Drama makers play safe sticking with Louis Cha
Demand for television adaptations of martial arts novels by author Louis Cha Leung-yung, better known by his pen name Jin Yong, has soared because investors believe period dramas based on his novels are the 'safest bet' with mainland censors.
The Sunday Morning Post has learned that the exclusive licensing term for screen adaptations of Cha's novels, widely read throughout the Chinese-speaking world, was recently shortened from five years to three because of increased demand from the mainland television industry.
According to statistics from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the air time for mainland television programmes increased from 11 million hours in 2004 to 13.6 million hours in 2006.
The number of period costume dramas, including those featuring martial arts, rose from 27 in 2004 to 40 last year.
There has been increasing demand for locally produced television programmes, and making series based on Cha's novels - which often feature extravagant martial arts scenes - has been seen as the safest because they have long been accepted by the mainland's zealous censors.
Industry sources said that even though rules and regulations governing the censorship of programme content had been written down in black and white, the ultimate right to approve a show lay in the hands of a small group of officials.
'Even if there are rules, it's all based on personal opinions,' one source said. 'What is acceptable today may not be acceptable tomorrow. This creates a problem for investors and producers because you don't know what the government will say about a show.'
That meant investors were left having to bear all the risks at a time when production costs were increasing. 'If a show is not approved, all of a sudden you lose everything,' the source said.
However, filming a period costume drama based on one of Cha's novels would be a much safer bet because all of his stories had been approved by the government. Former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping was one of the millions of fans of Cha's work.
Renowned mainland director and producer Zhang Jizhong has filmed six titles in eight years.
'Making a TV drama set in modern society might involve sensitive subjects,' another source said. 'But if you make a series based on Mr Cha's novels, there's no risk at all.'
Hong Kong-based Ming Ho Publications, which holds the rights to all of Cha's novels, confirmed that the exclusive licensing period had been shortened. 'That means that within those three years, we won't license the remake rights to other people in the same territory,' a company spokeswoman said, while declining to give out further details.
Aside from political considerations, the president of mainland media group XFMedia, Graham Earnshaw, who translated Cha's first novel, The Book and the Sword, into English, said the fascinating stories and interesting characters made Cha's works great material for television dramas.
'His stories and characters feed off Chinese history and legends, and have become the basis of what you might call the fantasy world of modern China, which is a good thing for China and its people, I would say, given the wealth of historical references and elements of traditional Chinese culture that Mr Cha includes in his stories,' he said.
'The point is that everyone in China knows these characters and stories, even if they have not read the books, and nothing succeeds like success. Doing a remake of a Louis Cha novel is a much safer investment than doing an entirely new story.'
