Abstract
In this chapter, I analyse the interactions of value, reward, and power structures as previously discussed in Chap. 2 through the onsite participant observation of the film entitled The Last Race ([终极胜利, Zhōngjí shènglì]) (2016) co-directed by Stephen Shin and Michael Parker in China. In Chap. 2, I discussed theoretically the changing nature of IP, of audience contribution as creators of content and the implications of creative peer-productions on these aspects. While the centrality of IP is redefined, a wave of young online creators is emerging.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The film is a biopic about Eric Liddell, one of the main and real-life protagonists of The Chariots of Fire, who returns to his birthplace, China in the midst of the Japanese invasion.
- 2.
And my previous work with them.
- 3.
The promotion efforts were observed through textual material such as the film promotional trailers and inter-textual elements such as trade magazines, media articles and audience discussions on social networks.
- 4.
- 5.
I sometimes had to anonymise the names of the respondents and interviewees to avoid potential legal litigations. This is particularly true for the individuals who had signed a non-disclosure agreement with the production. Additionally, respondents generally feared to be blacklisted in the industry if they spoke out in regard to certain issues, therefore some of their testimonies were provided in confidence. The interviews were mostly organised informally as I was not allowed to record them with any type of device when meeting them one on one. This challenges the very notions of transparency, equality and freedom discussed in Chap. 2, particularly after a film has been made and released: film industry professionals operate self-censorship at an individual level.
- 6.
In terms of the biases which may have influenced my ethnographic research, I must inform the reader that I am a white male in my early 40s, with no extreme political or religious views. My previous experiences in film have been mostly as a writer, a Director and a Producer, so this may have influenced my views. I was initially placed in a position of observer in regard to the subject of study. However, as detailed in the next sections, I became increasingly active in my participation and interactions with it. Therefore, as a participant observer, I may in turn have been somewhat influenced by the subject of study.
- 7.
- 8.
Morning Paris reached the pre-production phase but was never produced.
- 9.
The total budget of The Last Race was less than half the budget of Outcast for example.
- 10.
- 11.
Also unlike with The Last Race, I did not observe the process from start to finish with these films and sometimes information was not available first hand.
- 12.
Seen in Chap. 2, Sect. 2.1.2.
- 13.
- 14.
This is not a coincidence as all these productions, including The Last Race (In Mr. Shin’s own words and intent) were trying to ‘connect with worldwide audiences ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics’ in Brazil. The 2016 Olympics appeared to be a good vehicle to get international exposure.
- 15.
The Producers eventually understood that the working title The Great Conqueror’s Concubine was not going to have the expected appeal on the international markets.
- 16.
See Chap. 4 for details about the rapid developments of the Chinese media industry.
- 17.
One of the four largest talent agencies in the US.
- 18.
Producer on Ghost in The Shell.
- 19.
Mr. Parker’s spouse is from Hong Kong. He also understands and speaks Cantonese.
- 20.
Correspondent for The Independent, Empire Magazine and The Scottish Sun in China.
- 21.
- 22.
As the film production was taking place and China was about to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre, ghosts were also still floating in Japan for the 70th commemoration of the atomic bombs dropping (This is a theme covered by Akira Kurosawa in his film Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Kurosawa 1990) in the section entitled ‘The Tunnel’, a short film about World War II closure and the ghosts of the war).
- 23.
- 24.
The production had to pay US$10,000 to a casting agent for Mr. McGregor to read the script. The script was turned down.
- 25.
Guanxi [关系] is a Chinese term, which literally means ‘relationship’ and is commonly associated with the idea of network or circle of influence. While scholars have emphasized the importance of guanxi in China (Bell 2008), it is worth noting that these circles of influence also exist in other cultures worldwide.
- 26.
Which is a fairly high budget considering that the average independent production budget in the US was around US$15 million and the European average fluctuated between EUR5million and EUR10 million at the time (European Commission 2014, 6). In comparison, the Chinese average has ranged from US$20 million to US$61 million over the past 3 years with significant discrepancies year-on-year (Numbers 2016).
- 27.
The film certificate or Lixiang necessary to film a co-production in China is easier to obtain through a government controlled production company such as Sil-Metropole. It was also potentially good for the production to be associated with such a government company for the promotion and the release of the film.
- 28.
Aymerick Pilarski, Director of Photography who has worked on several Chinese productions and co-productions has confirmed that a lot of producers and directors in China rely sometimes on unskilled, free or incentivised help from friends or family.
- 29.
Key organisational issues will be discussed in detail later in the production section (Sect. 6.3.3).
- 30.
These were the only nominations that the film obtained.
- 31.
As mentioned by Stephen Shin in April 2015.
- 32.
This is not uncommon in China, for instance, the film Morning Paris had to be stopped 2 weeks before the production phase due to the lack of professionalism and the unreliability of one of its investor groups.
- 33.
