Ever since the Premier of China Wen Jiabao signalled his intentions to move the Chinese film industry towards a pre-eminent position, surpassing even Hollywood, China has been a major destination on the minds of producers around the globe.
And since Australian producers have the benefit of a local tax offset regime, as well as an official co-production treaty with China, they are well placed to benefit from the upsurge in Chinese production.
But there are caveats to consider – including the possibility of winding up in a Chinese jail, as happened to the Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu. That possibility isn’t very likely, but it’s a reminder that Chinese culture is vastly different from Australia’s, and is certainly something that producers need to keep in mind.
So how can producers take advantage of Australia’s favourable relationship with China and gain access to swags of Chinese yuan without falling foul of the Chinese authorities?
Australian director and producer Mario Andreacchio is a suitable role model; his film The Dragon Pearl has done well at the Chinese box office earlier this year. Indeed, Andreacchio shared the benefit of his wisdom at an Australia-China Film Forum in Beijing last year, which he organised with SPAA to assist local producers in grappling with the Chinese system.
“The Chinese culture is very different from our own,” advises Pamela Wilson-Endrina, who spent ten years working in China herself, and now offers the Executive Producer’s course at Victoria University. But given the differences, any Aussie producer thinking about working with the Chinese film industry should be familiar with its history.
Booming in the 1920s and 30s and based in Shanghai, the industry shifted to creating propaganda films when the Communists came to power in the 1950s. Production then came to a halt in the 1960s and 70s with the advent of the cultural revolution, only resuming in the early 1980s with the prodigious output of “fifth generation” directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
By the mid 1990s many of the state owned film studios and TV stations were privatised, re-emerging as joint ventures between the Chinese Government and independent companies. This trend has continued and increased over time, resulting in the current predominance of private money, supported by Government, which has remained involved in regulatory agencies and some state owned enterprises.
As Premier Wen Jiabao has clearly indicated, the government is keen for the Chinese industry to dominate both domestic and world markets. In line with these aspirations, scores of new cinemas are springing up all around the country. It seems that Chinese consumers make eager audiences for local feature films, and the current restrictions on Hollywood output have enabled such films to flourish.
But Chinese producers know that in order for their films to conquer international markets, they must engage international audiences. One way of helping this to happen is for them to form co-production relationships with Western producers, who are obviously aware of Western tastes and genres.
“Australia is well poised to take advantage of the recent changes in China,” said Wilson-Endrina. “However our main competitor is Hollywood itself.” Hollywood may not have the same tax advantages as Australia, but does have the benefit of being seen as the centre of the film world – at least until Premier Wen Jiabao’s prediction becomes reality.
So the time is ripe for Australian producers to conjure up East Meets West scenarios, where there are roles for both Chinese actors and Western stars. Andreacchio’s film The Dragon Pearl neatly fits the bill. Released in China under the title Raiders of the Lost Dragon, it stars Sam Neill and is about two teenagers, an Australian boy and a Chinese girl, who uncover a dragon on an archaeological dig. By the end of the first week of its release in China, the film had taken more than $3.6 million AUD – a significant sum as ticket prices in China are far cheaper than here. It was released on an incredible 1400 screens in 260 cities, according to Adelaide Now. The film had a $20 million budget, and is billed as Australia’s first official co-production with China. The Chinese company involved was Zhejiang’s Hengdian Films, part of Hengdian World Studios, described in China as the largest film studio in the world.
Andreacchio has made a couple of pertinent points about the process of working in China. He acknowledges up front that under the Chinese system, the government has final right of approval over the production, and can request changes or even decide to withhold the film from international distribution if it sees fit. Andreacchio believes that’s fair enough, since its largely their money that is being used.
Secondly, he embraces cross-cultural input, to the extent that he decided to use the services of a Chinese production designer, even though that created a potential language barrier. But the end result was magnificent – a fabulous representation of ancient China was created that was far bigger in scale than anything Andreacchio had thought possible.
The recent remake of Karate Kid serves as another example, where Will Smith’s son Jaden stars as a character who migrates to China with his mother, and has to learn how to defend himself from local gangs with Kung Fu. The film reputedly cost around $40 million to make, and took approximately $176 million in the US and $182 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo – so it could be regarded as a resounding financial success.
These recent successes have encouraged Australian producers to cast around for more scenarios where both Chinese and Western casts can be assembled as the basis for a co-pro. “But there are lots for Australian producers to get their minds around – such as the vastly different business environment that operates in China,” says Pamela Wilson-Endrina. For example, ongoing relationships are much more important in China than paper contracts, and these relationships take time to develop. “In the meantime, Australians are in danger of being perceived as outsiders in the Chinese system, and therefore more likely to find themselves being treated less favourably than Chinese producers , and unable to call in favours as Chinese producers would to redress the balance.” There is also the issue that the Chinese government will look dimly on storylines that feature the benefits of living in a democracy or challenge their communist system, and they will edit these things out of any foreign film destined for their market.
Pamela advises that the principal fare for Chinese films is historical dramas, especially about the Tang Dynasty and World War 2. There is also a genre peculiar to China called the ‘main melody’ film. These types of films are sanctioned by the Communist Party, to re-affirm the official narrative of recent Chinese history, showing communist heroes in a positive light. As an example, a recent film Founding of a Republic was made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of founding Communist China. It starred more than 200 popular Chinese actors, including Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Andy Lau, and grossed more than $60 million in China. Other genres favoured by Chinese audiences include comedies and romantic tragedies.
Producers can attend the Shanghai International Film Festival and the Hong Kong Film Markets to develop relationships with Chinese producers and get the co-production ball rolling. And Mario Andreacchio’s Australia China Producers Forum will be held again this December in Beijing.
Pamela Wilson-Endrina is the contact for Victoria University’s new producing course – the Professional Certificate in Executive Screen Production. Currently, it is Australia’s onlycoursein Executive Producing.
The Course will be taught by leading industry practitioners on alternative weekends in Melbourne and Sydney. Current dates in 2011 are: Melbourne  8-10 July and 22-24 July. Sydney 11-13 November and 25-27 November.
For more information, or to register, phone 03 9919 1810 or email esp@vu.edu.au.
