韓國影視公司瞄準中國市場

Hollywood isn't the only foreign player eyeing China.

好萊塢並不是唯一一個瞄準中國市場的海外影視基地。

Two major South Korean studios are strengthening cooperation with local players to grab a foothold in the world's second-largest movie market.

韓國兩大影視公司正加強與中國本土影視公司的合作，以期在這個全球第二大電影市場站穩腳跟。

Last month, China's Huayi Brothers Media Corp. and Korea's Showbox/Mediaplex Inc. released the $20 million, 3-D movie 'Mr. Go,' about a gorilla from a Chinese circus who becomes a baseball superstar in Korea's major leagues.

上個月，中國華誼兄弟傳媒股份有限公司(Huayi Brothers Media Corp. , 簡稱：華誼兄弟)與韓國公司Showbox/Mediaplex Inc.推出了一部耗資2,000萬美元（約合人民幣1.2億元）的3D電影《大明猩》(Mr. Go)，該片講述的是一隻來自中國馬戲團的大猩猩如何成爲韓國棒球聯賽超級明星的故事。

Since opening in South Korea on July 17, the film has pulled in about 8.4 billion won ($7.6 million), according to the Korean Film Council, known as Kofic. In China, where it opened a day later, it has pulled in a bit more than 100 million yuan ($16.3 million), according to media-research firm EntGroup Inc.

據韓國電影振興委員會(Korean Film Council, 簡稱Kofic)的數據顯示，自7月17日在韓國上映以來，《大明猩》已經取得了約84億韓圓（約合人民幣4,600萬元）的票房。媒體研究公司藝恩諮詢(EntGroup Inc.)的數據則顯示，自7月18日在中國上映以來，該片的票房已經略微超過人民幣1億元。

'It is doing not bad, though not as good as expected,' said Son Jang-hyun, one of the producers of 'Mr. Go.'

《大明猩》的製作人之一孫長鉉(Son Jang-hyun)表示，這部電影的成績還不錯，但沒有預期的那麼好。

In June, South Korea's CJ E&M Corp. struck a deal with state-run China Film Group and Pegasus & Taihe Entertainment International Co., a private Chinese company, to produce a sci-fi fantasy project called 'The Fist,' featuring Chinese and Korean actors. In April, it also signed with the two companies to produce a 3-D Chinese historical epic, along with 'Avatar' director-producer James Cameron.

今年6月，韓國的CJ E&M Corp. 與中國國有企業中國電影集團公司(China Film Group)和中國私人企業派格太合環球傳媒(Pegasus & Taihe Entertainment International Co.)達成協議，將製作一部由中韓兩國演員聯袂出演的科幻電影──《The Fist》。早在4月份，CJ E&M還與上述兩家公司簽署了協議，將與電影《阿凡達》(Avatar)的導演兼製作人詹姆斯・卡梅隆(James Cameron)聯合制作一部3D中國史詩大片。

'Mr. Go' represents one of the biggest attempts yet by Korea's vibrant pop-culture industry to make inroads into China. The producers have been promoting it in both countries for months. In China, Huayi Brothers sent Mr. Go dolls to celebrities across the country and got them to pose with the dolls for photos posted to Sina Corp.'s Twitter-like Weibo microblogging service. Kofic, a government-supported body that promotes and supports Korean films, named it as one of the three biggest global projects of Korean-initiated film co-productions for this year.

《大明猩》是活力四射的韓國流行文化產業爲進軍中國市場所做出的最大嘗試之一。該片的製作方在韓中兩國爲此片展開宣傳攻勢已有數月。在中國，華誼兄弟將“大明猩”玩偶送給全國各地的名流，讓他們在新浪(Sina Corp.)微博上曬自己與玩偶的合影。Kofic稱該片是今年由韓國發起的、與其他合作方聯合制作的三部全球大片之一。Kofic是一家由韓國政府支持的、旨在促進和扶持韓國電影產業的機構。

' 'Mr. Go' is not a cast-driven film, so we had to give the overall marketing campaign a different angle from other local blockbusters,' said Chris Jung, COO of Showbox/Mediaplex, whose company started to promote the film in Korea in early March. 'We believe its touching story can emotionally draw both markets.'

Showbox/Mediaplex的首席營運長Chris Jung表示，《大明猩》不是一部靠明星陣容吸引觀衆的電影，因此，他們必須選擇一個與本土大片不同的角度來進行影片的整體宣傳。該公司於3月初在韓國開始了對《大明猩》的宣傳推廣。Jung說，相信這個感人的故事能夠吸引韓中兩個市場的觀衆。

'It is the first time that Huayi has co-produced with Korean companies, so it would be great if it can pull in more than 100 million yuan in China,' Wang Zhonglei, chairman of Huayi Brothers, said prior to the film's opening. 'We are confident that this film will gross high in Korea, so the earnings can cover the cost even without China's market.'

華誼兄弟總裁王中磊在該片首映禮之前表示，這是華誼首次與韓國公司聯合制作電影，如果該片在中國的票房能過億，就非常不錯了；他們有信心該片在韓國市場將獲得很高的總票房，即便不考慮中國市場，影片的收入也能夠覆蓋支出。

'We will have a sequel of 'Mr. Go' with Huayi Brothers and are working on the script,' said Kim Yong-hwa, the director of 'Mr. Go' and founder of Dexter Digital, a Korean visual-effects studio. 'I am also thinking about finding Chinese partners to produce films like 'Transformers' in the future.'

