CANNES May 18, 2015 – It is the best of times; it is the worst of times. The film market in China is expanding at a tremendous pace but it is still in the early stage compared to developed countries, said Jeffrey Chan, COO and board member of Bona Film Group.
Chan and three other executives, namely Chen Sijie, CEO of SMG Pictures, Cary Cheng, Head of International Production & Development at Wanda and Lin Ning, Founder of Beijin Weying Technology Co Ltd joined a panel disscussion on May 18, which was co-organized by Chinese Film Market.
“Chinese box office has grown at more than 30 percent per year in recent years and the growth will remain strong for at least the next five years. But the number itself is of little use. What people should really care about is how the market changes under it,” said Chen.
Chen noted the box office distribution in China has shifted significantly over the past decade. Ten years ago, mega cities like Beijing and Shanghai dominated the films’ performance. And then second tier cities emerged as the largest ones five years ago. But now third tier cities have become the first while those mega ones dropped to the third.
“If you look at the screen saturation, you will know that there’s plenty of room to grow. In China, more than 200 cities with over one million people still didn’t have any theaters. The rural population is a huge potential for the film market,” said Cheng.
He also remarked upon the lack of spin-off products in the current Chinese film industry. Film merchandising has already become quite profitable in countries like the US where merchandising makes up a lot of the revenue base.
“But in China, more than 80 percent, sometimes even 90 percent, of the revenue comes from theatrical box office. It’s like the Hollywood back in the 1920s when the studios were setting up their own systems,” Cheng explained.
On the other hand, purchasing movie tickets on smartphone is shaping up to be one prominent channel. Lin revealed that more than 300,000 people buy tickets through their platform everyday, accounting for nearly 7 percent of all the tickets sold within the country.
Another unique feature of the market is that the average age of moviegoers is coming down each year. Chen cited a report that said the average age of mainstream moviegoers has decreased to 24.3 in 2014 and continues to drop.
“It is obvious that younger film audiences, especially college students, have become the engines that drive the market. And it is not a bad thing for the film development as they not only have certain spending powers but also can appreciate both local and imported films,” said Chen.
Unlike the old generation, young people tend to see funny and romantic films for entertainment and socialization. Films that fail to cater to young people’s tastes will probably go through hard times at box office.
