Chinese film studio opens in Qingdao

Developed by Chinese company Dalian Wanda, the studios have already had a soft opening and have hosted scenes for Hollywood co-production movies including The Great Wall and Pacific Rim Uprising.

Qingdao’s long-term appeal to international producers is less certain. The facility will reportedly focus on Chinese shoots at first but is looking at ways to attract Hollywood.

“We have yet to figure out a clear strategy to attract Hollywood and other foreign filmmakers,” said Sun Hengqin, chief president assistant of Wanda Film Group and head of Qingdao Movie Metropolis, in comments to Bloomberg.

“We’d love them to come and shoot their films here and we will study what are the factors that prevent them from coming, and improve our services accordingly.”

Qingdao offers generous filming incentives but Aaron Shershow, a line producer on Pacific Rim Uprising, suggested to Bloomberg that part of the problem may be that the financial support has not been effectively promoted by Chinese authorities.

However, there is also anecdotal evidence to suggest that international producers and location managers are wary of the challenges of filming in China.

Language barriers, strict Chinese production codes and stark differences in working cultures can discourage western filmmakers, especially when production hubs elsewhere in the world can offer the same standard of facilities and support.

See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in China.

Image: FreeImages.com/Gary Tamin