Middle Earth - China’s cultural industry podcast

China may have 5,000 years of history, but now it has to compete for clicks and eyeballs with short videos on Douyin. From martial arts to Confucian classics to architecture, find out how businesses focused on Chinese traditional culture marketing themselves for young consumers in the modern day. 

Featuring
AJ Donnelly : Co-founder of Cultural Keys Chinese Culture Company
Matthew Hu : Co-founder of The Courtyard Institute
Carol Yin : Project Manager at the Beijing Institute of Yangming Philosophy

 Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground.  

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

Though streaming is on the rise, film festivals are still an important channel for creators to showcase their work. If you’re an indie filmmaker in China, the Xining FIRST Youth Film Exhibition has become the place to see and be seen. Started in 2006, it is now known as the “Sundance of China,” and it is where directors like Wen Muye, director of 2018’s Dying To Survive (the third-highest grossing film at the Chinese box office), was discovered. 

In 2011, the festival moved to the remote Qinghai province, a Tibetan region better known for its green pastures than its film industry. We invite three attendees from this year’s festival, which just wrapped up in July, on how FIRST helped them find their voice, the challenges of putting on an indie film festival in China, and how FIRST became a standard-bearer of quality for the industry? 

 Featuring 
Vivian Bao: Independent Producer
Khashem Gyal: Director
Tina Xu: Culture Editor at The World of Chinese 

 Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground.  

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

A bonus episode where we will delve into the making of the movie Leap, which came out in September 2020 on the Chinese national women’s volleyball team. Director Peter Ho-Sun Chan and Academy governor-at-large Janet Yang, an award-winning producer, will talk about the incredible journey of the team, the evolution of China over the past few decades, and what it’s like working with acclaimed Chinese actress Gong Li. 

This episode was originally produced by the Asia Society Museum and Asia Society Southern California. 

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

This show is part of the World of Chinese Magazine’s podcast network. Order your latest copy at www.theworldofchinese.com or follow them on Wechat (ID : Theworldofchinese). 

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

The Communist Party of China celebrating its 100th year anniversary this year, driving up tourism to revolutionary sites around the country. The “red tourism” sector has seen significant growth from 140 million visit in 2004 to 1.15 billion in 2019, and now the “Gen Z” is following the trend. How do red tourism sites stay relevant for a new generation?

Featuring
 Dr. Mimi Li : associate professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (PolyU)
 Michael Wang : VP of Content Dragon Trail International 

Made in partnership with The Chinese Tourism Podcast 

Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground.  

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

With a market that will quadruple between 2013 and 2025, China’s animation industry is getting more and more assertive with success stories like Ne Zha (2019), currently the third highest-grossing films in Chinese box office. But what challenges do Chinese animators, producers, and storytellers still face? And how can animated Chinese stories find an audience abroad?

Featuring
Lulu Hansen: Creative producer
 Yi Yan: General Manager of Ju Pin Pictures
 Dalton Grant Jr.: Co-Founder Floating World Animation Studio 

Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground.  

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

In February 2021 China’s cinemas sold more ticket than the USA—a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, but also of a population more and more eager to see quality movies on the big screen. Yet for every movie that comes to the silver screen, several others are released over the internet at the same time. Called e-movies, or wǎngdà (网大), they became a massive pop-culture phenomenon in China with a production peak of over 2,200 films in 2017. 

How did this industry evolve over the last decade, and what does it say about the growth of Chinese cinema? 

Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture, and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground.  

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch!  

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

Not far from the Forbidden City lies Temple Dongjingyuan (Temple 东景缘), formerly knowed as the Zhizhu Temple. It was founded at the beginning of the 15th century, and the current buildings date from 1700. Centuries after it was founded, and decades after it was decommissioned for religious services in the 1950s, the place is miraculously still standing and is a center of culture in the neighborhood. 

In 2007, Juan van Wassenhove and Lin fan (林凡) decided to restore the place and run it as a cultural heritage enterprise. How do they manage to keep the place afloat and find a balance between preserving the history and making a profit ? 

Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture, and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground.  

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch!   

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

If you are on this side of the Great Wall, you might have seen their shops and vending machines in malls: Pop Mart. This public company worth 11 billion USD sells “mystery” toy boxes containing a single cute figurine from a potential set of several characters. Buyers do not know which figurine they have bought until they open the box. The company is widely successful in China and has even led other companies to copy their marketing methods.

Joining Middle Earth Podcast are creative director Juan Tan, Pop Mart's representative Amaia Perea, and business journalist Jiang Yaling, who will talk about how Pop Mart became so successful, the process of creating their IP, and the dark sides of the mystery box craze. 

