MCLC: how Youku is helping China's filmmakers

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: how Youku is helping China's filmmakers
***********************************************************

Source: The Guardian (1/24/12):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/jan/24/online-video-hollywood-
china-youku

Film Blog
How Youku is helping China's film-makers get round the censors
China's answer to YouTube is bringing cinema ­ including 250 Hollywood
films ­ to the country's 400m online viewers, and bypassing the censors at
the same time

Hollywood has long been eyeing the moneymaking potential of China. Earlier
this month 20th Century Fox found a route in to the world's third largest
film market, forging a landmark deal with Youku ­ the Chinese YouTube ­ to
stream 250 films to China's 400m online video viewers.

=========================================
1. Red Light Revolution
2. Production year: 2010
3. Country: Rest of the world
4. Cert (UK): 15
5. Runtime: 91 mins
6. More on this film
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/141731/red-light-revolution>
==========================================

In a country where what's shown on screen is guarded by the government,
online video websites such as Youku and Tudou are revolutionising the way
people view film and television. In 2010, the number of Chinese watching
video online was 284 million. By the end of 2012 the figure could pass
445m, according to CMM Intelligence, a Beijing-based market research firm.

"After so many years of economic growth, China is ready for similar growth
in entertainment," says Jean Shao, a Youku spokesperson. Though Youku
offers a YouTube-style user-generated platform, it's now luring viewers
from bland state-controlled television and cinema by importing programmes
from the west or creating its own content. "China is an immature market
comparatively, so when we prepared to launch Youku Premium [the
pay-per-view service Fox is using] we thought it would take a long time to
get attention", says Shao. "We were surprised." Launched a year ago, Youku
Premium has had over a million transactions, with the number of viewers
tripling between the second and third quarters of 2011.

Competition for dominance of the online video market is rife, perhaps
unsurprising for an industry where total revenue increased by 139% from
2010-2011. The two market leaders Youku.com Inc (who have 25.6% of the
market) and Tudou Inc (14.5%) are currently locked in a court battle
accusing the other of pirating content. Squabbles aside, online platforms
are opening up opportunities for filmmakers that cinematic release would
stifle. "Our biggest priority is to have as many people as possible watch
our films", says Xiao Yang, one half of film-making duo the Chopsticks
Brothers, whose debut short film Old Boys
<http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjE4MDU1MDE2.html> has been watched by 42
million people. "If Old Boys had only been shown through traditional
channels, both budget constraints and the plot would have affected the
number of people who saw it. On the internet it came alive."

For film-makers wanting to release in theatres, there are substantial
censorship considerations. Last month the state council of legislative
affairs drafted three new rules to add to the list of ten cinematic no-nos
<http://shanghaiist.com/2011/12/20/china_bans_more_stuff_in_movies.php> ­
which are designed to "promote the prosperity and development of the film
industry and enrich the cultural life of the people" ­ banning the
promotion of drug use, hurting people's religious feelings and "playing
up" horror, among others.

"We wanted to make a film that might have challenged censors, and if that
was the case we were shutting ourselves off from television and cinema"
says Melanie Ansley, producer of Red Light Revolution
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/141731/red-light-revolution>, a
Beijing-based comedy about a cabbie who opens a sex shop ­ content too
racy to pass China's cinema censors. After release on Tudou last week, the
Chinese-language film has had over 1.2 million views. "I think the
internet offers a place for stuff that takes a little more risk," says
Ansley. "Some of the comments from viewers of our film say 'how did this
get past the censors? I can't believe that I'm watching this, that this is
up on Tudou'.

"I don't know what the tipping point is, but thinking practically there
will be a day when [the government] will move in", says Ansley. "But when
that day is none of us know."