This was confirmed during a meeting in Hong Kong by producer Tan Kyle Cheo, CEO of Star Entertainment Co. on the 21st of July 2016.
- 34.
http://www.mgk-int.com/about.html now renamed King David Inc.
- 35.
The pre-production had already started 2 weeks prior to this date with location scouting.
- 36.
For an undisclosed amount c. CNY1.5 million (US$180,000) according to several of the directorial crew members.
- 37.
I had to rely on the help of informal translators to be able to understand most of the meetings contents and assess the overall situation. I also developed a good rapport with the Hong Kong crew who could convey key information to me in English in a timely manner. I was relaying this information to the other foreigners as fast as I could.
- 38.
- 39.
As explained later by Mr. Shin (this will be explored in more details under Sect. 6.3: Production).
- 40.
Typically, a shooting period of 6–8 weeks of filming.
- 41.
MPC were the lead driver of VFX on this film. They claim that they ‘are involved at every stage of the creative process, from the initial concept art to the final compositing and stereoscopic workflow’ (MPC 2016).
- 42.
Despite claims in The Hollywood Reporter (THR) that the competing production Absolute Surrender was more loyal to the Christian faith of the lead character Eric Liddell (Bond 2015).
- 43.
As see in Chap. 3, in China the political supersedes the commercial and the cultural domains which are seen as vehicles to promote the earlier: more will be discussed about this topic in the following chapter relative to YT.
- 44.
As seen in Chap. 3, the newly merged SAPPRFT reports directly to the Chinese Government DOP.
- 45.
As seen in Chap. 3.
- 46.
Before the real estate giant, Wanda Group, started investing in the media sector, many Hong Kong-based companies had already pursued this model such as conglomerate Emperor Group. Some of these groups were thought to be closely associated with the triads and using film and the theatrical circuit to launder money from their other illegal businesses (Dannen 1997).
- 47.
VPNs were legal at the time of the shoot.
- 48.
- 49.
As seen in Chap. 3.
- 50.
- 51.
- 52.
With the authorisation of the film co-Directors.
- 53.
See Chap. 5.
- 54.
This task was given to Ms. Xu, which empowered here further within the production.
- 55.
In Mr. Shin’s own words.
- 56.
The longest shooting day on the production was a record 27-h non-stop shoot earlier in July when the cast and crew saw the sun rise twice without having taken a break.
- 57.
As seen in Chap. 2.
- 58.
This professional had already worked on the famous Monster Hunt (R. [许诚毅] Hui 2015).
- 59.
This was confirmed to me by one of the wardrobe Managers and one of the ADs.
- 60.
- 61.
Around 20 women for 200 men, none of the heads of the key departments were women except the hair and makeup department.
- 62.
As a co-producer, he had the authority to so.
- 63.
This was later reported by Mr. Shin.
- 64.
Although many of them were merely staying in the office doing little. Some just acted their presence, pretending to be busy while working on their own personal activities.
- 65.
After the film was released one of the crew member and Mr. Shin explained that Ms. Xu, who Mr. Shin had trusted since the beginning of the production by giving her signing authority on the accounts and giving her access to the Mainland operations in her name, had rallied one of the production assistants to her cause, took control of Mr. Shin’s Mainland company branch, and fled with a significant part of the production money.
- 66.
Also unanimously nicknamed ‘Si Mao’ or ‘dead cat’ by the crew members for his legendary scream on set which was believed to be able to kill cats instantly when they heard it.
- 67.
A model that would benefit investors, creative talent as well as audiences.
- 68.
As seen in the previous section.
- 69.
Mr. Teare told me that his salary was four to eight times lower than what he would normally take, but he took it for the experience.
- 70.
A role, which does not exist on a film, because drama and actors are the direct responsibility of Directors.
- 71.
This was later confirmed by Mr. Fiennes himself during a conversation with Mr. Teare.
- 72.
Mr. Teare had trained as drama coach at the renowned drama school Jacques LeCoq in Paris.
- 73.
Field Manager: This is another role which does not exist in a regular film crew. Yang Yang effectively occupied the role of 1st AD.
- 74.
This specific point is developed further in Sect. 6.4.2 under ‘Distribution.’
- 75.
Section 6.2.3.
- 76.
Under Communication Sect. 6.3.3.3.
- 77.
Wild Bunch had views over cooperation with China and created the Europe-China Film Fund for US$120 million (100 million Euros equivalent) in January 2016.
- 78.
It was re-cut into the film in the US version at the demand of the US producers.
- 79.
This part will be developed in the promotion Sect. 6.4.1.3.
- 80.
Please refer to Appendix 6 for a few selected press articles regarding The Last Race.
- 81.
See Appendix 5: English and Chinese versions.
- 82.
