You’re attending EARS on Helsinki for the second time in August. What has happened since we saw you the last time?

I am now working with the Helsinki Festival China focus. Inside China focus I am curating a special event with young artists called 25 x 25, standing for 25 hours of various non-stop performances by Chinese artists under the age of 25. That is my main project at the moment but I have also been doing other festivals in China during this past year.

Could you tell us how this collaboration with Helsinki Festival started?

Actually, I met Erik, the artistic director of Helsinki Festival last year during EARS. We talked about the China focus program and both thought there was a need to have different younger Chinese artists presenting what they are doing and thinking. So I curated this project with more than 12 young artists from the fields of  theatre, music, dance, visual arts and media. Some of them are not professional artists but students or they do other things at the same time. They create art in different ways than others, even professional artists in their fields. As they are so young, they have a different perspective of seeing, understanding and presenting the world through their art. They are fresh artists with new ideas. The original creativity is there, you can see the sparkle.

Who are the young artists coming to Helsinki?

Youngest of them is a dancer and choreographer, only 17 years old girl from a small village, now studying in Hong Kong. You can see the raw energy of her body and of what she wants to express.  Even when she’s not sure what she is expressing you can see the urge to move. We also have an actress/director from Beijing doing a monolog about pain. She has interviewed other girls and women from different ages about their experiences

and built a monolog based on those statements. We also have a musician interested in interactive sound art. There is also going to be two artistic groups trying to find different ways to express art; they are part of a project that can be seen as an artwork or a social study but that doesn’t change the content, the love and the interest for powerful insight. These are some of the artists performing at 25 x 25 in August.

Does the new generation and their work differ somehow from what we have seen before?

They don’t have a historical or even professional burden on their shoulders. China is comparably new to the contemporary artistic culture. In many ways the Chinese traditions and western traditions are burden to more professional artists who might be trained to think according to certain traditions. They can feel chained. Young artists don’t care about the traditions from East or West. They are trying to find the creativity from themselves, from their imagination and from their own lives, not from the academy or their teachers. They are more fresh and willing to break free from some of the definitions of different forms of art. From many artists you can not really say she is a dancer or a theater person, they cross boundaries. They have more freedom in their works and in their lives. They are more themselves as individuals and braver to take risks without being afraid of failure. I think they are the future.

What is best about EARS?

Roundtables! Talking is important to everyone; for people in business, art and media. You have to have people talking to each other before anything good can really happen between them. For the relations between Europe and Asia, talking is essential; the world is evolving and changing every day. We need people to meet each other and talk to each other face to face, have them ask questions and that way find real understanding. This form of roundtables brings different people from different countries and industries together to talk, that is the beginning of every possibility.

The post Interview with Cheung Fai appeared first on EARS.

Please tell us about your background, what did do before VICE China?

Before VICE China, I worked for Modern Sky Entertainment. I was a label manager and worked with founding. We for example started the company’s music festivals. After working with Modern Sky for six years, which is quite a long time, I started looking for something more culturally large-scaled. I got to know VICE and it felt like a perfect time for me to start a new thing, a media platform to examine youth culture.

How has VICE been received in China?

Very well. The key factor is that the team we have in Beijing consists mostly of local young people. They know what kind of things Chinese young people like so they know what kind of content we should produce. Especially all the local content that we have produced so far has been very popular both locally and internationally. Internationally, it’s very hard to find another media platform that shows this kind of real and versatile content on youth culture in China.

So it’s been really good so far! I don’t think that there’s any other international media company like VICE that has come to China and has been able to build such a huge group of followers in such a short time.

Have VICE faced any challenges in China?

The only challenge for VICE is that China is a huge, complex country. All different parts of China have their own local culture. Young people in all cities and in the countryside all behave differently. So even though China is one country, you’re need to learn about different parts of China. For a media company it means that if you want to tell a story about Chinese youth, you really have to go different places to meet and talk with the local people. You need to see what they look like, what they do and how they react to the rest of the world.

What can you tell about youth culture in China?

The whole of China is changing very fast and it’s same thing with youth culture. In China, we talk a lot about what Chinese young people do and what they are interested in. Right now young people’s consuming power is getting bigger and bigger, they have money to spend on music, fashion and travelling. Nowadays, young Chinese travel around the world.

Do you think that there’s a lot of differences between the VICE followers in China compared to the western world?

Basically for VICE as a digital company there’s only two different nations: one is online and the other is offline. When you get online, you get to talk to the whole world. Young people share the same information. They have a very similar way of thinking and they are into all kinds of interesting things.

Often when people talk about China, they see China as a totally different world. Of course culturally there’s a huge difference between the Western and Eastern culture but I don’t see that much difference in it as a country. The whole country has been open for a long time and especially the level of internationality has changed really fast. In VICE China we’re really excited to show to the rest of the world what Chinese young people are like. I believe that people know quite much about China but they don’t know that much about young Chinese.

