“We have a huge market and we want to share it with you,” said Zhang Xun, President of China Film Co-Production Company today at the U.S./China Film Summit in downtown L.A. However, Xun warned the crowd that successful Hollywood co-production in China requires a shift in the kind of Chinese characters American films depict. “We want films that are heavily invested in Chinese culture, not one or two shots,” she said, referencing films like Disney/Marvel’s Iron Man
3 without mentioning them by name. “We want to see positive Chinese images. China has been opening up for 30 years and I think both U.S. and Chinese screenwriters want to write positive images,” Xun added, citing that there are still too many depictions of Chinese roles as drug dealers or criminals. A department of the Chinese government, the CFCC, is in charge of all administration and coordination for foreign film co-production. Last year, several films like Expendables 2, Cloud Atlas and Looper were hoping for co-production status but ended up hitting the big screen in China as purely foreign imports.
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Xun’s remarks in a translated Q&A came after a morning of panels for the fourth annual confab. Running for a full day for the first time, the U.S./China Film Summit ends with a gala dinner tonight. Studios such as Warner Bros, Fox, Paramount and DreamWorks Animation are serving as sponsors of the event and execs from the likes of DWA and Vintage Roadshow Asia are participating Organizers announced today that they would soon start holding quarterly events on topics such as foreign sales in China and doing post production in the Middle Kingdom. AFM, which gets underway tomorrow in Santa Monica, will see a record influx of Chinese companies and execs, with more than 100 distributors and producers from more than 50 companies.
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The CFCC chief also said that for a film to be a true Sino co-production and not an assisted pic it had to have no less than 20% Chinese investment, significantly feature Chinese talent with a joint script and joint ownership. “So then when the product is released it can be released directly into the Chinese market,” she added. Addressing issues of perceived censorship, Xun told the audience that the reason scripts had to be submitted to her organization for vetting and possible changes was so they could “assist” foreign filmmakers. “We want to help you avoid hot spots and trouble and to make suggestions that will actually save you money.” Xun added that the CFCC would never try to change the gist of a script, though issues of violence and slights against “the feelings of a third country” and negative depictions of other religions could stop a film from being made in China.
Earlier today, IMAX Chairman and President Greg Foster said that he expected the first Chinese production using IMAX cameras to be shot next year. Foster provided no details as to what that project might be except to tell me “that we’re looking at a number of options.” IMAX cameras have been used in China on non-Chinese productions such as Michael Bay’s Transformers 4, which is filming in Hong Kong. In his speech Foster also described the importance that James Cameron’s Avatar had in the mainland market for IMAX. “In just 14 theaters on the mainland, Avatar grossed $24 million in China alone in 2010, representing 10% of IMAX’s global revenue at the time,” he told the crowd. IMAX currently has 140 theaters in China and expects to grow to around 400 in the next few years, Foster added. That’s about the same as the company has Stateside.
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Change your leadership then…
Despite all the money and potential B.O in China, everyone is dealing with how to get any profits back to the US. And when censorship includes a complete creative control over character portraits of their government workers/police/military or anyone associated with the government, what kind of stories do we want to produce there? They want all the bad guys to be westerners and no reference to reality of present day China.
“citing that there are still too many depictions of Chinese roles as drug dealers or criminals.”
Well, if the shoe fits…. what do you expect when you are a communist society which exploits its workers with awful labor conditions, to the point where they commit suicide working on iPhones and iPads.
Funny the article mentions Michael Bay’s Transformers 4… WHERE THE CHINESE THUGS TRIED TO SHAKE HIM DOWN.
First, bowing to Chinese demands for censorship is cowardice and greed manifest.
Second, examining whether Hollywood’s output is filled with racist stereotypes is honorable.
Third, step back and take a look at the US. We have politicians who don’t care 47 million are without medical insurance. We have politicians who cheer cutting food stamps (900,000 veterans will be adversely affected!). We have bankers who caused a worldwide economic collapse and its accompanying misery but not one banker went to jail.