This material is compiled into an Electronic Press Kit (EPK) that is then distributed consistently to all media and film festivals. This method is extremely cost efficient as it avoids work duplication and focuses the message to be delivered to all media outlets. However, the EPK only became available in March 2016, which cost the PR teams a lot of time and energy being wasted and missed opportunities with the media.
- 83.
Also commonly called ‘wrap’ in the film industry.
- 84.
This operation was orchestrated in agreement with the two co-Directors who saw an interest in this opportunity.
- 85.
The Scottish Sun had agreed to give a double central page to the film.
- 86.
Ms. Xu had a great part of responsibility for the unfolding of this crisis: she had not arranged for Mr. Fiennes’ family to come and visit him on set as specified in the contract.
- 87.
Few of the smaller supporting roles and none of the agents and background actors were invited to it.
- 88.
The production joined forces with a local charity organisation and in Hong Kong on 3 March.
- 89.
- 90.
This will be explained in further details in the following Sect. 6.4.2 under Distribution
- 91.
Which any film can enter provided the production has the budget to fly their lead cast, to buy promotional space, and book screening time on the market.
- 92.
Less than during the on-set promotion campaign.
- 93.
Please see Appendix 6 under ‘Cannes Promotion.’
- 94.
Although a very good piece of work.
- 95.
Which is traditionally packaged with Macau in distribution territories.
- 96.
The venue was connected to some of the real estate investors.
- 97.
Mr. Shin made this comment in a private conversation. Solvil & Titus’ reaction was a direct consequence of the production and promotion flaws illustrated previously.
- 98.
Alexandra Sun, CEO of The Film Library, an experienced producer and distributor, with over 20 years of experience in film, mentioned that two journalists formed the group in 2015. This was confirmed by the company’s presentation on Cinando’s website which mentions the former name of the company as newsgroup Movie View Media Group (Cinando 2016).
- 99.
- 100.
http://movie.mtime.com/225946/. Despite the deal with Sony, it will be relatively hard for the film to eventually recoup its initial investment.
- 101.
- 102.
The Great Wall, which was a rather unsuccessful film commercially and critically managed to gross over 70 million at the Chinese box office (Rosen 2017).
- 103.
Not scored yet: This showed the little interest that the film has gathered.
- 104.
- 105.
US$3,860,000 for China alone and $979,761 in other territories for a total of $4,839,761.
- 106.
- 107.
Note: access to these websites and the brick and mortar illegal DVD/Bluray shops in Beijing was solely motivated by the requirements of this research which is for educational purposes and therefore by presenting ‘fair use’, it does not infringe any copyright laws.
- 108.
- 109.
- 110.
References
Anderson, Chris. The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demand. London: Business Books. 2006. 10, 16, 41.
Annaud, Jean-Jacques. Wolf Totem [狼图腾, Láng Túténg]. China, France: Columbia Pictures, Wild Bunch, 2015
Asch, Timothy, John Marshall, and Peter Spier. 1973. “Ethnographic Film: Structure and Function.” Annual Review of Anthropology. 2:179–87.
Au, Jevons, Ng Ka-Leung, Chow Kwun-Wai, Fei-Pang Wong, and Kwok Zune. “Ten Years [十年].” Golden Scene, 2015.
Austin, Thomas. 2002. Hollywood, Hype and Audiences: Selling and Watching Popular Film in the 1990s. Manchester, Vancouver: Manchester University Press, University of British Columbia Press, Palgrave.
Baidu. 2016. “西楚霸王.” Baidu. http://baike.baidu.com/subview/13793/9514995.htm
Bassey, Michael (1981). ‘Pedagogic Research; on the relative merits of the search for generalization and study of single events.’ Oxford Review of Education. 7:1. pp. 73–93.
Bauwens, Michel, and Vasilis Kostakis. 2014. Network Society and Future Scenarios for a Collaborative Economy. Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
BBC News. 2016. “The Great Wall: Is Matt Damon ‘whitewashing’ or Good Business?” BBC, July 29. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36921328?=supchina.
Bell, Daniel (2008). China’s New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Benigni, Roberto. “Life Is Beautiful [La Vita E Bella].” Cecchi Gori Distribuzione, Miramax, and Bac Films, 1997.
Benioff, David, and D B Weiss. “Game of Thrones.” Home Box Office (HBO), 2011.
Besson, Luc. “Nikita.” Gaumont, MGM, and The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1990.
Besson, Luc. “Nikita.” Gaumont, MGM, and The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 2014. “Lucy.” EuropaCorp and Universal Pictures.
Bing [檀冰檀冰], Tan. “Chinese Salesman [中国推销员, Zhōngguó Tuīxiāo Yuán].” Tricoast Worldwide, 2017.
Black, Shane. “Iron Man 3.” US: DMG Entertainment and Walt Disney Studios, 2013
Boisset, Yves. 2011. La Vie Est Un Choix. Paris: Plon.
