Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A15

November 25, 2014

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Filmmakers look to S. Korea for inspiration

By Wu Huixin | November 25, 2014, Tuesday | Print Edition

THE South Korean television series “My Love from the Stars” stormed Asia last year, generating legions of female fans. Many of them were obsessed with the lead character, an alien with special powers like the ability to stop time, played be actor Kim Soo Hyun.

The series typified the success of South Korea’s entertainment industry as it picked up numerous TV awards and people talked about it for over a year. A couple of other South Korean shows had previously scored big audiences in China. Thereafter Korean actors began to appear on Chinese TV shows and in movies more frequently.

The Sino-Korean Culture Interchange Summit in Hangzhou last Wednesday discussed the commercial opportunities between the entertainment industries in both countries.

Noted South Korean and Chinese filmmakers, actors and investors attended the summit with the theme “Linking Capital and Culture.”

South Korean actor Song Seung-heon’s presence added star power to the summit. The heartthrob became famous in China in 2000 when the TV series “Autumn in My Heart” generated watercooler talk among young women in offices around the country. Since then he has been one of the most popular Korean actors in China.

“I hope to boost communication between the Korean and Chinese film industries through the summit and contribute to cultural exchanges between the two countries,” said Song, who acted as an ambassador at the event.

Meanwhile, filmmakers emphasized the development of Asia’s movie industry. “Hollywood movies have a longer history than China and South Korea. The two countries’ expenditure on filmmaking still cannot compete with Western movie companies,” said South Korean filmmaker Kim Hyong Joon.

“However, looking at the world’s film market share, China is ranked second while South Korea is sixth. I think we can work with each other to make better movies,” Kim added.

Last year, box office sales reached 23 billion yuan in China and may hit 30 billion yuan (US$3.76 billion) in 2014. As of last month, there were 4,600 cinemas with 24,765 screens across the country. The number is expected to keep increasing.

“The Chinese movie market has great potential. My company has reached some agreements with Korean film companies at this summit. In the future, we hope to work with Hollywood and other Western markets,” said Xu Yiding, manager of Herun Film Company.

Unlike Xu, who is optimistic about the future of Chinese movie market, Hong Kong famous filmmaker Wen Jun has some concerns.

“Although the Chinese film market keeps growing about 25 percent annually, not every movie is profitable. Industry insiders know that only 20 percent of the films make money,” Wen said. “The rest either break even or lose money.”

As a famous filmmaker, Wen has worked on several top-grossing Chinese movies including “Young and Dangerous,” “The Storm Riders” and “In the Heat of the Sun.” He started to switch his focus to the mainland movie market in the early 1990s and now plays a big role in the industry.

“On the other side, solid capital investment doesn’t guarantee success for a movie,” Wen added. “Talented directors and actors are the key to an excellent film. To improve Chinese movies, the government should implement a film classification system as soon as possible; otherwise it will hold back the industry.”

As for upcoming films, Herun Film Company said it will be releasing “Gentle Bullet,” “Suan Ai Da Shi” and “I’ll Never Lose You” in the next two years.

“Suan Ai Da Shi” is written by Hangzhou native Lu Qi, who has been dubbed “Love Daddy” by netizens as his love chicken soup books are popular among young women.

“Now I’m trying to persuade a film company to shoot my movie in Hangzhou, because local authorities have promised to support my debut through a series of preferential and financial policies,” Lu said. “I also want to present Hangzhou’s picturesque scenery, especially some gorgeous places that most people don’t know about.”

Hangzhou


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend