China's film industry: Booming market faces challenges

'Slow' films get removed fast

The number of cinemas in China is growing at an astonishing speed each year. To date, there are about 25,000 screens in China, second only to the US.

It is a pity that the variety of films shown on these screens has not increased in proportion to the number of screens.

In China, it is easy to see a film "monopolize" ticket sales, leaving little room for others. 

"I really like art films such as Golden Era (a film directed by award-winning director Ann Hui about the life of legendary Chinese female writer Xiao Hong), but it was screened only a few times, or played for just a day or two, and was then pulled down," said Cui.

In Cui's opinion, instead of audiences choosing which films to see, it is the theater managers who are selecting movies for the audience.

Wang Haifeng, president of Hong Kong Filmco Pictures, disagreed. To Wang, if a film is not selling well, it should be withdrawn and replaced with more profitable ones in order to balance the high cost of operating theaters. At the same time, Wang also lamented at how theaters don't give enough time for "slow" films to survive, referring to those that needed some time for the audience to truly appreciate their quality.

To Yu, the core of the problem lies in the inadequate number of films produced, and even smaller number of good quality films. If production can be doubled, theaters will be forced to show more and the phenomenon of "monopoly" will gradually vanish.

Scripting success

Domestic films are heavily invested, but as with every investment, there is a risk.

Last year, producers of director Jiang Wen's Gong with the Bullets aimed at pocketing 2 billion yuan at the box office, where in fact, the film only earned a quarter of the expected income.

"The film had grand scenes, with many A-listers, and I expected the sales to fall around 1 billion yuan. The truth is it flopped at the box office, and to me, I think it's because the film was too far from audiences' lives," said Wang.

In other words, if the audience can't relate to the film, then sales will not be "related" with the film either.

A good script is the key to winning the market, and film experts agree. Shmugger said if an actor is willing to lower the wage to participate in a production or exchange his or her pay for film shares, it goes without saying that the script is good and chances are the film will sell. Bill Kong, a veteran producer and publisher who's worked with Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou, said for every film he's ever invested in, it is always because the script moved him.

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