Can you briefly tell us about the Creators Project by VICE?

The Creators Project is a media platform for arts and technology. It was founded by VICE and Intel. So far we have featured over 2000 artist all over the world like designers, filmmakers, musicians – all kinds of different people from creative industry. We for example have documentaries for audience to see the stories behind of creation. We also produce daily editorial content to show the most exciting creative scene of the world.

How do you see the development of creative industries in China?

China is a developing country and the creative industries are still in the very beginning. Nowadays you can see more and more local designers going to international markets and Chinese bands touring outside China. Before Chinese people got inspired by Western culture, fashion and design but now they’re trying to find their own identity. They are trying to establish their own stuff, which is a really good thing! The creative industries are in the very beginning but you can see that it will explode soon. Will be exciting to see what the future brings!

The post Interview with Meng Jinhui appeared first on EARS.

Who you are and what do you do?

My name is Ed Peto and I run a company called Outdustry Group based in Beijing. We represent Western rights owners, labels, services and producers for market-entry into China.

Please tell us about your background and how did you end up in China?

I’m originally from London. I was working in the music industry with labels, artist management and a few other areas. I developed a reasonably good understanding of how the industry worked as a whole and I wanted to take that understanding somewhere where the industry was still to be made, essentially. So, seven years ago I took a bit of a left turn in my life and decided to go and see how the market works in China. It’s been a very odd seven years because a lot of it is sort of been making it up as you go along. The industry in China is just fascinating! As tough as it is, everyday something bizarre or interesting happens – you’ll come across some amazing stories, amazing people and it’s kind of addictive. China just a very interesting place to be at a very interesting time.

Could you tell us a bit more about your company Outdustry?

The company is really a family of five small businesses. One is a producer and composer management business (Engine Music) representing Western producers, mixing and mastering engineers and composers for work on Chinese mainstream-pop, indie albums and more recently, major film soundtracks. The second business, which we actually just set up, is a sync agency (Core Sync) representing Western catalogues pitching for film, TV and web usage. We’re also starting to work as music supervisors for Chinese drama series.

Third business is a kind of a rights management business (OD Rights). We represent Western rights owners for bringing their catalogues into China and finding ways to monetize that through digital, physical and other markets. We’re increasingly looking into areas like performing rights, which is a very interesting area at the moment in China. We’re also acquiring Chinese catalogues for international distribution.

The fourth one is a market intelligence business called China Music Business. We publish articles about how the music industry works in China and are available for market visits, report writing and market introductions. Sort of trading in information and connections essentially. Last but not least, we have a music marketing agency (S/N Agency), primarily focused on building awareness around our clients and driving consumption of their physical and digital releases.

What kind of strategic decisions have you made to succeed in the Chinese market?

I think in general, the Chinese industry as a whole has progressed a lot slower than people would have liked it to and it’s still a very long play. Actually, as a recorded music market, it’s still incredibly small. It’s actually smaller than Switzerland and Thailand. That means companies in China have to be there for the long run. In terms of focusing our business, we made a decision a couple of years ago that while live music in China is incredibly exciting, it’s over-crowded and a hard area to make money in, so we focused on the record side which is even harder but there’s no one else really doing what we do – so we’ve got a good niche for ourselves. It’s strategically a very interesting area to be in but we have to keep in mind that it’s a long strategy.

Besides China, do you do business in other regions in Asia as well?

Because the industry is so small at the moment in China, there is a temptation to start doing business outside of China. However, one of the decisions I’ve made over the last couple of years is that you just got to be the best at what you do within a particular region. I think it could be a mistake to try to spread yourself out too much. China is such a complex place that it requires your full attention. Each region in Asia has its own set of issues or complexities, which require full time attention as well. For us, the most important thing is to be the best at what we do within China.

How do you see the development in the creative industries in China?

Any of the copyright dependent industries have traditionally had a very hard run in China. But there is a recognizable copyright law in China so it’s just a question of enforcing it properly so that the creative industries can start to flourish. It’s just starting to happen now. It’s looking increasingly interesting as the businesses develop and people actually start to see rewards from copyright based goods.

If we look at the film industry in China for example, it’s going through a boom at the moment. Largely because the Chinese government sees it as kind of a soft power issue where they want to start exporting films and they’ve protected that as an industry. We’re hoping that the music industry is going to be the next area of creative goods that actually get that level of protection from the government. It looks very exciting if this will happen. But as with all things in China, these things take longer than you would imagine. We know that the market is going to be very exciting and big in the future. It’s just when that future actually comes, that’s what’s unclear.

The post Interview with Ed Peto appeared first on EARS.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Nevin and I work for Maybe Mars Music. I also run a vinyl record label called Genjing Records. In the time that I’ve been in China, I have done many things including sending Chinese bands abroad and bringing foreign bands to China. I’ve been living in China for over ten years and in Asia since 1999 and in Beijing since 2005. When I got there, I first got involved with a venue called D-22 by booking shows for them. Through that, I ended up working with the label and then starting Genjing.

