Gov't slowly opens door to foreign $
Piracy still rampant as toothless laws take effect
The revamped regs allow enterprises, government departments and social organizations as well as individuals to invest in film production, building cinemas and the renovation of theaters, and appear to pave the way for local producers to make their own films without the legal requirement of cooperating with a registered film studio, as has been the case up to now.
Several industry insiders comment that the ruling will allow anyone with a script take it to the Film Bureau, get it approved, and register as a film production company. In the past, production was limited to official film studios.
"If this is the case, it's a fantastic development that opens up the arena for everyone," says Peter Loehr, president of recently launched Ming Prods. Loehr was formerly managing director of Imar Films, which produced all of Zhang Yang's films, including the recent Bangkok Film Festival winner, "Quitting." Because of regulations at that time, Imar Films worked in partnership with Xi'an Film Studio.
Dede Nickerson, Beijing-based head of co-production and acquisitions for Miramax Asia, is also positive about the changes: "This is great news. The authorities here are recognizing that U.S. and foreign firms are seeing great production values now in China, and actually want to make films here. They are saying, 'We're open for business.' "
However, the proclamation makes it clear that wholly foreign productions are not yet in the cards, only allowing co-prods.
That may be set to change in the near future. "Recently, we have been noticing a much more relaxed attitude from the authorities about film production," notes Nickerson. "It's hardly surprising that foreign film producers want to make films here, with costs roughly an eighth of what they are in Hollywood, and half of what they are in Hong Kong."
The regs were issued Dec. 31, but not widely publicized; last week, some Hollywood reps were still pondering the implications. The dictates did not address the question of the government's undertaking last June to introduce competition among distribs of U.S. and other foreign films, which would end China Film's monopoly.
But one U.S. exec tells Variety that he expects the State Administration of Film, Radio & Television will finalize and spell out plans to issue a second distrib license within a week or so. At first glance, the exec opines the new regs are "mostly good for us, but (contain) nothing dramatic."
The rules will come into force Feb. 1.
The regs also tackle the issue of piracy, which is rampant. Last October, Beijing police seized 271,000 pirated VCDs, DVDs and CDs in a two-month antipiracy operation that many believe was timed to please World Trade Organization officials.
Despite the seemingly impressive numbers, last month, pirated copies of "The Lord of the Rings" were changing hands on the streets of Shanghai only days after the U.S. release of the film.
The new rules vow to punish pirates "in accordance with relevant laws and regulations," the opening of cinemas showing such products is banned, and any cinemas currently doing so will be shut down "within five years."
But last week, many streets in Shanghai were still dotted with well-stocked pirate video stores, with prices as low as $1 a film. In the south of China --in particular Guangzhou and Haikou -- cinemas showing pirated DVDs are still common.
(Don Groves in Sydney contributed to this report.)
