2016年CRI Good Story-telling Key to Chinese Movies' Going abroad: Political Advisers

Laws to regulate China's film industry date back to the early 1980s. 

After decades of discussion and rapid growth in the sector 1, a draft of the China Film Industry Promotion 2 Law officially entered the legislative 3 process late last year. 

Once approved, the law will establish the most comprehensive regulations to date.

Chinese Film Literature Association Chairman Wang Xingdong is a national political adviser 4. 

The a-list playwright 5 has lobbied for film legislation for years. 

He says it will encourage Chinese movies to go overseas.

"It will be easier for Chinese movies going overseas because censorship is relaxed. The draft law covers a lot of aspects, including film release, international exhibition, and more policies for encouraging co-productions. This will guarantee more communication, cooperation and win-win opportunities. An open market can inspire creativity and help the industry thrive through competitions."

Last year, box office revenue in China hit a record high of nearly 7 billion U.S. dollars, and domestic productions earned over 400 million US dollars around the globe, with year-on-year growth of nearly 50 percent. 

Industry observers expect China will overtake the United States to become the world's largest film market in the near future.

However, as the industry is experiencing a great-leap-forward in its development, some political advisers 6 say Chinese film still has long way to go to meet international standards. 

Film director Yin Li is one of them. 

"We know Americans have super heroes like Spiderman and the Transformers, but if you look at this year's Oscar, besides the popcorn 7 commercial movies, they also have many works with a more human focus."

Many insiders believe co-productions are a good way to borrow insights and nurture 8 success in overseas markets. 

Last year, China had a total of 82 films that were co-productions with overseas partners, which is historical high. 

As co-production is seen as a must if Chinese films want to go further in the global market, political adviser Wang Xingdong suggests that it's time for domestic filmmakers to focus more on local creations.

"Co-production is an effective way to go out in the very beginning, but once the technical part is developed, story-telling becomes the key. Domestic filmmakers need to think how to tell a Chinese story with original flavor, tell the world what's the spirit of our culture, and shape the real image of China. This is important."

Some insiders are making efforts to put this into practice. 

In the beginning of 2016, crime drama "Mr. Six" made more than 1.3million US dollars in the US, which was among the highest-grossing Chinese films in America over the past decade. 

Director Gao Qunshu says the government should encourage more original stories and productions.

"Filmmakers should settle down to make real good movies. Like Mr. Six, it covers a lot of aspects of the society, and also gains box office success. The government should praise this kind of success. There are also those with high reputation but relatively 9 lower box-office revenue. Sometimes a movie's value can be several times greater than what revenue implies. It's not just about earnings 10 and numbers. We should judge a movie objectively, in a rational, scientific way. "

As a more open industry environment is provided, insiders and political advisers say that good story-telling and emotionally connected characters will foster the success of Chinese movies and the industry as a whole, both domestically and internationally. 

For CRI, I'm Zhou Jingnan