Middle Earth - China’s cultural industry podcast

China’s entertainment industry has undergone staggering changes over the past two decades. The content, the ways it's delivered, and even the stars themselves are taking shape in a manner that is unique to China and reflects a new type of user — one who has come of age in the digital era. Provincial governments partner with stars to sell goods as arbitrary as farm equipment. Kim Kardashian has collaborated with famous live streamers to sell perfume. The show dives on how the budding Chinese entertainment industry is being shaped by technology and the internet; how Chinese dramas, songs, and TV are received around the world; the power of Chinese fandom; and more.

Featuring
Kevin Feng : Talent Agent & Producer
Allison Jiang : Cultural Writer at RADII
Marian Mationg : Writer at DramaPanda 

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! 

Sponsors
Win a free month of OVID.tv, which distributes exclusive Chinese films, by sharing your favorite Middle Earth episode on social media. Send Aladin a screenshot on Twitter for a chance to win! 

Recommendations
- Mark Chao (Zhào Yòutíng 趙又廷), a Taiwanese-Canadian actor and model.
- Jackson Wang (Wáng Jiā’ěr 王嘉尔), a Hong Kong rapper, singer, and dancer.
- Huáng Bó 黄渤, a Chinese actor and singer.  

Answers to the quiz
- Ruǎn Língyù 阮玲玉 is a Chinese star who killed herself in 1936.
-Saving Mr. Wu (2015) is the Chinese film based on the Chinese actor Wú Ruòfǔ’s 吴若甫 real abduction in 2004.
-Jackie Chan’s son was arrested for drug use while having an out-of-wedlock daughter.
- A 2018 scandal involving actress Fàn Bīngbīng’s 范冰冰 “fake” contracts from a film project were worth $1.6 million.

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

Hollywood's studios are increasingly wary of provoking China’s government by making films that contain “sensitive” content. Some films have even self-censored portions of their own films intended for the global market, in fear of retribution. On today’s show the conversation dives into the origins of how and when Beijing’s cultural policy began to impact Hollywood decision making in film production. The trio also provide concrete examples of how the studios negotiated a share of the growing Chinese film market and what actions the industry needs to take on that issue.

Featuring
Chris Fenton : Author of "Feeding the Dragon: Inside the Trillion Dollar Dilemma Facing Hollywood, the NBA, & American Business"
James Tager : Deputy Director at PEN America & main author of "Made in Hollywood, Censored by Beijing"

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! 

Sponsors
- Win a free month of OVID.tv, which distributes exclusive Chinese films, by sharing your favorite Middle Earth episode on social media. Send Aladin a screenshot on Twitter for a chance to win! 

- If you are in Berlin, Chengdu, or Shanghai and like music or tech, you should check the WISE festival lineup. The event runs from August 28 through September 4. 

Recommendations
- The U.S.-China-Germany film Point Break (2015)
- The U.S.-China film The Meg (2018)

Answers to the quiz
- Too much cleavage was the reason the TV series The Empress of China had to be reshot.
-The Ancient One, a Marvel comic character, got a gender and birthplace change in order to avoid provoking any backlash.
- Abominable (2019), a U.S.-China co-production, was censored by Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines due to its depiction of the nine-dash line.

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

Founded in 2003, Mahua FunAge (开心麻花) is a cultural company that focuses on comedy content, including plays, musicals, children’s shows, improv, online TV series, and films. As of 2020, it has produced six successful feature films and 40 plays with the support of 400 staff members. Leer Cheng, vice president of the company, joins the show to discuss its recipe for success and how the entertainment industry in China has grappled with COVID-19. 

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
- Almost a Comedy (半个喜剧, 2019).

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

Of the 3,000 film studios located in China, Xiangshan Global Studios in Ningbo is one of the most important. Felix Lou, vice managing director of its international development division, joins Aladin to discuss the origin of the studios, its business model, the talent needed to maintain the operation, and some of its current international collaborations. 

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 episode was co-produced with Hiu Man Chan, the director of the UK-China Film Collab.

Recommendations
- The TV series The Longest Day in Chang'an.
- The upcoming TV series The Golden Hairpin.

Answers to the quiz
- The Shaw Brothers company was funded by the Shanghainese Tianyi Film Company after the founders escaped the 1937 Japanese invasion.
- I Am Somebody is a film about extras working in Hengdian Studio, China’s biggest film studio.
- There are more than 3,000 registered film studios in China.

