China's Rise Driving Hollywood Interest in Asia

T h u r sd a y 22n d Ma r ch , 2012

The Island

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ay back, in 1994-1995, dur ing the school cr icket season, I went to witness a m atch at Nalanda College grounds,
88 in 44 deliver ies.
2. Ar juna Ranatunga’s swashbuckling innings of 88 at Shar jah against India.
3. Dilshan and J ayawardene’s opening stand of 179, chasing Austr alia’s 271 at Adelaide in the second of the three finals, where SL recorded an eight wicket victor y on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. As the captain, J ayawardene led from the front and Tillekar atne Dilshan, the leading r un getter in the Com m onwealth Bank Tour nam ent and
As I m entioned earlier, ‘Mahela’s Par adise’ is the Sinhalese Spor ts Club (SSC) Grounds. Dur ing the per iod 2006-2009, he scored 82, 374, 127, 195, 136 and 79 in consecutive Test innings. Pakistan’s Danesh Kaner ia spoiled the ‘Par ty’, when he dism issed Mahela J ayawardana for 2 r uns. After this episode, he continued his good work, scor ing 92, 96 and 194, in consecutive innings.

W

Colom bo. A young r ight hand batsm an executed som e br illiant on dr ives and cover s dr ives with gr ace and elegance.
I inquired from a boy, “son, who is this r ight hand batsm an?” Prom ptly cam e the reply, “sir, he is our captain, Mahela J ayawardane.”
A couple of weeks later at Ananda
Mawatha, I saw another elegant r ight hand bats- Man of the Ser ies, scored a power packed 106.

Ba ttin g h er oes

m an. He was Mahela’s r ival, Ananda College skipper, Thilan Sam ar aweer a.
I was ver y im pressed with these two boys. At that tim e, I was holding a senior position at the Ceylinco Group of Com panies. My Deputy Chair m an, the dynam ic Daya Senanayake, called m e and said, “Epasinghe, Sunil Gavaskar is interested in getting two young school cr icketer s, with Test m atch potential, to join the Bom bay Gym khana Club on their tour to South Afr ica. I thought you are the best per son to select two schoolboy cr icketer s from Sr i Lanka.”
The following day, I nom inated Mahela and
Thilan. Thus, they had their early ‘cr icket baptism ’ on the ‘fast tr acks of South Afr ica’ for a per iod of six weeks. I presum e that it was an auspicious star t for them .
Although no cr icket author ity or the Spor ts
Ministr y, has recognised my hum ble contr ibution to Sr i Lanka cr icket, I am happy that at least the Inter national Cr icket Council (ICC) recognised my ser vices to Sr i Lanka cr icket, when they celebr ated their 100th year, by awarding m e a m edal for my contr ibution to SL cr icket, as a coach and adm inistr ator. In 1968-1969, I was a schools’ cr icket selector. On pr inciple, in my life, I have never gone behind politicians.
Captain’s role In 1998, when my son Bhagya was working as an Accountant in Botswana, we went to see the Sr i Lanka-South Afr ica m atches played at J ohannesbur g, Cape Town and Bloem fontein. Sr i Lanka was captained by Ar juna Ranatunga.
Mahela probably lear nt the basics of a
‘Fighting Captain’ under the astute leader ship of Ar juna. Mahela was a thinking cr icketer. I always thought that this young boy was SL captaincy m ater ial. I told this to Ar juna, at that tim e.
Although Mahela J ayawardena (80) did not get into three figures, against the Aussies, the delicacy of touch, the exquisite tim ing, his ability to pierce the field, r unning between the wickets; it was sim ply am azing. He was the ‘Real Play Maker ’, and a fine ‘Thinker of the Gam e’. dur ing his fine batting display, Mahela
J ayawardena was unr uffled, calm , cool and collected and showed the world, the ar t of batting. The m ain thing in Mahala’s innings was that he was leading from the front and put countr y before self.
Sr i Lanka’s m ost consistent batting heroes,
J ayawardane (374), Sangakkar a (287) created histor y by am assing 624 r uns – the highest Test par tner ship. The sam e com bination, in May 2010, put on 160 r uns in the World Cup Twenty-20 encounter. They fell shor t by four r uns of the record, which was held by the South Afr ican pair of G. L. Sm ith and L. Bosm an, against England at the Centur ion in South Afr ica in Novem ber 2009.
Today, I sit back and enjoy the
‘Heroics of Mahela’. I feel so happy when I recollect that I too, in a ver y sm all way, helped Mahela by ar r anging a cr icket tour to South Afr ica with the kind cour tesy of Sunil Gavasker and Daya Senanayake, in 1995.
Mahela J ayawardene was bor n on May 27, 1977, in Colom bo, Sr i Lanka. His father, Sener ath J ayawardene played for Chr istian College and Sr i J ayawardenepur a Vidyalaya.
Today, he is considered as the best cr icket captain in

