LOCAL and mainland movie studios must concentrate on producing films that are not just Chinese versions of US action flicks if they want to woo American audiences, Hollywood moguls say.
The future of the industry lies in films like Zhang Yimou's lyrically and visually rich epic, Raise the Red Lantern, a Universal Studios executive said at this week's Third Hong Kong International Film and TV market.
Hollywood film chiefs said they wanted to see more Hong Kong and mainland films that did not resemble Hollywood blockbusters.
Universal Studios international distribution director Ted Perkins said: 'The mass US audience wants to watch broad themes.
'There is this suspended sense of disbelief when they watch foreign films.
'The typical US audience will pick apart foreign films and find ways they have emulated a US film, and there is little patience for subtitled films.' American management consultant Peter Dekom said US audiences were largely monolingual and had little motivation to watch foreign films.
'These films are seen as too culturally inaccessible,' he said.