DreamWorks Introduces Slew of Upcoming Films to Chinese Audience
Recently, DreamWorks Animation hosted a promotional event in Beijing, introducing the company’s upcoming films to the China market. This is the first event of this kind hosted in China by DreamWorks since it became a subsidiary of Universal Studios. At the event, the company presented a slew of sequels to popular tales, including How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls World Tour, and The Croods 2, etc. Chris deFaria, president of DreamWorks Feature Animation Group, addressed the company’s ambition in the Middle Kingdom. In addition to releasing upcoming films in China, DreamWorks also hopes to find more Chinese partners to collaborate with. Early this year, DreamWorks exited from its China joint venture Oriental DreamWorks, but still maintains a good relationship with the company, which is now renamed as Pearl Studio and fully owned by CMC. Read more on Sansheng
China, US and Japan to Co-produce Animated Film Inspired by ‘Journey To The West’
At the Tokyo International Film Festival, China’s Bona Film Group and Japan’s Toni Animation jointly announced a co-production plan to make an animated film based on classic Chinese novel Journey to The West. Production team will be mainly comprised of Hollywood talents, including John A. Davis as director and J. David Stem and David N Weiss as screenwriters. According to info submitted to China’s film bureau, the film is centered around Monkey King’s son who goes on a journey to find his father who is sent to protect the planet earth from aliens. According to sources familiar with the matter, the film’s producers have spent three years developing the film and will take another two years to complete the production. Read more on Mtime
Short-video Apps and Film Promotion in China
The popularity of Douyin and Kuaishou has led many brands and marketers, including film promotion firms, to jump on the short-video bandwagon. While short-video is a new arena, how a film is promoted pretty much remains the same. Currently, a film is mainly promoted through three types of accounts on short-video apps: a film’s official account, entertainment media accounts, and KOL’s individual accounts. As for the content, videos that feature popular stars, such as interviews with lead actors and behind-the-scene clips, receive more views. Placing ads on short-video apps is also relatively cheap. Based on WeChat media account yiyuguancha’s investigation, it only costs about $10,000 to place an ad via a popular account with millions of views. Read more on yiyuguancha
