Qingdao, a city in northeast China, is about to receive a huge infusion of cash in the interest of helping the Chinese movie industry take root. For instance, Wang Jianlin, the potential richest man in China invested $8.2 billion of his $22 billion fortune to build a massive state-of-the-art “film studio complex.” In this planned Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis, many China made movies will be made. Moreover; reportedly, a few dozen foreign films will also make use of Qingdao’s facilities. The partnership between a city and an industry is not the only link between the Qingdao concept and Hollywood. Wang’s company recently bought purchased the AMC theater chain last year and Wang pointed out to the Associated Press that he imagines the company will operate on a vertical-integration model, owning the means of production, screening and distribution for the movies they create. To dig deep into China’s regulations its approach toward policing film production has drawn raised eyebrows. For example, China cracked down on local independent films and ordered the cancellation of the Beijing Independent Film Festival. Also, there are some Western industry writers’ comments on Hollywood insiders. However, Wang claimed that filmmakers who “cooperate with China” stand to profit as well as the authority announced in July that censorship rules would be relaxed. But it’s not like Hollywood hasn’t been there before: the studio-system era exited at the same time as the Hays Production Code, which exerted a huge influence on moral rectitude of American movies. And while state censorship for political reasons is a different animal from industry censorship for moral reasons, that the Hays code even existed demonstrates how profit and industry can chip away at free expression. When it comes to that possible Hollywood-Qingdao parallel, following in California’s footsteps would mean big changes for China.
