Taking on Hollywood from China's Silk Road
- By Daniel Xu
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 8, 2017
Halfway through "Bad Genius," a surprise Thai hit with Chinese moviegoers, a pivotal scene unfolds. A high school student named Bank, sporting a black eye, agrees to work with his rival, the protagonist Lynn, in her exam-cheating business so they both can benefit.
There is a metaphor here. Thailand's movie industry has been in a crisis the last few years, with Hollywood blockbusters dominating its box office and domestic productions struggling to turn a profit. But with the success of this movie in China, Thai studio GDH 559 may have found the answer to its industry's prayers.
The film reportedly cost less than US$2 million to produce; it made twice that on its opening day in China on Oct. 13, and scored over US$38.5 million in the Chinese box office over the first three weeks.
Unlike its heroes, "Bad Genius" does not pull schemes. It is a well-crafted combination of a heist movie and a school drama that resonates with Chinese audiences in both story and production value. Together with other recent box office winners like India's "Dangal" this summer, they may have helped to provide the "cheat sheet" for developing film industries looking to gain an international footing.
"It's hard to fathom how big a boost the movie's success will have on the entire Thai movie industry," said Zhu Yuqing, director of the research center at the state-backed China Film Critics Association.
Studying audience taste
According to the "White Paper on Big Data of Film Industry in Countries Alongside Belt and Road," 37.4 percent of surveyed Chinese audiences like Thai films in the "campus" category, and another 37.4 percent prefer those in the "romance" category. By coincidence or otherwise, "Bad Genius" exhibits both of these elements.
Jackie Chan carries an autographed sailboat model during the blue carpet ceremony at the 4th Silk Road International Film Festival in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, on Dec. 3, 2017. The ceremony's design theme signified the host city's history as the birthplace of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. [Photo by Sun Tao/China.org.cn]
The first edition of the white paper was published by the China Film Critics Association last week during the 4th Silk Road International Film Festival in Fuzhou, Fujian Province. It collects and analyzes film industry data from 11 countries including China, India, Iran, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
"The stories and cultural themes in Chinese movies are in many ways interconnected with those produced by other countries along the Belt and Road," said Zhu, referring to the international trade and geopolitical initiative launched by China in 2013. Zhu is also the editor of the white paper.
"China is now the engine that drives the world's movie market, but the film industries in a lot of other Belt and Road countries are also experiencing rapid growth," he said. "Understanding the Chinese audience will be very important for our mutual benefit."
In addition to genre preferences, the white paper also offers behavioral analyses of Chinese consumers such as how they learn about new movies, how often they go to the cinema, how they pay for tickets and other decision-making tendencies.
Zhu said the white paper should provide Belt and Road countries a better sense of how to approach the Chinese market and its audiences. It also paints a clearer picture of the prospects they bring to China's film industry.
"As opposed to markets like Australia, it would be a lot easier for Chinese movies to enter countries along the Belt and Road, where audiences can understand and appreciate the stories much more easily," Zhu said.
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