What made you go to China in the first place?

I originally went to China in 1999 to study and I was a student at the university at that time. I completely fell in love with China. After I graduated from the university, I took a scholarship to Korea and spent several years there but started missing China. So in 2005 I moved back, specifically to play in a band and just to enjoy the scene.

Could you tell us a little bit more about Maybe Mars Music?

Maybe Mars is one of the two big independent labels in China. It was started in 2007 and it has now over 50 releases and a total roster of 30 bands.

What kind of challenges are you facing with the music industry in China?

The music industry like the rest of China is developing and changing very quickly. In China, everything can completely change within just six months to one year. I’ve seen the music industry, especially between 2007 to 2012, change very rapidly.

What kinds of opportunities do you see for Asian music in Europe and in the US?

I see lots of opportunities for Asian music in Europe and in the US, mainly because it’s fairly unexplored. Most people in Europe and in the US don’t know much about Asian bands besides bands from Japan. As the Chinese music scene grows and as people learn more about these bands, I’m sure there will be a market for them.

From your experience, what is the best way of promoting Chinese bands in Europe and in the US?

I would say the best way is to connect the band to the local scene – having them partnered with local bands for tours and connecting them to the local media that deals directly with the type of music that they play and a type of scene that they move in.

You have also a band of your own. Could you tell us about that?

I’ve been playing in several bands in China but there’s one that I’ve been particularly playing in since 2006, it’s called Fanzui Xiangfa (犯罪想法). It is a hardcore punk band and it’s completely independent, not affiliated or signed to any label. We’re touring Europe for the second time starting in a week!

We’re now in Helsinki for EARS. How do you like the city?

I’m just starting to get to know Helsinki and I really like it, it’s a beautiful city! EARS has been very interesting and I attended EARS on China last year. Here in Helsinki, I’ve been continuing conversations with people on going deeper into some connections between the music industries in Europe and in Asia.

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Hey, who are you and what do you do?

My name is Philipp Grefer and I’m the co-founder of a music agency called Fake Music Media. We do promotion, concerts and bring bands and artists into Asia. I’m also a DJ and we have a small festival called M.A.D.

What is the history of your company?

About four years ago we brought the first band from Berlin to China. The first concert was quite successful so we decided to do it again. Over time we have expanded from doing concerts in Beijing to doing them in many other places as well. Later our company became also a booking agency bringing artists to all around in Asia and then found this festival called M.A.D. The company grows quite organically.

Has people’s interest in Western music grown in China?

Yes it has, definitely. I can see it clearly in the audiences. When we did the first concerts in 2009, there were around 500 people listening and 80 per cent of them were Westerners. If we would do the same concert here today, 80 per cent of the people would be Chinese. So the people’s music interests have changed quite a bit.

What kind of music do the Chinese listen most at the moment?

Well, that’s a good question. Still today I would say that 90 percent of the market is Mandopop or Cantopop. K-pop is also a big thing but all kind of pop music is very popular. The percentage of domestic independent music as well as international music is growing. You can see that in the festivals where there is a lot of indie music, rock music and electronic music coming together and 20 000 people are coming to these festivals.

The festival field has grown rapidly, how do you see the future of the business?

It’s going to be a bit tricky as not all festivals are built to last long. A lot of local government money has been put into these festivals but there will be a lot of cutting of the government funding for these festivals because of corruption suspicions. The market is big enough to be sustainable, the question is only how many people buy tickets in the end and how the sponsors are going to react. A lot of times things work this way in China. First you take two steps forward as something is growing. Then something changes in the field and you take a step backwards. Then you have to wait a little bit until the field finds a new balance and then you can go forward again.

What are the biggest differences when doing projects in China compared to Germany?

Well, there are so many differences! It’s completely different. The media for example, Facebook is blocked, Twitter and Youtube are blocked, so you have to localize all the content to the media platforms here. Promoting shows is very different. The media is different, people’s attitudes are different, how you deal with the local government or regulations is different, I don’t know where to begin frankly!

The post Interview with Philipp Grefer appeared first on EARS.

My name is Shen Yue. I’m one of the partners of Modern Sky.

Could you tell us a little bit of Modern Sky?

Modern Sky is currently the biggest record label in China. Our business includes artist management, music releasing, records, digital and also commercial cooperation with brands. The biggest part of our business is the festivals and we also specialize in live shows. We are trying to build an ecosystem of music from artist management to releases and live shows. Everything that is about music – we do it.  We were founded in 1997, when our boss Mr. Lihui decided to have his own music label for his own band. Then, all of a sudden, he realized that his record label was bigger than his band and decided change careers from being a rock star to a CEO.

What is Modern Sky Festival?

