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The 3rd Sino-International Company meetings
Cannes, May 3, 2018 – For three consecutive years the Marché du film and the SinoEuropean producers association Bridging the Dragon, in collaboration with CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée) will organize the Sino-International Company Meetings. The event will be held in the morning of Friday, May 11, from 10:00 to 12:30 at the space CNC on the Gray d'Albion Beach.
The aim is to continue to introduce key players of the Chinese industry to a number of high-quality selected international production companies in order to increase personal knowledge and foster collaboration.
After having foreseen it for several years, in the first quarter of 2018 Chinese box office overtook that of US, thus becoming the world's largest film market. The tremendous growth of the film industry in China, with more than 50.000 screens and growing, is creating the need for more and better content and opening up new opportunities for collaboration with foreign partners.
This year the amount of applications received for the event has grown, exceeding the number of 200. The final selection includes a rich array of producers recognized for their artistic or commercial success but - regardless of their different identities - all with a strong focus on China.
Among them the producer and sales agent The Coproduction Office ("The Square"), Italian production arm of national television RAI Cinema, Globalgate Entertainment, the local-language film production and financing venture aligned with Lionsgate, distributor Cine Asia (who recently distributed in the UK the renown’s Chinese movie "Youth"), Barcelona-based genre specialist Filmax, quality film house Alcatraz Film (La vie d’Adèle), Norwegian Maipo focusing on commercial and family entertainment, German visual effect studio Rise Pictures, and many other appreciated companies.
On the Chinese side even bigger studios are developing an interest in foreign non US partners. This year among the selection: veteran producer Jeffrey Chan from Bona Film Group, one of the leading distribution companies mostly known for their genre movies like this year’s blockbuster “Operation Red Sea” (more than € 460 million) and his own new Just Creative Studio; Dadi Film, one of the largest Chinese cinema chains with over 4.000 screens and a growing distributor and content producer; WD Pictures the new creature of the team behind Jackie Chan’s “Skiptrace” and other commercial successes; Spire Media by veteran producers Chen Lizhi and Claudia Jiang, who recently co-produced the Zhang Yimou-helmed epic drama “Shadow”; Beijing-based post Base, creator of the visuals of blockbuster franchise “Monster Hunt”, distributors and producers like S&C, Linmon and many others.
The event will be followed by an official Sino-European Networking Party hosted by Netherlands and Catalunya Film Commissions, on Saturday May 12th on the Dutch Pavilion SEE NL, International village.
Special guests will be the director Oriol Pauloand the producers of the Spanish film"The Invisible Guest"that – with a box office of more than 27 million dollars – proved that times are changing and now a European film of excellence can find in China a considerable audience.
After its official launch during the Beijing Film Festival, BtD will also present its new initiative:“BtD Professional Talents”. The platform will represent a number of selected European below the line talents on the eager Chinese market.
DOP’s, editors, composers, production and costume designers that have contributed to making many European movies great, whether in the art house or commercial areas, will be made available for Chinese productions. Some of the artists so far are: DOP’s Arnaldo Catinari ["Il caimano” (The Caiman) in competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival]; Vladan Radovic (Venice winner Black Souls, Paolo Virzi’s “Like Crazy”, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) or Christof Wahl, who shot some of Germany’s biggest comedy blockbusters such as "Fack Ju, Göhte" and "Kokowääh"; composers like Rikard Borggård (cult Swedish series "Real Humans") or Paolo Buonvino (Gabriele Muccino’s Sundance winner "The Last Kiss "and Nanni Moretti’s "Quiet Chaos"); editors like Frenchman Hervé Schneid ("Amelié", "Delicatessen", "Alien Resurrection"), Claudio Di Mauro who edited some of Italian biggest comedies of the last few years next to art house cult films like "Eros" (Antonioni, Wong Kar-wai, Soderbergh) or Cecilia Zanuso (“Like Crazy” or Tornatore’s “The unknown woman”); Production designers like François-Renaud Labarthe (Olivier Assayas’ “Personal shopper” or the historical epic “The Lady in the Portrait” starring Fan Bingbing) or Tonino Zera (Tornatore’s “The unknown woman” and Spike Lee’s “Miracle at S. Anna”).
By Dallas Fitzmartin