VANCOUVER — Leaders of B.C.’s film industry have set their sights on coproductions with China following a recent trade mission. In June, a 15-member delegation including B.C. Film executive director Richard Brownsey, Motion Picture Production Industry Association chair Peter Leitch and Brightlight Pictures CEO Shawn Williamson spent five days in Shanghai, exploring the largely untapped film market in China.

‘We went because we really don’t feel we have a lot of market intelligence [about Asia],’ says Brownsey. ‘We learned that they’re intent on becoming a major player in the industry, and with a huge domestic market of 1.3 billion, we want to understand this market better.’ Also present were entertainment lawyer Arthur Evrensel, Jason Dowdeswell from Rainmaker Entertainment and Alex Tkach of post house Northwest Imaging & FX.

‘It turns out China is very eager to work with other countries, and Canada is high on their radar. Just as much as we were selling them on us, they were selling us on them,’ says Tkach, a key organizer of the trip.

The group visited production facilities in and around Shanghai and made presentations at the Shanghai Film Festival and an event hosted by the Consul General of Canada.

‘At the Consul General event, we had 35 highly influential people in all aspects of the industry there, and at the end of the evening, many of us walked away with 25 names of key people to talk to and call,’ says Tkach.

Dowdeswell was struck by China’s capabilities in animation. ‘There are some 200,000 people around the world who do what we do,’ says the Rainmaker rep. ‘In Shanghai alone, they have built a university, with 70,000 students studying animation. China has made it their mandate to do animation.

‘They basically said, ‘We’ll pay you now, to do it now in Vancouver,’ so they can show that they’re making progress.’ he says, adding that Rainmaker will go back in the next few months to follow up ‘on solid connections.’

Brightlight is also making a return trip. ‘We’re looking for the right creative mix,’ says Williamson. ‘Something like House of Flying Daggers and Kung Fu Hustle, which would translate well in North American and Chinese markets.’