Bright Shadow Films

Fifth straight year of growth for Chinese exhibitors

By Jonathan Landreth and Frank Segers

June 2, 2009, 08:56 AM ET

You can find the original link here.

BEIJING — Moviegoing is getting to be a habit with the Chinese — and Hollywood is clearly taking a closer look.

China produced 406 feature films in 2008 and saw its boxoffice jump 30%, the fifth consecutive year of more than 25% growth.

In its annual report on the nation’s media industry progress, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television said overall 2008 boxoffice receipts reached 4.3 billion yuan ($635 million), led by such companies as the state-run China Film Group, Huayi Brothers Pictures, the Shanghai Film Group and the New Picture Co.

Hollywood too is becoming more bullish about prospects in that country of 1.5 billion potential moviegoers — despite still stringent regs and many restrictions on rentals.

“It’s a fantastic market full of people who love movies,” said Mark Zucker, president of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

He pointed to the optimism his studio feels toward the June 9 China opening of action title “Terminator Salvation” on 1,200 screens and the release later this summer of director Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3″ with Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

Securing a play date in itself is something of a coup for a Hollywood major given the market’s strict import restrictions. Despite these, “China is a territory of increasing significance,” added David Kornblum, Disney vp international theatrical sales and distribution.

Five years ago, China was off the radar as a significant boxoffice revenue source for studio features. Now it ranks among the world’s top 25 largest boxoffice hauls for the big six — Warners, Disney, Paramount, Fox, Universal and Sony.

According to the MPA, the studios extracted from China $25 million in theatrical rentals out of boxoffice grosses of $194 million in 2007. In other words, the China market still has one of the lowest rations of rentals to grosses of any foreign territory — roughly 13 cents of each dollar spent for a ticket is returned to the U.S. distrbutor as rental revenue.

Still, five years earlier, the rental figure was just $7.9 million. In short, the market has more than tripled for Hollywood studio films.

As impressive is China’s enthusiastic embrace of digitalization. The market has the second largest number of 3-D screens overseas, after the U.K. — which is by far the largest international feature territory for the Hollywood studios.

China now has 209 3-D situations (the U.S. has about 1,560). This means that China is a growing source of studio boxoffice distributors of films in 3-D.

Kornblum noted that Disney’s “Bolt” last year generated $6.7 million in grosses exclusively from 3-D situations in China.

Although data shows that China’s newly built urban multiplex theaters filled faster than ever before, the final 2008 tally was lower than industry estimates of 4.6 billion yuan.

Leading the way was “If You Are the One,” director Feng Xiaogang’s comedy about a middle-aged man’s hunt for love, which raked in $47.6 million. Starring Ge You, the film beat out Hong Kong- and Hollywood-based John Woo’s war epic “Red Cliff,” which ranked second with $46.9 million.

SARFT said that despite the popularity of imported films like “Kung Fu Panda” and the Bond films (seen in a booming business for pirated DVDs and illegal downloads), domestic movies took the lion’s share of theatrical boxoffice sales. One reason is that SARFT limits screenings of imports to 20 a year — a practice that is a centerpiece of an ongoing U.S. lawsuit against China in the World Trade Organization.

Of the 10 highest-grossing films in China in 2008, seven were homegrown or made as co-productions with a Chinese partner.

After Feng’s and Woo’s films, the homegrown hits were “Painted Skin” ($34 million), Steven Chow’s “CJ7″ ($29 million) and the Jackie Chan-Jet Li starrer “The Forbidden Kingdom” ($27.5 million).

Imports “Kung Fu Panda” and “Quantum of Solace” followed, ranked sixth and seventh, respectively. They were followed by the domestic productions “Kung Fu Dunk” and “Forever Enthralled,” with the import “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” rounding out the list.

On the exhibition side, China’s 36 theater chains, led by firms like Beijing-based Wanda Cinemas, built 118 multiplexes in 2008, raising the nationwide total to 1,545, up 8% year-over-year.

China has 4,097 screens, SARFT said, up 16% from 2007. The report acknowledged that moviegoing was slower in China’s second- and third-tier cities, which lag Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing, where the total boxoffice in 2008 hit $75 million in 2008, up 42% from 2007.