Bond, Paul. 2015. “Dueling Projects to Explore What Happened After ‘Chariots of Fire.’” The Hollywood Reporter, August. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dueling-projects-explore-what-happened-815567.
Box Office Mojo. 2015. “Unbroken.” Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=unbroken.htm.
Bradley, Dan. “Red Dawn.” US: United Artists and FilmDistrict, 2012
Burkitt, Laurie. 2015. “Chinese Theaters Face Scrutiny Over ‘Ghost Screenings.’” The Wall Street Journal, March. http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinese-theaters-face-scrutiny-over-ghost-screenings-1457496727.
Caldwell, John. 2008. Production Culture: Industrial Reflexivity and Critical Practice in Film and Television. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Campbell, Glenn. 2012. “Chariots of Fire’s Eric Liddell Is Chinese ‘Hero.’” BBC News, July. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-18856533.
CCTV News. 2015. “China Sets out to Loosen Censorship on Film Script.” CCTV News Beijing. http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MjM5MTc3MTg4MA==&mid=400349218&idx=3&sn=bed86589fff39ecc7fb96d2234a1c0cc&scene=5&srcid=1031Ia4PriWflgOny7lrvvMo#wechat_redirect.
Chang, Lulu. 2016. “If You’re Reporting News in China, You Can No Longer Cite Social Media.” Digital Trends, July. http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/social-media-news-china/#ixzz4KghOwq54.
Cheang, Pou-soi. 2015. “Sha Po Lang 2.” Well Go USA Entertainment, MGK Multimedia.
Cheang, Pou-Soi [郑保瑞]. 2016. “The Monkey King: The Legend Begins [西游记之孙悟空三打白骨精, Xīyóu Jì Zhī Sūnwùkōng Sān Dǎ Báigǔjīng].” Global Star Productions.
Chow, Chung-yan. 2015. “Alibaba Buys South China Morning Post Group’s Media Business, Pledges to Uphold Editorial Independence and Remove Paywall.” SCMP, December 11. http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1890060/alibaba-buys-south-china-morning-post-groups-media-business.
Chow, Stephen [周星驰]. “The Mermaid [美人鱼, Měirényú].” US: Sony Pictures Releasing, 2016.
Chu, Jon.. “Now You See Me 2.” US: Summit Entertainment and TIK Films, 2016
Cinando. 2016. “Movie View International [看电影].” Cinando. Cinando. https://cinando.com/en/Company/movie_view_international_co_ltd_65297/Detail.
Coonan, Clifford. 2014. “Alibaba’s Film Crowdfunding Service Swarmed by Chinese Investors, Sells Out in Five Days.” The Hollywood Reporter, April. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/alibabas-film-crowdfunding-service-swarmed-693683.
Cox, Joel, and Patrice Poujol. 2015. Informal Interview after His Collaboration with Clint Eastwood as a Film Editor on American Sniper (2014) for which he received an Oscar nomination.
Creton, Laurent. 2005. L’économie Du Cinéma. Paris: Nathan; Armand Colin.
Custer, Charles. 2015. “10 Big Examples of Online Censorship in China This Year.” Tech in Asia. November. https://www.techinasia.com/top-10-censorship-china-2015.
Dannen, Fredric. 1997. “Partners in Crime: How Beijing Is Teaming up with Hong Kong’s Gangs.” New Republic, June 14. https://newrepublic.com/article/90738/partners-in-crime.
Day, Robert. “Higher Ground.” US: Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), 1988.
Dewalt, Kathleen, and Billi Dewalt. 2002. Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers. Oxford; Lanham; Toronto; New York: Altamira Press.
Douban. 2016. “The Last Race.” Douban. Douban. https://movie.douban.com/subject/26431412/.
Dweck, Carol (2006). Mindset. NewYork: Ballantine Books.
Eastwood, Clint. “Space Cowboys.” US: Warner bros, 2000.
Elley, Derek. 2016. “Review: ‘The Great Conqueror’s Concubine.’” Variety, May. http://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/the-great-conqueror-s-concubine-1200436939/.
Ellis-Geiger, Robert. 2007. “Trends in Contemporary Hollywood Film Scoring: A Synthesised Approach for Hong Kong Cinema.” The University of Leeds.
Ellis-Geiger, Robert. 2012. “Hong Kong Film Score Production: A Hollywood Informed Approach.” Journal of The Audio Engineering Society, October. Paper presented at the 133rd AES Convention, San Francisco. 26-29, 1–14.
Ellis-Geiger, Robert (2015). Film composer and Score Producer who worked both on US and Asian based films as Triad Election (2006), Fuzi (2006), New York November (2011) and My Life, My Voice (2014). Informal interviews and talk started throughout my research as Dr. Ellis-Geiger was supervising my work.
———. 2017. “Alibaba Film Academy - Interview with Dr. Robert Ellis-Geiger 17th March 2017.” Hong Kong.
