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By Robert Cain for China Film Biz

November 16, 2012

I recently came across a series of videos published online by the organizers of September’s Stanford Business School China 2.0 conference. The keynote speaker was a friend of mine, DMG Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group President Chris Fenton, who consented to my request to publish a link to his speech, a segment of which you’ll find here.

In the video Chris provides a brief overview of DMG and the activities of its 900 employees in China and the U.S: its businesses include a major advertising agency, media buying, production of local language films in the $2-6 million budget range, co-production and import of U.S. films, and most recently, building and operating theaters. He goes on to show the Chinese version of the trailer for Looper, a film that DMG co-financed and co-produced. And most important for Chris, he shares his thoughts on the importance of improved relations between China and the U.S.

As Chris put it to me, “It is crucial for the US to understand the Chinese point of view to successfully open their market to our exports, particularly with regards to the film industry because it’s so visible. The Chinese view the inference that there’s industry-wide corruption in China and the negative rhetoric of U.S. political leaders as impediments to smoother relations between us.”

Chris’ basic message, one I wholeheartedly agree with, is that if American producers and production companies want to continue to participate in China’s booming entertainment market, they need to meet their Chinese counterparts halfway, to understand and address their needs, and to behave in ways that are a little less foreign and a little more ‘Chinese.’ Of course the same can be said for Chinese companies that wish to participate in the global entertainment business. DMG is one of the few Chinese companies that has shown itself to be fluent in the U.S. and international business culture.

Also appearing at the Stanford conference are my friend Janet Yang, who spoke about her movie career in China, former U.S. ambassador Jon Huntsman, who discussed business lessons from Google’s China experience, and China Film Co-Production Company President Zhang Xun, who talked (in Mandarin only) about keys to U.S.-China co-production. All well worth watching.

Robert Cain is a producer and entertainment industry consultant who has been doing business in China since 1987. He can be reached at rob@pacificbridgepics.com and at www.pacificbridgepics.com.