Hollywood is still the USA's big soft-power trump card, an eternally running tap beaming American culture into the hearts and eyeballs of people all over the world. So of course China, as it does with anything it can't produce domestically, is buying it piecemeal. This year's Beijing International Film Festival, which wraps today, put a heavier emphasis than ever on the importance of foreign co-productions to the Chinese film industry. The massive BIFF program was basically a huge smokescreen for deals cut in back rooms filled with industry wonks from all over the world who'd come to Beijing in acknowledgement of this tidal shift in the flow of film production capital. The concept is very simple: China has a lot of newly middle class viewers. China has a lot of money. China has a central government organ that can censor or outright veto any film to be shown within its borders. So if you want to get your movie in front of Chinese people, your best bet is to co-produce with a Chinese company — which ultimately means pandering to the Party line and advertising the new China Dream. Bob Loblaw's Dan Harris' China Law Blog just ran an excerpt from a discussion panel at BIFF last week on precisely this topic, if you want to look at some numbers: "Beijing International Film Festival: Sino-Foreign Co-Productions" Jaden Smith wanted to learn karate but his Chinese co-producers were like "Japan? Nah bro", so he learned kung fu instead Big-name luminaries getting in on the celluloid gold rush include: Keanu Reeves, who released Chinese-American martial arts action vehicle Man of Tai Chi — his directorial debut — in 2013; CBA baller Stephon Marbury, who just inked a deal on a biopic as part of a five-film deal between Beijing's Hairun Pictures and Australian production house Village Roadshow; Willem Dafoe, who was spotted by friends of a bunch of my WeChat friends a few weeks ago on Wudaoying hutong, presumably in town filming new Zhang Yimou historical drama The Great Wall; and even SmartBeijing's go-to pie rating system, Nick Cage, who was in town last year trying to purchase the Great Wall, and inadvertently made a film instead. But what about the smaller players in the game? Co-productions with China have become a lucrative option for people on the indie film grind, as well: writers and producers lower on the industry totem pole, but with an ambition to crack into this emerging market Valhalla. To get the inside scoop on the whole phenomenon, SmBJ talked to someone currently mired in the US-China co-production trenches. As his project is still in development, we're keeping this interview anonymous. I'll just call him "Indie Joe", because I've been running on like 4 hours of sleep every night this week. And I guess "indie" can mean "independent" or "industry". Also Indiana Jones 5 will probably be a Chinese co-production. Just made that up, but wouldn't be surprised. (Note: the interviewee is/was not involved in any of the films referenced in this article.) Inside a Chinese film co-pro: ***

: This is a funny business, as it’s one of the few where you can score considerable victories without landing on the grid. I’ve optioned four screenplays. Out of the four, I’ve only had one green-lighted, and it crumbled when one of the key production members passed away. Like I said, it’s the only business where you can succeed and still be a failure. Just a sale is an accomplishment for me, personally. Outside of that, I’ve worked on a number of music videos and commercials. I work with a partner, and we’ve been given the opportunity to create things that often transcend the product or song we’re working with.

: I’m primarily the writer, but the relationship between myself and my partner is fluid. I’ll help with the shot lists and I’ve even helped direct some of the performances featured in our work, so I’ll sometimes share a director’s credit. I’ve been referred to as the quality control guy. I keep my fingers in just about every aspect of whatever it is that we produce.

