, representing clients such as Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, John Melius, Terrence Mallick, Jane Fonda, Gene Wilder, and many others. United Artists brought him in as senior vice president of production in 1974, where he was responsible for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky,  and  Annie Hall, which won Best Picture Oscars in 1975, 1976, and 1977, respectively.

Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cockoo’s Nest

Other notable films include Apocalypse Now, Raging Bull, Network,  and  Coming Home.  In 1978, Medavoy co-found ed Orion Pictures where, during his tenure,  Platoon, Amadeus, Robocop, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Terminator, Dances With Wolves , and  Silence of the Lambs  were released. Medavoy became chairman of TriStar Pictures in 1990, where he oversaw critically acclaimed box office hits such as Philadelphia, Terminator 2: Judgment Day,  and  Sleepless in Seattle, among others.

As chairman and co-founder of Phoenix Pictures, Medavoy has brought to the screen The People vs. Larry Flint, The Thin Red Line, Holes, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Black Swan,  and  The Long Road Home , and others.

He was born in Shanghai, China in 1941 to Russian-Jewish parents who arrived in the early 20s, and lived in Chile from 1947-1957. A UCLA graduate, he is married to Irena Medavoy, with whom he resides in Beverly Hills, California.

IEM had the chance to ask the legendary Hollywood exec utive a few questions on China, the film industry and the late Marlon Brando.

On China….

What do you see as the primary difference between the film industry in China vs the US?

The Chinese industry is quite good but insular. Unlike the Korean industry, they haven’t seemed to have reached for an international audience.

Has being born in China been a help or hinderance for you? How has your cosmopolitan background impacted your work?

I was born in China and have a special place in my heart and mind to want China and its artists to be accepted everywhere they can. It’s obviously impacted my worldview in all of my work.

Do you feel being born  in China, spending a good part of your childhood there, has made you more adept at creating content that can appeal to both audiences?

I can’t say that I’m an expert in what Chinese audiences want.

There seems to be quite a difference between the Chinese attempt at globally appealing content vs the Korean attempts. Korea has been so much more successful in that sphere, yet China is so much bigger. What’s your take on why this is?

I think we have to fix our political issues. China has a centralized society, yet most of the world’s film industries don’t work the same way.

Marlon Brando and Francis Ford Coppola in The Godfather

On the film industry and incredible career…

Which film or achievements are you most proud of and do you have any regrets?

I’m proud of my career in the film business and many other contributions and the many people I have helped along the way. Yes, there are regrets but I’m sure there is nothing I can do about them.

Would One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest be greenlit today or would it be seen as too politically incorrect?

No, today it probably wouldn’t get made, but it almost didn’t get made in the 70s and faced many of the same challenges.

Should screenwriters self-censor? If yes, how does that impact creativity?

No, censorship of any kind should be stopped. It gets in the way of good art.

Regarding the state of independent film today, will it ever come back to where studios control everything?

Not in this country.

On Marlon Brando…

Where would you rank him in the pantheon of great actors?

I’d say that he’s probably the greatest actor of his generation. How did he change the portrayal of men in cinema?

His performances all felt real.

Is there a young actor today who could be compared to Brando?

A few. Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Christian Bale all come to mind as established stars. There are fantastic actresses coming up as well like Florence Pugh, Rachel Sennott. and Mia Goth.

Florence Pugh in Don’t Worry Darling

Leo DiCaprio in Shutter Island

Photo: MovieStillsDB

Seven with Sensei: Interview with Rising Star in the Film World Sensei Chop

By Nicole Goesseringer Muj

Atlanta-born filmmaker and music artist Sensei Chop’s first film, the documenta ry Thirst Trap, recently launched on Tubi, Amazon Prime and other streaming plat forms.

Chop directed, produced, wrote, edited, narrated and served as director of pho tography of the important film that sheds light on the ‘water boy’ culture in Atlanta, Georgia. The film features Meka Pless, the mother of Jalanni, her only son, a water boy who was fatally shot over ten dollars, as well as water boy entrepreneurs Joshua Dixion and Quintez Dixion.

