Speech from China producer Cannes: Foreigners all want to come here to find money

Deng Sheng, Sonan Renqingjia, Xiao Qiancao, Wang Jijie and Shan Zuolong are five young producers selected by the Wu Tianming Film Fund to participate in the Cannes Producers Workshop. In their eyes, what is the current situation of China films?

Original title China producer Cannes: Foreigners all want to come here to find money

at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Although not a single Chinese film was shortlisted in the competition, this does not affect the sense of existence of China. In addition to the actors who showed on the red carpet, many behind-the-scenes film workers also came to Cannes. Some attended events as guests, some promoted films, some sold or bought films, and some exchanged and learned.

Deng Sheng, Sonan Renqingjia, Xiao Qiancao, Wang Jijie and Shan Zuolong are five young producers selected by the Wu Tianming Film Fund to participate in the Cannes Producers Workshop. They used to be lawyers, English teachers, curators, producers, and documentary film directors. They entered the film industry at different times due to different opportunities. Now they are all working on their own projects as producers: "The Ignorant","Ram and Gabe","Blizzard is Coming","When Will You Come Again","The Last Night of Earth".

These are a group of very clear-headed producers. Some of their projects are pure art films and some are artistic commercial films. The budgets range from 5 million to 50 million. The allocation of investment and future recovery have been planned. They are in the best era of China's films: they are not short of money and have international status. In their eyes, what is the current situation of China films?

■ What do foreigners think of the China market?

"All the money is in China, and it is all people who come to China to find money."

Deng Sheng: All the money is in China, and it is all people who come to China to find money. There are two types in Cannes. First, many governments, institutions, and foundations in other countries provide financial support for good artistic films. But for commercial films, what I see in Cannes are more people looking for money from China.

Sonam Renqingjia: When you say that you are from China, he (foreigner) will say very good, I have a very good project and we can cooperate. The second sentence is whether you have any sources of funds that we can cooperate with. These are the two sentences I heard most in Cannes.

Xiao Qiancao: To be joking, many years ago, China filmmakers might need the world's money more. Now, the world's films need China's money more. I went to the producer workshop and saw hundreds of filmmakers from different countries and ethnic groups. Two details were worth pondering. The first was that there was simultaneous interpretation in Chinese on site. Second, according to my observation, filmmakers from no less than 30 to 40 other countries said very directly when they came on stage that we were here to find a co-producer in China. As a filmmaker in China, I have a strong sense of pride, which is a manifestation of the developed film industry of a country. Even if China films are absent from the main competition unit, China film elements can still be seen everywhere, and China filmmakers and China film capital are still a very powerful force that cannot be ignored.

Wang Jijie: Many foreign producers would take the initiative to say hello and chat with us at receptions or on any occasion. Because they know that China is a very big market, and they are all doing things with China elements, asking us if we are interested and asking us if we have money. But I also realize that many producers, including domestic ones here, still pay more attention to the story itself.

■ Is it difficult to find funds for new film films?

"Money is the least scarce resource, and the most scarce is actors. It's so difficult to beat actors."

Deng Sheng: In China, money must follow stars. Nowadays, many projects with money cannot beat actors. You have actors, and the difficulty at that time is who you don't want money from, because everyone is friends, so who do you want to vote and who you don't want to vote?

The popularity of the China market is very comfortable for content creators. As long as your things are good, you can get the core resources in this industry. Money may be the most relatively scarce resource, and the most scarce one is actors. It's so difficult to knock off actors.

But some actors are still very emotional when they see a good work. If someone can give him a very good script. The question is where is the good script? I'm looking all over the world for stories.

The script takes time. Nowadays, a lot of money in China is very, very anxious, and I always hope to get the script out in a very short time. Filmmakers from other places around the world spend three, five, six or seven years writing a script, while we spend three to five months or six months writing a script. The simple way is to see if people in other places have written stories for six or seven years, and if they can spend three to five months changing them into China stories.

