How filmmakers can face a cool market

China's movie market has been lackluster for nearly a year but this isn't necessarily a bad thing, according to some insiders.

Speaking at a seminar hosted by the entertainment research company Entgroup at the just-concluded Beijing International Film Festival, many participants said the slowdown should push Chinese filmmakers to focus more on storyline than profit.

Lin Tianhong, vice-president of Tingdong Pictures, a company set up by the novelist-turned-director Han Han, said investors are increasingly thinking beyond celebrity presence and franchise-building. Big stars or prestigious directors no longer guarantee success in the box office, he said.

Li Xia, producer of the martial arts film The Master, said Chinese filmmakers should use the slowdown period to gain more storytelling skills, especially from Hollywood movies.

Bennett Pozil, executive vice-president at East West Bank, said with the boom in web series and big-budget TV dramas, more Chinese film stars are moving away from the big screen, a trend similar to the United States.

Last year, China's box-office earnings stood at 45.7 billion yuan ($ 6.6 million), up 3.73 percent year-on-year. From 2011 to 2015, the figure was 30 percent on average.

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