China's passion for IP adaptations still rising

Adaptations of literary and other works have been part of Chinese filmmaking for years.

Along the sidelines of the ongoing Beijing International Film Festival, insiders in the country's entertainment industry have discussed the fever in the industry for adaptations and the related intellectual property rights.

Shen Ting has more.

Zhang Xixian is a young novelist and screenwriter. She's now preparing to shoot a film, with Hong Kong martial artist and actor Sammo Hung supervising production.

She says a rights purchase agreement outlining the terms for securing rights to the screenplay is a common practice in countries like the US.

"It's not a modern, new phenomenon for a best-seller to be adapted into a motion picture. For instance, American author Stephen King's first hardback bestseller The Shining published in 1977 was adapted into a 1980 feature film of the same name. Hollywood's screenwriting awards also contain both best adapted and best original screenplay categories. Hence, intellectual property is not a new word at all. But recently the Chinese film industry's passion for IP-transitioned motion-picture works has attracted a big inflow of funds and even aroused a fantasy towards investing into it. Therefore it becomes a new phenomenon in China."

The role for Intellectual Property may include helping producers attract the funds needed to get a film or TV drama project off the ground.

Meanwhile, IP films will enable directors, screenwriters and actors, as well as the many artists and technicians who work behind the scenes, to earn a living.

And according to Zhang Xixian, there is also a more obvious advantage.

"Turning a well-known story into a screenplay has an obvious advantage of enjoying a large fan base in the initial stage. The fans of the original novel would become the first group of moviegoers to support it. But whether it could be a success at the box office and attract those who never read the novel lies in the quality of a film as a product."

The fan base is actually one of the leading factors for the companies and individuals to favor such a form of venture capital.

For instance, an online novel about the bittersweet romance between a 140,000-year-old fox princess and a 50,000-year-old dragon prince has recently taken to the big screen. This follows the fever of a TV drama series based on the same story, namely Eternal Love, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms.

Also, the historical epic White Deer Plain has both TV and movie adaptations.

A still from the new TV drama White Deer Plain [Photo provided to China Plus]

Chinese veteran actress Qin Hailu has many years of experience in both TV dramas and movies.

She plays a lead role in the new 80-episode drama White Deer Plain, which is now broadcast on Anhui TV and Jiangsu TV.

The drama was adapted from Chen Zhongshi's novel of the same name, considered a Chinese literary treasure.

However, Qin Hailu thinks few intellectual property adaptations could be as artistically creative as the original work.

"People differ in their attitude towards life and aesthetic value. That's why we often hear such complaints as either a silver screen or big screen adaptation is not as amazing as the original novel. Some people may think the adaptations deviates from the original work while others believe the adaptations go loyal as they have expected. The divided opinions are sort of a genetic defect that would usually happen when a literary work has been reborn into a drama or movie. Even a master of film production cannot ensure turning IP into the picture would please everyone who watches it."

Participants attending a forum discussing the future of Chinese musicals, pose for a picture together at the close of the event on April 8, 2017. [Photo provided to China Plus].

While these IP drama and movies have been expanding the domestic Chinese brand, a veteran musical producer thinks a popular multi-media franchise should also include musicals in order to further advance the boom in IP adaptations.

Tian Yuan is the producer of 40 million yuan all-Chinese version of Mamma Mia, a hit Broadway musical.

"I think the international practices of turning a good IP literary work into a stage performance and further into a movie are quite mature now. When a piece of popular literature is transformed into different forms of art, including musical, drama and movie, it would enable the good and classic literature to enjoy a long-term popularity."

Tian said it makes sense to develop musicals based on what's popular with audiences, at a recent forum in Beijing, discussing the future of Chinese musicals.

She's added the rise of IP adaptations in China could be new chances for Chinese musicals to embrace further progress.