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Sixth Annual US-China Film Summit is scheduled for Nov 5 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles
Hollywood and China will continue their burgeoning collaboration in the movie industry with a Los Angeles summit next month.
The Sixth Annual US-China Film Summit, scheduled for Nov 5 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, will feature a day of panel discussions about business collaboration and market trends along with featured speakers, according to Asia Society Southern California, the summit organizer.
"At a time of extraordinary change in film and entertainment, Asia Society's US-China Film Summit focuses on a vital constant: the deepening collaboration between Hollywood and China," said Josette Sheeran, president and CEO of Asia Society, in a press release.
"Chinese filmmakers and producers have become a real force globally. Our honorees reflect film's importance as a cultural, educational and business bridge, and Asia Society is proud to be recognizing these talents and connecting them with professionals and audiences around the world," he said.
During the summit, the panelists and speakers are expected to discuss the outlook for Chinese investment in Hollywood and how to overcome legal, business and cultural hurdles in cross-border film productions, as well as new models for US-China collaboration, from cutting-edge digital technologies and gaming-inspired story development to theme parks and ancillary film products.
Chinese and US studio heads also will share their experiences and predictions on how the world's two biggest entertainment markets will converge, collaborate and compete with each other.
During the event, three honorees - Zhang Yimou, Zhang Zhao and Beijing Film Academy - will be announced for their roles in the artistic, business and educational areas of China's globalizing film industry.
Zhang Yimou, as a critically acclaimed director in China, will be honored for his lifetime achievement. His 1989 film Ju Dou earned him an Academy Award nomination and the 1992 film Raise the Red Lantern helped cement his international reputation. He is the director of the film The Great Wall, a major Chinese-US co-production.
Zhang Zhao, founder and CEO of Le Vision Pictures, will be honored for his film industry leadership. His company, a major private-sector studio in China, is expanding partnership with other US studios following The Great Wall, in which Le Vision has partnered with Legendary Entertainment, China Film Co and Universal Pictures.
The Beijing Film Academy (BFA), China's largest institution for higher education in film and television production, will be honored for its role in "cultivating talented actors, directors and entrepreneurs who have elevated Chinese film and taken it global".
The increasing partnership between Hollywood and Chinese companies is a result of China's fast-growing movie marketplace and its tremendous amount of capital.
China's movie market is the second-largest by box office receipts and growing annually by 40 percent, according to the Chinese Film Producers' Association. China is expected to overtake the US in cinema ticket sales by 2020.
This summer saw three Hollywood movies backed by Chinese investment.
The boxing drama Southpaw was financed by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Corp with a $30 million production budget. The Chinese company said it was the first from China to "solely finance an American movie".
Pixels, an action comedy, was partly financed by China Film Group, the country's largest film producer and distributor, and Tom Cruise thriller Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation marked Alibaba Group's first-ever US film investment.
"It's been a momentous year for Hollywood and China, and our US-China Film Summit once again leads the way in bringing the key players together to discuss the most important issues," said Thomas McLain, chairman of Asia Society Southern California and an attorney at law firm Hogan Lovells.
"And we're delighted to hold the Film Summit at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which hosted the Academy Awards for many years," he said.
liazhu@chinadailyusa.com
