The Honeymoon Period of Chinese and French Movies (Ⅱ)： Where is the focus of future cooperation？
Special feature of 1905 film network This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and the cooperation in film has also increased significantly. The discussion upsurge aroused by Don’t Mess with Me, Superbody and Nightingale here has just subsided, and Wolf Totem directed by jean jacques annaud there will meet the audience again on New Year’s Day. Recently, it was reported that another Sino-French co-production film "Night Peacock" starring Liu Yifei and Liu Ye will be launched in January next year, and it is ready to participate in the Cannes Film Festival next year.
In response to the upsurge of Sino-French film cooperation in 2014, 1905 Film Network interviewed Ningning, producer of Nightingale in China, Mark Gao, chairman of Jimei Film, jean jacques annaud, director of Wolf Totem, and Isabel Granchet, representative of the French Film Federation in Greater China, respectively, to deeply analyze the multi-faceted cooperation between Chinese and French films.
The first part of the honeymoon period of Sino-French films focuses on co-production projects, explaining in detail the rules and regulations, cultural frictions and cooperation tips in co-production between China and France.[Click to view]; The second part analyzes the influence of Sino-French cooperation on the world film pattern in detail, and shares France’s experience in maintaining its overseas influence under Hollywood cultural hegemony.[Click to view]. The last part focuses on the present situation and differences between the Chinese and French film industries, and discusses the future cooperation direction.
[Talking about China Market]
Box office confidence: French 66 million VS China 1.3 billion population base is there!
After breaking the box office record of 10 billion in 2011, China’s films have passed the 20 billion mark in just three years, and this year, they are going straight to 30 billion. As the world’s largest film market, the scale and frequency of movie viewing in China are rapidly increasing. Everyone says that China movies are now in the best era.
Ningning: The biggest advantage of China now is that it has a huge market with good prospects for future development. On the one hand, from the perspective of population base, French population is only over 60 million, while China has 1.2 billion and 1.3 billion, which is equivalent to 20 times. That’s like director Maitreya filming Butterfly in 2002. At that time, it was already about 100 million RMB at the box office in France. If the population ratio is such, it should be 1.2 billion in China, because the population base of China is here. On the other hand, our box office is growing rapidly. For example, it will be close to 3 million by now. We are still expanding, and more and more people go to the cinema to watch movies. This market potential is not available in France.
After signing this Sino-French co-production agreement in 2010, there are also many professional film and television companies eager to try the China market, but not many of them can really take steps to cooperate with China, and they are all waiting to see. Therefore, the appearance of movies like Nightingale is actually trying to promote more cooperation between Chinese and French movies in the future, so that everyone can see that this is promising, promising and exploring.
The soaring box office quota of 34 imported films has not increased the possibilities provided by emerging networks.
In recent years, although the types of films in China are obviously diversified, the genre elements are more stable and the co-production projects are increasing. However, Isabel still thinks that the annual share of 34 imported films greatly limits the viewing choices of China audiences. In her view, China audiences are more likely to choose online, and the importance of online video as the cinema market is becoming more and more obvious. The maximum number of people watching movies in cinemas is around 40 million, but the number of online clicks on the same movie usually exceeds 50 million (the number of pirated clicks is more difficult to estimate). The Internet market has gradually formed a new channel to realize the film copyright value. According to the current development trend, it is estimated that the online video market in China will reach RMB 36.6 billion by 2017.
Isabel: Because the market in China is getting bigger and bigger, producers and agencies all over the world will want to cooperate with China, whether they are co-productions or they want their films to be shown in China. However, despite the huge market in China, the number of imported films has not increased correspondingly. It turns out that our French films may be able to release 6 films in China every year, and there may be a little more than 11 films this year. However, this number is still relatively small, because we have about 200-250 films produced in France every year, and only a few of them can be released in China. Many of the films released are also co-productions of France and other countries, and more are English films than the films we make the most. There are still many French companies looking for more possibilities.
Now there is a new market in China, the Internet market, so some companies are talking with various video websites in China to see what new possibilities there are. Because the cinema is unlikely, the internet and TV will be more likely. They also buy a lot of French movies every year. Network is a new market and an international market. There are so many audiences in China, and some people either have no time to go to the cinema or the time is not suitable, so it is also a good way to communicate with the audience, which is also very important.
Is it really a good thing that hot money is pouring in urgently? Jean jacques annaud warned to see the danger.
Jean jacques annaud: When I started this project six years ago, the number of cinemas in China was about half that in France. Now, the number of cinemas in China is more than five times that in France, which is a phenomenal increase. This phenomenon has both its good side and its bad side. On the bright side, audiences in China have more opportunities to enter cinemas, and filmmakers in China have more funds. But the danger is that too many films are made in a hurry, and the quality is not so good, which will also affect the overall impression of China. You know that money is precious. When you invest money in movies, you should make the best movies possible, at least try. The danger I see now is that people are satisfied with the money instead of the movie, which leads consumers to dislike the movie in the end.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, which was the first country in Europe to establish diplomatic relations with China 50 years ago. In the French education system, China has always been very special, and we have always had a strong interest in China. When I was a child, the school education was that China was a great country with a strong cultural foundation and a splendid history. We also saw that there was much progress in Sino-French cooperation this year, and Wolf Totem was regarded as a "celebration" at the end of this year. But everything will continue. China has not been particularly well understood yet. The cinema is a place.Let foreigners know more about China.Very important place. Now when I talk about China in France, they will think that I am promoting China, but I am not. I am just describing what I saw in China, but their impression is still in the 1960s.