The Asia Society is set to honor MPAA chairman Christopher Dodd with its 2013 Asia Pacific Visionary award at this year’s annual U.S.-China Film Summit. Chinese actress Li Bingbing, co-star of upcoming Transformers: Age of Extinction, will also receive the organization’s East-West Talent award.
The U.S.-China Film Summit will take place at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on Nov. 5.
As Hollywood and the booming Chinese film business have worked with increasing urgency to forge deeper ties and more mutual understanding over recent years, the Asia Society’s annual summit has emerged as a noteworthy networking occasion on the calendar. This year’s event, the organization’s fourth, will be an all-day conference, with an expanded program of six panel discussions, featuring influential figures from Hollywood and the Chinese industry and press.
The summit will also feature keynote addresses from Greg Foster, chairman and president of Imax and Zhang Xun, president of the China Film Co-Production Corporation, which oversees all official co-productions in China.
“The 2013 Summit is no longer about the promise of China -- but the arrival of China, said Peter Shiao, chairman of the Summit and CEO of Orb Media Group. “Filmed entertainment in China is here in a big way and here to stay. It is a major force to be reckoned with, and something that everyone in Hollywood needs to understand. This year's Summit is not about bridging differences, but building towards a larger, global vision about what China and Hollywood can, should and are, doing together as partners.”
To that effect, the Summit’s first panel, will get the ball rolling with a “Year in Review” discussion of the major issues and trends between Hollywood and China that have developed over the past 12 months. Panelists include: William Feng, general manager and chief representative of the MPA-China, Michael Ellis of MPA Asia-Pacific, and Kelvin Hou, founder and CEO of Mtime.
The second panel will focus on the “Societal and Cultural Impact of Hollywood/China Collaboration,” and feature experts on cinema and its intersection with society. The panel will be moderated by Jonathan Landreth, from ChinaFile, and includes panelists: Charles Coker, md of Dasym, Media; Stanley Rosen, a professor at USC; and Orville Schell, from the Center on U.S.-China Relations.
The third panel, “So You Want to Make a Film in China…What You Need to Know,” will be moderated by Janet Yang, producer of Shanghai Calling, whose work on major productions in China dates back to Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (1987). The discussion includes Ellen Eliasoph, CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures Asia; director Dennie Gordon (My Lucky Star, 2013); Yimeng Jin, writer and director of One Night Surprise (2013); and Xue Xiaolu, director of Chinese box office hit, Finding Mr. Right.
In the afternoon, the fourth panel, “The Media’s Perspective on the U.S. China Film Relationship” will be moderated by Stephen Saltzman, a partner at Loeb & Loeb and features panelists: Rachel Abrams, financial news editor at Variety; Robert Cain, publisher and writer of ChinaFilmBiz; Clifford Coonan, Asia Bureau Chief of The Hollywood Reporter; and Julie Makinen, Film Editor at the Los Angeles Times.
The fifth panel, “The Digital Space: The China Opportunity/Strategy in Technology, Animation, and Special Effects” will feature panelists: Lewis Coleman, president and CFO at DreamWorks Animation SKG, Charles Zhang, chairman and CEO of Chinese tech giant Sohu and Zhang Zhao, CEO of LeVision Pictures, which recently hired Zhang Yimou as its artistic director.
The sixth and final panel, “Envisioning a Collaborative Future and Celebrating Success” will be moderated by Bennett Pozil, exec vp of East West Bank. Its panelists include: Dede Nickerson, head of production and strategic development at Sony Pictures Entertainment, China; Peter Shiao, founder and CEO of Orb Media Group; and Ivy Zhong, vice chairman at Chinese studio, Galloping Horse.
The evening will conclude with a VIP reception and gala awards dinner, also at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, where Dodd and Bingbing will receive their honors.