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Lu Han on Chuang 2020
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Zhang Jianing poses for photo shoot
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China's cinemas are allowed to reopen amid crisis
Shi Xiaoming, head of the National Institute of Environmental Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaking at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday, said regions with a low epidemic risk rating could reopen confined venues such as theaters.
He suggested theaters should disinfect and ventilate on a regular basis, prepare medical supplies and a suitable emergency plan, as well as the system to monitor the health of their staff. For audiences, he suggests strict online ticketing, dispersed seating, wearing of a face mask, one meter wide social distancing when people line up for tickets, merchandise and snacks.
In addition, the message was "reduce your dates with your friends; better to go alone or only accompany your own family," he said, adding: "Don't talk and communicate too much with people inside the venues, especially avoid any gathering for conversations."
Shi also stressed the theaters in medium- and high-risk regions, "we suggest the theaters remain closed, and do everything according to local requirements and regulations."
His statement raised a glimmer of hope for the Chinese film industry, after the State Council issued new guidelines on May 8 that China's public places and entertainment venues, from theaters, gyms, libraries, to museums and art galleries, could reopen if they follow COVID-19 prevention protocols like limiting visitor numbers and introducing relevant prevention measures.
The new guidelines stress that epidemic prevention and control in China has shifted from emergency response to a regular task.
The Chinese film industry was hit pretty hard this year due to the epidemic. The most profitable Spring Festival film season is gone, while according to statistics compiled and released by the Economic Daily on April 15, since the beginning of 2020, 5,328 Chinese film and television companies have been closed down or have suspended operations.
On April 29, Wang Xiaohui, head of the China Film Administration, told a work conference that the estimated losses in box office are projected at 30 billion yuan for the whole year.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance and China Film Administration jointly issued two policies to boost the industry. One is to exempt the national film industry development special fund levy from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 for Hubei province, epicenter of the epidemic, and from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 for other provinces and municipalities. The other policy is to exempt cinemas from added-value tax for the whole of this year.
Previously, every Chinese film production has to first submit a 5% share of its revenue from the box office gross as a special fund levy and 3.3% of the box office gross as a value added tax to the central authorities; cinemas and film producers can split the remaining revenue. The special fund is used to reinvest in the industry to support Chinese filmmaking – particularly, small productions and ethnic minority film projects -- and cinema construction in poor areas.
"This time the overall exemption measures are very strong. They will play an important role in promoting upstream production and downstream projection to resume work and revive the industry as soon as possible, placing it on the road to recovery. This also gives the audience great confidence to re-enter cinemas," said Fu Ruoqing, chairman of Huaxia Film Distribution and vice chairman of China Film Co., Ltd.
During the epidemic, some Chinese filmmakers have sought various ways to save themselves and their investors. Some theatrical releases such as "Enter the Fat Dragon" starring kung fu actor Donnie Yen, Yu Miao's "The Winners" and art house movie "The Empty Nest," as well as some internet films like "The Enchanting Phantom" made their debut online.
The most notable example is director-and-actor Xu Zheng selling rights of his new comedy "Lost in Russia" to the digital giant Bytedance for free screening on various Bytedance video platforms.
Most other major blockbusters are still waiting to break the ice, including the lost Spring Festival blockbusters such as "Detective Chinatown 3", "The Rescue", "Leap", "Vanguard", "Legend of Deification" and "Boonie Bears: The Wild Life," as well as long-anticipated Disney's "Mulan."
Since theaters will have to limit the audience, it's unlikely these films will set big box office records this year, or they are willing to immediately debut as soon as the cinemas reopen.
Industry sources told China.org.cn these high-profile films will be scattered in different film seasons. "Detective Chinatown 3" could be postponed to next year's Spring Festival. While Disney is firm that the American release of "Mulan" will be in July. Its Chinese release date could be close as China now has a good environment and prospects for epidemic control.
In March, China Film Co. and many film companies, even the foreign giants, have already selected a batch of films for rerelease after the epidemic subsides, including "The Mermaid," (2016) "Wolf Warriors 2" (2017), "The Wandering Earth" (2019) and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2002). Media reports also mentioned "Avengers" movies, "Coco,""Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and beloved older titles "Avatar,""Interstellar" and "Inception" are on the potential list of re-release, which could minimize financial risk and warm up the freezing-cold market.
