US-China Film Summit focuses on transforming relations between nations

Global Business

The relationship between the U.S. and China when it comes to the film industry is reaching both higher and deeper levels. This year’s U.S.-China Film Summit put on by the Asia Society in Los Angeles is focusing on how that relationship is transforming on all levels.

CCTV America’s May Lee has more.

If the U.S. and China film industries were a couple, then most here at the Asia Society Film Summit would agree that the awkward “get to know each other stage” with a lot of missteps is thankfully over.

Now it’s all about mutual understanding and swapping of ideas that work both ways.

Chinese-American director Jon Chu, who’s directing the film version of the best-selling book “Crazy Rich Asians,” sees the shift in behavior.

And that deeper understanding is forging stronger partnership-the latest is Alibaba Pictures and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners. They will co-produce and co-finance movies.

There is, however, growing concern over the box office slowdown in China. Ticket sales during the last six months are down 10 percent compared to the same time last year.

According to the Motion Picture Association, this means China is not likely to overtake the U.S. as the biggest film market next year as many predicted.

Experts blame less discounted online tickets, fewer blockbusters from the U.S. this year and domestic films lacking in quality. But the slowdown could create more opportunities in the Chinese market.

Even with the slowdown in China’s box office, there is no doubt it will be the biggest market in the world in the new few years. Add to that the prediction that China will dominate the theme park market by 2020 and you’ve got an entertainment formula full of big hopes and even bigger profits.


Aynne Kokas on the China-Hollywood Film Summit

For more details of the China-Hollywood Film summit and recent development of Chinese movie industry, CCTV America’s Mike Walter spoke with Aynne Kokas, assistant professor for the department of media studies at the University of Virginia.