Leeroy Jenkins's List: Chinese film industry

"During the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was severely restricted. Almost all previous films were banned, and only a few new ones were produced, the most notable being a ballet version of the revolutionary opera The Red Detachment of Women (1971). Feature film production came almost to a standstill in the early years from 1967 to 1972. 

The post-1990 era has seen what some observers[who?] term the "return of the amateur filmmaker" as state censorship policies after the Tiananmen Square demonstrations produced an edgy underground film movement loosely referred to as the Sixth Generation. 

As the Sixth Generation were further exposed internationally, many of their subsequent movies were joint ventures and projects with international investments, but remained quite resolutely low-key and low budget. Jia's Platform (2000) was funded in part by Takeshi Kitano's production house,[27] while his Still Life was shot on HD interlaced video. Still Life was a surprise addition and Golden Lion winner of the 2006 Venice International Film Festival. Still Life, which concerns provincial workers around the Three Gorges region, was a vast contrast with the works the Fifth Generation Chinese directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige were directing then, like House of Flying Daggers (2004) and The Promise (2005). It featured no star of international renown and was acted mostly by non-professionals.

There is a growing number of independent post-Sixth Generation filmmakers making films for extremely low budgets and using digital equipment. They are the so-called dGeneration (for digital). These films, like those from Sixth Generation filmmakers, are mostly made outside of the Chinese film system and are played mostly on the international film festival circuit. Ying Liang and Jian Yi are two of these dGeneration filmmakers. Ying's Taking Father Home (2005) and The Other Half (2006) are both representative of the dGeneration trends of feature film. Liu Jiayin made two dGeneration feature films Oxhide (2004) and Oxhide II (2010), blurring the line between documentary and narrative film. Oxhide, made by Liu when she was just a film student, frames herself and her parents in their claustrophobic Beijing apartment in a sly, wickedly funny narrative much praised by critics Tony Rayns and Shelly Kraicer

Chinese International Cinema and successes abroad [edit]
Since the late 1980s and progressively in the 2000s, Chinese films have enjoyed considerable box office success abroad. Formerly viewed only by cinetastes in the 1980s, its international appeal mounted after the immense international success of Ang Lee's period wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000, which earned Ang and Chinese cinema massive commercial and critical acclaim abroad. This multi-national production achieved success at the Western box office, particularly in the United States, providing an introduction to Chinese cinema (and especially the Wuxia genre) for many and increased the popularity of many earlier Chinese films which may have otherwise been relatively unknown to Westerners. To date Crouching Tiger remains the most commercially successfully foreign-language film in U.S. history.

Box-office receipts 

In 2011, 791 films were produced in China[48] and Chinese films earned a total box office of US$2.06 billion.[48] In 2012, China produced 893 feature films. Of these, 15 were documentaries, 33 were animated and 745 were live action.[49]
2003: less than ¥1 billion[50]
2007: ¥3.3 billion[51]
2008: ¥4.3 billion[51]
2009: ¥6.2 billion[51]
2010: ¥10.1 billion[51][52]
2011: ¥13.1 billion[51]
2012: ¥17.07 billion[49]

"The reason that independent films came into existence was mostly because of the government. It was not because of censorship. Chinese independent film was really born in 1989. The Tiananmen Square Massacre was the crucial event, because Tiananmen Square Massacre meant none of the studio was willing to hire the students who graduated from Beijing Film Academy (Beijing Dianying Xueyuan)."

Hong Cinema used to be Chinese cinema (because of the Cultural Revolution)

"Tony Rayns has been introducing Asian films and filmmakers to the West for almost four decades."

Robbins:"I became interested, first in Hong Kong film, in early 1970s, mostly because of wu xia pian / martial arts films. At that time, there was no film in China because of the Cultural Revolution, and everything was closed down. It was only about 1972 when film started to be made again: there were a few gang-of-four films, sort of hardcore propaganda, not much interest to me, I have to say. So Hong Kong cinema was Chinese cinema, at that point. "

"THE DANGEROUS WORLD OF INDEPENDENT FILM IN CHINA
An interview with Zhang Xianmin, founder of one of the many independent cultural events that were banned last year by the Chinese government."

