PLATFORM FOR SUCCESS:
CONNECTING AUSTRALIA AND CHINA.
ACCESSING CHINESE MOVIE MARKET
The Australian & Chinese governments have an official co-production treaty that can achieve ‘win-win’ outcomes for both parties.
China employs various industry regulations to protect its growing domestic film industry from Hollywood domination. The most important measure is the strict quota limiting the number of foreign movies allowed into the local market on revenue-sharing terms.
There are basically three ways for foreign films to be imported and exhibited in China to access its robust market:
1.
2.
3.
PATHWAY 1:
FLAT FEE/
BUY OUT
Chinese distribution companies can negotiate a fixed price with the film’s producer for local rights, after the payment of which the Chinese distributors are entitled to all Chinese box office revenue.
Films may also be sold for cinematic, online, or television release, but those fixed fees are generally lower than the box office take of a successful revenue share.
PATHWAY 2:
REVENUE SHARING
IMPORT QUOTA
Currently, China allows a total of 34 films per year to be exhibited in its cinemas on a revenue-sharing basis, 14 of which are to be screened in 3D or IMAX formats.
The import quota films distributed are almost exclusively produced by Hollywood’s Big Six studios.
PATHWAY 3:
CO-PRODUCTIONS
The blueprint for a successful co-productions
is to bridge the two territories: delivering more
and more Australian films to Chinese market and
bringing more Chinese films to the international
market.
CO-PRODUCTION TREATY
The Australian and Chinese governments have an official co-production treaty that can “achieve ‘win-win’ outcomes for both parties, “ because they’re considered to be “Made in China” and enjoy the same treatment as domestic films.
Compared to imported films, co-productions enjoy better distribution, revenue sharing percentage, and policies.
Achieving worldwide success is the ultimate goal for Australian/Chinese co-production films. Through the platform of co-production, the production is able to leverage the best resources in the world, receive investment from global investment platforms and achieve higher investment returns.
Co-productions are still faced with many challenges such as cultural differences, local tastes and different work styles.