China's film industry is expanding at a breathtaking rate. Box office returns in the market surged by 36 percent to reach more than 29 billion yuan ($4.67 billion) in 2014, making the country the second-largest inudstry after the United States.
All seems well, but under the glitz and glamour, the sector still faces some issues.
"Every time I visit the US, I'm always introduced as a famous filmmaker in China. When they hear this, I'm treated really well. I sometimes say I'm an actor and I've worked in 300 films, and they believe that too."
Chinese television host Cui Yongyuan (who has never starred in any films) mocked at how little Americans know about Chinese films and country's filmmakers during a forum titled "The next stop of Chinese films: In-Between prosperity and crisis" at the ongoing Shanghai Film Festival.
It's spring time for the blooming film market, but outside the national gate, many Chinese films remain unnoticed.
"Viewers don't have many chances of seeing many of the Chinese films outside China, especially in the US. Chinese films are not released globally, and this is a challenge China faces - to make films to attract the attention and imagination of not just Chinese viewers, but of those around the world," said former vice chairman of Universal Pictures Marc Shmugger.
According to Yu Dong, president of Bona Films, though the country produces 700 to 800 films out of more than 5,000 films released globally each year, China only takes up a small share of the film market abroad.
As Yu puts it, if American films comprise 99 percent of ticket sales in US and Canada, only 1 percent of this is left for foreign language films, which equals to about $100 million in profit. Out of this piece of pie, a third goes to Indian films, and Chinese films only make about $10 million. Most of this profit comes from areas and regions with an abundant Chinese population.
Yu also mentioned the phenomenon of fan films.
"Fan films and films made based on reality television shows sell well in China, and this sucks up investment that should go into larger and better productions. These films are lowering the bar for film production, making domestic films insufficient to resist competitions from Hollywood blockbusters, let alone march into the market abroad," said Yu.
'Slow' films get removed fast
The number of cinemas in China is growing at an astonishing speed each year. To date, there are about 25,000 screens in China, second only to the US.
It is a pity that the variety of films shown on these screens has not increased in proportion to the number of screens.
In China, it is easy to see a film "monopolize" ticket sales, leaving little room for others.
"I really like art films such as Golden Era (a film directed by award-winning director Ann Hui about the life of legendary Chinese female writer Xiao Hong), but it was screened only a few times, or played for just a day or two, and was then pulled down," said Cui.
In Cui's opinion, instead of audiences choosing which films to see, it is the theater managers who are selecting movies for the audience.
Wang Haifeng, president of Hong Kong Filmco Pictures, disagreed. To Wang, if a film is not selling well, it should be withdrawn and replaced with more profitable ones in order to balance the high cost of operating theaters. At the same time, Wang also lamented at how theaters don't give enough time for "slow" films to survive, referring to those that needed some time for the audience to truly appreciate their quality.
To Yu, the core of the problem lies in the inadequate number of films produced, and even smaller number of good quality films. If production can be doubled, theaters will be forced to show more and the phenomenon of "monopoly" will gradually vanish.
Scripting success
Domestic films are heavily invested, but as with every investment, there is a risk.
Last year, producers of director Jiang Wen's Gong with the Bullets aimed at pocketing 2 billion yuan at the box office, where in fact, the film only earned a quarter of the expected income.
"The film had grand scenes, with many A-listers, and I expected the sales to fall around 1 billion yuan. The truth is it flopped at the box office, and to me, I think it's because the film was too far from audiences' lives," said Wang.
In other words, if the audience can't relate to the film, then sales will not be "related" with the film either.
A good script is the key to winning the market, and film experts agree. Shmugger said if an actor is willing to lower the wage to participate in a production or exchange his or her pay for film shares, it goes without saying that the script is good and chances are the film will sell. Bill Kong, a veteran producer and publisher who's worked with Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou, said for every film he's ever invested in, it is always because the script moved him.
