Toronto's business is the overseas selling method of Chinese films

There are countless film festivals of all sizes in the world every year. Toronto is a very important stop and a small epitome of the entire international film market. Toronto's business experience may provide some reference for domestic filmmakers The 40th Toronto Film Festival closed last week. During the 11 day exhibition, films, filmmakers and audiences from all over the world gathered here. Some films have won coveted awards, some audiences have found their favorite films, and many filmmakers sell their works here to all parts of the world

according to the official Organizing Committee of the Toronto Film Festival, more than 2100 international buyers came for films at this year's Film Festival, an increase of 9% over last year. "Hard core war" was bought by STX at a high price of $10million. In addition, many films such as "disorder", "eye of the sky", "deep in the forest", "the son of God", "deception plan" and so on have found their own buyers. "This year, the film makers have signed many big contracts in Toronto. This is an exciting year for selling films." Cameron Bailey, art director of the Toronto Film Festival, said

according to rob Paris, the Toronto Film Festival brings together many independent elements and makes them work perfectly. "I like Toronto because it cleverly balances Hollywood films and independent films. Toronto sends movies not only to fans, but also to film buyers." Paris makes no secret that Toronto is a good place to do business. There are a large number of distributors here, which can not only sell films to cinemas, but also easily sell them to new media, "Companies such as Netflix and Amazon are no longer limited to making profits through video on demand. They are now keen on making their own content and are very generous in buying films. Therefore, as a film creator, it is difficult to have a better opportunity in the short term than now."

Paris revealed that film makers all over the world are sharpening their heads and rushing to Toronto. "There are thousands of films that want to participate in Toronto every year, but only a few hundred were selected in the end. If your film is lucky to be selected, this in itself will help your film clear the obstacles to emerging."

unlike other film festivals, the Toronto Film Festival does not focus on award-winning, but on film exhibition, which has an immediate effect. As a shrewd businessman, Paris said frankly, "generally speaking, when I participate in a film festival like Toronto, my first task must be to sell movies. If you have a clear goal, selling movies will become as easy as fishing in a bucket."

since there are many benefits to participating in the exhibition in Toronto, Chinese film makers will naturally not miss this good opportunity. Domestic filmmakers, like keen to participate in Cannes, Venice, Berlin and other film festivals, have flocked to Toronto with their own works, including the return of the great sage of journey to the West (hereinafter referred to as the return of the great sage), which created a box office miracle this summer

"at present, the return of the great sage has sold the copyright of more than 60 countries and regions." Feng Yi, the producer of the return of the great sage, is responsible for the overseas sales of the film, he told time.com. Feng Yi said that according to his actual feelings, at this year's Toronto Film Festival, distributors all over the world pay close attention to Chinese films, especially Chinese films such as "return of the great sage" which have achieved high box office in China. "Why is an animated film doing so well at the box office in China? They are very curious." Feng Yi revealed that before they went to Toronto, DreamWorks CEO karsenberg also specifically asked them for the film "return of the great sage". He wanted to see it in advance, which showed his strong interest. When the return of the great sage was shown in Toronto, many big companies, including Warner, Sony, universal and so on, came to the show

in Toronto, there are buyers all over the world, but the buyers contacted by return of the great sage this time are mainly from North American countries and regions. Their cinemas are distributed in the United States, Canada, and some South American countries, "because the relatively large publishers in North America also have South American cinemas." As the largest film market in the world, the filmmakers of "return of the great sage" hope that the film can have a good box office performance in North America, "We hope that North America will account for about one third of overseas sales. It is best to cooperate with six large factories or independent publishers such as Lions Gate and Weinstein, whose distribution and publicity capabilities are guaranteed. At present, we prefer one of the six, and of course, they have also shown considerable interest." Feng Yi revealed that if everything goes well, "return of the great sage" will be released in North America at the end of this year or early next year. p>

except North America, there are not many regions where the return of the great sage can be sold at present, and publishers in many regions have even entered the state of "bidding". At present, the overseas sales strategy of the return of the great sage is to try to sell the copyright of one region to a high-quality publisher rather than choose many

although the overseas sales are good, Feng Yi also admitted that the overseas sales performance cannot be compared with the domestic box office, because the domestic box office has far exceeded everyone's expectations, "however, if the cost is calculated, the current overseas sales of the return of the great sage can basically achieve a return."

