Investors, Producers Give Advice on Competing with the Pressures from Hollywood

The possibility of China collaborating with the U.S. in film co-production and associated issues faced by filmmakers and companies were discussed at a forum yesterday during the on-going 15th SIFF.

The matters were raised by invited film production and distribution experts during the third “Industry New Current - Two Sides of One Coin: Memo of Hollywood Co-production” forum.

Qiu Huashun, Chairman and CEO of Dreams of Dragon Pictures, talked about the film Cloud Atlas  for which the company was second largest investor. Scheduled for release later this year, the movie was directed by Tom Tykwer and Lana and Andy Wachowski, and stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and Chinese actress Zhou Xun. Qiu explained that his company had 9.3% of the film\'s global share and also the distribution rights in China.

Ellen Ruth Eliasoph, China-president and CEO of VREG New Asia\'s Representative Office, has rich experience in Asian films and entertainment and worked on many co-production projects.

When asked about Hollywood\'s requirement for co-production screenplays, she said that there were so many incredible stories in China and producers were looking for something from the heart of the writer. "He or she is not thinking about the censorship, but how to tell the stories,” Eliasoph said. "We are only interested in things genuine and honest."

The forum heard that the Chinese film market was going through a period of rapid development with more films, cinemas, audiences and higher box office returns. But at the same time, Chinese productions faced greater challenges with the increasing dominance of Hollywood blockbusters.

Gao Jun, Deputy Manager of New Film Association and General Manager of Beijing Shengshi Huarui Film Investment & Management, said it was more important to produce high quality films than greater numbers of low quality productions. China now has more 3D screens, Gao said, but local 3D production cannot meet the market\'s demand, so the space is left open for Hollywood to fill.

Legendary Pictures representative Michael Andreen, Warner Bros Pictures Senior Vice President of Production Sarah Schechter, Shanghai United Circuit Vice-manager Wu Hehu and the CEO of LE Vision Pictures Zhang Zhao also joined the discussion.