An accomplished music artist,  Thirst Trap  marks Chop’s first major film proj ect. A pivotal part of Chop’s artistry relies on his unique ability to combine his passion for rap with film. Where others have to focus on one outlet to express themselves, he is lucky enough to blend both elements with little to no effort.

As a rapper, he shines through with his wordplay and delivery and as a shooter, he’s able to bring full visions to life. Now, with both in his arsenal, Chop is looking to take the creative industry by storm.

Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Chop, whose real name is Chris Nichols, was exposed to the richness of the city and quickly gained the confidence to start rapping under the name Poke Chop at just 12 years old. With the same stage name, he recorded a few songs with seasoned rapper Kevin Gates but held his own under his moniker. Listeners to his music would describe his style as conversational with each track sounding as if he’s talking directly to his audience. This is evident on his single  Expensive Glass, where the title acts as a reference to the lenses found in film.

IEM had the chance to interview this rising star in the film world.

You recently transitioned into filmmaking from music. How was this transition?

For me this was a pretty easy transition. From making music to filmmaking, it’s all just storytell ing, right? The biggest thing for me was to learn how to use a particular tool (a camera) for this form of sto rytelling. As far as the editing pro cess goes, editing video files is very similar to editing audio files. Once I made sense of it, I was good to go.

What inspired you to make Thirst Trap?

The conversation about the “waterboy” culture in Atlanta had become a subject of disdain and irri tation towards the young entrepreneurs. I wanted to show the world that the culture is deeper than the mockery being displayed on social media.

How has the feedback been so far for the film?

The feedback has been incredible! To be honest, with this being my first film I really wasn’t expecting much. I looked at this project as a way of get ting my feet wet in the film industry and not much more than that. All I did was what felt right and made sense to me, and people seem to love it. It’s a great feeling.

What other topics do you wish to tackle in your upcoming films?

I like the “entrepreneur underdog” lane so I will definitely make more films on that subject. I also want to tackle subjects regarding mental health and supernatural stories in the urban community.

Thirst Trap is a documentary. Do you have any aspirations to make fictional features?

Yes, I actually have a short film I’m working on as well as a TV series which is similar to an ur ban Black Mirror style show.

What filmmakers or artists today inspire you?

I find inspiration from people like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino to production companies like Blumhouse and G-Unit Films.

What advice would you give to a young artist starting out?

The best advice I can give to any artist in any field is to just start. Go out there and do something. Don’t spend too much time in your own thoughts because you can dull your creativity and drive that way. There’s hardly ever a perfect time to start any thing so why not start now? You’ll figure it out once you initiate the action, I promise.

“Go out there and do something.”

Turkish Celebrity Chef Jale Balci Launches New Book

“Riches From Deep Roots: Olives & Olive Oil”

By Nicole Goesseringer Muj

Turkish celebrity chef and entrepreneur  Jale Balcı  has revealed the secrets of the magical olive with the launch of her new book Olives & Olive Oil : Riches From Deep Roots at an exclusive event held at the the Consul General of Turkey in Los Angeles on October 6, 2022.

“There are many reasons that compelled me to write Riches from Deep Roots. Unfortunately, this heavenly fruit which has a place in all the holy books, is not given the attention and interest it deserves. However, high quality, pure, and pristine olive oil has extremely sig nificant health-giving prop erties. It wasn’t called liquid gold for nothing…,” com ments Chef Jale. At the event, Chef Jale pre pared samplings of some of her favorite olive and olive

oil recipes featured in the book, and each guest was gifted a copy. Supporting Chef Jale was Mey|Diageo, Turkish subsidiary of global brand Diageo as the exclusive event beverage sponsor and Sin Global Forwarding as logistics spon sor.