"return of the great sage" attended the Toronto Film Festival as a film that has been released in China. Of course, there are also some new films that have not been released in China, such as "old cannon" starring Feng Xiaogang, such as "old man of mountains and rivers" directed by Jia Zhangke, such as "invincible table tennis rabbit", which is an animated film

compared with "masterpieces" such as "return of the great sage", "old cannon" and "old man of mountains and rivers", the attention of "invincible table tennis rabbit" is much lower in China, but this film also sells well in Toronto

Zhang Qing, the chairman of Meili film, the producer of invincible table tennis rabbit, revealed that their 2014 work "valley of the Dragon: Dawn Raiders" had been to Toronto, "the market situation this year is much better, and the sales have increased by about 4 times." Zhang Qing said that at present, the offer price of invincible table tennis rabbit is $10million, and about $1.5 million has been signed. Zhang Qing explained that the Middle East and other regions are small volume markets, the price is not expensive, the price fluctuation is small, and the signing is relatively fast; While the markets in North America and Europe are relatively large, "we need to grind the price slowly and sign the contract slowly."

with the rapid development of the film market in mainland China, the overseas market is still a gold and silver island. Chinese filmmakers still have a long way to go to dig for real treasures. There are countless film festivals of all sizes in the world every year. Toronto is a very important battle among them, and it is also a small epitome of the entire international film market. Toronto's business experience may provide some reference for domestic filmmakers

selling films depends not only on the price, but also on the reliable distributor.

overseas sales of Chinese films are not a one-off deal, so it is not necessarily the one with the highest price. It is very important to choose a reliable distributor

at present, in the process of overseas sales of Chinese films, the main way to make profits is to add a share of the minimum guarantee. Whether the film is good at the local box office directly determines how much money the film can recover. Feng Yi said that each publisher will provide their distribution plan when bidding, such as how many screens to provide and how many publicity resources to invest. "We will balance all aspects." Zhang Qing also said that the selection of publishers needs to be considered from many dimensions, "first, it depends on whether your quotation is high or not. If your quotation is similar, it depends on whether your issuance ability is strong. If your issuance ability is similar, it depends on how much your issuance fee is."

the reason why" return of the great sage "persistently wants to cooperate with six blockbusters or big distributors such as Lions Gate and Miramax is to see their comprehensive strength boost the box office. At present, the foreign language film with the highest box office in the North American film market is Ang Lee's 2000 work" Crouching Tiger, hidden dragon ", with a box office of 128million US dollars, compared with the Italian film" beautiful life ", which ranks second It is more than twice as high. The North American distributor of the film is Sony classic. The second Chinese film at the box office in North America is "hero" directed by Zhang Yimou in 2004, which was distributed by Miramax in North America, and the final box office in North America was nearly $54million. In recent years, the major distributors in North America have reduced their cooperation with Chinese films. Accordingly, Chinese films have not achieved brilliant results in North America

however, with the rise of Netflix and other online media, the market outside the theater has also opened a door to Chinese films, such as crouching tiger, Hidden Dragon II, green sword, directed by Yuan Heping and starring Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh, which will be released synchronously in IMAX cinemas and Netflix online in North America in February 2016, rather than through mainstream cinemas in North America

Hollywood mode is the mainstream, and there are few obstacles to international production.

Luc Besson once cited such an example: Chinese, European and American films have great differences in story structure, such as a dinner, Chinese food is very good, put on a table, everyone gets what they need; Europe is a little more procedural, with pre dishes, main courses and desserts; The United States is simpler, hamburger and coke. Although Chinese films such as the return of the great sage have a fair market in Toronto this year, it does not mean that Chinese films have entered the mainstream vision of the international market. The tastes of film distributors from all over the world have basically not changed - there is only one mainstream in the international film market, that is Hollywood, and films from any other country are relatively small

in order to move closer to the mainstream vision, international production has become an important means. Zhang Qing said that their work "valley of Dragons: Dawn Raiders" last year was completely produced by the Chinese team, so overseas sales were not very smooth. This year's "invincible table tennis rabbit" invited Oscar nominated Mike Johnson (director of the zombie bride) as the director, "the director's name is hung on the posters and other materials, which is very helpful for selling the film." At present, the production of "invincible table tennis rabbit" has not been completed, but the pre-sale performance has been relatively ideal. Zhang Qing concluded that "the key to pre-sale is to see the script, director, producer and film flowers". With a relatively international production team, it is relatively recognized by foreign distributors. However, Zhang Qing also stressed that although there are many foreigners in the main creative team, 90% of the main body is made by Chinese people, "because of the cost advantage, foreigners spent $50million to do the same thing, and we only spent $15million."

although the return of the great sage was completely produced by Chinese people, the creators decided to take an international route when creating the story. According to Feng Yi,