At a workshop during the ongoing Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), film executives agreed more talents and professionals should be trained and cultivated for film industrialization in China to help the country become a world film power.

Executives pose for photo at the Motion Picture Association Film Workshop on the theme of "Film Talent Cultivation System under Industrialization in China" held in Beijing on Aug. 24, 2020, during the 10th Beijing International Film Festival. (Photo: BJIFF)

"A few phenomenal domestic and foreign blockbusters cannot support the enormous market that is China, nor support sustainable and long-term development of the Chinese industry and the demands from the audience," said William Feng, vice president for Asia Pacific and head of Greater China of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

"Therefore, the industrialization of Chinese films, especially related specialization and the establishment of industry standards, has increasingly become a focus of our attention," he said.

Feng joined the Motion Picture Association Film Workshop, featuring a theme of "Film Talent Cultivation System under Industrialization in China", held on Aug. 24, that invited senior Chinese and international filmmakers to exchange with the younger generation on-site or via video.

According to Feng, instead of upgrading or improving just a certain section, what was needed was an overall film industry chain. Difficulties of this process included the upgrading of technological equipment, the improvement of cinematography and special effects production, and an operational and management system featuring clear-cut labor division and essential mutual reliance.

"In order to accelerate industrialization, we should keep learning the good practices of developed countries and mature markets," he stressed.

The MPA and its member companies have made some efforts in this regard. For example, he pointed out that, under the guidance of China's competent film administration, the MPA and its member companies had hosted Sino-foreign co-production forums, screening events and filmmaker exchange programs through which excellent Chinese filmmakers were invited to study and have exchanges in the United States every year. All these efforts have laid a solid foundation for China's film industrialization and related talent training.

Feng also introduced this year's Asian Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), founded in 2007 aiming to rejuvenate the film industry in Asia and Oceania. Chinese filmmakers such as Zhang Yimou, Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Tao and Wang Baoqiang were all winners of the APSA. In 2009, the MPA and APSA had achieved a partnership, and established the MPA-APSA Academy Film Fund to support films at the script development stage by APSA Academy members and their colleagues across the region.

Gillian Zhao, president of Warner Bros. China, spoke highly of "The Eight Hundred". the current big hit in China's cinemas, which she thought was a milestone work playing an important role in China's film industrialization.

She also noted that it has been a century since Hollywood started industrialization, and it is now in the refining stage after continued learning and adjustment. "From the perspective of the development of Chinese film industrialization, I think they can learn from successful experiences, but we must do a lot of localization, we must develop the process, system and standards of China's own film industrialization," she emphasized.

Ye Ning, founder and chairman of Qingsong Pictures, indicated that in the last one to two years, the international film market had been transformed fundamentally. It was a rare opportunity for China's film industry as the country was restructuring and industrializing the industry. Once the opportunity was seized, China would become a strong film power, aligning its film industry with its cultural power and national strength.

In terms of film industrialization, on one hand, it was essential to systematically train young talents with good command of art and market rules, while defining a proper subject and creation of a good story in the development stage, Ye said. If these two cornerstones were well established, the quality of Chinese films would be enhanced significantly and so would the number of works.

Ye hated to see China's film industry still lacking proper and specific education of students and talents in many areas, links and phases such as lighting, special effects, film structures, and marketing. He urged the building of an industry education base while suggesting a series of Hollywood lectures.

"Seeing every successful Chinese film in the market, I am proud and cheering for them from the bottom of my heart, because I hope that all the experiences, thoughts, work processes and methods they have accumulated through a film production can be shared with other Chinese filmmakers. Only when we make it right for every project and every link in line with China's current culture, business structures and models of the film industry, will our industrialization be established brick by brick."

In recent years, China has made rapid progress with respect to building up its film industrialization system and related practice. Talents are the key to film industrialization, these executives said. The industrialization of Chinese films needs talent familiar with the film industry, as well as professionals that meet qualifications and requirements of key positions.

Liu Chun, general manager of China Film Co-production Corporation, said that now the format of co-production had been transformed from filming in China of foreign studios with the addition of Chinese crews at the early stage to close partnerships where both parties are highly integrated in terms of early development, marketing and distribution as well as development of sequels.

Meanwhile, the China Film Co-production Corporation is talking with the offices of five major film studios in Hollywood and MPA members regarding their ideas on co-production. The market for Sino-foreign film co-production will be broader in future.

The event also saw a video message from Joe Russo, one of the Russo brothers who directed "Avengers: Endgame" and "Infinity War." He said, "Filmmaking is a collaborative effort by all parties involved. It isn't about imposing your ideas on others, it's about interaction and it's about cultural exchanges. So, let's continue to work together and to exchange ideas."

Two producers joined the discussion via video link. Ellen Eliasoph said she had been growing with Chinese films. In her career, there had been two types of successful co-productions: projects initiated by Chinese filmmakers, directors and screenwriters, such as the Crazy Stone, where foreign co-production teams offered technological resources and helped render a better Chinese story; the other area was China remakes of foreign works, in which the China's film industry urgently needs to make further progress, while foreign film industries may provide corresponding resources.

Andre Morgan recalled his working experience in China in the past 20 to 25 years. He thought China's film industry had made significant progress, and Chinese filmmaking professionals had met international standards. In another five to ten years, China would become a world-class film production hub, he predicted.

However, China needed to work on the funding system for low and medium-budget works, and establish smooth funding channels to encourage young filmmakers to work on such projects, which was of great importance in the training of next-generation filmmakers and genre diversity of the film market.

Young talents should be offered opportunities and training programs to learn how to participate in and manage complicated projects, he added.