Composer to show Xian Xinghai's tough Soviet years

Jonathan Shen, filmmaker. Jiang Dong/China Daily

"In a sense, we've found a niche. Big studios mainly focus on domestic markets, and small firms struggle with cultural and linguistic barriers when collaborating with foreigners," he says.

Shen says that Chinese filmmakers should go abroad to seek more opportunities.

Hollywood gets most of its revenue from overseas markets, but China - despite being the world's second-largest movie market - obtains almost all its movie industry's revenue from domestic box-office receipts, he says.

At the recently concluded 3rd Xi'an Silk Road International Film Festival, Shine-work Pictures released a plan of its upcoming coproductions. For Composer, which is still having its script revised, the plan is to start filming by the end of this year. It will be released next year. Several A-listers are in negotiations to star in the movie.

Another title that Shen's company is working on is the live-action feature Monkey Master, a superhero rooted in Chinese and Indian myths. Marvel Comics icon Stan Lee and his Pow! Entertainment are now working on the protagonist's role and sets, according to Daljit Parmar, vice-president of international coproductions for Shinework.

"Lee has made so many globally known characters from Spider-Man to Iron Man, but those characters were really developed for the North American market," says Parmar.

"We want a homegrown superhero with cultural liaison and appeal to the Chinese. Monkey Master will be the first Chinese superhero to be internationally developed for the domestic market."

Highlights of Shinework's upcoming coproductions also have the action comedy Way to Shaolin, the first Sino-Iranian production inspired by the true story of the Iranian martialarts teacher Masoud Jafari.

Recalling his surprise to find Iranian youngsters interested in Chinese action films, Shen says, he hopes the movie can help Chinese filmmakers enter into the Iranian market.

Kung Fu Yoga, starring Jackie Chan, is a Sino-Indian production that was initially developed by Shinework. Shen says the directorial work of Stanley Tong will be released during the Spring Festival in 2017.