Why pretend that China’s corruption is unique? It’s not.
As for the suffering of Apple factory workers, did you forget that there was an American company that was involved there? Come on. Apple new about the horrible working conditions but did nothing. American executives had to get their stock options and bonuses (just as did Chinese execs).
Let’s just be fair and realize that Americans and Chinese people have good and bad among them.
I know, right – they have Gong Li, and Ziyi Zhang and Tony Leung… and Chow Yun Fat… and Wayne Wang… and Zhang Yimou… and Budha… and Wong Kar-Wai…
Audiences are no more interested in seeing pro-Chinese propaganda than they are in movies dealing with health care or corrupt Wall Street bankers. They want comic book fantasy extravaganzas.
China has its own version of this phenomenon, movies set safely in ancient historical times that feature impossible feats of martial arts and fancy costumes. If they want “positive” depictions of China, they should create them on their own. None of this has anything to do with social utility or reality.
Well spoken comrade! So will you be moving to your workers paradise then?
We are pigs at the trough when it comes to money. But on this one we best be careful. Those of us who have tried to work in China can speak to the signing off on the script before funds get released. Certainly no way to protect freedom of speech, let alone expression. I say run for the hills. They can keep their pollution and their control.
“Change your leadership then…” +1
And…stop selling contaminated junk to the U.S.
Makes me want to see Rocky beat the shit out of the Beijing boxing champion.
They just bought Grauman’s theater why don’t they create their OWN damn positive images.
Sadly, my first reaction to this was, “oh god, here come the racist comments…”
Hmm. Not sure I see your point. I don’t see any racist comments here. Criticizing a country’s flawed political system is not racist.
It amazes me how money and the possibility of making it blinds folks. China has one of the worst human rights problems in the world, and this guy basically is trying blackmail. “Don’t talk about any negatives and we will let you in our country. Say anything negative and you are banned for life”. China has a long cultural history which can easily be topics for films, but their politics sucks and the ass kissing is disgusting.
Headline:U.S. Wants To See More “Positive Chinese Images” From China…
China has a lot to show. It is simply that western news outlets don’t report it in order to keep this negative anti China image to their people. Propaganda is a powerful tool and it works for both sides.
Screw China. There’s a very real danger of them becoming a serious detriment to the entire industry. If they buy chains like AMC, will they refuse to show movies with any negative Chinese depictions? It’s a very short step to them introducing their own stupid censorship over here.
Well said!
I meant this as a response to Alex’s post
Have a country deserving of positive reflections. Stop poisoning the world with you badly manufactured products. You can’t put a dress on a pig and expect a princess to appear.
Time to dust of my old treatment of the Norman Bethune Story, and I am sure that kids series I wrote about Monk Ji Gong is a slam dunk.
I salute our new Overlords!
Sure, China — we’ll do that…IF YOU DROP YOUR TOTALITARIAN CENSORSHIP-PRONE REGIME. Go ahead, we’ll wait…
We all must get used to China having greater involvement and influence . I do not believe China is going away and neither should others.
I hope to see more positive of all Asians particular Asian males
What are all you posters complaining about? It’s Hollywood that wants in on China and the billions of US dollars every year in the Chinese box office. You posters seem to be reading this article the wrong way as if China is begging to you. It’s you begging to China for access and you won’t get access with your racist stereotypical images. That’s what’s being said.
…and I want to see a Chinese democracy. I guess we can’t always get what we want.
The ChiComs are not our friends, and the “30 years of opening up” is just a mask of civility.
Fix up democracy in Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan before trying to overthrow governments first. Besides, American democracy is very dysfunctional.
It’s a matter of telling the truth, and living up our side of the cultural exchange. I remember the grand, yet most realistic goals that were placed to build over 300 IMAX Movie Houses.
I remember the talented Hollywood execs. that relocated to China to help with the transition. I remember Lucas’s building a studio and Disney pumping in cash. I remember the push that from Americas important film schools, to recruit and train young Chinese film students in the art and craft of Motion Picture.