: There is a hunger for viable China-Hollywood co-productions right now, but the key word is “viable.” Striking a balance while entertaining both audiences is a major struggle, primarily because of the differences in what an American audience craves vs. what China will let its audiences enjoy. Personally, I don’t think there’s much difference between these audiences in terms of what they would respond to. However, China’s censorship is an obstacle that requires a high level of creativity to circumvent on almost every level of production. I’m actually half-Chinese, and grew up in America, and I was often faced with discrimination from both sides, because I wasn’t purely one thing or another. I was rejected soundly by both whites and Asians in my community. It felt like I was walking a tight rope, and there was no softer side to fall on. I strongly identified with my Asian heritage, and grew up watching a lot of Shaw Brothers films, and of course I fell in love with a lot of the Hong Kong films of the early '90s as a teenager. I remember after the Handover occurred, I started seeing a lot of great Chinese actors breaking into the American film market, and I was really excited about this idea until I actually started seeing how a lot of these performers were being utilized and treated on screen. I just wasn’t happy with how Asians were accepted by the industry. upcoming big-tent co-pros include Transformers 4 and Iron Man 3 Indie Joe: The script I have that’s currently been in production for going on three years now was written on a whim, on spec, and I wrote for a Western audience, and I wanted to feature a strong, Asian male lead. It was a total tribute to the Cannon films of the '80s. I was really surprised when a number of people liked the script, and it got passed up to several production companies. Sadly, the one thing we encountered while pitching it was the suggestion that we change the Asian lead to someone who was white. Not even American – the term we heard was “a white guy.” We were constantly told that American audiences didn’t want to see Asian leads, and even if they did, bankable Asian leads didn’t exist. The unfortunate truth is, though, that the American industry simply will not let them exist. They could build Asian leads if they wanted to, but they don’t want to. It was very clear that my vision of what this film should be didn’t line up with average Hollywood values. A good friend, who was very fond of the script because of its throwback nature, was interested in directing it as his first feature, and so he started packaging it. He had a lot of connections, socially, in China, and he was able to show it around, and people seemed very excited about the quality of the script. I think there was also something very appealing to them about us wanting to present the Chinese man as a strong figure to Western audiences. In my mind this was supposed to be something that transcended the imaginary barriers between audiences. I’m sure people respond to characters that are ethnically closer to their own model, but I think people in general respond to TYPES of characters, such as underdogs, and so forth.

: This is very much an Action vehicle. Action is a universal language. But it also doesn’t treat the genre like it’s brainless. It has a philosophical slant to it. Honestly, I wanted to write a contemporary martial arts film where the fights actually had a logical context. I always hated how in certain films where the adversaries would just drop their guns and decide to start kicking each other. That never made sense to me. Western audiences love a good martial arts film, too. "To save their souls they must save a kingdom" holy shit

: Foremost, there’s the reality of life in China versus what China will allow to be shown on screen. Simply refusing to permit the depiction of certain [things] in your cinema won’t make them go away in real life. And then you look at what IS popular over there. You see what people are pirating and downloading. When I see what is “unofficially popular” over there, it illustrates that there isn’t such a wide gap between the American and Chinese audiences. I don’t think film creates social trends; I think it reflects its public. When you curtail something that is topical, it’s basically like painting over a crack. Art ought to be unrestricted and more thoroughly examined. If you don’t like what you see, don’t dismantle the art; rather address the influence of the art that you don’t like. future Joseph Gordon Levitt chooses Shanghai as the place to morph into future Bruce Willis in Looper, because China owns the future Indie Joe: I think that a lot of companies over there perceive American filmmaking talent to be a selling point. It’s a gimmick. However, they don’t want to allow these talents to be too American, which make these partnerships pointless. American cinema is a very dour thing. For many years now, we’ve had a culture that revels in anti-authoritarian attitude. Police are under a microscope in our media over here. People don’t necessarily trust cops anymore. Revolt is in our blood. Counter-culture is our culture.

: It’s not as socially progressive as I’d hoped it to be. Racism is still a huge problem within the industry. I’ve been told candidly that I won’t have certain opportunities because I am not purely Chinese, and I’ve seen very talented people of Asian heritage discriminated against because they aren’t Chinese. Hollywood’s the same way, though.

: That’s a tough question. I recently came to the conclusion that I don’t want to work over there. It’s far too restrictive. My main piece of advice would be to make sure there are no communication gaps. I feel like the language gap has been convenient for a lot of people I’m working with. ***