In attendance at the event were  Jale Balci, Honorable Consul General of Turkey Sinan Kuzum and wife Alina, Barbara Lazaroff, Larry Namer, Tony Potts and Shalini Vadhera-Potts, Dee Sorvino, Carolyn Hennesy, Josie Goldberg, Chef Ryan Rondeno, Chef Christophe Eme, Sophie Gayot, Melissa Papel, and many other diplomats, business leaders and celebrities.

Dedicated to the eternal ol ive tree, whose story began in the Levant and from there spread to the world, the book is an excellent resource highlighting the importance of consuming the right type of olives and olive oil, pro

Honorable Consul General of Turkey in LA Sinan Kuzum, Chef Jale Balci, Alina Kuzum

viding information on the olive harvest process, and showcasing a collection of extraordinary olive oil-based recipes by Chef Jale.

Riches From Deep Roots: Olives & Olive Oil  was co-authored with  professional olive oil taster Müge Nebioğlu and is available now on Amazon in the United States from publisher Remzi Kitabevi.

Chef, food/menu writer, table etiquette and nu trition expert, restaurateur, and educator  Jale Balcı has spent decades both in her native Turkey and abroad cultivating and gradually transform ing her passion for gastronomy into a career –which includes having studied and apprenticed under the wing of many big names.

A prolific author, she released her first book in Turkish language titled  “Keyifli Sofralar İçin 50 Pratik Mönü” (Lit: “50 Practical Menus for Delightful Tables”) in 2006. Now in its 12th edition, it remains Turkey’s bestselling cookery book of all time. She has since gone on to write five more, all of them highly popular.

An entrepreneur, she has launched, run, and been the head chef of two successful restau

rants in Turkey:  Antiochia Concept and  Lokanta Farina. She has also helped design the menus of many other cafes and restaurants across the country – a task she still enjoys taking on when asked of her.

Born and raised in Antakya/Hatay (a.k.a. “the city of civilizations”) and compelled to promote its unique cuisine the world over, Chef Jale proudly serves as the region’s culinary ambas sador. In 2019, she helped organize and moderate the hugely successful four day-long  Hatay Gastronomy Festival – attended by over one mil lion visitors!

Between 2018 and 2019, she served as lead chef and planner at one of Istanbul’s most eminent restaurants, Alancha Nişantaşı. An active gastron omy consultant, Jale has collaborated with count less food and beverage companies across Turkey, offering them advice and creative ideas for new products.

She is a board member of and a lecturer at  Şişli Trades School (Şişli Meslek Yüksekokulu), alongside a founding member of  Gecce Gurme Kurulu –Turkey’s grass roots equivalent of Michelin.

Chef Jale Balci, Kat Kramer, Medi eM, Dustin Quick

Tony Potts, Chef Jale Balci, Shalini Vadhera-Potts

Nicole Muj, Mike Insalago, Pascale Fortunat, Juan Guevara

The State of Co-production in China

Film co-productions, defined as film partnerships with foreign-based film entities, have been in existence since the onset of movies. During the silent era, companies took advantage of the lack of a language barrier to make product for their own markets, beginning in France.

In the 1920s, American director/producer Rex Ingram literally took over the Riviera-based La Victorine Studios to shoot three of his silent pictures:  The Magician ,  The Garden of Allah  and  Mare Nostrum .

With the advent of talkies, however, that all changed. Instead, a marriage was solidified between Hollywood and the fledgling British studios for turning out English-speaking fare. Hollywood was also able to capitalize on experienced British actors from the stage and the swashbuckler-era was born.

With color bursting forth, in 1939, Hollywood turned out films like Gone With The Wind as Technicolor was supplying it with a four-negative color process giving studios control over every aspect of their color prints. For example, The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol

Flynn allowed studio releases to be in enhanced green, making California for ests reflect the vividness of Sherwood in Britain. Later, Kodak married all three colors onto one negative, unfortunately ending that control.