The cultural exchange was intended to advance China’s own culture economy, and entertainment.
Yes, racist portrayal of blacks, asians, etc = big $ in US market. Racist portrayal in China = will get you blocked out of market
To disagree with China while pointing out the truth is to “hurt China’s feelings”. Racism is just a sideshow to the stuff that gets the PRC worried (the truth).
They want what? More positve roles, in other words, lie, lie, lie…
It’s one thing to be concerned about the way Asians/Chinese are portrayed in films, but it is another to try and blackmail the US filmmakers by threatening, implicitly, to block access to potential Chinese revenue unless Hollywood makes movies the way they want. Again, while WHAT they are asking for is not unreasonable it would be setting a HUGE precedent and would be yielding too much control to people who have no place in the creative realm. If the Chinese PEOPLE are unhappy with the way they are portrayed they can just not see that particular movie and it will flop in China, and they can protest or complain. But it shouldn’t be a government mandate that threatens anyone to do anything. The problem is Hollywood has already starting making concessions to try and get access to the Chinese market by CREATING Chinese characters in films that didn’t already have them and changing the ethnicities of characters to or from Chinese to have greater appeal to the Chinese people. How much more say is Hollywood going to give them? (To clarify, if Chinese-Americans were complaining or even making demands about their portrayal in films that would be fine; but, a foreign government extending its reach to try and control a foreign country’s film industry is crossing a line.)
That’s not blackmail. Chinese money is not yours in the first place. It’s called capitalism. You have to cater to consumers in order to get them to buy your product. Hollywood doesn’t have to obey and they lose nothing. Chinese money is not theirs in the first place so you can’t say denying them the Chinese market is blackmail.
“That’s not blackmail. Chinese money is not yours in the first place. It’s called capitalism.”
FINALLY someone with sense on this thread.
Chinese-Americans and Asians have been complaining for decades about stereotypical portrayals. Depiction of Asian males has been negative long before China became communist. But Hollywood and the USA was rich and powerful then and could call the shots.
It is ridiculous to see all the comments bashing China on this. First of all, it is their market and their consumers. They have the right to demand positive images in films vs. the usual crap from Hollywood.
USA is an multicultural country. However, you won’t notice that when watching USA films. Hollywood is all about “white is right” for films. White men are always the heroes, romantic leading men, super heroes or whatever other super “white men” roles they can think so. Asians, especially Asian men, been portrayed as pretty much negative for years and years. Hollywood made money doing this pimping white is right. Do white guys complain? Of course not because they are never on the receiving end of constant negative images. For every negative image of white person on the screen, there are hundreds of positive ones. These images hurt minorities big time. It creates a racist hostile environment and keep promoting the white is right agenda.
Until white people can see all the negative crap minorities have to deal with daily on the big screen from Hollywood, they will never understand why China is demanding this. There is nothing wrong with China demanding positive images for its people in films.
Guys… you don’t actually need to take or even ask for the Chinese money… but without it, most of you will probably be flipping burgers…
Be happy, be grateful you can play in this arena and remember: my house… my rules.
About time China put their foot down in this bullshit after that Christian Bale movie about the rape Nanking starring a white guy. Westerners are just too small minded to comprehend that a movie about Asia can star Asians. You all talk about Chinese propaganda when you’re oblivious to Western propaganda which is so effective you eat it up. It’s great China is finally doing something about the Western hegemony and stranglehold on film, but they’ll just change all the bad guys from Chinese to North Koreans in a hilariously passive aggressive manner.
Sh!t. I started watching foreign films almost exclusively because Hollywood is seriously the worst propoganda machine of them all. All other races depicted in Hollywood media have their “place”, ie Muscle bound or obnoxiously loud black male as the side kick, exotic oriental female (who incidentally left her asian husband/boyfriend) as the sexual muse of white men, latin/hispanic’s in roles of servitude. If China starts “collaborating” with Hollywood on movies I’m going to have to focus on Korean movies (which are actually better that Chinese and Hollywood films)