China, Film Coproduction and Soft Power Competition
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China, Film Coproduction and Soft Power Competition Weiying Peng Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology 2015 Key Words China Coproduction Film coproduction Soft power Soft power competition i ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of China’s film internationalism and coproduction strategy. International coproduction has become a new area of industry debate in regard to China’s film industry. However, there has been limited scholarly attention, in both English and Chinese scholarship, paid to the activities of film coproduction between China and offshore parties. Specifically, the research looks at three representative film coproduction cases: Hong Kong and China based on Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA); US and China without any state-level agreements; Australia and China based on official film coproduction treaty. The broad intent of this study is to analyse the extent to which Chinese coproduction strategy functions as a form of soft power competition. Film coproduction in China, through the transfer of human capital, technology and knowledge, has significant implications for promoting China’s film ‘going out’, thus improving China’s soft power and building a better international image. The aim is to investigate the evolution of coproduction in the film industry, the process of coproduction, the foreign film companies’ strategies of adjustment to China’s state policy, and the challenges that hinder the coproduction. The contribution of this study comes in two parts: first, understanding the current environment for film coproduction in China and how foreign partners, especially those from western countries, deal with the historical, cultural, institutional and linguistic differences for coproduction. Second, it investigates the degree to which film coproduction has been to this stage a contributor to increase China’s global cultural presence – its soft power. ii Table of Contents Key Words ................................................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. ii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables .......................................................................................................................... vii Statement of Original Authorship ...................................................................................... viii Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................... ix Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 1. Soft power .......................................................................................................................... 3 2. Film coproduction .............................................................................................................. 5 3. Methodology .................................................................................................................... 11 4. Thesis outline ................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 1 Soft power competition ........................................................................................ 20 1.1 Soft power ...................................................................................................................... 20 1.2 China’s soft power ......................................................................................................... 21 1.3 Cultural soft power and cultural diplomacy ................................................................... 24 1.4 The content of China’s cultural soft power .................................................................... 25 1.5 US’s use of soft power through its entertainment industry complex ............................. 30 1.6 Film and soft power........................................................................................................ 34 1.7 China Film ‘going out’ ................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 2 China’s Film Industry ......................................................................................... 41 2.1 The rise (and decline) of East Asia ................................................................................ 41 2.2 The state of the Chinese film industry ........................................................................... 43 2.3 Distribution in China ...................................................................................................... 47 2.4 Is the industry booming or just the market? ................................................................... 52 2.5 Import and Export .......................................................................................................... 61 2.6 The dark (and bright) side .............................................................................................. 64 2.7 Explaining the lack of international success .................................................................. 69 2.8 Major players and their Internationalisation strategy ..................................................... 74 Chapter 3 Film coproduction ................................................................................................ 77 3.1 Defining International Coproduction ............................................................................. 77 iii 3.2 Why Coproduce? ............................................................................................................ 81 3.3 The history of film coproduction in the People’s Republic of China ............................ 86 3.4 The status of coproduction in China .............................................................................. 93 3.5 Coproduction Model ...................................................................................................... 98 Chapter 4 Coproducing with China ................................................................................... 100 4.1 The incentives for Chinese involvement in coproduction ............................................ 101 4.2 Regulating coproductions in China .............................................................................. 103 4.3 Why coproduce in China? ............................................................................................ 105 4.4 Balancing the challenges of coproduction in China ..................................................... 107 Chapter 5 China-Hong Kong Coproduction ..................................................................... 115 5.1 Hong Kong film industry background ......................................................................... 116 5.2 Coproduction History before CEPA ............................................................................ 118 5.3 The Advantages of working in the PRC ....................................................................... 123 5.4 Peter Chan: from Hong Kong filmmaker to Greater China filmmaker ........................ 128 5.5 Johnnie To: Compromise and Consistency .................................................................. 133 5.6 Discussion .................................................................................................................... 133 Chapter 6 China-US Coproduction .................................................................................... 139 6.1 Sino-US Coproduction History .................................................................................... 140 6.2 Fake coproductions? ..................................................................................................... 148 6.3 The hurdles of real coproduction ................................................................................. 153 6.3.1 Just language differences? ..................................................................................... 154 6.3.2 Cultural differences are everywhere ...................................................................... 156 6.3.3 Film system differences ......................................................................................... 157 6.3.4 Who listens to whom? ........................................................................................... 160 6.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 162 Chapter 7 Treaty coproduction with Australia................................................................. 164 7.1 The Australian impetus for Australian-Chinese collaboration ..................................... 165 7.2 The Chinese impetus for Australian-Chinese collaboration ........................................ 168 7.3 Treaty Coproduction between China and Australia ..................................................... 170 7.4 Challenges ...................................................................................................................