European Commission. 2014. “European Film in the Digital Era: Bridging Cultural Diversity and Competitiveness.” European Audiovisual Observatory. http://cor.europa.eu/en/activities/stakeholders/Documents/COM(2014).
Forster, Marc. “The Kite Runner.” DreamWorks SKG and Paramount Vantage, 2007.
Frater, Patrick. 2016a. “Alibaba Completes $4 Billion Takeover of Youku Tudou.” Variety, April. http://variety.com/2016/biz/asia/alibaba-completes-youku-tudou-takeover-1201746908/.
Frater, Patrick. 2016b. “Alibaba Pictures Invests $150 Million in Dadi Cinema Chain.” Variety. May 2016. http://variety.com/2016/biz/asia/alibaba-pictures-invests-in-dadi-cinema-chain-1201769169/.
Frater, Patrick. 2016c. “Alibaba Pictures to Build Its Own Cinemas.” Variety, August. http://variety.com/2016/biz/asia/alibaba-pictures-to-build-cinemas-1201840072/.
Fullerton, Jamie. 2015a. “The Last Race: Unofficial Chariots of Fire Sequel Starring Joseph Fiennes in the Running.” The Independent, June 23. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/the-last-race-unofficial-chariots-of-fire-sequel-starring-joseph-fiennes-in-the-running-10340745.html.
Fullerton, Jamie. 2015b. “China Hails Its Chariots of Fire Hero.” The Times, August. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4530292.ece/.
Fullerton, Jamie. 2015c. “I Was Charleson’s Undiestudy... Now I’m Taking up the Baton as Hero Eric.” Scottish Sun, September. http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/scotlandfeatures/6642295/I-was-Charlesons-undiestudy-now-Im-taking-up-the-baton-as-hero-Eric.html.
Fullerton, Jamie. 2015d. “Chariots of Fire, the Sequel: New Film Starring Joseph Fiennes Tells the Story of How ‘Flying Scotsman’ Eric Liddell Snubbed Fame to Become a Christian Missionary – Then Died in a Japanese Internment Camp.” Daily Mail, December. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3351114/Chariots-Fire-sequel-Joseph-Fiennes-tells-Flying-Scotsman-Eric-Liddell-snubbed-fame-Christian-missionary-saving-kids-China.html.
Fung, Anthony (2008). Global Capital, Local Culture: Transnational Media Corporations in China. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Furness, Hannah. 2016. Chariots of Fire Sequel Being Made by Chinese Film Company as It Failed to Win British Funding. The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/15/chariots-of-fire-sequel-being-made-by-chinese-film-company-as-it/.
Gan, Ah [阿甘]. “Brothers [钢刀].” China: China Film Group, Shenzhen Golden Shores Films, 2016.
Gide, André. 1921. Nouveaux Prétextes: Réflexions Sur Quelques Points de Littérature et de Morale. Paris: Mercure de France.
Graeber, David. 2001. Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams. Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave.
Grandesso, Federico. 2016. Interview: British Actor Joseph Fiennes Speaks High about Working Experience in China. Xinhuanet. May 22 [online]. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-05/22/c_135379294.htm.
Grub, Phillip, and Jianhai Lin. 1991. Foreign Direct Investment in China. New York: Quorum Books.
Heifetz, Justin. 2015. “Beijing and the Nonsense News Hour: A View from inside China’s Beijing Propaganda Machine.” Metro Weekly. August 2015. http://www.metroweekly.com/2015/08/beijing-and-the-nonsense-news-hour/.
Hopkins, Stephen. “Race.” US: Forecast Pictures and Focus Features, 2016
Hou, Hsiao-Hsien [侯孝贤]. “The Assassin [刺客聂隐娘, Cìkè Nièyǐnniáng].” China, Taiwan: Wild Bunch and Well Go USA Entertainment, 2015.
Hudson, Hugh. Chariots of Fire. UK: Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros, 1981.
Hui, Ann [许安]. “The League of Gods [封神传奇].” Hong Kong: China Star Entertainment Group, 2016.
Hui, Raman [许诚毅]. “Monster Hunt [捉妖记, Zhuō Yāo Jì].” China: Edko and Sony Pictures, 2015.
Jacobs, Andrew. 2016. “Xinjiang Seethes Under Chinese Crackdown.” The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/world/asia/xinjiang-seethes-under-chinese-crackdown.html?_r=0.
Jhonsa, Eric. 2016. “Alibaba: We’ve Spent over $161M Fighting Counterfeits since 2013.” Seeking Alpha, December 23. http://seekingalpha.com/news/2195535-alibaba-weve-spent-over-161m-fighting-counterfeits-since-2013?uide=35022045&uprof=15.
Jolie, Angelina. “Unbroken.” US: Universal Pictures, 2014.
Kaige [陈凯歌], Chen. “Farewell My Concubine, [霸王别姬, Bàwáng Bié Jī].” China: China Film Co-production Corporation and Miramax, 1993.
