Boosting the Domestic Market for Chinese Films

2012/6/26 11:30:00 (Beijing Time)   Source:CRI    By:Emily Hennessy

In the first three months of 2012, Mission Impossible 3 was the highest grossing film at the Chinese domestic box office.

Mission Impossible is just one of a multitude of Hollywood films outperforming domestically made films in Chinese cinemas.

Some foreign industry experts at the Shanghai International Film Festival have been sharing their ideas on the Chinese domestic movie market.

In the first quarter of 2012 Hollywood Blockbuster films dominated the domestic box office in China.

Due to this dominance, foreign Film Industry experts at the Shanghai International Film Festival have been giving an outsiders perspective on boosting the domestic market value of Chinese films.

Producer Andre Morgan has spent 40 years working in the Asian film market.

He says the current success of Hollywood blockbusters in China is an inevitable result of the increased quota of American films being shown in Chinese cinemas.

He predicts that Hollywood movies will continue to dominate for at least the next 18 months.

However, he says there's a lot the Chinese Film Industry can be doing to support creative minds and produce better movies.

"I think the future for China and the Chinese Film Industry has never been brighter. But the truth is it's very hard for young directors, very hard for young writers and even harder for young actors to get a chance to be in the movies. This is the lifeblood of the Chinese film industry."

Mark Ordesky is famous for producing Jackie Chan's US breakthrough hit "Rumble in the Bronx" as well as "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

He agrees with Morgan saying more training is required in the Chinese film industry to support raw talent.

"Every good movie starts with an artist that has a vision that he or she wants to tell. So if you take all the good expertise that the Hollywood system has and you can bring it here and train people here young people especially on the Hollywood technical skills. For there to be a platform for them to learn and grow. That is how you find the best."

Both Morgan and Ordesky agree that Chinese film shouldn't imitate Hollywood films but instead be well made and based on a creative and interesting idea.

Danielle Dajani from Raleigh Entertainment says the development of a culture of collaboration in the Chinese Entertainment industries would allow for more creativity to flow between film makers.

"It's not about building the fanciest and the biggest sound stage in the world, it's about the community that you create. What makes a good studio space - a good creative space is about having a mix of people on the lot. And that's everything from TV to feature film, gaming, Internet, music. It's about them being in one area together and building a long term creative relationship."

Hollywood films will remain dominant in the Chinese market for some time to come.

It's clear however that as the industry in China continues to develop and grow, more and more home made films will be rivaling their Hollywood counterparts.

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