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

Raz Gal-Or is the founder of the Foreigner Research Institute (wāigǔorén yánjiū xíehuì 歪果仁研究协会), a successful online platform that promotes foreigners creating content in China. Now known as Y-Platform, it has garnered a following of 80 million through 30 channels and influencers. In March 2020, Raz’s company raised $5 million from Sina Weibo and the online gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co.

What you’ll hear is the audio from a presentation organized by the nonprofit BeHive, which aims to support development opportunities and careers for students and young professionals.

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 Brenden Gonsalves  for graphic design & Sean Calvo for music support. 

As content and movie creation continues to surge inside China, the need for more film industry professionals is now more pressing than ever. One role that lies at the center of creativity and technicality lies the score composer - the individual responsible for creation of music to accompany a film. On the podcast this week, film composers Liu Ye and Sean Calvo explain the work they do in the field, the issues they face, and how traditional Chinese music is utilized within the production process 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! 

Thank you to 247tickets for offering vouchers to guests.

Like the podcasts at SupChina? Help us out by taking this brief survey. 

Recommendations
- The soundtrack to Hero (2002), by Tan Dun. 
- The soundtrack to White Vengeance (2011), by Henry Lai.

Quiz's answers
- Cong Su, a Chinese composer, who won an Oscar for best music score for The Last Emperor (1987).
- The sound of the fighting scene comes from Kung Fu Hustle (2004).
- The oldest Chinese instrument is believed to be the wind instrument Xun.

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

In 2014, the Chinese government released a policy document — now referred to as Number 46 — that outlined China’s plan to create the biggest sports industry in the world, with the target of $700 billion in annual revenue by 2025.  We discuss the country’s national policies on sports and the business and collaborative opportunities in this industry. 

Featuring
Jonty Dixon : Sports Editor at Xinhua News
Wenjing Soong : Sports Consultant & Agent
Michael Sun : Chairman and CEO of SlamBall Asia 

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 hockey team Kunlun Red Star, based in Beijing.
- The young football team of Zhidan County in Shaanxi. Follow it on WeChat: 志丹县足球协会.

Answers to the quiz
- Ping-Pong diplomacy is what began the warming of relations between the People’s Republic of China and the USA.
- The furthest China’s national soccer team has gone is the group stages in the 2002 World Cup.
- Li Xiaoshuang is the Chinese Olympian who won six medals in only one Olympic session.

Like the podcasts at SupChina? Help us out by taking this brief survey.

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

Once Chinese companies rise to the top of the domestic market, another challenge emerges: publicly listing on one of the major U.S. stock exchanges. Among the more recent listings, there is Bilibili and iQIYI for video, and Lizhi and Tencent Music for audio. In that episode guests explain the requirements of going public in the United States, the knowledge gap between Chinese companies and Western investors, and how going public can influence content creation and distribution.

Featuring
Ross Warner : Vice President of The Piacente Group
Elliott Zaagman : co-host of the China Tech Investor podcast 

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
-Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Intelligent Investor, self-help books on investments.
- The China Hustle, a 2017 documentary about how small Chinese companies were hyped up and sold by American investment banks to U.S.-based investors.
- The Motley Fool Podcasts, a series of podcasts about investing. 

Like the podcasts at SupChina? Help us out by taking this brief survey. 

Quiz's answers
- 152 Chinese companies are listed on the major U.S. stock exchanges. 
- Beijing Jingxi Culture and Tourism (北京京西文化旅游股份有限公司), the company that produced Wolf Warrior 2, is the company that was queried by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after fraud allegations.

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

Intellectual property protection on copyrights is seen as being nearly nonexistent in China, but does that argument really hold water? What are the general positions of the Chinese government on international protection in the television and film industries?

Featuring
Mathew Alderson : Partner, Harris Bricken
Li Jianbin : Copyright & Distribution Specialist
Frank Yang : Senior associate, Marks & Clerk

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 Romanoffs (2018), a TV series
-1917 (2019), an India-Spain-U.K.-U.S. epic war film
- China Law Blog

Quiz's answers
- King of Peking (京城之王 2017) is the Chinese-U.S. comedy about a family illegally copying films on DVDs.
- Michael Jordan is the sportsman who came out victorious in a trademark case in China's Supreme Court against Chinese company Qiaodan Sports.
- The film Cars (2006) was copied by The Autobots (汽车人总动员 2015). 

