Island of virtual creativity

Chinese multimedia company picks Isle of Man as European base

Shanghai-based Gush Multimedia Arts intends to use the Isle of Man as a base to export its virtual cinema technology to Europe.

The company's 3D live action film technology was used in the private entertainment sector for the first time at the Milan Expo 2015. The company now wants to launch it across Europe, using the self-governing offshore British tax haven as a filming base.

The technology allows real actors and virtual actors to appear together in a production, so the audience has the same experience as watching a live performance. Each production only requires one or two real actors because the rest of the cast, and the setting and props, are virtual.

"We believe this new technology will have a massive market globally because it greatly reduces the cost of production, and allows for creativity, such as live audience interaction with the cast," says Zhao Yunfeng, president of Gush.

"We want to use this technology for children's productions across the European market, because our technology allows for magical actions, such as enlarging or shrinking a certain virtual character on stage, but making the action look completely real. It's great for fairy tales, and will completely revolutionize children's theater experiences," says Zhao.

Zhao named the technology Color Panda, after the success of a promotional film featuring red-colored pandas at the Milan Expo.

The 10-minute film tells the story of two pandas trying to plant a bamboo tree. They eventually succeed after receiving a magical seed from the China Corporate United Pavilion, known as the CCUP.

This film is designed to match the seeds theme of the CCUP, which has displays based on the idea of Chinese companies going global, like a seed that turns into a large plant, making the dreams of Chinese companies come true.

At the end of the film, an actor wearing a red-colored panda costume walks toward the center of the cinema to greet visitors, as if he had just walked out of the film, because he looks just like one of the pandas in the film.

Color Panda technology was developed through research and development by Zhao's team, but was initially used for government documentaries or promotional films in China because of the expensive technology involved.

Advances in film production lowered the production costs of many of the technology's components, making Zhao realize the price was low enough to be profitable for private productions.

The panda film at Milan was the first time the technology was tested in a private production and its success convinced Gush to include Europe in expansion plans in China's domestic market.

"We realized that European children would like to watch productions with European actors and actresses, instead of Chinese ones, so we found the Isle of Man to be a good base as it's too expensive to do European productions in China," Zhao says.

Zhao first made a visit to the Isle of Man about three years ago, on the recommendation of a company that supplies LED lights to Gush.

"I visited several film production companies and was very impressed. They had good infrastructure, lots of professional workers, and we made a calculation of how much production would cost in the Isle of Man compared with other European locations and realized it's much cheaper," he says.

The Isle of Man has a strong film production sector because of its natural scenery, says Zhao, but it has weakened in recent years with international filmmakers having more location choices. Countries such as Australia and China are strengthening their production availability and an increasing number of mainstream films have their outdoor shots filmed there, he says.

"So when I visited the Isle of Man, I realized it is not in its boom time anymore, but the facilities and skills are still excellent, so I decided it would be a good idea to set up a subsidiary and make the most of the country's facilities."

Zhao says work would start on the Isle of Man next summer, with each project taking around one month to complete.

The Gush team will also construct cinemas across Europe with the technology to accommodate Gush's productions.

Its background in exhibition management helped it secure contracts worth a third of the value of the China Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo in 2010. "We have a small team of about 60 people, which is efficient considering the amount of work we do. Our employees are from creative industry and technology backgrounds. As a company we champion the idea of combining creativity and high-tech in everything we do," says Zhao.

He believes it is important to develop Chinese technology. "China's entertainment sector is booming, so we accumulate a lot of experience through doing so many productions each year. This experience will undoubtedly bring innovation, which can create value for an international audience," he says.

"Nowadays the trend in our high- technology world is to make everyone watch small screens - like on their smartphones. Users who are frustrated with small screens will want to watch things on big screens - like movies - which is why box office sales are going up so much."

However, Zhao says one disadvantage of the increasing popularity of 3D movies among children is the eye damage that 3D glasses can cause. The 3D productions of Color Panda technology will avoid this side effect, he says.

Steven Beevers, head of special projects at the Isle of Man's Department of Economic Development, welcomes the arrival of Gush. He says more than 100 films have been made on the island during the past 15 years, and that the island's government is also a shareholder in the famous British film studio Pinewood.

The Isle of Man has increased its efforts to attract Chinese companies in the past three years, with the establishment of representative offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.

Beevers leads political and business delegations to visit China two or three times a year, and also hosts tours of the island for visiting Chinese groups.

Most of the Chinese companies investing in the Isle of Man are trading companies that manufacture in China and sell in Europe, using their island subsidiary as a European marketing office.

They receive market advice and also enjoy the island's tax-free status, making it easy to repatriate profits to their headquarters in China.

He says: "Traditionally, Chinese manufacturers would sell through European trading companies that act as intermediaries because they didn't know the European market very well. But increasingly they realize the intermediaries have profit margins that are too big and they are now trying to export by themselves. We've realized this opportunity and have started to help them."

Beevers says he currently has around 30 to 40 prospective Chinese projects to work on. He is positive about the future bilateral economic relationship.

"We recognize that China is a growing economy and we are keen to first establish good relationships with China so that business will flow naturally."

cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 08/14/2015 page20)