More production companies helping to promote Chinese programs overseas as interest grows

China's rapidly growing entertainment industry has attracted more foreign players to seek cooperation with Chinese companies.

At one of the largest trade shows for television programs and formats - held in Cannes, France, from Oct 16 to 19 - Chinese entertainment products gained attention from international representatives.

Dongyang Huan Yu Film and Television Culture Co (Huan Yu Film), a Chinese TV and film production company, took along three of the latest episodes of the TV drama series Zhao Ge, Huang Feng Prison and Story of Yanxi Palace, featuring the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century BC), Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-581) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

A handmade silk dress embroidered with dragons, clouds and various flowers patterns, which is one of the costumes from Story of Yanxi Palace, was exhibited at the event.

"We hired over 200 Chinese embroidery artists to make costumes for our palace-themed TV drama. This dress is a costume for the queen in the drama and took 10 artists four months to make," says Yang Le, CEO of Huan Yu Film.

Along with the dress, other handmade traditional Chinese props, including a phoenix coronet, a silk fan and hair clasps, were also shown in Huan Yu Film's exhibition zone at the trade show.

"These well-made props, with distinctive Chinese elements, make the dramas as good as movies," a member of TVP television from Poland commented.

Yu Zheng, founder of Huan Yu Film and a famous Chinese TV drama scriptwriter, says that through the diligently made props and costumes, the company wanted to show Chinese culture to people from other countries, particularly the spirit of craftsmanship.

"We hope that by increasing the quality of our products, we can spread Chinese cultural values to the world and give Chinese films and TV dramas more recognition around the world," says Yu.

The costumes and props not only prompted people to take photos, but also attracted deals. According to Yang, interest in the company's TV dramas from foreign filmmakers and media went beyond expectations.

"So far, we have received interest from over 10 countries for buying copyright to screen our dramas," the CEO says. "We are proud to see that Chinese TV drama, as well as traditional culture, are popular today."

Huan Yu Film is one of 100 Chinese companies that attended the 2017 MIPCOM, the International Market of Communications Programmes.

MIP - or Marche International des Programmes - is a global distribution marketplace for entertainment content. Its major event is held in Cannes twice a year, as MIPTV in spring and MIPCOM in autumn.

This year, more than 13,900 delegates and 4,800 buyers from over 110 countries attended the event to buy and sell new programs and formats for international distribution. A hundred Chinese companies with 400 delegates attended the event.

Under the Chinese government's policy framework for promoting Chinese TV and movies "going out", more of the country's companies are engaging in the international event and being proactive in promoting cooperation. This trend has been noticed by Bertrand Villegas, co-founder of the France-based TV format company The Wit.

"There is a lot of buzz at this year's MIPCOM about international coproductions and big new SVOD (subscription video on demand) series," Villegas says. He notes that China is one of the leading representatives, showing the emergence of Asia's growing television production industry.

Villegas highlights China's TV drama Princess Agents, aired beginning in June on Hunan TV and said to be the most-watched TV drama of all time in China, with 50 billion views on streaming sights.

He adds: "Even if not so many companies are yet buying Chinese series, and they are not so innovative from a writing point of view, they're growing online for Asian communities around the world. I think in years to come they will manage to go mainstream."

Last year, exports of Chinese film and television programs amounted to nearly $121 million (103 million euros; ￡91.6 million). At the same time, film and television business has developed from direct buy and sell to multiple cooperations, particularly coproductions.

At the latest MIPCOM, Chinese production company 3C Media announced a codevelopment deal with UK company ZigZag on a new reality show format, called Ancient Games, during a panel session titled "From History to the Future - The Beauty of Working With China".

According to Shirley Cheng, senior vice-president of 3C Media, Ancient Games will be an athletics competition between modern-day, super-fit contestants. Former athletes, actors and other celebrities will compete over the course of the series in many ancient-themed competitions.

"We are delighted to be working with 3C Media, China's leading TV production business, to create what may be the biggest original TV format to come out of China so far," says Danny Fenton, CEO of ZigZag Productions.

Cheng says: "3C has had a successful and enjoyable experience working with international partners in the past 10 years. The agreement with ZigZag on Ancient Games will definitely be one of our milestone international cooperations."

Besides traditional TV production companies, many internet companies now are also enjoying success in this burgeoning industry.

Chinese internet giant Tencent will stream and distribute the British natural history series Blue Planet II in China, following a coproduction deal with BBC Worldwide sealed at the latest MIPCOM.

"We are very excited to be coproducing this landmark series with Tencent, with whom we have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship," says David Weiland, executive vice-president of BBC Worldwide Asia.

"This production partnership is an affirmation of the shared commitment we have in producing ambitious natural history content. Tencent's involvement will bring this landmark series to a wider audience in greater China."

At the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping, in the report on behalf of the 18th CPC Central Committee, stressed the importance of strengthening cultural exchanges between China and other countries.

In a news conference at the congress, Zhang Hongsen, vice-minister of press, publication, radio, film and television, said China has signed agreements to make TV and films with 20 countries, while the country has increasing exchanges in cultural content with the United States, as well as countries in Europe and Central Asia.

Zhang said that, over the past two years, China has exported more than 20,000 hours of film and television programs throughout the world. More than 1,600 Chinese films and television programs are translated into 36 languages, including English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Zhang pointed out that this is an important part of building Chinese soft power.

"Cultural exchanges are key projects that the government supports," Zhang said. He said that over the next five years, China will continue to encourage cooperation in TV and film exchanges. "Coproduction is an important and major way of Chinese TV and movies 'going out'", Zhang said.

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(China Daily European Weekly 10/27/2017 page9)