By Claude Brickell Marlene

But, by the 1950s, with production costs on the rise, Hollywood producers began seeking foreign co-productions, again, finding film shoots at vastly reduced costs outside the Hollywood and British studios. The major downsize, however, was finding technical pro ficiency, elsewhere. Cinecittà Studios, located in Rome, was the answer. The 99-acre lot, the largest in Europe and constructed during the Fascist era in an effort to revive the Italian film industry, provided American produc ers with the camera standards they needed. However, there were limitations. Continental-

based soundstages were not equipped for recording sound and pictures shooting there had to be dubbed. Most of that took place stateside which added greatly to costs for pic tures like Cleopatra, the most expensive movie ever filmed, to that date.

By 1990, with Hollywood production costs ever skyrocketing, other European studios be gan courting Americans productions at equal ly reduced rates, like in former Yugoslavia, as well as in Romania. and even Russia. This was further brought on by the LA real estate boom which resulted in the sell-off of the stu

Other productions for American television were John Frankenheimer’s miniseries  Riviera and  Romance on the Orient Express  with Cheryl Ladd. (Original sets for the British-made Murder of the Orient Express were then trucked down to the French lot from London.)

And, as Paris-based LTM, the sole provider of industry-standard lighting for film, was the current manager of the studio, it also provided lighting equipment for other European shoots across Europe, such as for the British-produced film  A Room With a View, lensing over in Florence.

dio backlots, but foreign entities were able to provide wonderful on-location shoots, some quite exotic, at little extra cost, such as loca tions for the film Amadeus.

During that period, I served as the Hollywood representative for La Victorine Studios, helping bring American productions to the South of France lot. These included 20th Century Fox’s  The Jewel of the Nile  with Michael Douglas and Warner Bros.’  Under the Cherry Moon  with rock star Prince.

Today, co-production costs are rising all across Europe, due to strict union salary mandates, and American producers are, again, looking elsewhere, particularly for their bigger-budgeted studio pictures. China has stepped in to fill that vacuum. The Chinese film industry has exploded over the past several years, based pri marily in Beijing and Shanghai. And the need for Chinese producers and China-based studio facilities has been the result, growing exponentially. Not only is technical proficiency on par with Hollywood, but 3-D and IMAX pictures are being filmed there, as well. And the burgeoning Chinese audiences (there are now 400,000 movie theaters across the country) are second only to the US and set to surpass it, soon.

The construction of the world’s largest film studio Hengdian was completed in 1990 with a lot total ing 35.5 million square feet. More than one hundred popular films have been shot there since its opening, including the worldwide success of Chineseproduced Red Sorghum. American producers have dis covered the country’s extensive facilities as well as its film proficiency, and have gone there to shoot Mission

Marlene Dietrich in The Garden of Allah Amadeus

Impossible III (2006) with Tom Cruise and The Great Wall (2016) with Matt Damon, the most expensive picture ever filmed in China.

Many American pictures qualify for offi cial Chinese co-production status and are released both in the Chinese market as well as stateside. And Chinese and American investors are benefiting bountifully from their respective distribution markets. The Chinese State Administration for Film, however, mandates a 34-film limit on foreign films allowed to be distributed in China. These are films produced outside of China and have content restrictions placed upon them. But, with official co-production status‒films which are made on Chinese lots‒no limits on distribution are required, and they have far less content restrictions. So, official Chinese-American co-productions are the way to go for American producers.

As early as the 1990s, American studio producers rushed in to take advantage of Chinese knowhow and superb facilities available, there. However, they did not take into account Chinese taste in film nor taste in American movie-goers. And both Chinese and American investors lost millions when the pictures did not perform well in either market. For years, fol lowing, Chinese investors have been leery of investing in American co-productions as a result. But, with the post-pandemic market rebounding, product is once again in high demand, and things are changing.

An expert on film production in China is Aynne Kokas, a media professor at the University of Virginia who frequently lectures on the subject. In her second book  Hollywood Made in China, 2022*, she explains that, “Chinese co-productions are a popular and mu tually beneficial compromise. And there is incentive

in China to increase the number of Chinese-based films co-produced there because they are more profitable for both sides.” She further points out, “There is big money to be made by investors. China has more movie theaters than any one market, worldwide, and its box office returns are second only to the US.”