SARFT’s final 2008 boxoffice tally does not include discounted tickets sold in China’s ongoing government-subsidized program to screen films for rural communities and factory workers.

China remains the third most-prolific filmmaking nation in the world after India and the U.S., but SARFT data shows that revenue from all Chinese films sold overseas added up to just $378 million in 2008. By comparison, “Iron Man” alone grossed $318 million worldwide in 2008, and it was Hollywood’s second-highest-grossing film of the year after “The Dark Knight.”

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Danny BOYLE (British director)

One of the UK’s finest directors, Danny Boyle has a wide array of critically acclaimed and commercially successful film credits: Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, The Beach, Alien Love Triangle, 28 Days Later, Millions and Sunshine.  Slumdog Millionaire is his eighth international theatrically-released film and it won 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director in 2009.

HUANG Jianxin (Chinese director)

Huang Jianxin, Chairman of the Beijing Film Director Association, has won awards at international film festivals in Shanghai, Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Rotterdam.  He has been honoured by inclusion in the “Top 10 Chinese Language Film” category at the Hong Kong International Film Festival three times.  His productions Black Cannon Incident and Back to Back, Face to Face have made Asia Week magazine’s list of the “Top 100 Chinese Films in the 20th Century”.  In 2005, Gimme Kudos won the Jury Grand Prix and Best Screenplay at the 8th Shanghai International Film Festival. Huang has been a jury member at many film competitions and festival events, such as China’s 12th and 26th Golden Rooster Awards; 11th Fukuoka International Film Festival; and 25th Cairo International Film Festival.  He was jury president in the 11th Pyongyang International Film Festival.

Andie MacDowell has established herself as an accomplished actress in a career that is showing no signs of slowing down.  Her undeniable charm and talent have gained her in worldwide recognition.  She first received critical acclaim for her performance as a repressed young wife in Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989).  The film won the Palme d’or at Cannes, and garnered MacDowell the Independent Spirit Award and the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Actress, as well as her first Golden Globe nomination. MacDowell earned the worldwide title of #1 female box-office draw with her performances in the smash hit romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, and the western Bad Girls with Drew Barrymore.  She also starred in the holiday classic Groundhog Day.  In other comedies MacDowell continued to partner with top leading men including Gérard Depardieu in Green Card, for which she again earned a Golden Globe nomination, Michael Keaton in Multiplicity, and John Travolta in Michael. Additional dramatic performances include The End of Violence, directed by Wim Wenders, which was selected to screen at the opening of the 50th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival; Robert Altman’s The Player and Short Cuts, for which the cast earned a special Golden Globe Award for Best Ensemble; Unstrung Heroes, directed by Diane Keaton; and the ever-popular St. Elmo’s Fire.

OH Jungwan (Korean producer)

OH Jungwan made her debut as a producer in 1998 and established her production company in 1999.  Since then, she has focused on producing accomplished feature films with a unique style which challenges conventional ideas.  These have been well-received by film critics and audiences in Korea and around the world. Her production An Affair won the Newport Beach International Film Festival and Fukuoka Asian Film Festival.  The Foul King was selected at the Berlin International Film Festival Forum.  Tears was selected at the Berlin International Film Festival Panorama.  A Tale of Two Sisters was honoured at the Portugal Fantasporto Film Festival (Best Film/Director/Actress).  The Uninvited was awarded at the Sitges International Film Festival (Citizen Cane Award-Best New Director).  A Bittersweet Life was selected at the Cannes Film Festival.  Woman on the Beach was selected for special presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival: Special presentation, and at the Berlin International Film Festival Panorama.  Night and Day was nominated at the 58th Berlin International Film Festival Competition.  My Dear Enemy was selected at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival Forum.

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Article from Guardian UK, here is the original post:

His Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire is a love letter to Mumbai, but its rags-to-riches story of a young orphan who rises from the slums to win a gameshow has found Danny Boyle favour across the border in China. The movie was recently approved for wide release by the country’s famously restrictive censors, and Boyle was today named jury president of the 2009 Shanghai international film festival.

