Festival hails China-US progress in film, tech

LOS ANGELES — "The US has been leading the world with her technological innovation and cultural creativity, while China has abundant human resources and a vast market," Wang Hanguang, chairman of Hanhai Studios, told the third Hollywood Entertainment Technology Festival.

"With the two countries joining hands, we will be able to support growth in cultural and technological fields in both countries and achieve common prosperity," he said in the opening remark to the annual festival at the chic Arclight Cinema in Hollywood on Wednesday.

Hanhai Studio, a cross-border business accelerator that promotes collaborations between China and the United States in entertainment and technology spheres founded HETFest to serve as "a platform for visionaries, content creators, entrepreneurs, and investors".

Wang opened the festival with a stirring speech on the rapid pace of technological change and the need for cross-border win-win cooperation to enhance global progress.

He described how the advancement in science and technology and the combination of cultural innovation and blockchain, entertainment and AI were creating profound changes in the future of global entertainment.

"In the ever-changing world of entertainment and technology for the two biggest players in these industries, US and China, there is a need to help streamline and identify genuine cross-border opportunities," Wang said.

Also at the festival, two-time Oscar winner and visual effects guru Robert Stromberg, of Avatar, Maleficent and Alice in Wonderland fame, talked of his passion for filmmaking and where VR/AR technology is going in the industry.

He said: "We're at a midpoint now where people are trying to figure out what the market is, what the categories will be. But at some point, in the near future, when we have really compelling stories and characters, VR will rise to a whole new level."

Another subject for discussion was the state of Asian representation in Hollywood and the need for greater diversity.

John Penotti, producer of the hit Crazy Rich Asians, said: "Everyone in Hollywood was saying, you can't make that movie — there's not a white lead in it. So every studio passed on it. But for me, this was exactly the film our Asian-focused company wanted to make."