Modern Sky Festival is held in Beijing and Shanghai once a year. We do live shows in clubs with headliners such as the Cardigans and Cat Power and crew bands such as Free Energy. We also do big festivals like the Strawberry Festival, which is an outdoor event with hundreds of thousands of people. Modern Sky Festival is more about the music only. Unlike Strawberry, Modern Sky Festival is held in live houses, clubs and concert halls with artists playing series of live shows. We hope it to become a little bit like South by Southwest. We love to have the EARS summit as a part of the Modern Sky Festival and extend the content.

Do many Chinese people listen to rock music nowadays?

It depends how you understand rock music. People think you should be a free spirit and a rebel – people put a lot of labels to rock. But actually it’s a community, like pop music. What people want to hear and see is wonderful live performances on big stages, especially on outside stages, in music festivals for example. Whatever the music is, if you give a good performance on the stage, the audience will love you. I think pop or rock is not serious. A lot of people are labeling artists, we don’t want to do that. If we do a rock festival, and if you happen to be a pop star we don’t care. It’s more about the people at the event and what kind of music experiences people want, not what kind of music you play.

What other differences are there between Strawberry and Modern Sky Festivals?

In Strawberry festival, for example in Beijing last year, we had eight stages and around two hundred artists or groups playing.  Most of the artists were local but we also had big names like Xie Tianxiao, Second Hand Rose, New Pants and of course indie pop stars from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. For Modern Sky Festival we wanted to do it differently. We want this to be totally Western artists that we think are totally presentable, cool and something to present to the Chinese audience. For the Strawberry festival we also have good western artists as headliners, in the future even more than previously. Strawberry festivals main goal is to include everything, Modern Sky on the other hand is all about being sharp, new and a opinion leader. That’s why we choose bands like Cat Power, Club 8 or Cardigans. We want people to enjoy the Modern Sky Festival, it’s a very edgy brand.

Why aren’t the Chinese bands big globally?

I think the main reason is that some of the biggest names in China, for example Cui Jian, Second Hand Rose and Xie Tianxiao, do most of their music is in Chinese and don’t see themselves as global artists. But there are also other bands like New Pants, Re-TROS, PK14, who are more likely to have global careers and tours also in the Western world. Their music is in English. I think the culture and language barrier is the main obstacle why Chinese bands aren’t that big globally. But on the other hand, if a Chinese artist sees himself as a Chinese artist, it’s a good thing. They don’t have to go global actually.

The post Interview with Shen Yue appeared first on EARS.

Hey, who are you and what do you do?

My name is Yang Yu. I work for Midi Festival and Midi School of Music as a Head of International. I take care of international projects and booking of international bands.

Could you tell us about Midi Festival?

A lot of people say that Midi Festival is the first Chinese rock open air festival. We started in 2000 from the Midi Music School’s campus and moved to public park in 2004. This has been considered as the start of this new music festival culture in China.

The festival has got quite big. We started in Beijing but after several years we have moved out and now we’re doing events several times a year in different places. Last year we had  five events in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The majority of the bands are Chinese: Chinese rock, indie and a lot of folk musicians. We have a bit of everything. Midi is still called rock festival because when rock started in China, there was this idea of rock, not really the exact music style. Independent, alternative, non-pop…we include a lot of things in the big family of rock.

Midi festival has become quite iconic. Bands and fans are traveling around the country just to be part of the big party. That’s why they are called rock kids. 10 to 20 percent of our artists are internationals: foreigners living in China or foreign bands touring around. Sometimes we just invite bands to visit our festival. Midi has been a good platform for the new bands to get started. I guess it’s fair to say that Midi Festival has become rock institution in China.

How would you say that Midi Festival has influenced on Chinese music industry?

Midi Festival has definitely influenced on the live music sector. Before the festival, the approach of doing open air events was quite different. A lot of events involved pop stars and TV productions which is a quite different thing compared to a proper music festival where you need a lot of gears and good sound for an audience – not only for the TV production. The whole approach is different. I think we kicked something started in China.

Do you do cooperation with other festivals in China or internationally?

The scene is very small so Chinese festival people are all friends with each other. Internationally we have also a lot of cooperation, for example with Hohaiyan Rock Festival in Taiwan and Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. We have an exchange program for the bands. More cooperation opportunities is developing in Korea and we would like to do more cooperation with France and Norway.

There are a lot of cooperation going on behalf of the festivals but also behalf of the bands with mutual benefits. Possibly we can help the bands to get out to see the rest of the world and gain more experience, and hopefully to create an oversea market.

You’ve been organizing festivals for thirteen years in China. How has things developed in the festival industry during these years?

I think the whole new festival culture with rock festival and open air festivals has really set something on move in the live music sector. There are now more bands touring and there are better equipments because of the need. Nowadays 100 to 200 festivals are being organized in China per year. Everyone are demanding on gears and equipments. That has really helped the industry develop a lot. Bands get to play on bigger stations, they get known outside of their own territory. That’s the change and things have changed very fast! In 2007 which is not even that long ago, there was only a few festivals that were known. Now you totally get lost where and when was all these different festivals because each month there might be several festivals. People wants to go to different places. Definitely that was the change, the boost of it all.

