Pardon me! My television is repeating
- Source: Global Times
- [09:32 August 31 2010]
- Comments
By Huang Xi
A few days ago Huayi Brothers Media Group, one of the largest film and television production companies in China, announced that the blockbuster film Aftershock will be adapted and made into a 20-episode television series.
Early this month, Li Yapeng and Xu Jinglei, the lead "couple" from the hugely popular 1998 romantic television series Cherish Our Love Forever, appeared in front of cameras on the Bund where they were refilming their old love story - this time with three varied endings.
Late in June, the filming of a new version of Princess Pearl, perhaps the most popular costume drama television series ever made in China, began in Beijing, 12 years after the original appeared.
This is the year China's television and film industry is engaged in a ferocious campaign of remakes.
Television viewers can look forward to the past as they tune into The Three Kingdoms, A Dream Of Red Mansions, Water Margin and Journey To The West. These four classic novels, which had already been seen as popular television series, have already been remade and either have been screened or will be screened in the near future.
Other famous films that are being revamped include Confucius, Painted Skin, Lust, Caution and The Message. Plans to reshoot the World War II television series Drawing Sword are also on the drawing board.
According to the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), more than half of the television dramas being made this year are remakes. This unprecedented state of affairs will result in more than 2,000 episodes of remakes.
Even if they are famous, very popular and household names, viewers, the authorities and the industry are expressing alarm over the situation.
The SARFT released a warning recently, to curb remaking television series with similar themes or based on older versions.
Li Jingsheng, the director of the Television Series Department of SARFT, opposes the trend toward remakes. "This copying and remaking hurts the creativity of the industry."
Experienced production companies and preferential financial policies have made a fertile environment for the development of the television industry. Nowadays Chinese television producers are shaking off their old frugal habits and producing shows with larger budgets.
The Journey To The West series, directed by Zhang Jizhong, will cost more than 100 million yuan ($14.72 million) for post-production alone. Each episode of The Three Kingdoms and A Dream Of Red Mansions required a budget of 1 million yuan and 1.2 million yuan, respectively.
The dramatic increase in the cost of screening rights has become a gold mine for production companies, and product placement is another bonanza.
Also joining the stampede for remakes are several foreign shows - now the very popular Western television drama Gossip Girl and the comedy series The Office are "pioneers" heading to China and hoping to excite both their producers and Chinese viewers.
"More people watch us online in China than watch us in all viewing platforms combined in the US," said Stephanie Savage, the executive producer of Gossip Girl.
But some have doubts about the quality of these upcoming ventures.
"I am fed up with those shanzhai (fake and poor-quality) copies of American sitcoms produced domestically. Who knows how they will turn out in the shanzhai-dominated atmosphere," said dedicated American sitcom fan Xia Xinliang.
Fortunately, Shanghai seems to be largely out of the battle. "As far as I know, there are very few remakes being produced by Shanghai-based companies," said Chen Jiayong, the marketing director of East Movie Channel.
The most famous of these would have been the 2006 television series New Shanghai Bund directed by Gao Xixi and starring young heartbreakers Huang Xiaoming and Sun Li.
Although Gao claimed that at least 70 percent of the show was original and unlike the classic 1980 version, critics and viewers treated the good-looking hero and heroine as the biggest attractions.
The Shanghai-based television productions seem to have more originality and business sense than series made elsewhere in the country.
Viewers said television shows like Dwelling Narrowness, Double-Sided Adhesive Tape, and Wang Gui and Anna offered a realistic portrayal of city life and enjoyed high ratings.
As well as their shows being mirrors of real life in big cities, Shanghai-based production companies have proved to be expert in exploring follow-up revenue.
"Many television stations and video websites buy the rights of these original television dramas," said Su Xiao, director of SMG Film and Drama. The income from selling series rights brought this company alone 33.25 million yuan last year.
