Breaking barriers at Beijing fest

?2012? was one of a trio of U.S. pics to appeal in China.

A forum of producers at the Beijing Film Festival turned into a masterclass in how to make a movie, as the audience hung on every word.Motion Picture Assn. Asia Pacific prexy and m.d. Mike Ellis hailed Hollywood's success in China with pics like "Avatar," "2012," and "Inception." He said a big difference between Hollywood and China was that in the U.S., 20% of a film's income came from theatrical box office, 36% from home entertainment and 40% from TV, while in China 80% to 90% of revenue came from theatrical."In terms of investment risk in China, you have to look at where the maximum amount of your revenue will come from," he said.He said 67% of the studios' revenue came from overseas. "China is becoming increasingly important and will only continue to grow."Ellis also sought to reassure fears that removing the quota system that allows 20 foreign movies into China every year on a revenue-sharing basis, would lead to a flood of Hollywood movies taking over the industry."There are no floodgates -- we have 5% to 7% of the market. In Korea and Japan, local product dominates the market. Chinese people will always love Chinese films," he said."All should compete on a level playing field. There should be no quotas. You, the audience, should decide what gets seen," Ellis said, to a round of applause.Completion guarantor Anni Browning of Film Finances worked in China on producer-helmer-scribe Mario Andreacchio's Aussie-China co-production, "The Last Dragon."She said she knew Andreacchio's work; he introduced Hangdian Studios, which hired Canadian execs that Film Finances had worked with previously."We looked at the budget, and we knew the Chinese side of the operation was in good hands," Browning said.There was keen interest in her contribution -- completion bonds are still hardly the norm in China, where productions tend to be dominated by the director and where the market is still in its infancy, despite strong growth."They (Hangdian) had a good accountant, and we worked out how to make it work for us. It was not a hard production from our point of view," she said.

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