《大明猩》的導演、韓國視覺效果工作室Dexter Digital的創始人金容華(Kim Yong-hwa)表示，將與華誼兄弟合作推出《大明猩》系列電影，目前正在創作劇本；他也在考慮尋找中國搭檔在未來製作類似《變形金剛》那樣的電影。

Korean dramas have long been popular in China, as they are elsewhere in Asia. But as with U.S.-China co-productions, Chinese co-productions with Korean studios have been a mixed bag. Since initial cooperation in 2000, films co-produced by the two sides haven't been embraced as much as backers hoped. In 2012, 'Dangerous Liaisons,' an adaptation of the 18th-century French novel starring Zhang Ziyi and Jang Dong-gun, pulled in just a little more than 60 million yuan in China, according to Kofic, less than half of its budget.

韓劇在中國流行已久，它們在亞洲其他地區同樣也很受歡迎。但就如中美聯合出品的電影一樣，中韓聯合打造的電影也是表現不一。自2000年首次展開合作以來，中韓聯合制作的電影並沒有取得投資方所期望的票房。來自Kofic的數據顯示，2012年，由章子怡和張東健主演的改編自18世紀法國小說的電影《危險關係》(Dangerous Liaisons)在中國市場僅獲得了略高於人民幣6,000萬元的票房，不及該片預算的一半。

However, another recent Sino-Korean co-production, the romantic tearjerker 'A Wedding Invitation' released in April, earned 192.2 million yuan ($31.3 million), according to EntGroup.

但最近中韓聯合出品的另一部影片──4月份上映的浪漫催淚片《分手合約》(A Wedding Invitation)卻取得了不俗的票房成績。藝恩諮詢的數據顯示，該片的票房達到了人民幣1.922億元。

CJ E&M has ratcheted up its ambitions following 'A Wedding Invitation,' with big plans specifically for 'The Fist' with its Chinese partners. 'This movie aims at the Pan-Asia market and will be released world-wide,' said Jeong Tae-sung, CEO of the film division of CJ E&M.

在推出《分手合約》後，CJ E&M的雄心壯志漸長，該公司專門爲與中國搭檔合作的影片《The Fist》制定了宏大的計劃。CJ E&M電影部門首席執行長Jeong Tae-sung表示，這部電影的目標是泛亞洲市場，並將在全球範圍發行。

CJ E&M is also developing 10 more co-production projects with China, one-third of which will be launched next year, said Mr. Jeong, whose company held a Chinese film festival in Korea in June with the Chinese government. Its ambition is beyond production. 'We will help introduce China's local films to the world by our distribution network in Asia and the U.S.,' he said.

Jeong表示，CJ E&M也在開發與中國合作的其他10個項目，其中三分之一的項目將於明年啓動。今年6月，CJ E&M與中國政府一同在韓國舉辦了一箇中國電影節。該公司的遠大目標不僅僅侷限在電影製作上。Jeong說，他們將通過公司在亞洲和美國的發行網絡幫助中國本土電影走向世界。

CJ E&M opened its office in 2005 in Beijing, where its staff has grown to 60 people from seven initially. It previously invested in the 2011 state-commissioned, star-studded propaganda epic about the Communist Party, 'Beginning of the Great Revival.'

2005年CJ E&M在北京設立了辦公室，其員工人數已經從最初的七人增加至60人。2011年，該公司投資了一部衆星雲集的獻禮片《建黨偉業》(Beginning of the Great Revival)，該片是有關中國共產黨宣傳史詩片。

Besides the two major studios, many small and midsize Korean production companies are going to China to look for financing, according to Kofic. 'They don't know where to find money here, and many are trying to enter the local market by joining local film festivals,' said Zhou Jianwei, a prominent researcher on Korean film based in Shanghai.

據Kofic表示，除了上述兩大韓國公司，許多中小型韓國影視公司也紛紛前往中國籌措資金。一位駐上海的知名韓國電影研究人Zhou Jianwei 表示，它們不清楚在哪裏可以找到資金，許多公司正試圖通過參加本地的電影節來打入本地市場。

Financing isn't the only difficulty when tapping into the market. 'Rules in China are not that explicit, so you have to try, fall flat and then you may get it,' said Ms. Zhou. 'It is more difficult to co-produce in mainland China than with Hong Kong and Taiwan partners, as censorship here starts from the script writing.'

融資並不是韓國公司進軍中國市場時面臨的唯一困難。Zhou表示，中國的相關制度規定並不十分清晰，因此你必須先嚐試，經歷失敗之後你纔有可能成功。她說，與中國大陸合作比與香港和臺灣合作的難度更大，因爲中國大陸對電影的審查從劇本就開始了。

'Korea shares culture and geographical proximity with China, and our film industry is well-developed,' said Kim Pil-jung, manager of Kofic's China office. 'Compared with Hollywood, we charge much less from Chinese companies in co-productions.'

Kofic中國辦公室經理Kim Pil-jung表示，韓國文化與中國文化有相通之處，兩國又是鄰國，而且韓國的電影產業很發達，相比好萊塢，韓國公司在聯合制作影片方面向中國公司收取的費用要低得多。