Talking at a TIFFCOM seminar, Cai Gongming, founding father of Chinese language distributor Highway Footage, defined how his firm has constructed up Japanese anime to be one of many strongest movie import classes within the mainland China market. And though Chinese language audiences stay targeted on native, Chinese language-language motion pictures, he additionally mentioned that Hollywood has been making a sluggish comeback available in the market this yr.
Highway Footage scored main hits in 2023 with Japanese anime titles Suzume, which grossed $117M, and The First Slam Dunk, which took round $75M. In consequence, the full field workplace of this class within the China market elevated by 90% year-on-year.
This yr, Cai mentioned the mixed field workplace of Japanese anime motion pictures is on the identical degree as 2023, though the per image common is decrease as twice as many titles have been launched. Highway Footage’ largest hits have included Spy x Household Code: White, with round $40M, and the re-release of Your Identify with $19M. (Studio Ghibli’s The Boy And The Heron, launched by Alibaba Footage, is the highest-grossing Japanese anime to this point this yr with $110M).
“Japanese anime titles are very robust due to their IP attributes – younger individuals know the IP as a result of it has reached them by way of completely different channels over a few years. Japanese reside motion motion pictures have much less of those IP attributes and the celebrities are much less acknowledged by the Chinese language viewers,” Cai defined.
He added that Japanese arthouse motion pictures may carry out properly however have a ceiling, Highway Footage launched Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters in 2018, which stays the highest-grossing Japanese arthouse launch in China with round $14M.
However he additionally attributed the robust efficiency of Japanese anime in China to proactive advertising actions. He defined that his firm has launched an “built-in enterprise technique”, combining movie distribution with a brand new enterprise, GuGuGuGu, spanning merchandising, bodily shops, reside occasions and different exploitation of IP. Thus far, the enterprise has opened round six GuGuGuGu Residence standalone shops and one other 40 shops positioned inside cinemas.
“Chinese language audiences count on this built-in service – we realized this from the distribution of One Piece and different movies, that they not solely go to the theatre to see the film, but in addition need to purchase items, meet associates and have a good time collectively,” Cai defined.
In China, these actions have included particular premieres with immersive components, merchandising and in-store occasions: “The Chinese language followers need the whole lot that the Japanese followers are receiving, regardless of the expense.”
Highway Footage’ Cai Gongming
Speaking generally in regards to the China market, Cai mentioned that earlier than the pandemic, imported movies had round a 47% market share (it was throughout this golden interval that Highway Footage launched Shoplifters), however the share is now underneath 20%. Final yr, round 70-80 overseas motion pictures had been imported into China, throughout revenue-sharing Hollywood titles, and the so-called flat charge movies that typically obtain a income cut up.
Hollywood motion pictures have been declining in market share because the pandemic, and whereas their mixed field workplace is 3 times that of Japanese anime motion pictures, the per image common is across the similar degree.
Nevertheless, Cai mentioned there are indicators that the market is beginning to get well this yr for US studio titles, with Alien: Romulus grossing $110M, a lot larger than anticipated, and the continuing re-releases of all of the Harry Potter franchise movies.
“Japanese anime is powerful in China due to the fanbase, which extends to TV collection and different types of merchandising and media. Hollywood shouldn’t be so lively in China. Additionally, anime appeals to youthful audiences and Hollywood has been dropping younger individuals.”
Cai additionally talked in regards to the regulatory framework in China, noting that he additionally faces challenges securing approvals from the Japanese corporations concerned in every launch. “However a minimum of Japan has the manufacturing committee system, which is an effective, coordinated strategy. In China, it’s not so coordinated as a result of numerous completely different enterprise companions management completely different elements of the IP. They don’t discuss to one another, so it may be troublesome to synchronize.”
On the China facet, he mentioned there are at the moment fewer restrictions by way of the quotas and general numbers of movies imported into the market: “The viewers wants variety, and the coverage is following this demand”. He additionally mentioned that censorship seems to be stress-free for some style movies, together with Alien: Romulus and Taiwanese crime thriller The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon, which each contained content material that will have been thought of problematic earlier than the pandemic.
“Alien was a shock for many people when it handed censorship – the coverage appears to be getting extra relaxed for style motion pictures,” Cai mentioned. “We see that as a great factor because the viewers needs to see completely different sorts of content material and the regulator needs to satisfy this demand to see a robust field workplace efficiency.”
