Chinese Film and TV Companies Repays $1.72 Billion in Back Taxes
Recently, Chinese film and TV companies have completed self-auditing taxes of the past three years and paid a total of 11.7 billion yuan ($1.72 billion) in back taxes, according to sources familiar with the matter. This is the first step of China’s crackdown on tax evasions in the entertainment industry. Companies that paid their back taxes during this stage will avoid fines or punishments. Soon the regulators will start the next step of the crackdown, which entails investigations into and punishments for companies that didn’t follow government orders during the first step and still owe taxes. Read more on entgroup.cn
Oscar Frontrunner ‘Green Book’ Scores China Release
Right after the nominees for the 91st Academy Awards were announced, Chinese co-producer of nominated film Green Book released a poster of the film with a March 1 Chinese release date on the poster. The film is predicted to perform well in China, as the opening day is one week after the Oscar award ceremony and Green Book will likely win awards. Set in the South of the U.S. in the 1960s, the film follows a tour between African-American pianist Don Shirley and Tony Vallelonga, an Italian-American bouncer who served as Shirley’s driver and bodyguard. Read more on Mtime
The Marriage of eSports and Variety Shows in China
eSports, a form of competition using video games, has inspired the variety show industry in China. One pioneer in integrating eSports and variety shows is Tencent, which produced the first Chinese eSports variety show based on hit game Honor of Kings in 2017. The next year, Mango TV and Panda TV also started producing eSports variety shows. Thanks to the impressive performance of Chinese eSports teams in global arena and the emergence of star eSports players in 2018, the outlook for eSports and eSports-themed variety shows in 2019 is positive. However, Chinese eSports variety shows also face criticism. Some of them are being criticized for being too professional while others are being criticized for being not professional enough. Achieving a balance between being professional and being entertaining remains a challenge. Read more on entgroup.cn
