Mainland's movie business now 'growing faster than Hollywood's'

Within 10 years’ time, more than half of the films shown in the rapid developing Chinese market will be based on existing novels or intellectual property, like what is happening in Hollywood now, according to Ma Zhongjun, chairman and president of Ciwen Media, a Beijing-based Chinese broadcaster.

At the same time, the film production company will no longer rely too heavily on star power to promote films, and will gradually focus on playwriting, production and issuing in a process to cement the industry’s entire value.

“Currently, the value of the industry can only be seen from famous movie stars, but as the market continues to develop, the industry, as a whole, will show its value,” he said.

“Although IP is becoming more and more important for the film industry, the movie industry is more than IP.”

Besides adaptation, Ma emphasized that original screen writing is absolutely necessary but, to be frank, it will be harder and harder to nurture a new IP for film production companies.

The competition among film production companies in future will depend on a company’s ability to repackage the original contents for other sectors, such as turning online novels into films and games. But, on the other hand, the successful adaptation of novels also depends on the original contents and the authors’ popularity among movie fans, so it’s a win-win situation.

The market’s reliance on film stars has resulted in skyrocketing salaries for top film stars in China, as the country’s annual box office has exploded from barely US$200 million a decade ago to a projected US$6.8 billion this year.

In January, a commentary published in Party-owned newspaper People’s Daily criticized some film stars for commanding sky-high salaries without commensurate talent. China’s film, television and radio sectors issued guidelines in September to cap actors’ wages at 40 percent of a production’s total budget.

With the film industry becoming more mature on the Chinese mainland, Ma believes that Chinese culture will exert greater influence on the world stage.

“China is the world’s second-largest economy, but the influence of Chinese culture cannot match the status of its economy. In future, with China having a bigger say globally, I think Chinese films and stories will have much greater influence on the global market.”

Statistics from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television show that China has so far translated more than 1,600 domestic movies and television productions into 36 languages, including English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Portuguese, and they are being aired in more than 100 countries.

Last year, China’s exports of TV series raked in 510 million yuan (US$77.2 million), accounting for 68 percent of the total earnings from exported television contents, according to the SARFT.

cherrylin@chinadailyhk.com