Hong Kong film makers looking north

"Ten years ago, there were not enough screens in China but the Chinese mainland market is becoming more important, with a very strong box office," he said. The number of screens has gone up from 2,013 in 2003 to 3,360 in 2006.

"The trend is getting bigger and bigger, so there will be a big increase in Chinese-speaking movies, and the box office," Tsui predicts.

Sundream was launched in 2005 as a movie division of Hong Kong's i-Cable's paybox Cable TV. Its products include Johnnie To's romantic drama Linger, a China co-production with Sil-Metropole. It also released four films last year: A Battle of Wits, Nothing Is Impossible, 49 Days and Twins Mission.

Joseph Lai, chief executive officer, IFD Films and Arts Limited, pointed out that Hong Kong survives because of the Chinese mainland market. "We recoup 50% to 75% of our investment from [the Chinese mainland]," he said.

Even so, the company shoots all of its small budget animation and action or martial arts pictures in English. "Then we dub in English, because the level of the actors' English is not so good," said Lai. However, IFD shoots co-productions with China in Putonghua.

"An international picture has to be in English," Lai explained. "But there are not enough actors [in Hong Kong] who speak fluent English. That is always a problem with Asian actors." Among the top actors, he cites Jackie Chan as having perhaps the best command of English. "Everyone hopes that that will improve, but we have a long way to go."

While the future may be on the Chinese mainland, there are still pitfalls. "There are always problems with censorship [on the Chinese mainland], but we know their culture and mentality, so we know how to deal with them," said Lai.

Christy Choi, senior distribution executive, Hong Kong-based Mandarin Entertainment (Holdings) Ltd, said: "if you have a good film, there is a big market [on the Chinese mainland]. If you have a good director, title and action, it will succeed."

However, to make it in the foreign market, a picture must have a higher production budget. "For the international market, the budget must range from US$8 million to US$30 million," Choi added. Her company shoots in Cantonese and dubs into English.

"Last year, we had great success with Dragon Tiger Gate," explained Choi. This year, the company is selling Flash Point from the same production team.

Mandarin Entertainment announced in the early days of the festival that Distant Horizon acquired North American rights to its Donnie Yen martial arts action picture. The company co-produced the film with Chinese mainland companies Polybona Film Distribution and Enlight Pictures.

"For the past two or three years we have done action films," Choi said. "But we are trying to bring a new genre, such as suspense thrillers, to the market."

Some producers bring the company English-language projects, but it is much more expensive to shoot in English. "You have to hire an English crew, and there are not enough in Hong Kong," she insisted. Still, she believes the standards are better than it was 10 years ago.

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