Johnny Ma on the Dynamics of New Era Film Production in China

His works “aren’t getting a chance to reach an audience” in China, a country without robust channels for arthouse distribution, at a time post-“Crazy Rich Asians” when Asian-American stories are suddenly finding traction in North America. “Over there, things are changing,” he said.” never came out in Chinese theaters, and though his second has the “dragon seal” of censorship approval, he’s doubtful his backers will decide a theatrical release makes financial sense.

The attitude initially baffled him until he saw where it came from. People only work with those they already trust because “there are so many bullshit productions around that never get made or just stop in the middle, and so many investment companies that want to get into movies but don’t know how and have no experience.”

Everything from financing to casting to passing censorship all comes down to who you know, which makes things especially tough for younger filmmakers who don’t yet have the networks of their older predecessors, Ma points out, using director Wang Xiaoshuai and his protege Hu Bo as an example. Furthermore, finding the right collaborators is increasingly hard these days as financing dries up due to new tax regulations. “It’s so drastic as a filmmaker for suddenly one third of the companies that were around a few years ago not to be around any more. You try to make your movie but suddenly you have fewer people selecting films who are more risk averse,” he said.

“In Europe, a filmmaker can get into his comfort zone and just keep making films at that level,” exploring the themes they’re interested in at the budget available to them primarily through public funding. But in China, “it seems you need to always get bigger and bigger and bigger. You can’t just stay the same,” he said, something he chalked up to a collective need to not lose face and pay back favors.

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