Middle Earth is distributed by The World of Chinese (www.theworldofchinese.com). Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture, and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground.  

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch!

With thanks to Sean Calvo for music support. 

Middle Earth is now joining The World of Chinese magazine podcast network.

The World of Chinese (TWOC) is a bi-monthly English magazine and website dedicated to Chinese society, language, and culture. Every two months, both in print and online, the team at TWOC takes a contemporary issue in Chinese society and culture and looks behind the headlines to share how it affects people on the ground. As Middle Earth focuses on the creation and distribution of art and content in China, we saw some common values and topics, that’s why we decided to join forces. 

More to come in the coming weeks. To find out more about The World of Chinese, go to www.theworldofchinese.com, link in the podcast description, and subscribe to the print or digital issue of the magazine.

Ecommerce and short-video app Xiaohongshu (小红书 or RED), or RED,  has been booming in china. Yet what distinguishes this app from its competitor Douyin, how the nature of short videos has changed as a result of the pandemic?

Featuring
Miro Li : Founder of Double V. Consulting & CHINAble Academy
Rose Zhu : Xiaohongshu/KOL lifestyle influencer

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendations
- The brand HEYTEA, which provides recipes and teaches followers how to make milk tea at home.
- The social influencer Alex 绝对是个妞儿.

Answers to the quiz
- Xiaohongshu’s founders are Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao.
- Because of some adult content, Xiaohongshu got the nickname Xiaohuangshu.
- Fan Bingbing 范冰冰 has the biggest account on Xiaohongshu.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

Last year, as COVID-19 cases spiked around the world, many thought cinemas would die. China’s box office sales from the past few months tell a different story. The country’s film market broke several world records in 2021, selling roughly $1.2 billion in tickets. Although theaters in the U.S., which are the primary competitors of theaters in China, have been closed, more and more Chinese people continue to head to the movies. One of the secret weapons is the production of a “Chinese New Year film” for the whole family. Where do those films come from, and what is their winning recipe?

Featuring
Ye Qing | 叶青 : Culture Reporter at CGTN
Cheng Rui : Producer at Wanda Studios

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch!

Recommendations
- The 1997 movie The Dream Factory (甲方乙方 jiǎfāng yǐfāng).
- The 2002 movie Fat Choi Spirit (呖咕呖咕新年财 lìgū lìgū xīnnián cái).

Answers to the quiz:
- Detective Chinatown 2 made only 0.4% of its box office sales outside of China.
- The 1981 movie In-Laws (喜盈门 xǐ yíngmén) sold 469 million tickets. 
- The 2008 movie If You Are the One (非诚勿扰 fēichéng wùrǎo) shares the same name as the Jiangsu TV dating show.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

A few years ago, the stand-up comedy scene in China was largely considered to be alternative culture, with few venues for comedians and patrons. This stands in stark contrast to today, with over 100 comedy clubs nationwide, even outside of major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Format shows like Roast! (tùcáo dàhuì 吐槽大会) have pushed stand-up into the mainstream. 

Featuring
Anney Liao : cofounder of Run Wild Comedy Club Beijing (玩脱喜剧)
Jerry Kim : cofounder of Run Wild Comedy Club Beijing (玩脱喜剧)

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendations
- The comedians Wùfàn 悟饭 and Xiǎo Lù 小鹿.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

China’s cultural industry is not often the topic of a book. However, the newly released Red Creative: Culture and Modernity in China tackles questions about how the government sees its cultural industry and how the domestic cultural industry has evolved over time. The book’s authors, Dr. Justin O’Connor and Dr. Xin Gu, joined the show to discuss their findings and to reflect on cultural policy in China.

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendations
- The music label Maybe Mars.
- The movie Platform (2000).

Quiz's answer
- The first time the word culture (文化 wénhuà) appeared in China was in The Book of Changes (易经 yì jīng).
- In 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Culture merged with the China National Tourism Agency to create the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
- According to the Global Soft Power Index, China is ranked fifth in the world.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

As much as everyone would love to claim that they enjoy “highly refined” art and movies, many people enjoy the guilty pleasure of watching reality shows featuring celebrities making a fool of themselves. China has a lot of these shows, and they drive an infinite number of online debates and memes. These cultural products are a vibrant part of China's entertainment industry and also help push the sale of VIP memberships on a variety of internet platforms. Today's guests give an insider’s view of the industry, and explain the latest trends as well as who you should pitch your project to.

Featuring
Shirley Cheng : Chief Creative Officer & Partner at CNEX
Luca Zhao : CEO of Dao Media

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendations
- The show The Big Band (乐队的夏天 yuèduì de xiàtiān).
- The show Let’s Go Time Traveler (咱们穿越吧 zánmen chuānyuè ba).

