China’s young female viewers fuel demand
Now the most valuable group are those born after 1995 — so kids around 20 or younger. More and more of them are coming from China’s tier 3 and tier 4 cities, and a larger and larger proportion of them are girls.
BEIJING: If your movie does not pander to the tastes of young female moviegoers in China, expect it to crash and burn.
Veteran movie producer Ivy Zhong asserts that this demographic group cannot be ignored.
Commenting on how the Chinese film audience is evolving, she said: “It’s changing a lot and very quickly. First off, it keeps getting younger. Now the most valuable group are those born after 1995 — so kids around 20 or younger. More and more of them are coming from China’s tier 3 and tier 4 cities, and a larger and larger proportion of them are girls.”
Elaborating on their tastes, she said: “In Chinese we say they live two- dimensional lives: in real life, and on the Internet — reading online comics, playing games, using social media, chatting constantly. Many of the young girls are crazy about what we call “young fresh meat” (an expression used to describe boy bands and pop idols).”
Zhong should know. After a stint at Hong Kong’s Phoenix Television, she joined media company Beijing Galloping Horse
Ivy Zhong, veteran film producer
in 2003, eventually becoming vice chair and diversifying into feature filmmaking and signing top local talent like John Woo. Well before China’s corporate giants began buying Hollywood assets, Zhong had orchestrated Galloping Horse’s 2012 takeover of visual effects house Digital Domain for US$ 30.2 million. She earned a producer’s credit on Lionsgate’s Ender’s Game, in which Digital Domain owned a stake, before selling the company for US$ 50 million a year later.
Commenting on the current trend of co-productions to crack open new foreign markets, Zhong concedes that these can be difficult. A current example is the Sino-Indian co-production Kung Fu Yoga, starring Jackie Chan. While performing remarkably well in China, it had flopped in India.
Reckoned Zhong: “It’s true, co-productions are difficult, and so far we haven’t had many successful examples in China. But this film is actually a Chinese love story for the Chinese market.
“The benefit for Denmark is that we will be highlighting the beauty of the country to the Chinese audience. Danish fashion and brands will also get exposure. Shu Huan’s film Lost in Thailand was set in Chiang Mai and after it became a hit, Chinese tourism there skyrocketed.”
Beijing is currently courting more European productions.
Confirming that this is indeed Beijing’s current thrust, Zhong said: “It is indeed the Chinese regulators’ intention to involve more European partners in coproduction projects. That doesn’t mean there will be a reduction in the number of co-productions between China and the U.S. — they just want more countries in the mix. I personally feel that the greatest opportunity lies in bringing together the markets and professionals of all three regions — China, America and Europe. That’s what we’re trying to do with our slate. Our other goal is to be like China’s Summit Entertainment — highconcept, high- quality young adult projects.”
What about the current slump at the Chinese box office?
Zhong reckoned: “It just comes down to an influx of hot money into the Chinese film market over the past few years. It was too easy to raise money. So we had low- quality local films flying into the market and the audience rejected many of them. Now we are seeing the correction.”