Things are improving. It’s for example easier to get back line rental for the bands. I remember that only two-three years ago we were looking for a specific old-style guitar XX by Marshall. We found out that there was only six guitars available and one of them was broken. Eventually we got six pieces that we needed, half of them were borrowed from private collectors. The renting companies didn’t kept these kinds of equipments because they are not standard. This happened not even that long ago but you can already say that nowadays it’s much easier to get equipments like this.

The government is also changing their regulations and their policy in order to make everything easier and for allowing more interesting cultural events to happen. It’s easier to get all the paper work done and to apply for things. It’s all taking a new shape but of course things still needs to be developed. If you compare the production quality in China, no matter which festival, it’s still not the same standard as you would see for example in Europe: setting up the stage, the size of the stage… a lot of things are lacking. There are lot of festivals out there where each band will have their own stuff based on the rider. That’s impossible in China! We even tried that but couldn’t supply because of the cost, the knowledge, the crew and everything. We don’t have that much but we are getting there. I don’t know when but everything is developing quite fast. Me and my colleagues are having quite hard time on keeping ourselves updated and trying new things just for the improvement.

How do you see your and other festivals’ future in China?

Midi started out at a time when there was actually no market for that kinds of festivals. We rammed down the wall with a bunch of likewise people to start this music festival industry. I think we will keep on doing the same things, no matter how the music market is changing.

I can see that there is a slight change in tendency. There are a lot of festivals moving towards pop, especially Chinese pop again. Chinese pop has been and still is the biggest thing in China, nothing else can be compared to it. However there are people who want to do more proper rock and indie pop festivals. So there are different directions where the festival organizers are moving to.

The mass media, like TV is interested in being involved and that is pushing everything back to the Chinese pop festival kind of a thing. There are lot of Hong Kong companies and Taiwanese companies who have been here for a long time and instead of doing this pop concert they are interested in being largely involved in this behind the curtain production.

Modern Sky, as one of the biggest key players in the industry has started this indoor festival thing which has been done by rather small companies before. I think this is also a movement. We also had the same idea a long time ago but we haven’t done that yet. I think that’s a good move and a good alternative. It doesn’t make sense that everyone does pretty much the same thing – more or less the same bands, the same approach, the same size, the same time of the year. We need to have more innovations that are suitable for China for to keep the industry thriving. It has happened a lot before that different things suddenly boom, everyone jumps in to the business, competition is on and then it gets uninteresting. And then everyone disappears out of the sudden to make something new. I hope this doesn’t happen to the Chinese music festivals.

Do you think that networking events are important in the creative industries?

Yeah sure! Both us and Modern Sky are quite famous in the live music industry. I receive something like 30 emails per day. Different bands applying for the festival or companies looking for a partner. In the end of the day you have a lot of names in your head but you can’t really remember them. When you go to a convention like EARS, you get to actually meet the people that you have been writing novels of emails with.

When you come to the event, you notice that a lot of people actually know each other already. It’s a good opportunity for everybody to meet again at once. This is convenient because everybody are busy and many people travels a lot. Events offers opportunity to meet people and widen up your possibilities. When you get introduced to some project in face to face, you’ll have a deeper impression of it and you get to immediately discuss about the main issues. You just sit down for a coffee and within twenty minutes you have the whole concept figured out. Connecting and socializing is really really important.

The post Interview with Yang Yu appeared first on EARS.

Hey, who are you and what do you do?

My name is Isabelle Glachant and I’m an independent producer based in Beijing. I’ve lived there for more than ten years now, producing Chinese directors like Wang Xiaoshuai, Lou Ye , Lu Chuan. Since January I’ve represented Unifrance, an association that promotes French in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

How did you end up in China?

I was looking for a place as far away from France as possible. China was far enough. I learned Chinese and fell in love with Hong Kong cinema while watching Jackie Chan films. I discovered Chinese cinema and what is called the 6th generation of directors, who started making movies after the events of 1989

How is the Chinese film industry at the moment?

There wasn’t one until early 2000. Movies were made with public financing and were mostly propaganda, with a few artistic directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, whose films were shown at international film festivals. In 2000 the government decided they wanted to help build a Chinese film industry to counter the rising popularity of American films, so they allowed private companies to produce and distribute their own films. Commercial directors like Feng Xiaogang started making films and previously underground directors, like Jia Zhangke, Lou Ye and Wang Xiaoshuai, started having an impact on the legal market. The market continued to grow, so Hong Kong directors and producers moved to Beijing, which resulted in more growth.

The variety of films being made is rich, from very commercial martial arts movies and movies about Shanghai in the 1930s to propaganda movies and small films by indie directors. The indie films are the ones that usually get shown at international festivals or distributed in Europe.

How does the government support the industry and what kinds of films does it support?

