Film, TV execs go above and beyond for future projects

In their hunt for the next silver screen blockbuster or hit TV drama, China's film executives are looking at a wider range of media to develop a film.

In recent years, a great deal of international films and TV dramas have been adapted from online novels, video games, cartoons and songs.

The latest example is the film Warcraft, based on a popular video game and released in mainland theaters on June 8.

PPTV, a popular Chinese online streaming platform, has done more than just release the movie online. It has also undertaken a series of marketing campaigns, such as a virtual reality program. In addition, these campaigns can reach customers through online shopping portals, said Zeng Gang, vice-president of PPTV, at a forum on the localization of overseas films and TV dramas at the 2016 Shanghai International Film and TV Festival, which runs through June 19.

Zhou Yan'ou, general manager of the Croton Media overseas center, said they conduct data analysis, marketing and IP examination to select overseas works for possible development.

"Production teams and consultation services, from screen-writing to TV drama production and marketing, are essential for the IP management of TV dramas," Zhou said.

She said overseas works should be creative stories that accord with Chinese values, that have been recognized in numerous countries, have a high reputation, and include classic characters.

But she added that she's not looking to simply copy an international work. She also wants to learn how the overseas production team produced and marketed the work. "In this way, the possibilities of failure can be reduced as much as possible. Meanwhile, our own production teams can learn from it to create our own original works."

Industry leaders said China's environment, history and culture are unique advantages for domestically produced costume dramas and added that actors that are not recognized in Asia, as well as culturally unconventional works, will make it difficult for Chinese costume dramas to reach other regions.

(China Daily 06/15/2016 page16)