Kaminski, Marek (2004). Games Prisoners Play: The Tragicomic Worlds of Polish Prison. Oxford; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Keane, Michael. 2013. China’s New Creative Clusters : Governance, Human Capital, and Investment. Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia. London; New York: Routledge.
Kroll, Justin. 2014. “Former CAA Agents Form Grandview Management Company.” Variety, May. http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/former-caa-agents-form-grandview-management-company-1201186464/.
Kurosawa, Akira. “Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams, ‘The Tunnel.’” Warner bros, 1990.
Laliberté, André and Lanteigne, Marc (2008). ‘The issue of challenges to the legitimacy of CCP rule’. In André Laliberté and Marc Lanteigne (Eds.), The Chinese Party-State in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge, pp. 1–21.
Leavenworth, Stuart. 2016. “China Arrests Protestant Church Leader Who Opposed Removal of Crosses.” The Guardian, February 7. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/07/china-arrests-protestant-church-leader-who-opposed-removal-of-crosses.
Lee, Edmund. 2016. “The 20 Worst Films of 2016 Inflicted on Hong Kong Cinema-Goers … so Far.” SCMP, July. http://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/1980372/20-worst-films-2016-inflicted-hong-kong-cinema-goers-so-far.
Lee, Philip. 2005. Hong Kong’s Film Industry: A path to enter the global market in the new century. PhD Thesis, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Lee, Quentin. “Morning Paris.” Not Produced, 2015.
Lee [李安], Ang. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [卧虎藏龙 Wò Hǔ Cáng Lóng].” China, US: Edko Films, Sony Pictures, Columbia TriStar, and Warner Bros, 2000.
Lewis, Jon. 2000. Hollywood v. Hard Core: How the Struggle over Censorship Saved the Modern Film Industry. London and New York: New York University Press.
Litten, Christopher. “The Last Race.” US: Red Jacket Productions, 2003.
Lobato, Ramon. 2012. Shadow Economies of Cinema: Mapping Informal Film Distribution. London: Palgrave Macmillan for The British Film Institute (BFI).
Madden, John. “Shakespeare in Love.” US: Miramax, 1998.
Marsh, James. 2016. “Film Review: The Last Race – Strong Contender for the Worst Movie of 2016.” SCMP. http://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/1974503/film-review-last-race-strong-contender-worst-movie-2016.
McNamara, Sean. “Absolute Surrender.” in development (not produced), 2015.
McNary, Dave. 2016. “China’s Alibaba Pictures Unveils $300 Million Investment Fund.” Variety. http://variety.com/2016/film/news/alibaba-investment-fund-1201822056/.
Meng, Bingchun. 2012. “Underdetermined Globalization: Media Consumption via P2P Networks.” International Journal of Communication. 6:478–83.
Midgley, Dominic. 2015. “China’s Love for Chariots Of Fire Hero Eric Liddell.” Express, August. http://www.express.co.uk/news/history/599358/Eric-Liddell-China-s-love-for-Chariot-s-Of-Fire-hero//.
Mocky, Jean-Pierre. 2014. La Longue Marche. Paris: Neige et Écriture.
Movie Insider (2014). ‘Outcast’ Movie Insider[online]. Available: http://www.movieinsider.com/m10795/outcast/production[Accessed 14th September 2016].
MPC. 2016. Moving Picture Company. MPC. http://www.moving-picture.com/film/about-mpc-film/.
N/A. “The Heart of Konba [貢傑的心, Gongjie de Xīn].” 2017.
Netease. 2015. 终极胜利》一剑磨十年窦骁扮硬汉铁血柔情. Xinhua. http://ent.163.com/15/0625/11/ASV08MDC00032DGD.html.
The Numbers. 2016. “Index of Movies By Year: China.” The Numbers. http://www.the-numbers.com/China/movies#tab=year.
Ortner, Sherry. 2009. “Studying Sideways.” In Production Studies: Cultural Studies of Media Industries, edited by Vicki Mayer, Miranda Banks, and John Caldwell, 175–89. New York: Routledge.
Ortner, Sherry. 2010. “Access: Reflections on Studying up in Hollywood.” Ethnography 11 (2):211–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138110362006.
Oulmekki, Sélim. 2015. “Interview with Sélim Oulmekki.” Beijing: Media consultant based in Beijing since 2007 who worked with Lu Chuan [陆川] and now executive for Hi-Show Entertainment. Series of informal interviews in Beijing and through Wechat.
Padilha, José. “Elite Squad [Tropa de Elite].” Brazil: IFC Films, 2007.
Parker, Michael. “Lunch with Charles.” Long Shong Entertainment Group, 2001.
