China’s Epic Film Bubble Is About to Pop
Misguided policy and excess capital have created a monster.
Scary.
Photographer: Wang Zhao/AFP
Four of China's leading film executives recently gathered on a Shanghai stage with a bleak message. "There are 20,000 film and television companies" in China, said Wang Changtian, president of Beijing Enlight Media Co. "Many aren't making money at the moment, so why are they still here?" He predicted that thousands will go bankrupt over the next year — a full-on bubble in movie-making, ready to pop.
It's a classic Chinese tale. Bureaucrats in Beijing decide a favored industry must become globally competitive. Public and private support soon follows. Companies rush in. Investment surges. Customers never quite materialize. And eventually the whole thing falls apart. It recently happened to electric cars and solar panels. According to Wang and others at the Shanghai International Film Festival, the movie business is next.