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Hollywood producer Larry Kasanoff is in talks with China to co-produce three films. Photo: Larry Kasanoff

New | Lose the nostalgia and focus on modern China to succeed globally, Hollywood producer tells moviemakers

Ditch the history and focus on making China appeal to a global audience, says Larry Kasanoff

Hollywood producer Larry Kasanoff has worked on many famous films and franchises, such as Academy Award-winning movie True Lies, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the video-game-based Mortal Kombat. He has also worked with many big brand names, like Lego, Marvel, Star Trek and Star Wars. Now, he is working on an even bigger “brand” – China.

Kasanoff is in talks with China to co-produce three films, including one based on the video game Tetris. He tells Keira Lu Huang about his experiences working with players in the Chinese movie industry.

What is it like for you in China?

There are three films we’re talking about co-producing in China, but we haven’t closed the deals. One is Tetris, another is an animated movie about music, and the last is a martial arts flick called Raptor. We’re doing tons of stuff in virtual reality; we think it’s a huge opportunity.

This is what happens in every meeting I have in China. I’d say: “You don’t need me to make local Chinese movies.” And they’d go: “Oh, this is great, that’s what we want to do, too.” Then they’ll say: “Here’s our idea. It’s the Tang dynasty and there’s an emperor.” And I’ll go: “No, no, no, we want to make world movies.” Then they’d reply: “Yes, we totally agree. Here’s our idea. It’s the Tang dynasty and there’s an emperor.” And we’d have that meeting over and over again.

Why do you think they do that?

I think the whole cultural thing of trying to sell Chinese history is a mistake. We should be selling China today. It’s much better to sell the idea that Shanghai is funny and cool and parts of China are so beautiful that we’ve got to go there, than to sell China as a historical kind of thing. It’s a great opportunity if people would just play it right.

Here’s a hard question: would people come to China if it weren’t for the money? They should go because they want to see those places. A movie can make you a hot place. If you keep trying to promote your culture from 1,800 years ago, the second someone else has a better deal, everyone’s gone. Look at the history; no one goes to Japan or Germany to make movies any more.

The opportunity for China is for it to use this moment to become a world player in the world market by making China cool today, not the old culture of hundreds of years ago.

How do you change that?

You don’t overspend, but you make it great. You have to think about the world. We are trying to focus on worldwide entertainment brands that we know appeal to everyone. I work with Marvel, Batman, Spiderman, Lego, now Tetris, Star Trek.

Transformers was a huge hit. It was wonderful. (Parts of the second film were shot in Shanghai and parts of the fourth film were shot in Hong Kong.) The location – that’s the exact way to do it, it makes a ton of sense. I think people understand that just putting the action in Shanghai and Hong Kong is great.

Where does China stand in the world movie market?

China right now is sort of like Germany. It’s 10 to 12 per cent of the market, which is great. But whether it’s going to be a dominant player like Hollywood depends on these two things: think about the world and think about being great. If it does, I believe it has absolutely every opportunity to become a dominant player.

What are other opportunities in the Chinese movie market?

There’s no aftermarket in China. As a foreign producer, maybe you get 25 per cent of the theatrical box office, but there is no DVD after that. A movie in the United States would make at least half of its money, if not more, on the aftermarket, and then go on playing for years and years after that. So that’s a huge amount of money you discount.

I welcome China as a world player on the world stage, making world movies. But movies are the only thing [for China right now]. The opportunity is to make these movies into world branding events and then create your own spin-offs. That’s what we do; that’s what we’re interested in.

What’s your view as a movie producer?

My view is that we should all make movies for the world … make a world-unifying media event. The moviemakers who are constantly trying to slip in the idea that no one is going to notice this is a period piece set in the 12th century in China, is ridiculous. I wouldn’t watch a movie set in the 1800s in the US.

I don’t need everyone to agree with me. I only want to make, right now, three movies in China. I just need three people to agree with me. We believe the China equation is simple: world movie to the world market. Don’t try to trick us and don’t try to trick yourself, because two years later, when you look at your 100 million dollars flop, it’s not such a good idea any more.

Do you see Chinese investors playing more important roles in Hollywood?

It’s possible if they’re serious about it. It’s not possible if they think they’re going to come and trick everybody. Most people who come to Hollywood and say they have money – I don’t mean the Chinese, I mean, in general – they don’t actually have money.

It’s an old trick. You try to have someone give you a script with a director, producer and actors all ready to go, then you go back home and try to sell it. We know many people who come to Los Angeles and say “I’m the richest man in China, I know everyone in China”, then they go back to China and they say “I know Hollywood, I know all these Chinese guys in Hollywood”, and they try to build themselves up that way.

What do you think about the emergence of more Chinese actors and actresses in Hollywood movies?

That’s a really smart thing. I like cross-cultural casting; I think it’s cool. What’s cool is to put a Chinese person in a movie not playing the Chinese guy but the guy who just happens to be Chinese. Because the future of the world is where everyone is multi-ethnic and multiracial. You should use talented people just because they are talented people.

 

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