Beijing Film Market sets new contract record

Representatives of various film companies and agencies at the Beijing Film Market's contract signing ceremony held during the 9th Beijing International Film Festival in Beijing, China on April 19, 2019. [Photo/China.org.cn]

The Beijing Film Market announced a contract signing with a record-breaking value of more than 30.9 billion yuan (US$4.6 billion) in Beijing on Friday during the 9th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF).

The director of the Beijing Film Bureau, and vice chairman of the Committee of the Beijing International Film Festival, Chen Mingjie, announced at the contract signing ceremony that the contract value of the Beijing Film Market this year is 10 times that of the first one. He added that this came after eight years of development and pointed out that the BJIFF is now attracting more and more attention from the film industry and all over the world.

At the start of the ceremony, Yang Shuo, vice chairman of the BJIFF committee and the director general of the Beijing Administration of Film, Television and Radio remarked on the four main achievements of the Beijing Film Market, a major section of the BJIFF.

"First, there is now more international cooperation and exchange. The successfully held Indian Film Week has expedited the export of Chinese films to foreign markets," he said, "Second, there are a lot more new projects, new companies and new technologies being showcased. The increase in the quantity is evidence of the efforts to scale up the Beijing Film Market. "

Yang continued, "Third, there are more investors who have invested in new projects which have borne fruit. And fourth, industrial dialogue and special events held now also accurately reflect the ethos of the times. The topics covered are more forward looking, well-targeted and very well received."

A total of 77 companies and agencies signed on major projects. China Film Co. Ltd signed on projects such as the "Zhu'a International Cultural & Creative Town" and the "China Chaohua International Film and Television Hub." The Zhu'a project has a total investment of seven billion yuan (US$1.04 billion) and is expected to be completed by 2023.

Under the guidance of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Beijing Film Market has also achieved fruitful results in the exchange and cooperation between China and foreign countries this year. Some of the new projects include the China-Thailand film "Mr. Heartbreak" and the China-India film "The Zookeeper." The Beijing Bona Film Group and Sony Pictures also signed an overseas release contract of the upcoming film "Firefighting Hero."

Compared to past years, the Beijing Film Market extended its duration from three to four days, enlarged its exhibition space by 20% and increased the number of featured international copyright companies, thereby boosting the attractiveness of the BJIFF.

The Beijing Film Market has also intensified its efforts in inviting overseas exhibitors. This year it attracted 71 international exhibitors and 36 international guest buyers from 16 nations including India, Ukraine, New Zealand, Singapore, Austria, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Japan, the United States, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia and Thailand.

The Beijing Film Market also added the international copyright trading zone and invited 11 renowned copyright businesses from eight countries such as France, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Mongolia and South Korea, serving as a convenient channel for communication between Chinese and foreign film markets.

A record-breaking total of 735 projects from 10 nations and regions were showcased at the Project Pitches segment that began on Feb. 3, 2018 and concluded on March 3, 2019.

In recent years, a bevy of remarkable movie projects have emerged from the BJIFF. More than 150 film projects have benefited from the training, recommendation, showcase and resource matchmaking of the BJIFF's Project Pitches platform, and over 30 young directors have been propelled into the spotlight in both domestic and foreign film industries.

The Beijing Film Market also organized five movie industry summits, which delved into various aspects of industry development. This included perspectives such as content creation, production, marketing and distribution, copyright protection, and intellectual property commercialization and merchandise.

The section hosted a total of 35 special events and activities and included cooperation and communication in almost every aspect, which touched on the hottest themes and presented them in diverse formats. The myriad of small events and activities underpinned and supported the main forums of the Beijing Film Market in various ways. For instance, the Beijing Film Market led the way with the China-India Film Co-Production Dialogue, which was supplemented by a diverse range of multi-regional Chinese-foreign communication channels.