Phillips, Tom. 2016. “China Behaving like ‘Gangster’ State with Bookseller Kidnap, Say Hong Kong Politicians.” The Guardian, June 17. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/17/china-behaving-like-gangster-state-with-bookseller-kidnap-say-hong-kong-politicians.
Pilarski, Aymerick (2016). Cameraman on The Great Wall, Outcast, and DoP on The Heart of Konba. Series of interviews in Beijing and through Wechat.
Pink, Sarah. 2001. Doing Visual Ethnography: Images, Media and Representation in Research. London; Thousand Oaks, CA; New Delhi: Sage.
Powell, Nick. “Outcast.” Heyi, Canal+, Entertainment One, Gonella Productions, Huaxia Film Distribution Co, 2014.
Rabiger, Michael. 2014. “Directing the Documentary.” London; New York: Focal Press, 219–220, 223.
Ramsay, George. 2014. “Rules of the Game.” Exeunt Magazine, October. http://exeuntmagazine.com/features/rules-of-the-game/.
Ramzy, Austin. 2016. “Architect of China’s ‘Great Firewall’ Bumps Into It.” The New York Times, April 7. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/world/asia/china-internet-great-firewall-fang-binxing.html?_r=0.
Reddit (2016). ‘SUICIDED: Tianjin Explosion Lead Investigator; after her mother and brother’s recent suspicious deaths.’ Reddit / Weixin. May [online] Available: https://www.reddit.com/r/FreeSpeech/duplicates/4jcaqu/murdered_tianjin_explosion_investigator_her_mom/[Accessed 14th September 2016].
Reynolds, Kevin. “Risen.” US: Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2016.
Rich, Katey. 2016. “Now You See Me 2 Takes a Small but Vital Stand for Asian Representation in Hollywood.” Vanity Fair, June. http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/06/now-you-see-me-2-jay-chou.
Rosen, Stanley. 2017. “Lessons From China’s Unexpected Year In Film.” HuffPost. 2017. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wolf-warrior-2-chinese-hollywood_us_59a058d5e4b0821444c2f056.
Ryan, Fergus. 2016. “Alibaba to Release Last Race About Second Act of Chariots of Fire.” China Film Insider. http://chinafilminsider.com/alibaba-to-release-last-race-about-second-act-of-chariots-of-fire-missionary/.
Sanders, Rupert. “Ghost in The Shell.” US: Paramount Pictures, 2017.
Van der Sar, Ernesto. 2013. “Game of Thrones Most Pirated TV-Show of 2013.” Torrent Freak, December 25. https://torrentfreak.com/game-of-thrones-most-pirated-tv-show-of-2013-131225/.
SBR. 2015. “China’s TIK Films Invests USD1.5bn in Lionsgate.” http://www.sbrchina.com/chinas-tik-films-invests-usd1-5bn-in-lionsgate/.
Schatz, Thomas (2012). ‘Hollywood: The Triumph of The studio System.’ In Steve Neale (Ed.) The Classical Hollywood Reader. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 167–178.
Shambaugh, David (2008). China’s Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation. Washington DC; Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: Woodrow Wilson Center Press; University of California Press.
Shershow, Aaron (2015). Line Producer on Iron Man 3 and the Marco Polo TV Series, Producer of Morning Paris. Series of informal interviews in Hong Kong, Beijing and through Wechat.
Shershow, Aaron. 2016. Line Producer on Iron Man 3 and the Marco Polo TV Series, Producer of Morning Paris. Extra Questions Asked on Wechat – March 7.
Shin, Stephen Kei-yin [冼杞然 ]. “Black Cat [黑猫, Hēi Māo].” Hong Kong: Headliner Productions and Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1991.
———. “The Great Conqueror’s Concubine [西楚霸王, Xichu Bawang].” China: Sil-Metropole Organization and Star Entertainment, 1994.
Shu, Catherine. 2015. “Alibaba’s First Movie Production Will Be Produced By Wong Kar-Wai.” Techcrunch, January 11. https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/11/alibaba-pictures-group/.
Sibley, Adrian. “The Real Chariots of Fire [TV Documentary].” UK: ITV Productions, 2012.
Siegemund-Broka, Austin, and Paul Bond. 2015. “Hollywood Salaries Revealed: Who Makes What on the Lot and on Location.” The Hollywood Reporter, October. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/hollywood-salaries-revealed-who-makes-829103/item/costume-designer-who-makes-what-829108.
Singer, Bryan. “X-Men: Apocalypse.” US: 20th Century Fox, 2016.
Smith, Nigel. 2016. “Joseph Fiennes on Chinese Sequel to Chariots of Fire: ‘It Transcends Religion’.” The Guardian, May. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/15/joseph-fiennes-chariots-of-fire-sequel.
Song, Yue [岳松]. “The Bodyguard [超级保镖].” US: Summit Entertainment, 2016.
Spadley, James. 1980. Participant Observation. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Spielberg, Steven. “Schindler’s List.” US: Universal Pictures and United International Pictures (UIP), 1993.