Unlike in Europe, there is no jury of writers and directors deciding which films to fund. There’s a government bureau, which is financed out of the tax on movie tickets, so most movies they finance are propaganda, films that the government needs. There might be some sort of anniversary coming up and they want a film made that deals with the anniversary in question.

Some directors want the government to provide movies that are internationally successful with support and special subsidies, which would help produce and sell their movies. No such system exists as of yet, so the films that you see at festivals or movie theaters outside China and Hong Kong are all made with private money.

The production companies that finance Chinese movies are often also talent agencies and distributors, They own theaters and control of the distribution chain provides them with the cash they need to finance movies. Product placement is also a very common way to solicit cash advances during production. Television and internet sales come into the picture after the film has already been produced and distributed, so they are not a source for financing a production.

You’ve worked on art house films. What kind of process is it and how much artistic freedom do you have? How do you finance those films?

In Chinese art house movies the director usually writes the script and often produces the movie, too. Sometimes the director also edits and travels with the movie to try and sell it. The process depends on the director. You have to provide the censors with a treatment or a complete script to get approval. They give you notes on what works and what doesn’t in your submission. Once you have approval from the censors, you can start looking for financing, because people won’t want to get behind a film that is not sure to pass censorship.

If you ask directors, even very commercially successful ones like Lu Chuan, what the key to securing financing is, they’ll say you have to be good at karaoke. Karaoke bars are a popular venue for business negotiations. You need to spend time with the people whose money you need.

It’s a new industry, so a lot of the money comes from other industries. In the case of art house movies, wealthy individuals sometimes help individual directors. Commercial movies usually involve big casts or expensive action scenes, so they rely on different sources.

What kind of problems have you had with censorship?

I usually don’t have problems. You send the script and you’re done with it. It gets complicated if they decide to censor a finished movie. Re-editing, re-recording and re-mixing is expensive. In co-productions, your partners might not understand why you have to simultaneously finish post-production and try and keep it open, in case changes are needed.  These kinds of problems are new to most people working on major international productions.

Do you think the popularity of Chinese films in the West will increase?

I would say their popularity has been on the wane over the last few years. Korean and Japanese movies are gaining in popularity. The local Chinese market has become stronger and the local audience’s taste seems to differ from our tastes. We like characterization and strong, human stories. The Chinese audience right now wants big, escapist entertainment. In Europe we already get that with American movies.

The Chinese box office grows 30 to 40 percent annually. Movie theatres are being built at a rate of about 300 per year and there are still lots of cities that don’t have theaters, so the potential is huge. The growth applies to only one kind of film, however: American-style, 3D entertainment.

Building art house movie theaters is the challenge, to see if Chinese films can survive in that market, too, as well as create a space for European art house movies in China.

What kinds of stories do Chinese filmmakers want to tell?

Period stories are the easiest to get past the censors right now. Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s, before the birth of the new China in the form of the Communist takeover of 1949, is a popular subject. Films about emperors, martial arts and the Japanese occupation are popular, too, probably for the same reason. Some romantic comedies have been successful. Rom-coms cost 2 to 3 million yuan to make and can gross 100 million.

Whether these are the stories directors want to tell is a good question. In many cases, these are the movies they end up making, because these are the movies they are asked to make.

Some commercial genre films are hard to do, like cop films and thrillers, because you can’t scare the audience. Directors try to work around these restrictions, but this year both commercial and art house directors have also approached the censors about opening up some subjects. They feel that the limits placed on them are preventing Chinese films from really competing with foreign productions.

How big a problem is piracy for Chinese cinema?

Piracy is a problem for big productions. A Zhang Yimou film really needs to make the money invested back. The weird thing is that when a Zhang Yimou film comes out, it takes over a month for pirated DVDs to appear. For art house movies, it takes about two days. And we really need to put people in the seats at cinemas to recoup our little investment.

It’s funny that not all films receive the same treatment from the pirates. Piracy provides a lot of Chinese directors with access to European films that they wouldn’t otherwise see in theaters or TV, so there are some positives sides to it, too.

Are there limits to how many foreign films can be imported?

The Chinese government used to limit access to the Chinese market for purely political reasons. They wanted to protect the people in the countryside from images that are detrimental to them. Now the reasons are commercial. They wish to protect the Chinese industry until it’s developed enough to face foreign competition.

Currently, 34 films are distributed on a shared revenue profit program and 30 films on a flat fee program. About one third of films screened are foreign: 100-120 Chinese, 60-70 foreign, annually.

What counts as a Chinese film in co-production scenarios?

Chinese co-productions are very different from the European ones. In Europe, co-production treaties control spending in each treaty party’s country, number of workers, languages used, etc. China doesn’t use treaties, which has allowed the Americans to work in China, as opposed to the Europeans, because they don’t need treaties. The Chinese are more interested in visibility than finances. They want China to be seen in co-production movies, so the films often have to be set in China. They want Chinese leads or, at the very least, some other major characters. They want the movie to promote China. If these conditions are met, they will give you access to the Chinese market and you can release your movies outside the quota for foreign films.

