Co-Production In Iron Man 3

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Being the most commended and successful China-US co-production in the history of film, Iron Man 3 has proven itself to be a benchmark for international co-productions. There are a few pointers that Singapore producers can learn from through this collaboration.
Walt Disney Co.’s China division and Marvel Studios chose to partner with Beijing-based DMG Entertainment as the latter maintains close working ties with the state-run China Film Group. By doing so, the producers were able to bypass China’s rigid foreign film quota system of 34 films a year. This quota will be increased to 44 films in the next few years and that is good news for aspiring filmmakers from Singapore who is considering a join venture with China. By partnering with a Chinese company, the Singapore producer will gain leverage in obtaining a spot in the quota, as state media will view the co-production as a domestic film as opposed to a 100% foreign film.
DMG Entertainment CEO Dan Mintz talked about the term ‘narrow focus’ in one of his interview with The Hollywood Reporter. ‘Narrow focus’ is when a studio or foreign producer is only concerned about distributing their film in China and not collaborating with China. Unfortunately, the China Film Group controls every aspect of distribution - how much you can market, which film you are competing against, and how long you stay in. So they do not see the need in granting your film access when you are only aiming at box office sales. Ultimately China wants their industry to grow. They want to provide relevant personnel to create films that belong partially to them, which they still can call a domestic film and reap domestic box office results. China needs a mutually beneficial relationship with foreign producers. That i...

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... in terms of expanding our co-production knowledge and allowing us to gain more insight into filmmaking in China and with China. The latest feature film co-production between Singapore and China is titled Meeting The Giant. It is a co-production between Singapore’s Clover Films, G&J Creation, Golden Village Pictures (distribution), and China’s Stellar Mega Films (distribution). Stellar Mega Films is one of the top five film distributors in China, sitting with giants like Huaxia, China Film Group and BONA Film Group. This film is the first Singapore-China co-production to be theatrically released in both countries. It marks a very promising future for Singapore-China co-produced feature films as we have secured a solid collaborator and China has gained a strong partner who can actually produce a Chinese script and understand the Asian market as well as the Chinese do.

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