Middle Earth - China’s cultural industry podcast

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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. 

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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. 

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. Anney Liao and Jerry Kim, cofounders of Run Wild Comedy Club Beijing (wántuō xǐjù 玩脱喜剧), tell Aladin Farré and Hank Liu about their journey coming up in the industry and how it’s evolving. 

Middle Earth is made by China Compass Productions. If you have a China-themed cultural project, please get in touch!

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

Recommendations: 

The comedians Wùfàn 悟饭 and Xiǎo Lù 小鹿.

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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.