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Father & Daughter Film Report

We know. We know. When you hear the words “China”, “U.S.A”, and “Summit” all in the same sentence the first thing that comes to mind is some news report on CNN over negotiations on missiles, aircraft carriers, or the currency rate exchange between the Dollar and the Yuan.

Not at this Summit.

The word “Film” in the title changes everything.  Somehow this one word changes the sense of the entire event from one with the usual air of confrontation we often hear, to one that radiates co-operation.

Held by the Asia Society of Southern California and EM ASIA (Entertainment & Media in Asia), the Sixth Annual U.S./China Film Summit on November 5^th, 2015 was just that, a shinning example of co-operation between these two world - and film - powers, in areas of production, content, growth, distribution, creative development, legal & policy matters as well as financing & investments.

Hmmmm….perhaps the Dollar and Yuan do enter into this...

The speakers at this event was a who’s who of not only film leaders & CEO’s in China, but some of the biggest names in the USA as well, from China studios such as Alibaba to Hollywood studios such as Warner Bros., Paramount and DreamWorks Animation, and leading American and Chinese entertainment companies, including Creative Artists Agency, IMAX, Dalian Wanda Group, and LeVision Pictures Group. For example, to list a few:

YU Dong, CEO, Bona Film Group

Barbara Robinson, CEO, Celadon Films

Peter Kujawski, Managing Director, Universal Pictures International Productions

William Pfeiffer, CEO, Dragongate Entertainment

Michael Ellis, President/Managing Director Asia-Pacific, Motion Picture Association

Simon Sun, Executive Vice President, Le Vision Pictures USA

Michael Andreen, Senior Vice President, Fox International Productions

Pang Hong, CEO Kylin Films

Chris Edwards, CEO, The Third Floor

LI Yansong, CEO, iQiyi Pictures

Patrick Frater, Asia Bureau Chief, Variety

Michael Uslan, President, Branded Entertainment

Cao Yu, Entertainment Law Partner, Haiwen & Partners

WU Man-Fang, Dean, School of Management, Beijing Film Academy

David Linde, CEO, Participant Media

Jingyan (Maggie) Huang, Managing Director, Pictures, Entertainment and Derivatives Division. Fosun

Ethan Sawyer, Managing Director –Head of Entertainment Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley

Seriously, folks, this list could go on for 6 or more pages with names of all the power players, power brokers, and big decision-makers that were speaking or in attendance of this Summit - that’s what a huge yearly event this is.

Moderator Janet Yang, Producer (Shanghai Calling & The Joy Luck Club) facilitates speakers Michael Uslan, President, Branded Entertainment, Wang Hui, President, Datang Brilliant Media Co. Ltd., Peter Kujawski, Managing Director, Universal Pictures International, Chris Edwards, CEO, The Third Floor Inc, & Wei Zhang, President, Alibaba Pictures. 

The all-day Summit was skillfully MC’ed and kept on schedule (not an easy task considering all that was involved) by Jonathan Karp the Executive Director of the Asia Society for Southern California, who even made the effort to hear out some of the questions that were not able to be taken at the end of each session with its panel of experts.  Now that’s class.  If only our State Department had such culturally astute individuals.

The summit was also a news release of sorts, with Simon Sun, Executive Vice President of Le Vision Pictures discussing the opening of an office in the USA, as well as welcoming the Shanghai International Film Festival as a partner in the event itself, and as Stephen Saltzman, co-chair of the U.S. - China Film Summit and partner in the entertainment and China practice groups at the international law firm of Loeb & Loeb notes: “Like our Film Summit, SIFF is the leading event of its kind in China, and a dynamic forum of  building understanding between China and the global film industry.”

Again, that spirit of co-operation…an energy that radiated throughout the Summit.   If only we could bottle up what was flowing around this Summit and spray it around the United Nations...

Sharon Zhang, representing the East-West Bank noted the mutual need - financially - between the USA and China, and also pointed out how much more important film is to the Chinese people than what most of us would expect.  “Many in American do not understand the importance of film to the Chinese people. I believe there will be many more good internationalized films produced by both Chinese and American producers which will play in both China and the U.S. that’s where we see the film financing opportunity.” 

And she should know, she's one of those calling the shots on many of those financing opportunities....

The panel titled: “The China Wave: How’s Chinese Investment in Hollywood Doing and What’s Next?” not only let us know whoever wrote the program had a sense of humor, but also foreshadowed the great down-to-earth style of moderator Sheri Jeffrey (partner at Hogan Lovells) in describing complex financial investment banking trends, terminology, and concepts so that a simple high school teacher such as myself could not only get it, but obtain a qualitative sense that I might be able to actually use the factors in my own life.  Wow!

Now there’s an epiphany…but some of the facts presented in this panel really should make all of us wake up and realize the dynamic film movement in China, for example, the huge 25 - 30% growth of the industry each year.  Now if you are more of a visual person than one who responds to numbers, then check this out:

Now do you get the picture…?

And it was this kind of insight and knowledge being discussed & shared on every panel in all of the areas presented (for those needing a reminder, that’s in the areas of production, content, growth, distribution, creative development, legal & policy matters as well as financing & investments…to name a few).

I believe tickets to this event cost $250, what you’d pay for an average law firm for an hour of their time. However, if you consider the insights, perspectives, and knowledge that was constantly being cast out to the audience - from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm - a ticket for a couple of thousand dollars would have been well worth it. 

Attendees listening to the panel of experts at the beautiful Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

But let’s forget the money side of the industry for a moment, shall we? (I did say for a moment...)

Of course the film industry has a creative side too, and some of the interesting relationships that both China and the USA share are what Mike Hsu, partner at C2M Media, describe as “genre fatigue” where a film audience becomes weary of a particular type of film that either Hollywood or the Chinese film industries over saturated its audiences with, due to a past success.  Genre Fatigue.  I love that term.  It almost shouts the need for a change.  

One change noted by Wei Zhang, President of Alibaba Pictures, was that such changes used to occur every 30 years in the Chinese film market, now it appears to be changing every 5 years. The sociological implications of that are mind blowing....but so are the actions of the Asia Society, strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders, and institutions in Asia and the United States in the fields such as the arts, business, culture, education, & policy.

Honored at this year’s Summit were director Zhang Yimou (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, to name a few) and Le Vision Pictures Chief Executive Officer Zhang Zhao, who founded two of China’s biggest private-sector studios, as well as being the flagbearer for the “renaissance” of China’s film industry, according to the Hollywood Reporter...and many others. 

 2015 China - U.S. Film Summit honorees, Zhang Zhoa. Le Vision Prictures, (left) and director Zhang Yimou (right).

To sum it up: the China - U.S. Film Summit is a must attend for any who are thinking of not only wishing a China connection, but seeking some insight to the future of film-making altogether.  All of this done in a very elegant and classy atmosphere created by the Asia Society of Southern California, EM ASIA, and the Shanghai International Film Festival, in the spirit of co-operation that reminds one of the earliest co-operations found between America and China: - the Flying Tigers - a co-operation that created actions & spirits that boosted the morale of both countries during one of the most difficult times in world history.

And it appears now, these wonderful groups & individuals above are creating a film network that is also facilitating the action of co-operation to lift the morale & spirit of both peoples.