[consider that Internet is a big factor in distribution of indy film in china as well]

"The major strengths now in the independent film industry are new distribution channels via the Internet, and Video-On-Demand. This in turn allows the producers more control over their work. With the development of social networks, marketing a product through word-of-mouth (WOM) can have a significantly larger impact. Digital Cinema has also dramatically reduced the price of prints making it significantly less expensive to display a product in multiple venues, giving digital filmmakers the same opportunities as the majors. Also, the growing taste of the new baby boomers prefers deeper meaningful independent films." [non-China commentary]

[non-China commentary]

"Indies are experimenting with cost-effective and innovative digital marketing plans
Decreasing revenues have led to more innovative, cost-effective marketing strategies for indie features. One recent notable marketing success story involved the 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop by graffiti artist Banksy. In April 2010, the film secured an opening weekend haul of $166,000 on only eight screens, and by mid-June had become the top-grossing limited-release documentary so far that year with $2.4 million in box office, all of which was secured without a traditional marketing campaign. Rather, the marketing was conducted almost exclusively through social networking sites like Facebook to very inexpensively build buzz."

"An independent film is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced and/or distributed by subsidiaries of major film studios."

"The concept of an ‘independent film’ differs in the so-called ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ world. For example, in Europe, the notion of independence mainly refers to the production of the movie and does not pertain to the content of a film or its funding. “Actually, it is very hard to tell what is an independent film in Europe, since some films are actually funded by the government, under the name of arts,” says Professor Jeroen de Kloet, who is specialized in Globalization Studies at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to De Kloet, China offers a much clearer concept of what an ‘independent film’ characterizes: it is a type of film which has its independent funds and is not exposed to government’s censorship. “There is a spirit of freedom inside,” emphasizes De Kloet."

Another positive factor for independent film-makers in China is the usage of Internet through which an increasing number of films can be seen by an increasing number of people. “I do think that the Internet, especially social media platforms, is the new approach to promote independent films in China,” says De Kloet. Film <SuzhouRiver> by LouYe is an example of how films can spread online.

Compared to commercial films, independent film-making is still marginal(ized) in China due to censorship reasons and minority audience. Hollywood movies and commercial ones are in general more popular than independent movies, and mainly students who are really into movies, artists and scholars are following independent films in the long term. Tamsma, however, has a positive outlook as for the potential of emerging independent film-makers in China: “They are on their way.”

"That is a question being asked in numerous post-Oscar interviews and talk shows in China. The disconnect between the size of China's film industry on the one hand, and the quality of Chinese-made films on the other, is glaring.

In the United States, the world's largest film market, box office revenues were $10.8 billion in 2012, a 6.5 percent increase over 2011. Led by the growth of the Chinese market, international box office revenues experienced continued growth. Box office revenues grew by 3 percent to $23.1 billion, versus $22.4 billion in 2011, with foreign IMAX and 3-D capable theaters providing a buffer to otherwise softer markets in Europe, such as in Italy and Spain.

China, now number two after the U.S., generated box revenues of approximately $2.7 billion in 2012, a 30.2 percent increase over 2011. "

Despite the growth of their home market, domestic film makers are lagging behind, even after government protectionist measures. To protect the local players, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television ("SARFT") imposes a quota of foreign movies allowed in China each year - in February, the number was increased from 20 to 34 - and movie theaters are rewarded financially for showing local films.

Notwithstanding these measures, imported movies have historically accounted for a greater percentage of the overall market in China. In 2012, ticket sales for imported movies totaled $1.4 billion, and domestic revenues totaled $1.3 billion, or 49.5 percent of gross ticket revenues, according to data published by SARFT. Last year, U.S. films, including Titanic 3D and Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, comprised seven of the top 10 highest-grossing films in China, according to SARFT. While foreign films accounted for only a quarter of the 303 movies screened in Chinese theaters last year, they took in over half of overall ticket sales.