Have international stars acted in Chinese films?

Some Americans stars, yes. Christian Bale acted in a hit Zhang Yimou film that was released last December. It’s a movie set in the 1930s, during the Japanese occupation and the Nanking massacre. It didn’t do that great outside China, though. 10 years ago Feng Xiaogang did a movie with Donald Sutherland, but he said he’ll never do it again. He’d hoped the film would travel better. It didn’t and it was less successful in the local market than his earlier movies.

There have been a few cases, but it’s not a common model.

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Hey, who are you and what do you do?

My name is Al Di, and I’m a concert promoter and festival booker in China. I bring Western bands to China, organize tours and program them at music festivals. It’s my passion and I love my job. I’m based in Beijing, but I work on a national level. Right now I feel like I want to move to Helsinki. I love the Finnish language and I love to party!

How did you get into the music business?

I graduated from a music business school. I had a very good teacher, who offered me a job at Universal Music in Canada, where I did all the street team and online e-team work. I also had a show called ALD TV on the west coast of Canada in 2007, with a huge buzz in some parts of North America

Then I worked for Universal Music China and it seemed pretty watered down, so figured concert promotion was the future. The rest is history

Could you tell us a bit about ALD TV?

It was a unique show. Introducing new artists and bands to the world is my passion, so that’s what ALD TV focused on. I interviewed them and had fun on camera, while introducing their music to fans of the show. I made some really good friends, which helped me start promoting concerts in China

How have you seen the Chinese music scene change or grow?

Previous generations worked hard to survive and since the economic reforms, to make money. Now young people want more out of life than work, so they look to art, music and the world outside China. This is where rock music comes in. China is a developing country, butthe kids want to be like kids from any other country. They think rock’n’roll can make people more open-minded.

So there’s a scene building up?

Rock has been in China for 20 years, but it was underground for the first ten. With China slowly reforming, people are starting to accept it. There are now 30 music festivals in China. Most are poorly organized, but there are a few really good ones. 3 to 5 years from now China may be a major market for international music.

What are the best festivals?

Modern Sky and MIDI were among the first to introduce music festivals to Chinese youth. China Music Valley started in 2010 and became the biggest festival, with the sponsorship of Live Nation, as well as the local government. The sponsorship helps them bring bigger artists to China.

Is local government support important then?

Yes. I travel a lot so I know that elsewhere, like Finland, they can recoup from ticket sales and sponsorships. Festivals are new in China, so government money is important.

Do companies sponsor events?

At the moment most festivals would like to work with brands, but only small amounts of money is available. Maybe in five years brands will be willing to seriously sponsor festivals.

What are the companies that now sponsor events?

A company from Denmark called Bestseller, with a clothing line called Only, sometimes uses a lot of money to sponsor Chinese festivals.

Can you name any new good bands?

China has a pretty decent heavy metal scene, and Yaksa and Falling are two good bands that played the Wacken festival in Germany this summer. It’s bigger then any other scene in China.

How big is the fan base?

It’s hard to say, but most of the time when I promote a show for heavy metal, 90 % of the audience are local kids. If I put on an electronic show or indie rock, the crowd will be mostly expat.

Is social media important?

We use three services for promotion: Weibo, Douban and Youku. They may not mean much to you, but they are the Facebook, YouTube and Twitter of China. The originals are blocked.

What was the best show you’ve put together so far?

It’s a difficult question, since most of my shows gave been quite successful, but if I have to pick one, I’ll say Stratovarious. And I’m not saying that because I’m sitting in a hotel in Finland! They’re top musicians and passionate about investing their time in China. They’ve been there three times and draw bigger crowds every time.

Is it difficult for foreign bands to find success in China?

Very difficult for bands that are just starting out, but if an upcoming artist already has a little bit of reputation in the local scene, they have a better chance of rising to fame in China. A new band from Finland may play for 20 or 30 people. It’s a small world, thanks to the internet, so Chinese youth know how to find info about foreign artist. If we promote a new band that hasn’t released anything and we say it’s good, nobody will believe it, because they don’t see this band’s name in magazines or hear the music on the radio. A band like Negative that is already successful in Finland will have an easier time and they are also willing to invest time and effort in China, so they garner respect that way.

So media is really important?

Yes, and you need to succeed in your home country before going for it abroad.

How is heavy metal’s media presence?

That’s the beauty of it. The mainstream media never supported the heavy metal scene, so the fans spend a lot of time on the internet. Chinese music lovers are the best music lovers in the world. In Europe I can hear metal music on the radio while driving and go to a supermarket to buy magazines featuring my favorite metal artists. I may even see a video on TV. There is no media that caters to music lovers in China, so fans spend a lot of time discovering music on the internet.

China is big. What are the differences between scenes in various parts of China?

