Co-productions, BRI exchanges will help region’s movie industry enjoy better growth, Hong Kong summit hears

Alexander Armartei, CEO of Amartei Entertainment. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Globalization has seen more international collaborations than ever before in the film industry but experts believe that Asia will drive the next wave of co-produced content thanks to the region’s diverse arts, culture, and opportunities.

Wilfred Wong Ying-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong Film Development Council, called for a shift in focus to “Made by Hong Kong” rather than “Made in Hong Kong”. “We cooperate with everybody else in the world, so that (these products) have Hong Kong funding and Hong Kong participation but can be produced anywhere in the world,” said Wong.

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Franco Della Posta, president of the Association of Italian Audiovisual Production Personnel and an experienced filmmaker, is among those who share that belief.

Fred Wang, chairman of  Salon Films (HK) Ltd. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

The Italian was among the speakers at this year’s Asian Content Business Summit (ACBS) at the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART) and has recently collaborated with Asian producers from places like Japan, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.

“They tell the story in their way,” Della Posta said, noting that Asia has its own diverse arts and culture to match its large population. It is something he wants to see continue, he said, alongside collaboration.

The film industry is changing, Della Posta said, noting that streaming platforms have altered the relationship between content and users, and that this is all happening rapidly.

Charlene Paling, Entertainment and Media Group of Western Alliance Bank. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

While technology is having an impact, including on how movies are shot, he said the human interaction in cross-cultural collaboration is also driving change, with people learning from each other.

“It’s good if they (in Asia) continue to create summits and forums, where people have the possibility to talk, change, and help with the content (development),” Della Posta told China Daily on the sidelines of FILMART on March 11.

Charlene Paling, deputy head and senior vice president for entertainment and media at the United States-based Western Alliance Bank, told China Daily that summits such as FILMART are essential for producers, who take on many different roles, to find the right specialists in Asia to help them along the way.

“It is really important that producers, when they get involved in these kinds of international summits, you know, working together in co-productions (is) that they really do get to learn where they’re going and who they’re working with and spend time meeting their collaborators and the partners,” said Paling.

Franco Della Posta, president of the Association of Italian Audiovisual Production Personnel. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Fred Wang Cheung-yue, chairman of pan-Asian facilities and movie services group Salon Films in Hong Kong, said that the ACBS “can be the beginning of collaboration of all Asian content industry players so that they can work together and make a better world for the future and the younger generation”. 

“A good reason for (co-production) is if you have several countries working on the film together, that means there are several different cultures that we have to put together,” said Wang.

“With that, they can look at the outside foreign culture, not just Hollywood or Western culture, but Asia,” said Wang, adding that there are a lot of things that Asian countries can learn from each other. Wang said cooperation in the content industry is about exchanging cultures, and he hopes that through cooperation, industry players from different countries can share the good aspects of each other’s culture and make better cultural products together. 

Dwi Heriyanto, director of Produksi Film Negara. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Noting that South Korea’s content industry has become increasingly popular around the globe, Chung Young-hong, CEO of Seoul-based Paper Barn Studios, said there are still not enough policies to support co-productions between domestic and international filmmakers. 

“It is truly mesmerizing to see how much people appreciate Korean content,” Chung said during the summit.

With more and more South Korean producers starting to be aware of opportunities in co-production, Chung said there are also more initiatives and policies coming out to promote international productions. 

Filipina film editor and Central Digital Lab CEO Manet Dayrit has seen how collaboration with filmmakers overseas can enrich both the local and Asian movie industries.

Sirisak Koshpasharin, vice-chairman of Motion Pictures and Contents Association of Thailand. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Dayrit recalled that during the COVID-19 pandemic, production houses in France, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam joined hands to produce Cu Li Never Cries — a debut feature from Vietnamese filmmaker Pham Ngoc Lan. 

The movie, about a Vietnamese widow who inherits her husband’s pet pygmy slow loris, won a best first feature award at the 74th Berlin Film Festival last month in Germany.

Kamil Othman, chairman of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia, said Southeast Asian nations can work together to develop movies by “following the European Union style of doing things”.

He noted that European film producers work together to develop and market their movies to the whole EU. Southeast Asian filmmakers can do the same, under the auspices of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), he said. 

Chung Young-hong, CEO of Paper Barn Studios. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Dwi Heriyanto, CEO of Produksi Film Negara (State Film Productions) in Indonesia, said that to co-produce a movie, filmmakers must learn more about the other country’s culture and film market.

“Asian countries vary greatly in terms of culture, language, and market (development),” Heriyanto said. He said collaboration entails an analysis of each country’s strengths and weaknesses in content creation. 

“For example, countries with a rich cultural heritage like Indonesia can focus on producing culturally relevant content,” Heriyanto said, adding that a country with advanced technology infrastructure can contribute technical expertise.

Sirisak Koshpasharin, vice chairman of the Motion Pictures and Contents Association of Thailand, said the Thai film market is small but, when combined with other countries in the region, the market can expand. 

Manet Dayrit, CEO of Central Digital Lab Inc. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

He added that streaming platforms can allow a locally-produced film to “travel around the world”.

The rise of streaming services has introduced Southeast Asian cinema to a wider audience, he said.

Indonesian period drama Gadis Kretek (Cigarette Girl) and the Philippines’ black comedy TV series A Very Good Girl, both released in 2023, have made it to the Global Top 10 list on streaming platform Netflix. 

Sirisak said that China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) can help in tapping the “very big” Chinese film market for Thai filmmakers. He said that he is proud that some Thai TV dramas are now a hit in China.

“I think in Asia, everybody’s talking about bigger markets, bigger production values (that can be achieved by) working together,” he said. 

He said that the BRI will encourage more co-production. “I think (filmmakers) from Asian countries would love to do something together,” Sirisak added.

Kamil Othman, chairman of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia.(PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Alexander Amartei, CEO of Amartei Entertainment and co-producer of the Saudi Arabia-set epic film Antara, said the BRI is going to be “great for the film industry” as it “allows us to unlock this potential with all these different countries”.

“Anything that brings people together at a high level usually is the winner. And they’re giving a chance and opportunity for neighboring countries that are not so developed to be able to jump on this train of development to be more participative in other industries and improve their economies, benefit from the economy of China, and allow them to contribute what they’re good at,” said Amartei.

Dayrit from the Philippines said the Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance has already helped in connecting Asian film industry players. 

She said that members of the alliance join the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) and other major film festivals where they have the opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and close business deals.

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The Belt and Road Film Festival Alliance was established in 2018, in an initiative of the SIFF Organizing Committee. The alliance aims to strengthen cultural exchanges among BRI member countries.

Bearing the theme “The Future and Opportunities of Worldwide Co-productions and Distribution”, the ACBS was co-organized by Salon Media Lab and received funding from Create Hong Kong, and support from Asia Film Awards Academy, Hong Kong International Film Festival, International Federation of Creativity and Technology, China Daily, City University of Hong Kong School of Creative Media and Salon Films. 

The Asia-Pacific video industry is valued at $145 billion and expected to reach $165 billion by 2028, according to research and consultancy firm Media Partners Asia.

Contact the writers at kelly@chinadailyapac.com