Better cinema experience coming to Chinese homes

Louis Cacciuttolo, THX's executive vice-president of international business and global branding, says his company expects to win a bigger share of the Chinese market. Photo provided to China Daily

Chinese movie fans may soon have access to better acoustics and visual effects in cinemas and inside their homes with a reputable international company setting foot in China. THX, a California-based private provider of audio and visual reproduction standards for movie houses and home theaters, recently announced an alliance with China Film Group, the country's biggest State-run film enterprise. The deal was announced at the Beijing International Radio, Film and Television Equipment Exhibition held late last month.

The debut of THX in China is of special significance to filmmakers and moviegoers here, and it will likely bring China's film industry one step closer to international standards, says Lin Minjie, general manager of China Film Group's subsidiary company China Film Equipment Co Ltd.

"We look forward to working with THX to give Chinese audiences the world's premium audio and visual entertainment and the perfect cinema experience," says Lin.

The California company was founded in 1983 by legendary Hollywood director George Lucas, who directed the Star War series, to meet his ambition of premier filmmaking. Since then, the company has developed and licensed new technologies and specifications for audio and video applications, making its certification of cinemas and recording studios world-class.

In China, audiences will finally be able to hear the iconic sound of the company's "deep note" music playing at cinemas, that people here are familiar with from the many pirated videotapes of Hollywood blockbusters watched years earlier.

China's first THX-certified giant screen auditorium will open later this month in Shanghai.

When the China Giant Screens (called Dmax at first) came into existence in 2012, the industry response was lukewarm, with the newcomer being labeled as a knockoff of the Imax. But things are likely to change with a strong support from the overseas market.

"China now has great cinema facilities, like the best audio equipment," says Louis Cacciuttolo, THX's executive vice-president of international business and global branding, in his fluent Mandarin. "However, the country doesn't have the criteria to use the high-quality equipment it has. What we do is to create that circumstance."

He says that although a THX-certified CGS is only a start, the company expects to win a bigger share of the Chinese market by competing with other major brands. Cacciuttolo did not reveal names but Imax is most likely the competition.

However, today's more than 170 Imax screens across China plus their $56 million revenue in 2013 are not easy targets to meet.

"The work will be done step by step," he says.

Cacciuttolo did not say how many THX-certified screens will be set up in China or provide any timeline. "The more we have, the better it will be, but first of all, we need our fame to be recognized by Chinese movie fans, like what we did in the West."

In spite of being a new entrant in the Chinese market, THX seems to be keen to move beyond audiences to the filmmaking industry.

"Our purpose in China is to foster the passion and creativity of filmmakers and encourage them to push the boundaries of storytelling, just like Lucas did with Star Wars," he says, adding that the company would like to cooperate with Chinese post-production studios by providing them with audiovisual certification.

Chinese directors deserve what Hollywood has－well-trained technicians, who can fully translate a director's vision on screen for the audiences. The development of these "engineer-artists" as Cacciuttolo calls them will be crucial to Chinese cinema.

And, if things go the right way, Chinese studios of the future will be able to produce foreign films as well. "Maybe, even Hollywood movies will be finally made here," Cacciuttolo says.