China is so huge, it’s hard to answer. If you look at the cities, there’s 20 million people living in Beijing, for example. That’s an enormous variety of people. When we introduce Western artists to China, we have to focus on the three main cities: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou

Is selling records difficult?

Yes. Even the biggest artists, like Lady Gaga and Rihanna, will sell less than 100,000. 50,000 or 60,000 is a “hit”. New bands sell 2000.

Is piracy the problem?

The internet is the problem. Nobody buys pirate CDs anymore, because everyone downloads free music off the internet . We lack platforms for introducing music to the market and there’s no support from the mainstream media. If you want to make it in China, you can’t complain about piracy, since that’s how young Chinese people find you.

How do you see the future of music business in China?

I think record labels will suffer, because nobody buys CDs. The live music market is great. In the West bands tour to promote an album, but in China that doesn’t really make sense.

Can Chinese music make it in the West like J-rock or K-pop are beginning to?

Not in the next 5 years. Korean artists receive a lot of support from government organizations. 10 years ago the Korean government helped a lot of Korean music producers study overseas. After 3-4 years these music business people return to Korea and bring new ways ideas. The government is the driving force.

Right now, when Western people think of Chinese artists, they think of kung-fu stars like Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, etc. That’s one way for people who never go to China to have a connection with China. If we think about Japan, people grow up with Japanese cars, video games and cartoons, so they’ve had a connection with Japan all their lives. I try to impress on the people at the Ministry of Culture that a Chinese superstar is a great way to introduce China to the Western world.

What’s the role of the government?

If a foreign band wants to release a record locally, the Ministry of Culture will review the lyrics and music. Any songs that involve violence, sexual behavior or drugs will not be released in China. Bands have to submit their set lists for approval, too. For our foreign bands, we have to submit a band’s videos, promo photos, video of a live performance, etc. It’s a lot of work.

Have you had any problems with that?

We are professionals and know how to do our job, so no.

How about others?

It’s the same as in any other country: there are good promoters and bad promoters. There are bad promoters that tell you that they will bring you to China for 7-city tour, but two months before they cancel and blame the government, using the Ministry as an excuse. We can’t always blame the ministry of culture.

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My name is Lua Zhou. I’m from China and work for a video website called LETV.com. We offer both free and subscription-based content. We combine the business models of HULU and Netflix.

How does your business model work? How is your company financed?

We’re a group company and LETV.com is our video website. We buy and produce our own content. We secure sponsorship from our clients for the content we produce ourselves. We have an advertising agent, who helps us get product placements. Of course, we get money from subscriptions, too.

How many viewers do you have and what kind of content is most popular?

We have 50 million viewers on a daily basis on our website, with 700,000 regular subscribers. TV programs and dramas are most popular right now. One of the TV dramas we offer is the year’s biggest hit and it had a billion page views.

What are the big trends at the moment and why?

Controversial things and entertaining things. Talent shows, like Voice of China. It’s huge over the internet right now. It generates headlines and discussion: who’s going to win, what the judges do, was it wrong or right… You can also enjoy the music.

What kinds of people use your services?

Video website netizens. There are an estimated 350 million video website users in China. I think all of them are our audience.

Do a lot of people watch programs on mobile phones?

Watching TV on the mobile is very popular. Almost all Chinese video websites have their own mobile app.The number of mobile internet users is expected to hit 600 million this year, surpassing the amount of regular internet users for the first time.

You also produce your own movies. Can you tell us a little about it?

LETV.com is a website, so we produce short films and network TV drama for PCs, tablets and mobile phones. We also have a sister company LEVP, which works in movie production and distribution. It’s one of the biggest of its kind in China. They recently coproduced a movie called Expendables 2 with an American company and took care of the Chinese distribution themselves. It’s a huge hit and made 250 million in the box office.

Who pays for the content?

We buy it from a variety of copyright owners: production companies, movie companies, TV stations… We pay for content with the money we earn. We buy the local content from domestic companies. We own 60 to 70 percent of the Chinese TV programs and movie content. We sell it to other network companies. That’s another source of income.

Do you have foreign content?

We have some foreign content, like Expendables 2, if you can call it foreign… We’re working on increasing the share of foreign content. We’re talking to Japanese companies about animation, which is very big on our site. We’re launching a sports channel this year, so we’re buying rights to sporting events.

Is the Chinese audience interested in watching foreign films or programs? From which countries?

For movies the biggest is still America. For TV drama it varies: Korean, Japanese, British and American soap operas are all popular.

Are the foreign programs and films dubbed into Chinese?

Yes, by professional companies.

Does the content you produce yourself get pirated? Do people share your content illegally? How big a problem is piracy for the Chinese entertainment industry?

We protect our copyrights. Piracy has always been a problem, which is why we have a big copyright department. We track our copyrights. If it gets pirated, we take legal action.

You also have mobile TV services. Can you tell us about that?

We have a mobile application that allows viewers to watch the content from LETV.com. It has all the same content, but no ads before the videos.

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