Whatever their reason for doing a co-production, producers and filmmakers should focus on the story they’re trying to tell rather than trying to please all audiences and markets, was the major message of a panel about international co-production at the on-going Hong Kong Filmart.
Emad Eskandar, head of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund, which has recently expanded to include Asia, compared co-production to being a gamer: “Every item you use comes with pluses and minuses – you’re going to get ten points with this element, but perhaps minus five points in health.”
He explained that Saudi has already been involved in hundreds of international co-productions through the Red Sea Fund, including Oscar-nominated titles Four Daughters and The Man Who Sold His Skin, both directed by Kaouther Ben Hania. But he advised that the script should always come first: “I see the artistic side sometimes get challenged; the co-producers give you notes on the script to change something that is going to make the project look good in their country.
Watch on Deadline
“It happens a lot with African and Arab-based films – there’s a European checklist, maybe they want to add a shower scene to win an award. We also see a lot of contracts where the writer comes last. So you need to choose your co-producers carefully.”
However, Eskandar added that the Arab world has also learned many useful skills from working with Europe, in particular Saudi Arabia’s nascent film industry and young Saudi filmmakers, for whom getting involved in a co-production is sometimes necessary just to learn how to put together a film.
Producer Natacha Devillers of France’s Les Petites Lumières, who works across Europe and Asia, agreed it’s important to focus on the script, especially when its going through rounds of translation with different co-production partners: “You get additional partners and the script gets translated back and forth, and then one day the original writer or director doesn’t recognize what he’s doing,” Devillers said. “I call that the rabbit hole. If it gets to that stage, I cut it off and say lets forget about co-production.”
Devillers, who managed pull together a France-China co-production Peking Man during the pandemic, also said it’s usually easier to co-produce just within Europe or just within Asia, rather than bridging the cultural divide between the two continents. But interest in co-production is increasing as the world shrinks, cultures collide, and funding becomes harder to find. Even bigger Asian countries, including China and South Korea, are looking beyond their borders.
“Also many young filmmakers study overseas then come back home, so there’s starting to be a much more universal film language, and they can interact with other European or American companies because it’s becoming more homogenous,” Devillers said.
Gabriela Tocchio, Executive Producer at Brazil’s Gullane (Senna, Motel Destino), which co-produced animated feature Noah’s Ark with India, said it’s always difficult to navigate through financial feasibility and creative integrity, but that’s it’s always worth it: “There are two elements we always try to maintain: one is locality, which means bringing local culture and elements to the project, and the other is that to reach a global audience you need to bring universal themes.”
She also spoke of the importance of timelines in co-production as often public funds have a deadline after which they expire. “You have to be very careful if you raise money before your partner, because your funding may run out before everything else is in place and you’ve made the film.”
Malaysian producer Lorna Tee, who also moderated the panel, observed that Asia and Latin America share many similar cultural norms and have a lot of potential to work together: “It’s just that the distance geographically is a little bit daunting, so how do we bridge that physical distance and find the common grounds to connect?”
Justin Kim, Head of International Film Production at Korean studio CJ ENM, talked about co-production from the perspective of a big corporation. CJ has already handled a large amount of local-language production in territories including Indonesia, Vietnam and Turkey, but the studio’s major goal has been to target the local box office and audiences.
“From my experience, I’ve realized that every country and creator have different needs from co-production – some are seeking co-production partners primarily for investment, some are looking for local distribution and marketing synergies, and some for the international sales strategies they want to develop together.”
Tan Si En, Managing Director of Singapore’s Momo Films, explained that producers in her country are on the opposite end of the spectrum – with a small market and population, Singapore finds it necessary to co-produce to reach international audiences. Backed by essential government support, Singaporean producers have been putting together co-productions that are “speaking to different regions” and winning acclaim on the international festival circuit.
She added that “not every film needs to be a co-production” but there are cases when it’s necessary to get the film made. “It really depends on what your film needs – if you want to tap funds from a particular country, or work with a craftsman from France, or if you want to tap into actors from Korea. I think having that understanding of your own project before you jump into co-production, jump into bed with each other, prevents unnecessary drama further down the line.”
Even mainland China, which was becoming much more self-sufficient, even before the pandemic, is opening up to co-production again. Eric Lin, head of international content at China’s Alibaba Pictures, said that, post-pandemic, audiences have become much more open to diverse content but that also means competition has increased: “Now you’re competing with everyone because audiences are all watching the same kind of content on OTT platforms.”
“We’re always thinking how do we create better content, fresher content, so we’re looking for projects that are more story-driven,” Lin continued. “It’s not no longer about trying to find a project that serves both markets, because the audience is evolving. So instead you’re trying to pull resources from different regions to make a film that has a better story to tell.”
Lin used the example of recent Hong Kong hit The Last Dance, which Alibaba Pictures co-produced with Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures. Although a smaller story-driven film, not a big-budget action spectacle like most Hong Kong-China coproductions, the film was a hit in both Hong Kong and mainland China.
The post ‘Co-Production Should Serve The Script, Not A Checklist”: Filmart Panel Explores Copros In Asia & Beyond appeared first on Deadline.