Like the podcasts at SupChina? Help us out by taking this brief survey.

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

John Dietz of BangBang Pictures has worked on over 30 movies in China, ranging from blockbuster films to micro-budget independent projects. He has seen the domestic visual effects (VFX) industry grow tremendously since moving to China in 2009, and works as a third party who handles top-to-bottom implementation of VFX for film projects. He shares a few tricks of the trade, including how he finds success working with international teams, and provides details about the logistics of some of the projects that he has worked on. 

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
-Animal World (动物世界 2019), a Chinese action-adventure film.
- Lost in Russia (囧妈 2020), a Chinese comedy that can be seen for free on Douyin.

Like the podcasts at SupChina? Help us out by taking this brief survey.

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

For years, Chinese producers only had eyes for the “Hollywood model.” That is, big-budget projects and, hopefully, even bigger returns. After volatile times for the Chinese film industry, and events like the Fan Bingbing tax evasion scandal, producers realized that other business models can exist. We explore how this industry with Bridging the Dragon. This association has connected European and Chinese filmmakers since 2014, with the support of various Western film funds, production companies, and festivals (such as the FIRST International Film Festival

Featuring
Cristiano Bortone : Director & Bridging the Dragon Founder 

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 other episode
- episode 23 about the FIRST International Film Festival

Recommendations
- Road Pictures (路画影视传媒 lù huà yǐngshì méi), a Chinese film distribution company that focuses on art house film.
- New Classics Media (新丽传媒 xīn lí chuánméi), a Chinese entertainment and media company that focuses on remakes.
- Mahua Fun Age (开心麻花 kāixīn máhuā), a Chinese company that focuses on comedy films and live theater.

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

Key opinion leaders, or KOLs, have a strong connection to Chinese internet users and are now highly sought after to sell products to huge audiences on ecommerce websites and streaming platforms. We dive into the reasons why this growing industry works so well in China and how, eventually, live streamers may end up consuming the same brands that hired them in the first place.

Featuring
Elijah Whaley : Chief Marketing Officer at PARKLU

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
- Lǐ Jiāqí 李佳琦, also known as Austin Li, a famous livestreamer
-  Melilim Fu, a beauty and makeup influencer.

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

China’s culture and entertainment industry is bracing for serious challenges amid the COVID-19 epidemic. This particularly applies to the film and tourism sectors, which are facing significant headwinds. Yet while people remain quarantined at home, short-video apps and the gaming sector are seeing massive traffic spikes.

Featuring
Terry Mieremet : Entrepreneur in the Tourism Industry
Cecily Huang : Producer at Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Sebastian Francois : Gaming Industry Consultan

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! 

Quiz's answers
- The Spanish flu was the deadliest flu epidemic ever recorded.
- The most viewed films in China right now are Contagion and The Flu.
- Battle of Pathogens is the game co-launched by the publicity department of Haidian District Committee and People's Daily and developed by Bytedance-owned Ohayoo.
- There have been 20,000 concerts canceled in China and Hong Kong since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

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

Dalian Wanda Group, led by billionaire Wáng Jiànlín 王建林, invested heavily in China's movie industry over the past decade. In 2014, at the cost of $8 billion, Wanda Studios Qingdao was founded. This move was aimed at establishing a dynamic supply chain that would be able to facilitate the creation of entire films, from production to distribution. After debt issues forced Wanda to sell its majority stake in the venture to Sunac, another Chinese property developer, the studios were rebranded as Oriental Movie Metropolis.

Gary Kho, the former chief technical officer and chief marketing officer of Wanda Studios Qingdao, worked for the studios throughout their construction. In this interview, he describes how the facilities were built, identifies some of the challenges that the film industry faces domestically, and expounds on his work in bridging divides between China’s film and TV industry and those abroad.

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!

Recommended watching
- Wandering Earth (流浪地球 2019), shot at Wanda Studios.

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

How do the Chinese government and companies engage with the public in Africa? Nillah Nyakoa (journalist at China Radio International), Eric Olander (managing editor of The China Africa Project), and Maria Repnikova (assistant professor of global communications) join host Aladin Farré to explore the different ways China sells, and fails to sell, its story to an entire continent.

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!

Like the podcast? Take a few minutes to fill out this survey.