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

Zhang Shiwen 张释文, the head of entertainment and a partner at the law firm Huiye in Shanghai, talks about her latest book, Guidance and Compliance: The Way to China’s Entertainment Market. She delve into her research on intellectual property protection in China’s film, music, and television industries, and they also discuss a few case studies from her own work in China.

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch!

Link to previous episode
- Episode 32 Intellectual property protection in China’s entertainment industry

Recommendation
- 7 lessons on social image re-branding in China from the Imperial Palace, by Kate Chernavina.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

Long gone are the days when Chinese film directors could shoot their films and win awards abroad without complications back home. But even with stricter regulations regarding the shooting and distribution of films in China, some have not stopped creating unique stories for the big screen. Today's guests share their insights into the current scene of low-budget films and art-house movies coming from China.

Featuring
Cao Liuying : Co-Founder of Midnight Blur Films
Karin Chien : Film Producer & Distributor at dGenerate Films
Jenny Wu : Indie Filmmaker & Curator

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendations
- An Elephant Sitting Still 大象席地而坐 (2017)
- Blind Massage 推拿 (2014)
- Outcry and Whisper 呐喊与低语 (2020)

Quiz's answer
- According to China Daily, only 1.5% of screen time is given to indie films in their first screening week.
- The China Independent Film Festival was shut down permanently in 2020 after 14 iterations.
- The film director who goes by the surname Ceng (who used to be a farmer and a migrant worker) was arrested on the evening of his film premiere in 2016. He was not arrested for the content of the film, but because he was part of a gang fight in Chongqing in 2000 and had eluded the police for 16 years.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

Meet Justin Sweeting, Hong Kong’s ultimate party organizer. Over the last decade, he has elevated Hong Kong’s music scene as a co-founder of the Clockenflap music and arts festival. Clockenflap has come a long way from its humble beginnings back in 2008 to become the city’s biggest festival, with over 30,000 participants per day during peak hours. Justin explains how Hong Kong, his hometown, became a hub for music and examines the rise of Asia as a market in the music industry.

The interview was conducted by Philipp Grefer for the 2020 WISE festival, a media partner with Middle Earth. 

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and usually hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendation
- The Korean music festival Zandari Festa.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

China’s card and board games market size was valued at $580 million in 2018, and is projected to reach $1.6 billion by 2025. On this episode we dive into the strengths and weaknesses of China’s market, how to protect your intellectual property, and recent trends in the industry.

Featuring
Minlu Chen : Co-Founder & CMO of Gstone Games
Hao Zhang :Founder of Labyrinth Culture
Ired Zhu : marketing director at Asmodee China

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendations
- The Chinese game Film Centenary 电影百年
- The Chinese game Garbage Classification 分了吧!
- The localized game Dobble China 嗒宝中国版

Quiz's answers
- It is the game Liubo 六博 whose rules are forgotten that was found in a Chinese tomb.
- Bang! is the Italian game that got copied by the popular Legends of the Three Kingdoms 三国杀
- It was the character Fang Siqi, coming from a popular novel, that was put into an erotic card game even though it is based on a true story and tells the story of a student being harassed by her teacher.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

Leading the world in the LED market, it was only natural for China to join the fun of light art  (also known as luminism) that is growing around the world. Art curator and co-founder of Kaleidoscale Marcom, Drue Chiam shares her experience on how this market has developed over the years she was in China, talent procurement, how to protect your IP and, of course, how COVID-19 impacted an art form that usually happens outdoor with huge crowds.

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendation
- The Festival of Lights in Lyon (France)

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

“If Mulan doesn’t work in China, we have a problem,” said Alan Horn, the co-chairman of Walt Disney Studios, to the Hollywood Reporter. Unfortunately, the film had a lot of issues: inaccurate storytelling, cultural appropriation, and political scandals, not to mention a poor showing at the box office. What were the hurdles the movie faced and how Mulan could be a lesson for film studios hoping to tell Chinese stories for international audiences?

Featuring
Hank Liu : Film Editor
Elaine Yau : Journalist at the South China Morning Post journalist

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions and hosted by Aladin Farré. If you have a China-themed cultural project like shooting your next documentary or look for a specific talent, please get in touch! 

Recommendations
- The Chinese animation film Ne Zha 哪吒 (2019).
- The U.S. animation film Coco (2017).

Answers to the quiz
- Mulan fought in the Northern Wei army.
- At least 12 feature films were made out of Mulan’s story.
- Wēn Míngnà 溫明娜, who voiced Mulan in 1998, is the actor doing a cameo in the 2020 remake.

With thanks to Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support.