Spottiswoode, Roger. “The Children of Huang Shi [黄石的孩子, Huángshí de Háizi].” Sony Pictures Classic and Hyde Park International, 2008.
Stromme, Lizzie. 2016. “Horror as China Tears down THOUSANDS of Crucifixes in Crude Bid to Eradicate Christianity.” Sunday Express, April. http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/659545/Horror-as-China-tears-down-thousands-of-crucifixes-in-crude-bid-to-eradicate-Christianity.
Sun, Alexandra. 2016. Hong Kong-Based Distributor and Film Producer at The Film Library. Series of Informal Interviews in Hong Kong, Beijing, and through Wechat from 2015 until 2018.
Sun, Rebecca, and Graeme McMillan. 2016. “Why Did Doctor Strange and Ghost in the Shell Whitewash Their Asian Characters?” The Hollywood Reporter, April 15. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/doc-strange-whitewashing-shell-884385.
Tassi, Paul. 2014. “Game of Thrones Sets Piracy World Record, But Does HBO Care?” Forbes, April 15. http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/04/15/game-of-thrones-sets-piracy-world-record-but-does-hbo-care/#45940b071982.
Tejada, Carlos. 2015. “China Raps Alibaba for Fakes.” The Wall Street Journal, January 28. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-saic-criticizes-alibaba-over-fake-goods-1422425378.
The Wall Street Journal. 2016. “Jack Ma’s Ambivalence on Fakes.” The Wall Street Journal, Review and Outlook, June 23. https://www.wsj.com/articles/jack-mas-ambivalence-on-fakes-1466702222
To, Johnnie [杜琪峯 Dùqí fēng]. “Election 2 [黑社会以和为贵, Hēishèhuì Yǐ Hé Wéi Guì].” Hong Kong: Celluloid Dreams, 2006.
Tremblay, Jean-Francois. 2016. “Chinese Investigators Identify Cause Of Tianjin Explosion.” Chemical and Engineering News, February. http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/web/2016/02/Chinese-Investigators-Identify-Cause-Tianjin.html.
Tsui, Clarence. 2016. “The Last Race (Zhong Ji Sheng Li): Film Review.” The Hollywood Reporter, June. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/last-race-zhong-ji-sheng-903887.
Wallace, Tommy Lee. “IT.” US: Warner Bros. Television and Warner Home Video, 1990.
Wang, Yue. 2015a. “Alibaba Expands In Europe, Makes London A Regional Hub.” Forbes, October 20. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2015/10/20/alibaba-expands-in-europe-makes-london-a-regional-hub/#6d030e5c3661.
Wang, Yue. 2015b. “Alibaba To Open Two More Offices In The U.S.” Forbes, November 11. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2015/11/11/alibaba-to-open-two-more-offices-in-the-u-s/#7e283dda7967.
Wang, Yue. 2015c. “Alibaba Partners With Disney To Distribute Films.” Forbes, December 15. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ywang/2015/12/15/alibaba-partners-with-disney-to-distribute-films/.
Watson, Lucy. 2015. “Chinese “sequel” to British Classic Chariots of Fire.” ITV News. http://www.itv.com/news/2015-07-13/chinese-sequel-to-british-classic-chariots-of-fire/.
WiC. 2016. “Screen Villains.” Week in China. 311 (January). https://www.weekinchina.com/2016/01/screen-villains/.
Williams, Frederick, Ronald E. Rice, and Everett M. Rogers. 1988. Research Methods and the New Media. Free Press.
Woeser, Tsering. 2016. “Why Are Tibetans Setting Themselves on Fire?” The New York Review of Books, January 11. http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/01/11/why-are-tibetans-self-immolating/.
Wong, Kar-Wai [王家卫]. “The Grandmaster [一代宗师, Yīdài Zōngshī].” Hong Kong, China: Sil-Metropole, Jet Tone Films, and The Weinstein Company, 2013.
Wong, Silvia. 2016. “‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Tops China Box Office - X-Men: Apocalypse Rules the Chart as Captain America Nears $200m.” Screen Daily. June 7. http://www.screendaily.com/news/x-men-apocalypse-tops-china-box-office/5104610.article.
Yeh, Yueh-yu Emilie, and Darrell William Davis. 2017. “Zimuzu and Media Industry in China.” Media Industries Journal 4 (1).
Zhang, Yimou [张艺谋]. “The Flowers of War [金陵十三钗, Jīnlíng Shísān Chāi].” China: Row 1 Entertainment and Lionsgate Home Entertainment, 2011
———. “The Great Wall [長城, Changcheng].” US: Universal Pictures, 2016
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Poujol, P. (2019). Live Film Production Case Study: The Last Race. In: Online Film Production in China Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts. International Series on Computer Entertainment and Media Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02468-0_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02468-0_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02467-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02468-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)