Domestic film industry players kick into high gear to help revive the market’s fortunes
An audience watches a film at an outdoor venue during the Shanghai International Film Festival in Shanghai. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
China’s filmmakers have celebrated the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival, which kicked off on July 25, by expressing their confidence in the Chinese market and their eagerness to speed up production.
The festival, which ends on Aug 2, is the first major international film event taking place in China since the COVID-19 outbreak in late January forced all cinemas in the country to close.
A total of 320 movies — with 232 making their China debuts — are being screened at 29 cinemas across the city during the festival.
Due to coronavirus prevention and control measures, only 30 percent of seats in cinemas are available to moviegoers. Therefore, the festival organizer has put together outdoor screenings to allow more people to view the shows.
Outdoor projection sites have been set up in Shanghai in seven commercial centers and 36 communities. At some of these, movie industry insiders and actors are being invited to share their views with the audience, before or after the screenings.
To ensure public safety, all tickets were being sold through the internet, and audiences must have their temperatures taken upon entering the cinema. Hand sanitizers, masks and disposable gloves also are provided. In addition, moviegoers must keep their masks on throughout the movie, and food and beverage consumption has been prohibited.
Circumstances compelled the festival to cancel its celebrated red carpet and grand opening ceremony at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Instead, an opening forum featuring China film industry leaders was held at the Crowne Plaza Shanghai hotel on July 25.
Another notable fixture missing this year is the Golden Goblet Awards, or Asian New Talent Awards.
“We have seen quite a number of companies related to film production closing down because of the pandemic,” Wang Zhonglei, chairman of Huayi Brothers Media Co, said on July 27 during a forum on the development of China’s filmmaking industry chain.
“I cannot say these companies were poorly managed or that they lacked a long-term vision. They closed simply because of difficulties in the market.”
He noted the pandemic has caused the entire industry chain to grind to a halt, and companies such as movie theater operators faced severe challenges in terms of cash flow because the cinemas were closed for months.
“When the State administration of film announced that cinemas in China could reopen on July 20, the whole industry felt like the sun was finally rising for the first time after spending a long time in the dark,” Wang said.
He added, however, that it is too early to talk about the post-pandemic era for the film industry, as there is still much uncertainty.
In order to get people back in cinemas, Wang said, movie studios in China need to release more shows that have strong market appeal.
To ensure their safety, moviegoers wear masks throughout the movie. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Huayi is already planning that way, with a diverse collection of films set for release nationwide by the end of this year. These include the widely anticipated war movie The Eight Hundred, a fantasy drama adapted from the popular video game Shi Shen Ling, as well as comedies and other mainstream features.
Yu Dong, head of Bona Film Group, another leading China film production company, said at the SIFF opening forum that there are about 500 movies currently awaiting release in the Chinese market. These will keep cinemas running only until April next year, he noted, and after that there will be a dearth of new films for the summer.
To overcome this problem, Huayi has already resumed production, making new movies at home and abroad. Three or more will begin production in the second half of this year, said Wang, including works by celebrated directors such as Feng Xiaogang and Guan Hu. Another one on the cards is a disaster flick directed by Roland Emmerich and filmed in Canada. The company has also invested in a South Korean science-fiction film.
In the first half of the year, Extraction, shot by Huayi’s North American branch, was well received on the streaming platform Netflix, Wang added.
But as the pandemic has hindered international communication and collaboration in the film industry, individual markets will need to develop adequate measures to deal with the problem, Wang said.
“I am confident that we can cope with the situation in the Chinese market,” he said, pointing out how China’s movie industry has matured considerably in the past few decades.
China has the world’s greatest number of film screens, and its box-office takings are the second largest, behind the United States.
Cheng Wu, CEO of Tencent Pictures, owned by Tencent Group, said at SIFF that a survey has shown that 5.11 million people watched 12,000 films and TV programs during the pandemic, which is 24 percent higher than last year. And “88 percent of audiences said they wanted cinemas to reopen and go to see a film”, he said.
“Today, even though it is convenient to watch a film on streaming media, so many people still want to go to the cinema … this shows that films are necessary in people’s pursuit of good living,” Cheng said.
The Shanghai municipality has also implemented new policies to help the city’s film industry. On July 26, Songjiang district announced its latest raft of measures to support filmmaking companies.
These come on the back of the 2019 Shanghai Hi-Tech Films and TV City project which introduced 16 new supporting policies. Authorities said the new measures this year will include expanding the financial subsidies for film enterprises.
The commencement of construction of big-budget projects such as the Shanghai Film Studio Entertainment Park, the Haopu Film and TV production base and the Huace Yangtze Delta International Film and TV Center within the Shanghai Hi-Tech Films and TV City in Songjiang is another demonstration of China’s ability to weather this crisis.
“In these difficult times, Songjiang has made great efforts in serving and supporting filmmaking corporations and propagating the development of the Shanghai Hi-Tech Films and TV City project,” said Zhao Yong, head of the district’s department of publicity.
He highlighted how the district successfully brought in 549 companies in the first five months of 2020, up 124 percent compared to the year before.
