301china
hengdian
world studiosbelow One of
Hengdian’s impressive
costume warehouses,
where clothes from a
range of periods can be
rented for films“Last year alone, 250 directors worked
in the city, where more than 50,000
people are registered as actors”
soldiers were witnessed. Finally, there is the contemporary
addition of Mao Zedong’s portraits rising on “new” China’s
edifices. If that wasn’t enough, a replica of Beijing’s old
Summer Palace has just been built. The city also plans to add a
“traditional Shanghai” street and a European mini-city.
It may sound excessive, but it’s never too much when it
leads to burgeoning business. “Right now, there are 56 crews
waiting to film here, and sometimes there are 12 waiting to
shoot on a certain set,” Zeng shares with pride.
China’s audiovisual industry has entered a golden era.
In 2016 – even though the growth in revenue declined from
the 48.7 percent high recorded in 2015 – the box office still saw
a 3.7 percent increase, and raked in a record RMB45.7 billion
(USD6.6 billion). If growth keeps at this pace, it will overtake
the United States’ film industry in 2019. In fact, it has already
done so in terms of the number of screens: 40,917 compared
to 40,759. According to official statistics, TV dramas add
RMB25 billion (USD3.6 billion) to the value of the Chinese
market, an increase of 17 percent per year.