A new trend in Sino-US film and television cooperation: young audiences come first

the cinema-watching groups in China are mainly young audiences, so in the view of senior executives of foreign film and television production organizations, works of Sino-US cooperation should be sufficiently attractive to young audiences. Anthony Vogels, vice president of the international department of MAX, said that cooperation with China should also adapt to the trend of the Chinese market.

on September 28th, the second US-China Film and Television Industry Fair was unveiled at the Los Angeles Convention and Exhibition Center (LA Convention Center). Many senior executives of Hollywood studios who have actively expanded their business in China in recent years and producers who have set up their own doors are present to discuss the opportunities and challenges encountered by China in seeking cooperation.

strong > A successful case study of Sino-US film and television cooperation: / strong >

William Pfeiffer, a veteran producer who once worked as an executive at Disney and Sony and then went to Hong Kong for many years, is the CEO of Dragongate, a new company under Lions Gate. At the forum, he talked about his years of observation of China's film market, saying that what overseas people who cooperate with China need most is patience and perseverance. "Marriage of forced and speed dating will not last long," he said. "if China and the United States want to establish good cooperation, they must understand more. Most of the cooperation currently discussed is due to the fact that the United States has gradually built up mutual trust at the expense of frequent visits to China." He also believes that the attractiveness of the Chinese market to Hollywood will not change in the short term, and the box office of American films in China will continue to rise, followed by more overseas film talents will go to China to look for opportunities.

the reason why Kung Fu Panda 3, a co-production between China and the United States, has won praise at the global box office, apart from the full understanding of both sides, the film also takes into account the elements of China and the United States and the preferences of audiences in both countries, but for now, there are only a handful of Chinese and foreign co-productions as successful as Kung Fu Panda 3.

James Fong, chief executive officer of Oriental DreamWorks, cited Kung Fu Panda 3 as an example to illustrate that it is not easy to make a Sino-American co-production. "Kung Fu Panda 3" is eligible for co-production because, although the writer and director are American, the story is based on China, and there are a large number of local Chinese animators behind the scenes. The most important thing is that there are two versions of the film. The Chinese version is voiced by Chinese actors, and the lines are slightly different from the American version. "I see that many projects that wish to apply for Sino-US co-production are rejected because there are only Chinese actors speaking a few lines, or the Chinese scene only appears for a few minutes," he said. Kung Fu Panda 3 is localized, and its lines have been changed in the Chinese version. There are many more approachable languages and jokes that can resonate with Chinese audiences. "

Fang Gan also mentioned that DreamWorks's cooperation with China was definitely not formed in a few days. President Jeffrey Katzenberg came to China almost once a month, and the director and screenwriter of Kung Fu Panda 3 came to China early to study the story to understand what kind of story can appeal to both Chinese and American audiences.

strong > Young audience is paramount! Video websites are more important than TV stations / strong >

China's cinema-watching groups are mainly young audiences, so in the eyes of senior executives of foreign film and television production organizations, Sino-US cooperative works should be sufficiently attractive to young audiences.

Anthony Vogels, vice president of the international department of MAX, said that cooperation with China should also adapt to the trend of the Chinese market. For example, he talked about the "domestic Protection month" from June to August. in order not to have a gap, he personally went to China to see more than a dozen Chinese films to be released during this period, and chose two of them to release the IMAX version, which eventually made a good profit. And which one to cooperate with, he says, is more likely to choose works that attract younger audiences.

Dick Clark, which produces American Music Awards and Golden Globes in the United States, also values China's youth market and has found its own way to enter China. Mark Rafalowski, executive vice president of the company, said: "We have tried to work with television stations to broadcast American entertainment ceremonies live in China, but we found that the audience is too old, so it is more appropriate to find a young audience for these programs instead." He believes that what attracts the Chinese audience most are American stars and special effects, "but in order to get close to the Chinese market, Dick Clark also chooses to" plant Chinese faces "in these award ceremonies. For example, last year's National Music Awards were specially set up for Zhang Jie and the Chopsticks Brothers. Dick Clark is also the driving force behind Jing Tian's international artist who won the Hollywood Film Award last year. Rafalowski said: "at that time, Hollywood didn't even know Jing Tian, but now she has starred in the Great Wall with Matt Damon and will be released in China and the United States soon, which proves that the exposure given to her at that time is not unreal."

strong > overseas excellent films are expected to enter Chinese private cinemas / strong >

compared with US representatives, most of the speakers attended by the Chinese side attended as audiences, including representatives of many companies from far away from China, as well as Chinese students in the United States.

the Chinese Cultural Industry Investment Fund (China Media Capital), which has "acted frequently" in recent years, sent Peter Li, managing director, to the scene. The company's English name is now well-known overseas because it has completed a number of acquisitions and partnerships with News Corp., IMAX, DreamWorks and Warner in just three years. Next, they will seek investments in artists and e-commerce, Mr Li said. Su Qing, president of Bole Media, was also present to talk about her attempts to bring excellent overseas films into private cinemas in China in recent years. Although pay-on-demand platforms such as Netflix are now difficult to enter China, she believes that if the price is cheap, a variety of viewing channels and a variety of options, slowly, more legitimate channels for overseas films will enter China, and audiences will gradually accept such models as pay-on-demand.

Edit: vian