Suggestions on children's film development
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E-mail CRI, July 28, 2014
A forum recently held in China has been discussing the need for more children-oriented films to be made in this country.
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Director Yuan Weidong (R) attends the 2014 Chinese children's film industry collaboration forum on July 19, 2014. [Photo: Xinhua] |
Today, if children are asked to name several of their favorite movies, they would easily answer with foreign blockbusters, like Kung Fu Panda and The Croods.
However, few children know the movie "In the Blue" despite being widely recognized as a good movie for children as well as its all star cast which includes famous actress Zhang Jingchu, singer Na Ying and renowned comedian Jiang Kun.
Director Yuan Weidong thinks making movies for children is a meaningful pursuit that he should adhere to and that's why he embarked on shooting "In the Blue".
"The first time I shot children's film I worked as a director. When working together with those children actors, I found that I really need to do something meaningful for our kids, so I have been upholding this pursuit. In 2005, we invited more than 20 stars from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and none of them asked any pay for their roles in my film, which made me feel encouraged."
However, there aren't too many filmmakers who shared Yuan's persistency in light of the fact that Chinese children show little interest in local movies.
Answer Marketing Consulting, a company that is dedicated to children's market research, conducted a survey on 300 children aged between seven and 16 in ten Chinese cities. The survey shows Chinese urban children consumed little and talked even less about Chinese films from 2012 to 2013.
Li Luling, president of the company, thinks the children's movie market is inactive because parents failed to perform a guiding role.
"Children's film market in China is not fully developed yet. I think parents have no such concept as choosing Chinese children's movies for their children. Film is a product that's made for children to enjoy but parents pay bills. So children films' makers are faced with the problem of how they could arouse the interest of both parents and children and make these contents into their film production."
According to a senior expert on financing film and TV products with the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the country has produced more than 300 films for 300 million young children.
Liu Zhenmin, however, voiced concern over a short supply of indigenous, genre films, particularly those movies portrayed by real actors instead of cartoons.
He also thinks the development of children's films rely on good scripts as well as funds for film production. The current slow progress in children's films is largely related to a shortage of funding, as Liu explains.
"It is still very rare for financial institutions to be involved in the film industry, including children's films. Although the Chinese government has many preferential policies to support film production, like offering a loan for film production, the money often arrived in place very late. There is lack of government support for investments ahead of film production. Even worse, children's films stay at a much weaker place in the entire film industry."
The forum, which has been held in Beijing recently, is not only for promoting collaboration for children's filmmaking, but more importantly exploring ways to raise investment in Chinese children's movies particularly when the film projects are short of funds. Liu Zhenmin explains on his suggestions.
"Why can't we have forward-thinking? At present, some newly emerging Internet financial instruments have provided us with opportunities. If we are determined to produce a children's film, we may initiate a fundraising program on the Internet with a good script and creative team of staffs. Small things together may make something bigger. The investment could be as small as several hundred yuan or tens of hundreds of yuan, so that investors care their own support for children's films more than the return of their investments. Filmmakers need to make the whole process transparent to investors, who are equivalent to a film's shareholders."
The forum gathered approximately 200 elite professionals from China's culture industry, financial enterprises as well as children's market researchers.
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