Why the difference in audience appeal? Many point to regulation and SARFT, the organization under China's State Council whose main task is the administration and supervision of state-owned enterprises engaged in the television, radio, and film industries. SARFT directly regulates state-owned enterprises at the national level such as China Central Television, China National Radio, China Radio International, as well as other movie and television studios.

SARFT issues mandatory guidelines for media content. In 2009, SARFT issued a directive highlighting 31 categories of content that are prohibited online, including violence, pornography, and other content that may "incite ethnic discrimination or undermine social stability." In 2011 and 2012, it limited the number of reality television programs and historical dramas, expressing particular disapproval of programs with a plot that involved time travel back to a Chinese historical era. This decree resulted in the cancellation of a number of planned films with historical plots. Finally, SARFT is responsible for censoring any materials that offend the sensibilities of the Chinese government or Chinese cultural standards. Prior to distribution in Chinese theaters, all screenplays in China must be approved by SARFT.

Xie Fei, a professor at the prestigious Beijing Film Academy, recently sparked a debate on government control over the film industry when he called for abolishing the country's censorship procedures in favor of a movie rating system similar to that used in the United States.

"In the past few years, there were so many unwritten laws when censoring movies," Xie wrote in an open letter. "Unwritten laws such as: 'ghosts are not allowed in contemporary settings,' 'extramarital affairs are not allowed,' 'certain political incidents are not allowed,' etc. The censorship system (in China) is not defined by law, but done according to individuals." Such rules, Xie wrote, are "killing artistic exploration."

Officially, Beijing is backing the domestic film industry as part of broader efforts to increase China's "soft power" to match its growing economic muscle in the cultural sphere. In the 12th Five-Year Plan, the government committed itself to "deepening reform of China's cultural industries." Part of the answer may well come from greater cooperation with foreign film partners.

Han Sanping, president of the China Film Group, a state-owned entity that oversees the release of imported films, is known in China film circles as "Master Han" or "the godfather of the Chinese movie industry." In an interview last year, Han said: "We must try and attract more foreign technologists, expertise, producers, investors, distributors, directors, actors and artists, to come and collaborate with us on high-quality co-productions. And then learn from them."

"China's Film Industry Short of Professionals
    2013-04-19 21:03:27     CRIENGLISH.com       Web Editor: Guo Jingstyov x x
China's film industry is booming with Chinese filmmakers producing nearly 900 films last year.

But film industry insiders and experts believe China faces a severe shortage of professional moviemakers.

Experts also urge that more international exchanges be arranged to improve the professional quality of film-related professionals. CRI's Zhao Jianfu has more.

China has become the world's second-biggest movie market, with its box office sales surging more than 30-percent year on year. Statistics from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television indicate that Chinese filmmakers produced 893 films last year, including 745 feature films and 33 animated ones.

But Yin Hong, director of the Research Centre for Film and Television Communication at Tsinghua University, says although Chinese filmmakers produced nearly 900 films last year, the number of good competitive movies was disappointingly small. He describes filmmaking professionals in China in the same vein.

"We have a large number of people involved in the filmmaking industry, but China still lacks high-level professionals, including elite filmmakers capable of conducting international exchanges, outstanding playwrights, directors and editors as well as cinema photographers and those who deal with lighting and sound effects.""

"(CNN) -- A locally-produced slapstick comedy was the runaway box office hit last year in China, but international films swept the top 10 highest-grossing films in the country.
Industry insiders say international influence is only set to grow, as Chinese censors loosen restrictions on foreign films and more fans make a habit of seeking out the latest blockbusters. Last year, the country's box office receipts increased 30% to over RMB 17 billion ($2.7 billion), making China the world's second-largest box office"