Zhang Jiazhen: Co-production is Tough, Focus on Telling Chinese Stories

Film producer Zhang Jiazhen is better known for his link to famous director John Woo  and  the remarkable success the pair has had in Hollywood. Zhang Jiazhen has turned his career back to China and last year founded ATN Talent Management in Beijing. He is a jury member of the Gold Goblet Award for this year\'s SIFF. With the Iron Man 3 crew in China  casting for the next sequel, the concept of co-produced film between China and the U.S.  seems  to have entered a new era. But  as Zhang Jiazhen told Daily News, it\'s important for Chinese films to tell Chinese stories.

Daily News: What\'s your opinion of SIFF this time as a jury member?
Zhang Jiazhen: The 15-year-old SIFF is becoming more and more successful. The audience expect  film stars and different types of films. SIFF  is  also  a  festival of  the  audience.

Daily News: A heated topic at this year\'s SIFF Forum was the
 "redemption of Chinese films" because in the past few months the box office performance of several was affected by the impact of U.S.  films. What is your view of  this situation?
Zhang Jiazhen: Everybody thinks it\'s a crisis because of the popularity of U.S. films. In fact many of them are similar and the audience will turn off when they have seen enough. The failure of several Chinese films has much to do with the release and marketing, so we shouldn\'t over-generalize the problem. The box office for last year\'s Love is not Blind was 300 million yuan. That\'s amazing.

Daily News: More and more U.S. films are adding Chinese elements, like Iron Man 3. What level has the co-production of films between China and the U.S. reached in your understanding?
Zhang Jiazhen: The case ofIron Man 3  is purely commercial. It is still a U.S. film, despite the Chinese elements. It\'s not a co-production. In fact I find it pretty difficult to combine two cultures together. Theoretically speaking, it is not impossible, for example a love story between two people of different countries. But the question is will it be popular?

Daily News: Another hot topic is "how to tell Chinese stories to the rest of the world. " You have been busy making films in China and U.S..  What can you share with us on this?
Zhang Jiazhen: Personally I think it\'s important to tell Chinese stories to the Chinese. People in U.S. have different tastes. They do well in science fiction because they have that tradition.