Chinese film industry aims to challenge Hollywood

[Nomenclature]

Chinese film industry aims to challenge Hollywood | World news | The Guardian

China is on course to build a record number of cinemas this year in a burst of movie infrastructure development that is partly aimed at rivalling the "soft power" of Hollywood.

Following the state-backed expansion of China's TV and newspaper industries since 2009, the government is promoting a major push of film production and distribution.

The state council, China's cabinet, has issued new guidelines for the booming industry that have helped film-makers secure bank loans and reach a wider audience.

Qiang Zhongyuan, a director with Beijing Forbidden City Film Company, says the measures have helped him to double his budget this year, which means more films and higher quality work.

"In the past we normally invested 4m-5m yuan on one movie, but now we can go for big productions costing 30m or sometimes even over 100m."

Despite the widespread piracy of films – which means illegal DVDs often go on sale within days of a new cinema release – the authorities are ramping up cinema construction to draw more audiences to screenings.

"So far this year, we have already matched the number of total theatres built last year, but we still have yet to meet the increasing demand," Zhao Shi, deputy director of the state administration of radio, film and television, said at a recent press conference.

Industry analysts says the speed of growth – a reflection of a wider economic boom as much as state policy – is so fast that China could start to overtake the US in key benchmarks.

"I am forecasting the day when China will catch up with the US in box office takings. It may happen in my lifetime, faster than we expect because of the appreciation of the yuan against the dollar," wrote Raymond Zhou, the author of a book on the economics of Hollywood, in a recent Xinhua news agency article.

He notes that, since 2004, US box office earnings have increased by just 6%, while China's have surged fourfold. "Under these circumstances, it is not inconceivable that China may buy up a Hollywood studio in the not-so-distant future," he wrote.

Such talk is reminiscent of Japan's economic heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Sony snapped up Columbia studios.

Although that purchase shook many in the American film industry, it did not herald a transformation of Hollywood, nor did it prove a game-changing projection of Japanese cultural power.

China's ambitions, however, are more strategic. Last year the government reportedly injected £4bn into Xinhua, state broadcaster CCTV, and the People's Daily newspaper in a move to strengthen the country's media voice. All of these organisations have subsequently ramped up their English language content in a bid to counter what is widely seen in Beijing as a biased western media and an overly strong advocacy of western values.

Xiang Yong, deputy director of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Beijing University, sees the promotion of the domestic film industry in the same light.

"There's a saying that Hollywood is the real foreign ministry of the US, which shows the importance of the movie industry," Xiang said.

"From a cultural perspective, the promotion of the movie industry is an important way to strengthen the soft power of our country."

Overall a good article despite the slightly misleading title. But as Western journalists sometimes do Jonathan Watts kind of overemphasized the government's role in the recent cinema boom in China. You hardly need the government to direct cinema construction when your annual box office grows 40%+ every year.

People are predicting China to overtake Japan in 2012 and becomes the world's second largest film market after the U.S. I think the current focus on growing the pie is the right one, sure we have let a lot of Hollywood films to take in a huge amount of money from China but as our film market grows our domestic productions are rapidly maturing as well.

The idea of buying some Hollywood studios to boost soft power is pure non-sense though. The only way soft power can be achieved is to grow our own industry organically. Also with the Chinese film market growing larger you can expect fewer Western studios in the future will want to make films that Chinese may find strongly offensive. Like what happened with World of Warcraft, Chinese don't like the Pandaren idea so Blizzard gave it up to avoid a backlash in one of their biggest markets.

 

[challenger]

We already beat them. Yes.

If the undercover agents don't get me banned, I will regularly update this thread.

 

[challenger]

Can Hollywood beat this one?

 

[challenger]

One of the best, I have ever seen.

After watching it, I really wish to be reborn as a child of the poorest of poor mother in China. The film defines what motherhood is and should be.