Xiao Qiancao: For a new director, you only need to find the core expression of your story, its uniqueness, or its relatively clear commercial selling points, and funding is not so difficult to find. How to attract good actors is a huge challenge for me. I am targeting powerful actors with box office appeal in China. I believe that price is not the only factor that an actor considers when taking over a show. This is the experience brought to me by doing "Daylight Fireworks". I am confident that I can hire very good actors at the current cost (15 - 20 million yuan).

■ Why are Chinese films zero shortlisted?

"It's a coincidence and a necessity. The whole Chinese-speaking world is in a state of chaos."

Shan Zuolong: Personal feeling is a coincidence and a necessity. Coincidence is the reason for the years. Some major directors have not released new films, and the same is true for new directors. It must be that I feel that the Chinese-speaking world is in a state of chaos and the new director has not fully kept up. European film festivals and several big-name European production companies and distribution companies are very much looking forward to new blood from China. They constantly hope to find new people to work with them.

Deng Sheng: It takes two to three years to prepare a movie. No movie came here this year. The problem lies two to three years ago, not now. It may be a temporary problem caused by the rapid influx of hot money into the film industry two or three years ago. I hope that after deliberation and reflection in the past two years, we have gotten out of that temporary dizzy state.

Today, China filmmakers should have such confidence in who I want to make movies for. In the past, many China filmmakers made films for film festivals and for art. Later, everyone went to make movies for China audiences. Making better commercial films, what's the problem if you don't come to Cannes? If everyone watched this film, it would have a good box office and a good reputation, wouldn't it be better than anything else? But if a director says that after I finish shooting a commercial film, I am willing to make a very authorial film and he wants to better satisfy his own artistic pursuits, that would be great.

■ The director was kidnapped by capital?

"Almost all investors come to you to make commercial films."

Sonam Renqingjia: The new generation of filmmakers in China faces many problems, the first of which is of course funding. Because he can meet almost all investors who are looking for you to shoot commercial films, all to see if your script has commercial elements, which will interrupt the dreams of many filmmakers. But I think the audience in China is changing right now. This is just a process and will be very fast. Once the audience changes to this taste, investors will simply change to this taste.

Xiao Qiancao: In the past ten years, China's films have experienced rapid growth, and the entry of capital has indeed stimulated the vitality of the entire market. At the same time, the large amount of capital intervention may have certain restrictions on expression. China films may now be in a period of running-in between art and commerce. This is also a period when directors, screenwriters, actors, producers and major investment capitals are both honeymoon and running-in. After the running-in period, it will be a stable time and a time to truly reap happiness.

■ Art films need to kneel down and ask to be scheduled?

"Fang Li used his dignity to accelerate the transformation of China films into artistic films."

Sonam Renqingjia: Teacher Fang Li used his dignity to save China's artistic films and opened a path for China's artistic films, or all directors and producers who make artistic films. He accelerated the transformation of China audiences and film audiences from commercial to artistic films.

Deng Sheng: Whether you like it or not, the incident of Teacher Fang Li kneeling down will have a positive impact on the filming space of "Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix", at least on the public opinion field. Another question is, do we have to sell our art films in this way every time? Literary and artistic films are a very long-tailed product that can stand the test of time. We have such a good network platform, why don't we make full use of these things?

Wang Jijie: If you look at it from the perspective of commercial films, the environment of artistic films must be harsh, because you can't compare with your film schedule. But you can find some shortcuts, such as shortening the window period and letting online on-demand access first. If people who can't see the movie spend a little money to watch it online, my income will be better.

Shan Zuolong: Domestic art films still need to find their right position. If I frame my film as this investment budget, I have a very clear market positioning. Our next step is to co-produce, target overseas markets, and cut regional copyright. It would be a disaster if we blindly imagine how much return a pure art film would get in the theater market and send it to an audience that it should not be.

Xiao Qiancao: As far as Teacher Fang Li's kneeling incident is concerned, the important thing is not to kneel. What is more worth discussing than kneeling is that his kneeling attracted continuous discussions in the whole society and all media, which has become a social topic. This is of great significance. Some people are questioning that this incident may have some publicity or moral kidnapping, but I don't think so. This is a heartfelt expression of emotion and urgency.

Editor: vian