She adds, “Co-productions benefit the Chinese film industry because they use a lot of the studio capacity, particularly for unique format films such as 3D or IMAX. And now, there are a lot of those made in China with many being released in the US market, so this is a big advantage.”

This has been especially true for blockbusters. Kokas goes on to say, “The other advantage is in terms of the Chinese focus on becoming the biggest and most powerful [film industry] in the world. So, Hollywood studio films also bolster the overall size of the Chinese mar ket. And, historically, they have. Films made

The Great Wall

before 2020 won’t necessarily see that, but productions like the  Avengers: End Game  in creased the overall size of the Chinese box office because of the number of box office receipts proving it.

Now, this is becoming less and less import ant as there are really big Chinese blockbusters that are appealing to the Chinese market, though maybe not to the global market, as a whole. So, productions like Wolf Warrior 2 or  Ninja, The Wandering Earth are re ally taking the Chinese box office by storm, even if they’re not mak ing as big of an impact, elsewhere.”

Hollywood block busters have led to the opening up of Chinesebased film production, and it has opened it up to American productions, in general, such as Larry Namer, CEO of Metan Global Entertainment’s Empress, an English-language co-production miniseries about seventh cen tury Chinese Empress Wu with screenplay by Ron Bass (Rain Man and The Joy Luck Club).

And, although it has had slowdowns due to the Chinese zero Covid-19 restrictions, it is scheduled to resume filming, shortly.

My own China project, seeking official co-production and co-investment status, is titled  Last Train to Beijing. Set in 1936, it is about an American female reporter and her male Chinese-American ex-war pilot who fly

up to the Shanxi province during China’s civil war to rescue a French nun and twenty orphaned children marooned there. But that’s not all they discover; seven other foreign nationals who are desperately seeking to escape the impending Japanese onslaught, as well. This cross/ethnic adventure/romance is tailored to both the Chinese and American audiences as well as filmgoers worldwide. After seven drafts of the script, the project is now being spearheaded by an American producer based in Beijing who is currently seeking the Chinese end of investment.

American producers have been waiting to hear from China’s Xi Jinping on co-productions continuing in China. Following his unanimous election as leader of the Chinese Congress, Xi has secured his position as party Chairman for years to come. In his address to them, he sated firmly that, “China cannot develop without the world and the world also needs China. After more than forty years of unflagging efforts toward reform and opening up, we have created two miracles: rapid economic development and long-term social sta bility. China’s door to opening up will only get bigger and bigger.” These were welcomed words American producers have been waiting to hear.

*Hollywood Made in China by Aynne Kokas (University of California Press)

Brickell has spent years working in foreign co-production; first, assisting American co-productions in Zagreb, former Yugoslavia, specifically for Patton with George C. Scott, then as Hollywood representative for France’s third largest film studio helping bring American productions‒including 20th Century Fox’s The Jewel of the Nile, Warner Bros.’ Under the Cherry Moon and John Frankenheimer’s Riviera‒to the South of France lot. Now, he is preparing a co-production, Last Train to Beijing, as a feature to be filmed in China.

Mission Impossible III

Cindy Di Xin on Filmmaking from a Multicultural Perspective

By Nicole Goesseringer Muj

China native Cindy Di Xin is an award-winning filmmaker who has written and directed six short films. She earned master’s degrees in film production with an emphasis in directing from Chapman University in Orange County, California and The School of Visual Arts in New York City. In the past three years, Cindy has been nominated and awarded at seventeen film festivals, including several Academy Award-qualifying festivals. She is current ly finishing up post-production on her short film The Day, at the Beach and writing her first feature film script. In her films, she enjoys exploring fam ily and multi-cultural dynamics from her unique, bi-cultural female perspective. IEM had the chance to interview Cindy recently…

What attracts you to the art of filmmaking?

