The Cold War of superpowers can freeze China-US. Entertainment business – variety

The East-West battle between efficient authoritarianism and the rich but declining democratic-capitalist model is spilling blood on the streets of Hong Kong every day – more than that because the coronavirus is now shrinking and social distances are being bridged.

For that reason, Monday breathed a sigh of relief from Asian stock markets when the clash between world powers China and the United States did not cause any drastic change over the weekend.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has fallen more than 3% – perhaps because Donald Trump’s controversial national security law punishes China for direct injection into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.

Earlier last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testified to Congress that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous and that China is now violating a 50-year agreement that is not expected to end by 20447. Trump only promised approval to a few people involved in making Hong Kong law. He then returned to a bunker below the White House, where he took refuge from America’s own street-level waterlogging, which spread to Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd.

Yet while the president’s cold war over Hong Kong’s proxy war may be the cause of controversy, there is a growing list of reasons why the temperature between the United States and China is at a new level.

Complaints include: playing a coronavirus fault; Fighting against Huawei CFO Meng Wenzhou, whose extradition case was moved last week; Security and territorial disputes in the South China Sea; The pushback of the United States against the mastery of Chinese technology, where Huawei and Tiktok are the core of the iceberg; One of the most recent expulsions of journalists; The threat to ban Chinese companies with various monitoring standards on the US stock exchange; And a Phase One trade agreement that shows targets is sometimes not followed in the second step.

Now the business is booming in the entertainment sector in the heat of winter. “The entertainment industry is moving forward,” says Steve Chicorel, a U.S. producer who has been roaming the East-West track alone from his adopted base in Taiwan.

“(Politics is) at the forefront of how people do business right now,” added Max, now head of talent development at UTA’s Asian Business. “In the long run, it does nothing, but in the short run it destroys everything.”

With the exception of “The Farewell” in 2018 and “Pacific Rim 2” in 2017, very few U.S. films have been shot in the last two or three years, and bilateral co-production has dried up.

“I’ve made quite a few things. There is no American project. These are all China-funded projects that could involve foreign crews, “said Aaron Shershow, a veteran producer and line producer with 20 years of experience in filmmaking in China.

“Whether it’s due to political problems or a trend that has been going on for the past few years, it’s too soon to add that for many reasons, it’s harder to figure out in China: the economy, censorship, the separation between the two industries,” Shersho added. .

While some industry players believe that U.S.-China co-productions will remain largely non-existent for the next 18 months, many Chinese companies will adopt a wait-and-see approach, at least through the U.S. presidential election in November, and then possibly re-enact it. 2021, when China will have a stronger egg to crack the market.

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party. This is inevitably due to the rise of censorship, the ban on foreign content from countries with bad book countries, and the possibility of finding an audience beyond China’s own borders with admirable, promotional films.

Growing ice walls are likely to freeze entertainment relationships because they are currently standing or will further isolate the entertainment industry.

Even the stasis options represent frustration for Hollywood.

After two years of negotiations and seeing an agreement, the bilateral US-China film agreement became embroiled in a 2018-19 trade war. The deal at the table is meant to significantly increase Hollywood studios’ share of China box office. This is how money is put on the table without ending – or if Chinese movies are not closed.

With the current winter, the chances of signing an agreement on this side of the U.S. presidential election seem slim. This may not come as a surprise, but what is even more frustrating is that the daily media business relationship is returning to normal. “The rear channels have also frozen,” a diplomatic source said. Diversity.

And as China develops its own business and political model as the carnivirus has now turned into a rear-view mirror, the landscape looks increasingly hostile to Western media and entertainment.

“Given the Chinese government’s mass surveillance and growing control over its population, I can never imagine the Western media’s uninterrupted access to the Chinese market. This will continue to be done under Chinese rules or will not be done at all, ”said Jeffrey Haley, senior market analyst at Asia Pacific at finance firm Onda.

But even if the split could be avoided altogether, breaking the Chinese glacier against the Chinese American rock could lead to some unexpected consequences.

Shershou said his time in China included the 2001 US spy plane crash in Hainan, the 2003 stork epidemic and the 2008-09 financial crisis. Each time, the art returns. “These bad things happen but then it’s often time for publicity and acceptance.”

Haley sees Hong Kong as a perverted and potential beneficiary of the two superpowers’ inability to speak directly. “Chinese corporations have recently become more interested in raising capital through Hong Kong. Putting aside the current hiccups, I expect this trend to continue, ”he noted, noting that“ a lot of money will be spent in Asia that will voluntarily contribute to the needs of world-class Chinese companies. “

And UTA’s Michael instead tends Hollywood’s interest in South Korea as a result of the eye-opening “parasite” effect and the fact that Korea is now one of the few places in the world where it has already resumed production of the North Coronavirus.

“We’ve seen a lot of businesses, producers and executives look at Korea [and its] With a strong drama and streaming audience as well as a wealth of content creators and talent, “says Michael,” I think China is probably going to be a bit jealous. “