Pet h u n tin g gr ou n d

The m ost num ber of the r uns scored by an the world.
When Mahela
J ayawardena was leading the Sr i Lanka team , as a cr icket adm inistr ator attached to the Inter im Com m ittee of

Premasara Epasinghe

individual in Tests, in a single ground, belongs to Mahela J ayawardene. He created this unique record at his pet hunting ground, the SSC. Between 1997-2010, he scored 2646 r uns in 23 m atches, in 35 innings.
On J uly 29, 2006, batting at Num ber 4,
Mahela J ayawardena scored 374 against South Afr ica, in a total of 756 for 5 wickets.
Fur ther, an ODI record was established by
Mahela at the Rangir i Dam bulla Stadium . In 33 m atches, in 32 innings, Mahela collected 1076 r uns, with a highest score of 123.
SLC, I accom panied the Sr i Lanka National cr icket team to Zim babwe and Austr alia. I am proud to state that under Mahela’s astute leader ship, the entire team tur ned out to be fine spor ting am bassador s for Sr i Lanka. Their behavior on and off the field was exem plar y. In fact, at a tea par ty accorded to the Sr i Lanka cr icketer s at Tem ple Trees by President Rajapaksa, on their ar r ival, I told the spor ts loving President; ‘sir, you can be proud of them . They brought credit and honour to your countr y: Their behavior was exem plar y. They are your Am bassador s.
The captain of a cr icket team has m ore diver se responsibilities than in any other gam e. In a sense, he is a com poser, fir st violinist and conductor all rolled into one. He has to have the ner ve of a gam bler and the poise of a financier the under standing of a psychologist and 10 year ’s m ore cr icket knowledge than he can possess and of cour se, the patience of a saint.

Th e m a n y h er oics of M a h ela

Another innings I rem em ber was his stylish 72 against the West Indies at St. Geor ge’s Grounds. If my m em or y ser ves m e r ight, with Cham ar a Silva (64), they established a record par tner ship for the 4th wicket at the World Cup 2007.
Not only in Sr i Lanka, but also in India,
Mahela J ayawardene created a record, when he scored 276, the highest by a visiting player, at Ahm adabad, in Novem ber 2009.
The youngest Sr i Lankan to score a double centur y is Mahela J ayawardena. At the age of 21 year s and 273 days, he scored 242 against India at his favour ite grounds, the picturesque SSC.
At the age of 29 year s and 65 days, he becam e the youngest Sr i Lankan to score 15 centur ies. He achieved this landm ark on J uly 31, 2006. Fur ther, he becam e the youngest player in SL to play 50 Test m atches. He achieved this landm ark on J uly 31, 2006.

An gelo M a th ew s – Ca pta in cy m a ter ia l
Epic in n in gs - 2011 Wor ld Cu p

I will always rem em ber Mahela’s epic
Dur ing the Zim babwe tour, for the fir st tim e I m et all-rounder Angelo Mathews. After the tour, I com m unicated to SLC that Angelo Mathews did possess all the ingredients to be the future Sr i Lanka cr icket captain. At the m om ent, he is not far away from being bestowed with that position. unbeaten centur y, at the Wankede Stadium on Apr il 2, 2011. Like Ar avinda de Silva’s centur y at Lahore, in 1996, Mahela’s innings was a ‘gem ’. They are both ‘Big Event Per for m er s’. Delicate cuts, cover dr ives and the pulls were all there. Ar avinda de Silva was br utal at tim es. Mahela J ayawardena destroyed his opponents with a sm ile. These two batting legends, rem ind m e so m uch of ‘Maestro’ M. Sathasivam of the late 1940s and 1950s, the best batting ar tist that Sr i Lanka produced, according to my opinion.
Mahela is Sr i Lanka’s
‘Kohinoor ’ (Most Valuable Precious Diam ond) in cr icket.

Th r ee best in n in gs

1. Against England, Sanath J ayasur iya blasted the Englishm en. He scored a blister ing
I wish him the best of luck.

China’s rise driving
Hollywood interest in Asia

Ch in a is a tr en dy th em e n ow.

