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June 18, 2019

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China’s movie industry maturing

The Chinese film industry is maturing with slower growth recorded last year, it was revealed at a forum held during the ongoing 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival yesterday. 

Industry professionals, meanwhile, voiced the need for better industry standardization. 

Data released at the forum showed that the number of moviegoers grew 1 percent in China last year, slower than the 15 percent growth in 2017.

The average Chinese moviegoer has watched 6.1 films so far this year, compared with seven films a year in 2018. But the Chinese audience watches more than the average American moviegoer does, at 5.4 films a year.

According to James Li, co-founder of Fanink Research, 2019 will be a year of challenges for the film industry. With a more even-age distribution of moviegoers, films have to cater to a wider range of audience needs. More people aged from 40 to 59 are going to the movies, while those aged from 18 to 29 are opting for other entertainment options instead of watching films.

Comedy is the most popular genre for Chinese moviegoers of all ages, followed by suspense and crime.

Hollywood director Simon West talked about the differences between the Chinese and Hollywood film industries in terms of work time, preparation and formats. 

In China, the film industry is expected to work seven days a week, typically more than 18 hours a day. Hollywood, however, values rest time, preferring a five- or six-day work week with less than 12 hours a day.

Another difference is that preparation prior to the shooting is more valued in Hollywood. 

“Production is the riskiest stage of the film, where everything can go horribly wrong,” said West. “And this is where the investors lose their money because things can get out of control. The Hollywood system has tried to mitigate as much of that as possible by putting emphasis on preparation.”  

Every stage of the preparation is carefully monitored. The film cannot go into production until the preparation is complete. In China, greater emphasis is on the shooting, with matters left to be resolved during the shoot itself.

A standardized script format is used in Hollywood, which is not often the case in the Chinese film industry.

“The Chinese and Hollywood systems are not that different. With a few key changes to the processes, the production will be a lot more reliable and adverse to risk,” said West. “I certainly enjoy shooting here. The Chinese film industry has huge potential to be dominating the world movie market. If it adopts a few changes, people will see radical changes in the standardization and industrialization of the industry.”

Also yesterday, the jury of the festival’s Asian New Talent Award expressed excitement ahead of witnessing the creativity of young directors.

“We will judge young Asian directors on their style and potential in creativity,” said Ning Hao, the jury president. The Chinese director and scriptwriter himself won the Asian New Talent Prize in 2005 with the children’s film “Mongolian Pingpong.”  

Recalling his own first directorial effort, Ning said money was the biggest challenge.

Actress Tan Zhuo also identified her biggest challenge in the beginning as money. As a seasoned actress, she was involved with many low budget film and invested as a producer to see the films come to fruition.

Japanese director Yuya Ishii believed that keeping up the confidence of young talents is the most important, so that they persevere in the industry. An award-worthy film must have an entire team of passionate, determined people.




 

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