Recommendations:
- The TV series Mao Doudou and Her Sweet Days (媳妇的美好时代 2009), which was dubbed in Swahili.
- Two Chinese vloggers, Zhao Huiling and Fyjo Molly, who travel throughout Africa.
- The short-video app Vskit, which is made by the Shenzhen-based mobile phone manufacturer Transsion.

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

Professor Federico Castigliano is the author of Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris, which was published in English and Chinese by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2018. he talks about the process of writing and publishing a book in China and how it compares with the process in Europe and the U.S.

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! 

Like the podcast? Take a few minutes to fill out this survey.

Recommended reading
- Brothers (兄弟 2005) by Yú Huá (余华).

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

This week on Middle Earth, Aladin and his guests take a look at the film production industry in Europe. Li Boyan and William Wang, both industry professionals working and living in France, help provide some insight. They reflect on what they’ve experienced over their years shooting and producing film projects and advertisements, describe what it’s like working as middlemen for Chinese clients who come to France (a majority of which they are able to procure through WeChat), and share their thoughts on collaborating across cultures in Europe as young professionals from China. 

Featuring
William Wang : Producer & Fixer
Li Boyan: Photographer

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 Map and the Territory, a book by French author Michel Houellebecq.
-Delicatessen (1991) and The City of Lost Children (1995), films by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

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

Song Wen, founder of the FIRST International Film Festival, discusses the history of one of China’s most promising festivals for the visual arts. Once in danger of being shut down by the authorities in Beijing, the festival has found a new home in China’s west — the provincial capital of Qinghai Province, Xining. This year, hundreds of films were screened to more than 30,000 audience members, and 19 budding directors emerged from a highly selective process to pitch their films to China’s film industry elites. In this episode, Song Wen explains how the festival has evolved from a minor student event to one of the most important cultural events in China’s still-maturing film industry. 

Featuring
Song Wen | 宋文 : FIRST International Film Festival Founder

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
- Old Beast 老兽 (2017)
- The Looming Storm 暴雪将至 (2017)
- An Elephant Sitting Still 大象席地而坐 (2018)
- Dying to Survive 我不是药神 (2018)
- Mosaic Portrait 马赛克少女 (2019)

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

What is it like to work as a storyteller in the Chinese film and TV industry? What is the relationship between producers and scriptwriters? How can one write a story that will resonate with Chinese audiences, and what is the market looking for? This podcast, recorded live at the The SLab in Beijing, explores these questions and the trials and tribulations of writing for the big screen. 

Featuring:

Cai Jinru | 薄荷菜 : Screenwriter
Jordan DeFazio : Screenwriter & Lecturer at the Beijing Film Academy
Joey Wang : Screenwriter

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! 

Recommended watching:
- Jordan’s Music Video
- I Love My Family 我爱我家 (1994)
- Nothing in the Mirror 空镜子 (2002)
- My Own Swordsman 武林外传 (2006)
- Dwelling Narrowness 蜗居 (2009)
- Nirvana in Fire 琅琊榜 (2015)
-Burning Ice 无证之罪 (2017)

Answers to the episode quiz:-
- Yanxi Palace( 延禧攻略) is the TV show that has been the most Googled in 2018.
- There has been 29 cinematographic adaptations of Journey to the West  over 9 decades.
- Looper (2012) was the first film to make additional scenes for the Chinese audience. It was followed in 2013 by “Iron Man” and “21 and Over”.

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

Ruby Chen, one of the founding members of the Hong Kong–based China Next (CNEX), tells the story of their nonprofit, which is aimed at promoting and producing Chinese documentaries. She describes her work in identifying and cultivating promising Chinese documentary filmmakers, the challenges and advantages these filmmakers are faced with, and how younger artists are taking novel approaches to creating and sharing their films with the help of new technology and ideas in the 21st century. 

Featuring:
Ruby Chen : Co-Founder & CEO of CNEX

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! 

Podcast's chapters
4:48: The history of CNEX
16:12: Creativity is changing in China 
19:45: Perceptions of Chinese filmmakers
28:46: Is filmmaking in China getting harder?

Recommended watching:
- Umbrella… 伞... (2007)
-1428 (2009)
-KJ: Music and Life 音乐人生 (2009)
- Mothers 妈妈的村庄 (2013)
- A Young Patriot 少年小赵 (2015)
- Look Love 对看 (2015)
-Plastic China 塑料王国 (2016)

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