Film executive Fu Ruoqing revealed that China Film Co. and Huaxia Film will release or rerelease 30 - 50 films from their archives in the near future to help cinemas greatly affected by the epidemic to resume work. Besides providing film contents, Huaxia has about 200 million yuan set aside as a promotional budget to support reopened cinemas.
Fu mentioned he had watched a film at an internal cinema within his company during the May Day holiday and was much impressed. "The visual and audio effects, and feeling of awe for a film on a big screen at a cinema, can never be replaced by what you feel through any other media channel. I believe audience will eventually come back to the cinema to enjoy the high-quality film watching environment once again."
Source: china.org by zhang rui
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Taylor Swift concert to be broadcast online
(China Daily) Taylor Swift has canceled all of her performances and appearances for the rest of the year because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, fans can still experience her concerts online.
The singer-songwriter announced that Taylor Swift City of Lover Concert, a one-hour special, will be broadcast at 10 pm ET/PT on May 17 by ABC (American Broadcasting Company). Chinese fans will enjoy the same experience with TMElive under Tencent Music Entertainment Group launching the show simultaneously at 10:10 am on May 18. Three music platforms under TME -- QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo -- will deliver the show on that day.
The concert was filmed Sept 9, 2019, at L'Olympia Theater in Paris, a historic hall with fans seeing Swift performing songs from her album, Lover, the singer-songwriter's seventh album, which was released two weeks before the concert.
When the album was released in China, 15 million songs from the album were sold on TME's music platforms, making it one of the best-selling albums from a Western artist.
Source: chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-05-15 09:44
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‘Mulan’ poised for success in China, but there are no guarantees
But will this attention turn into a willingness to catch it in cinemas, making it a big hit in the Middle Kingdom?
With theaters in the Chinese mainland set for a soft reopening in late May - probably right after the Two Sessions end - and Disney's announcement of a July 24 release date, the answer seems to be yes.
More good news for the Chinese film industry arrived on Thursday after the government announced a series of measures to help the hard-hit movie industry recover, including an exemption policy on value-added tax for cinemas.
However, the reality is that the ongoing pandemic, which has caused 30 billion yuan ($4.23b) losses for Chinese studios and cinemas, is still a fluid situation. Even the Chinese authorities cannot 100 percent guarantee that another shutdown won't be necessary after reopening cinemas.
All in all, it is still exciting news for Disney that the China-tailored Mulan can still draw so much interest among Chinese moviegoers, who have eagerly put it on the top on Sina Weibo's list of the most anticipated movies.
Source: Global Times By Ai Pang Published: 2020/5/14 22:01:41
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He Sui poses for photo shoot
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Zhao Lusi poses for photo shoot
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China Offers Tax Support to Film Businesses Hit By Coronavirus
China’s tax authorities will waive value added tax payments for film screening service providers, official news agency Xinhua reported on Friday. The exemption lasts for the whole of 2020, and taxes already paid may be reclaimed or set off against future payments. The same companies will also not be required to pay construction and certain other administrative fees this year.
Companies throughout the film business in China will be able to carry forward losses for eight years, instead of the usual five years. That reflects the dire situation in which many Chinese film companies fins themselves.
Cinemas have been closed nationwide since the last week of January. As yet, no official date has been given when they may reopen, though some indications now point to a restart at the end of May or beginning of June.
That lockdown, exceeding four months, is far longer than in many other countries. And it means that Chinese exhibitors and distributors have had no income, and smaller ones have gone bust.
“China suffered the permanent closure of at least 2,300 cinemas through the first two months of the COVID-19 industry shutdown and we expect that number to climb as local info is updated,” Rance Pow of Asian cinema investment and industry research consultant Artisan Gateway told Variety. Chinese authorities themselves have estimated that the gross box office will be reduced by some $4.2 billion (RMB30 billion) this year.
Many small production companies have also gone to the wall. In mid-April China’s Economic Daily, a paper backed by the country’s top administrative body, the State Council, said that 5,328 film and TV companies had disbanded so far in 2020. That was nearly double the number which folded in all of 2019.
In another new administrative measure, the finance ministry and the China Film Administration, announced that companies will not have to pay into the national film industry development fund between January and the end of August. For film companies in Hubei, the province that was the original epicenter of the disease, fund contributions are waived for the full year.
Source: Variety by Patrick Frater
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Yang Yang poses for photo shoot
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Cast from "Youth With You" pose for photo shoot
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