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Release: 2008
3. Country: UK
4. Cert (UK): 15
5. Runtime: 120 mins
6. Directors: Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan
7. Cast: Amil Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Azharudin Mohammed Ismail, Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Rubina Ali
8. More on this film

Speaking at the premiere of his film in Beijing, Boyle described the appointment as “fantastic”. He said he had never been on a festival jury before but added that he would not make a list of criteria by which to judge the films in competition.

“It’s very rare in normal life, going to a cinema, that you know nothing about the film,” he told the Xinhua state news agency. “You should always approach those films with a completely open mind. And that’s what I’ll be doing.”

Slumdog Millionaire, which won eight Oscars last month, opens across mainland China from tomorrow. Weng Li, spokesman for the film’s distributor, China Film Group, said he was confident Chinese cinemagoers would considerably boost the film’s global box office, which currently stands at more than $200m (£137m).

Tang Lijun, the festival’s general manager, said: “Slumdog Millionaire is a perfect example for the cultural exchange between the eastern and western world.”

Last year, the Shanghai film festival jury was presided over by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai. This year’s event runs from 13-21 June.

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• We are hiring!
• Merry Christmas Everyone!
• Oh, A Busy October!
• Bright Shadow does Cannes

Here is a list of company that will join the SIFF this year, as you can see there are so many company joined last year too, it’s good to see these friends again, we are in 221, don’t forget to drop a visit!

• Bright Shadow Films is now in High School Examing system
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• We are hiring!
• Merry Christmas Everyone!
• Oh, A Busy October!
• Bright Shadow does Cannes

So we found this on SIFF.com and it seems this year got a few good work: go there if you want to get more.

• Bright Shadow Films is now in High School Examing system
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• New Sony NEX-VG10 Rules!
• Lhasa, Holidays, EXPO
• We are hiring!
• Merry Christmas Everyone!
• Oh, A Busy October!
• Bright Shadow does Cannes

Just a quick update for you guys who will come to Shanghai International Film Festival, we will have our booth in Shanghai International Film Festival Market Area, Our film booth number is 221, hope to see you in the Festival.

Our manager Charlie Moretti will join this festival, same time our distribution manager Gregory will show up in the festival, too. Feel free to contact us for the visit! Hope to see you there!

clark@brightshadowfilms.com

• Bright Shadow Films is now in High School Examing system
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• New Sony NEX-VG10 Rules!
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• We are hiring!
• Merry Christmas Everyone!
• Oh, A Busy October!
• Bright Shadow does Cannes

If you guessed California or Florida or Canada or Romania, you’d be off by a few thousand miles. The World’s Largest Studio is a new documentary that promises to provide a picturesque view of Hengdian World Studios, located a few hours’ drive south from Shanghai in the eastern part of China. Producer Charlie Moretti told Shanghai Daily that the film “looks at the lives of the businessmen who started the studios with just 2,000 yuan (US$261), the gardeners who tend the grounds, the actors and actresses and everyone else in between.”

Construction on the gigantic studios, which now cover more than 800 acres, commenced in 1996 when director Xie Jin wanted to recreate 1850s Canton for his film The Opium War. Businessman Xu Wenrong got the job done in just three months and the filmmaker was so impressed he recommended the location to Chen Kaige for his next project, The Emperor and the Assassin. That film required a huge new palace set, and Xu was happy to oblige. “We used up more dynamite than this county had used in its whole history,” he later told People’s Daily Online. A few years after that, Ang Lee filmed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the studios and Zhang Yimou shot Hero. It’s notable that both Chen (The Promise) and Zhang (Curse of the Golden Flower) returned to work at Hengdian with their bigger-budgeted pictures.

The World’s Largest Studio screened for the first time in Shanghai this week. According to Moretti, a 27-year-old Frenchman who co-directed with Matthew Clarke, “people should soon be able to watch the documentary on international channels. We are also exploring the possibility of making an extended DVD.” A handsome-looking teaser, jammed with clips from films shot at the studio, is available on the production company’s web site.

• Bright Shadow Films is now in High School Examing system
• A new look
• Foosball in the Office Now!
• Nike 6.0 Stoked Tour-1
• New Sony NEX-VG10 Rules!
• Lhasa, Holidays, EXPO
• We are hiring!
• Merry Christmas Everyone!
• Oh, A Busy October!
• Bright Shadow does Cannes