in Febr u ar y it’s tyin g u p with th r ee

Ch in ese com pan ies on a join t ven tu r e en ter tain m en t com pany th at will m ake Ch in ese an im ated an d live action con - ten t. Dr eam works will h ave a 45 per cen t stake in th e ven tu r e, wh ich is expected to begin oper ation s in Sh an gh ai later th is year.
Legen dar y En ter tain m en t, pr odu cer of h its in clu din g “Th e Dark Kn igh t,” ‘’In ception ” an d th e two “Han gover ” in stallm en ts, par tn er ed with leadin g Ch in ese stu dio Hu ayi Br oth er s Media Cor p. in J u n e to for m Legen dar y East. Th e ven tu r e plan s on e or two big bu dget m ovies a year star tin g in 2013 for global au dien ces th at ar e also com m er - cially viable in Ch in a. Th e film s will be m ain ly in En glish an d featu r e th em es based on Ch in ese h istor y, m yth ology or cu ltu r e.
“Hollywood n eeds to tell th e sam e stor y in n ew an d u nu su al ways an d r igh t n ow Ch in a is h ot, it’s in ter estin g an d m ost people in th e West don’t kn ow ver y m u ch abou t it,” Ber ger said.
“Ku n g Fu Pan da 2,” abou t a car toon pan da n am ed Po wh o battles a peacock villain , r aked in $665 m illion at th e box office last year, alth ou gh on ly $165 m illion of th at was fr om U.S. m oviegoer s.
Tr en ch an d Ber ger spoke at a pan el at th e Hon g Kon g In ter n ation al Film an d Television Market, or Film ar t. Th e en ter tain m en t in du str y tr ade sh ow is on e Asia’s biggest, with 640 exh ibitor s — 10 per cen t m or e th an last year — h opin g to sell th eir film s to 5,200 bu yer s expected fr om ar ou n d th e world.
Asia’s gr owin g wealth is on e big dr aw for Hollywood stu dios wh o ar e lookin g for ways to keep costs down , especially on big-bu dget blockbu ster s, said Tr en ch , wh o was execu tive pr odu cer of “Th e Pin k Pan th er,” ‘’J u st

The screenwriter of the “Kung Fu Panda” movies, Glenn Berger, left and Hollywood producer Tracey Trench speak during a seminar in Hong Kong Tuesday, March 20, 2012. The movie industry veterans said China’s economic rise and growing international profile are spurring Hollywood’s interest in movies using Asian themes and production money.(AP)

An oth er Hollywood stu dio,
Relativity Media, said last year it’s par tn er in g with two com pan ies to m ake Ch in ese film s for global au dien ces an d distr ibu te m ovies in Ch in a.

H ONG KONG (AP ) — Ch in a’s eco-

n om ic r ise an d gr owin g in ter n ation al pr ofile ar e spu r r in g Hollywood’s in ter - est in m ovies u sin g Asian th em es an d pr odu ction m on ey, U.S. m ovie in du str y veter an s said Tu esday.
Big stu dios ar e tr yin g to pu sh fu r - th er in to Ch in a, wh er e box office r eceipts r ose m or e th an a th ir d last year to $2 billion . Ch in a r epr esen ts on e of th e m ost attr active gr owth oppor tu - n ities for th e U.S. m ovie in du str y, wh ich is facin g declin in g Nor th

in g DVD sales.

ch air m en of stu dios wh o’ve n ever been

to Ch in a, wh o ar e n ow sayin g: I n eed to go, I n eed to m eet people,” said
Mar r ied,” an d “Ever After.”
For th e last decade, Ch in a h as

“You alr eady kn ow it’s costin g you a ton of m on ey, so you tr y to figu r e ou t ever y way possible to h edge th at fin an - cial r isk,” in clu din g gettin g co-pr odu ction m on ey an d r ebates an d sh ootin g in ch eaper location s, said Tr en ch . “Th is r egion n ow plays in to a lot of th ose factor s.”
Hollywood stu dios h ave been bu sy team in g u p with Ch in ese pr odu ction com pan ies.
Dr eam Works An im ation SKG In c., wh ich pr odu ced “Ku n g Fu Pan da,” said allowed on ly 20 for eign film s a year — m ostly big-bu dget Hollywood far e — to get n ation al distr ibu tion . Bu t it open ed th e door a little m or e last m on th wh en it ch an ged th e r u les to allow in u p to 14 m or e film s a year as lon g as th ey ar e m ade in 3-D or for th e big-scr een Im ax for m at. Th e for eign sh ar e of ticket sales will r ise to 25 per cen t, u p fr om 13.5 per cen t to 17.5 per cen t u n der th e old system .
Wh ile En glish is u su ally th e pr efer r ed lan gu age for Asian -th em ed m ovies aim ed at in ter n ation al au dien ces, th at cou ld ch an ge in th e n ext decade as Am er ica’s gr ip on th e title of world’s biggest m ovie m arket weaken s, Tr en ch pr edicted.
“Th er e’s a tim e r igh t n ow th at all of th e stu dios, if th ey’r e goin g to do m ovies with Asian elem en ts, th ey’r e goin g to be in En glish ,” sh e said. “Bu t th at’s n ot goin g to be for ever.”
Hollywood pr odu cer Tr acey Tr en ch .
At its cu r r en t gr owth r ate, Ch in a is expected to becom e th e world’s 2n d lar gest m ovie m arket in a few year s, with box office takin gs pr ojected to top $5 billion by 2015. In Nor th Am er ica, r evenu e h as fallen for two year s str aigh t, an d en ded 2011 with $10.2 billion in ticket sales.
Glen n Ber ger, th e scr een wr iter of

th e “Ku n g Fu Pan da” m ovies, said th at

Am er ican th eater r evenu e an d slu m p-

“I kn ow stu dio execu tives an d even