 

[jayron]

Thanks for the info Challenger. I once watched a Chinese movie sometime back. I loved it. Its about the boy who elopes from his village and ends up in a city. His young teacher vows to find him and come to the city in search of him. She finds him finally by appealing for his return on a TV ad. Do you know which movie it is?

 

[challenger]

Thanks for the info Challenger. I once watched a Chinese movie sometime back. I loved it. Its about the boy who elopes from his village and ends up in a city. His young teacher vows to find him and come to the city in search of him. She finds him finally by appealing for his return on a TV ad. Do you know which movie it is?

Thank you. Actually, in China, there are three mainstream film industries. One is mainland film industry based in Shanghai... the dialogues spoken in the films made there is Chinese Mandarin. Another one is in Hong Kong, where the language used in dialogues is Cantonese. The last one is in Taiwan... they are mostly Chinese Mandarin.

Generally, I rarely watch Taiwanese ones, or even Hong Kongese ones, I watch Shanghai made ones which are passed by the Chinese Admin of radio film and TV.

Sorry my friend, I don't think I have seen that one. Yes, I can give you more info, if you can tell me whether its mainland or Hong Kong or Taiwan made.

 

[lcloo]

I watched "Assemby" 集结号 3 or 4 years ago while in China. It is an excellent movie, although some of the scence on defence against tank attacks was superficial, still overall, Mainland China has achieved higher movies standard than Hong Kong.

The TV series 天龙八部 is also very good.

Going forward, I have no doubt China's movie industry can rival Hollywood in very short time.

 

[Nomenclature]

Thanks for the info Challenger. I once watched a Chinese movie sometime back. I loved it. Its about the boy who elopes from his village and ends up in a city. His young teacher vows to find him and come to the city in search of him. She finds him finally by appealing for his return on a TV ad. Do you know which movie it is?

It's Zhang Yimou's Not One Less

 

[subject17]

Surely China can beat USA in art movies. Any country can beat any country in art movies. Something like challenging hollywood, you need a market like they do have im sorry nobody has.

 

[below_freezing]

it's not that hollywood is actually good, it's that the american propaganda machine is built right into hollywood, allowing for a self prepetuating system where advertisement and the product being advertised is linked.

《集结号》 is really good, i watched it last year.

anyone watch the TV series: 《蜗居》 and 《南下》?

 

[Nomenclature]

Surely China can beat USA in art movies. Any country can beat any country in art movies. Something like challenging hollywood, you need a market like they do have im sorry nobody has.

That's why I think the article's title is a bit misleading since Chinese cinema will not be able challenge Hollywood on a global scale in the next 10 or 20 years. But we're doing good at home and that's what China's film industry should focus on at the moment as our own market is doubling every three years.

 

[Frankenstein]

I liked that Jackie Chan movie "police story",

 

[Nomenclature]

it's not that hollywood is actually good, it's that the american propaganda machine is built right into hollywood, allowing for a self prepetuating system where advertisement and the product being advertised is linked.

《集结号》 is really good, i watched it last year.

anyone watch the TV series: 《蜗居》 and 《南下》?

Looks like I'll have to watch Assembly sometime after hearing you guys raving about it.

Haven't been watching TV series for a long time since I'm such a period drama aficionado and there hasn't been a good period drama for years now.

 

[challenger]

I liked that Jackie Chan movie "police story",

Then don't miss this one.

 

[challenger]

Surely China can beat USA in art movies. Any country can beat any country in art movies. Something like challenging hollywood, you need a market like they do have im sorry nobody has.

Film making itself is a creativity, a form of art.

So assuming that a film which has no traces of art is like assuming an ocean without a drop of water.

Anyway, China won't copy Hollywood industry, China in fact can't copy. Hollywood makes and sells p0rn0graphy... for commercial purpose. China can't even think about thinking such projects.

China is a civilization. China is a way of life. It does have certain values and practices ingrained in its structure.

Got it or not?