Film is not an art of unilateral expression, but an art of linking and communicating with people. In my understanding, film is an art of communication, an art of visual, an art of sound, and an art of storytelling. It is like a polygonal crystal. That is why I think filmmaking is attractive.

Your film work and subject matter seems to be very focused on your own life experiences? It seems as it might be helpful in your own self exploration and healing during the creative process. Is this an accurate statement?

Yes, you are right! But at the beginning, I saw film just as a way to share or tell stories. After I have experienced different stages in my life, I redefined filmmaking as a journey of self-exploration. In ad dition, I think the meaning of life is to learn how to get along with yourself. While I am self-exploring and healing, I also want other people to have the chance through my films to find some comfort and connection. Although the audience and I cannot advance or go through every stage of life together, I do hope that my audience will experience com panionship and comfort while they are watching my films.

Which established filmmakers inspire you most?

Chloé Zhao. She is a delicate and talented film maker. I really like how she shapes the stories. Her films not only provide us with entertainment, but also take us on a journey with her character. Chloé Zhao’s films inspire me to self-exploration to al low me to build up my characters. Each character is not built up by another person, but his/her own experience.

You were born in China? How has your Chinese background influenced your creative work?

Yes! I was born in Nanning GX, China, a small city closes to Vietnam. I was raised by my grandma from my mother’s side. My dad’s family is a traditional Chinese family. They really wanted my parents to have a son in order to have someone to keep the family name, which affected me a lot. My grandma is the closest person in my life. My family’s dynamic is interesting due to amount of relatives and different kinds of social class backgrounds, which also inspires me to share more of my Chinese family culture and stories in my films. I studied in the United States when I was in high school due to my parents’ marriage problems. During this time, I also had a chance to live with two American families for a few years. After the first two years, I started my new life in the States by myself and became an independent person who was really excited to embark on her life’s journey.

Why is it important for you to explore cultural diversity in your work?

I have lived in two different cultural societies throughout my life. I’ve seen how a cultural society can influence a person’s behavior, personality, and attitude toward their own life. Exploring cultural diversity in my works allows me to connect with a diverse audience and learn more about human dynamics. Furthermore, it allows me to gain more inspiration for different types of characters for my future works. Furthermore, because we live in a fast-paced, high-tech society, we can connect with people from all over the world. Globalization is part of the way we live, as well as the way our society is. Cultural diversity in our art will strengthen the audience’s ties to the global society.

Can you tell us about your new film The Day, at the Beach?

Of course!! This is my latest short film that is inspired by my first feature idea. It’s based on my own story. This story also is a lesson about how I am still learning since when I was 15 years old. It is about an Asian family that has been through

separation and reunion and what they have been through individually. The Day, at the Beach is one of the important moments in the feature story, and it was the real moment that I experienced when my dad came to visit me in the States and I discovered his secret family. It was a five-day visit with my dad, but it has affected me for over ten years. I want my audience to have a moment to rethink or to find out how they have been affected by their own family relationships, and how their families shape their personalities and journeys. In addition, I want to share my thoughts with my audience about how life is built up around family. Family is a root for everyone’s life.

What are your plans with this film?

First, this is the first step for me to re-explore my own journey and those film characters, which helps me to have more understanding of my characters. Also, it is a ‘test’ for me to tell a story about my own life. In addition, it is the first step for me to build

up the foundation of my first feature film. I am currently on the festival circuit with this film. This film has been selected in LA Shorts International Film Festival, Venice Shorts and is a semi-finalist in Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival. Moreover, this is one of the element to pitch my feature idea. I hope this short film can connect to some of the other filmmakers or production com panies that are interested in this story, and we can collaborate on my first feature’s production. Any new projects on the horizon? feature films perhaps?

Yes!! As I just mentioned before. I am preparing for my first feature which is based on my short film The Day, at the Beach. Moreover, I would also like to create another short film that is about a family drama of an Asian immigrant family in the United States. Besides this, I hope to help other people to create and tell their stories. I hope we can hear more true voices from young filmmakers!