“Fresh Pitch”

OCT 27th, 2016“Fresh Pitch”News Center 

 

 

Fresh Pitch TIME

At 9:00 a.m. on October 26, 10 proposers were giving exciting introductions of their pitches to us in the main venue of Dongshan Hotel in Dongshan Documentary Town.

 

1.  A Noodle Player in New York

Filming of the documentary was started in 2012 and lasted for 4 years. It tells a story about Peter Song, an unknown actor in Mainland China,  migrated from China to America and had became the owner of three noodle restaurants from a helper struggling in noodle restaurant. It is an inspirational rags-to-riches story.

The story is narrated in flashback. The director, who abandoned her career in China and started from scratches in America, got to know Peter Song in order to fulfill her homework. She realized Peter Song had quite a similar experience to hers, but he appears more optimistic and positive than her, so that she was touched. Peter Song turns out to be the first Chinese man who enters the restaurant market in New York.

 

Q&A (extracts)

Julie Campfield 

Ro*co Films International

How did he tap into the market? You can explore from this perspective.

Answer: 

He is not the only protagonist. His boss is also another leading character. It is not a story of him alone. You can also see the stories of his friends and his family from our documentary.

 

Elizabeth Radshaw

Hot Docs Canadian International Film festival

It is interesting to know his identity, how he keep the balance going on. I want to know more about his personality or how his family treated him.

Answer:

He also had great pressure from his boss as well as his family. 

 

Bu TAN

ifeng.com

I am interested in his background. How did he get the green card? I think it will be better if you divulge more details about the background.

Answer:

His parents bought three green cards with all their family fortune, so they had no money after they migrated to America. He was totally a rag in New York. 

 

 

2. Arks of Confucius

Background of the story was the Syria War in which two million refugees entered Greece. Xueyan CHEN, a Chinese stowaway with the same experience decided to help them after the refugee wave broke out. Many overseas Chinese people worldwide were outside the mainstream society in their countries. The action of Xueyan CHEN was the first time for Chinese people to enter the mainstream society. It tells a story of mutualism between Chinese people in Greece and refugees. The story of Xueyan,CHEN is the main line. There are also three branch lines. The pitch has been shortlisted for Inchon Awards. It also has cooperation from France and Taiwan.

 

Q&A (extracts)

 

Nick Fraser

Yaddo and The WHY Foundation

There have been many reports about refugees in Europe. How will you make it attracting to audience? I want to know more details. For example, how did Ms. Chen transform herself? I hope you can modify the title.

Answer:

I thought it was a refugee theme when I shot it. After discussing with directors from Rotterdam and Cannes, I decided to film it from a Chinese perspective.

 

Ove Jensen 

European Documentary Network（EDN）

I have the similar idea with Nick. From the perspective of Ms. Chen, Chinese people are playing a more important role in Europe. I appreciate it in this regard.

Answer:

I thought it was a refugee theme when I shot it. After discussing with directors from Rotterdam and Cannes, I decided to film it from a Chinese perspective.

 

3.  Dear My Genius

This documentary tells a story of the younger sister of Yoon-ju, Koo who wishes to become a genius following the example of Yoon-ju, Koo.

First, the director tells the story of the younger sister from the view of her own family. Then, the story takes perspective from the classmates of the director: A former genius classmate abandoned her work as a lawyer to play rock and roll; the other genius classmate gave up her work as a teacher to learn cooking.

Success doesn’t equal to happiness. This issue is not only the problem of my sister alone, but a life issue we all have.

 

Q&A (extracts)

Jiaqiu QIU

Caixin Video

The education system in China is characteristic. As a genius, his experience is special. I also won some honors when I was young. But I want to see more experience of the director herself. We have few experiences on such theme, so I appreciate more. Thank her for giving us some ideas.

 

Xiongzhou SHI

Ergeng

Will the completed documentary be made into series short films?

Answer:

We will make a series of short films to introduce the family background and the school of genius.

 

4. Daughter of Shanghai

Miao CHEN and Caiqin ZHOU are friends for more than 20 years. Miao CHEN wants to show the experience of Caiqin ZHOU as an actress and a woman living and working hard in Europe, Asia and America for many years. The documentary will also interview famous celebrities such as Ang Lee and Gong Li. The director hopes to carry on the personality glamour of Caiqin ZHOU to generations.

 

 Q&A (extracts)

Chao GAN

Yunji Media Co., Ltd.

The topic is interesting. The character is glamorous. Director Chen is also in the right position to film such theme. Since the background is grand and complicated, what are the key points for the director? What lines will the director follow in the narration?

Answer:

I have considered it for 6 years and I have made decisions before the proposal. She has been taking the role as a sad daughter throughout her life. Also she has been acting as an actress in America, Europe and Asia.

 

Elizabeth Radshaw

Hot Docs Canadian International Film festival

I think it’s arresting. She is a talented woman. Audience in Toronto will like it. Since you have many layers for this story, I want to know her specific conditions, such as her family.

Answer:

Her family is not my key point. I mainly focus on her relations with her parents and people around her. These are our major directions.

 

Julie Campfield 

Ro*co Films International

Will such a long documentary succeed? I can’t make judgment since I am not familiar with such type. Maybe it will be accepted in China.

Answer:

So I will go more places to have more discussion to investigate whether it will be acceptable.

 

Hongmiao YU

Youku Documentary

In fact, your video lacks something to show her personal charisma. We need to make clear of that before evaluating this character.

Answer:

I thought of some key words regarding the leading character, including luggage, flowers, a highlighter, human skeletons and lashes on the road.

 

5. Beijing Night

It is composed of 12 short videos. It expects to tell people how to look for themselves in their own ways and shows another aspect of Beijing for those who sleep early at night. It shows the contrast of leading characters between daytime and night, hopefully helping people find their own shadows and their friends’ shadows through the film. 2/3 of the videos have been completed. It expects to be launched in the middle of December. Capital is not our major problem. We hope we can make it in a relaxed way in the future. We more need a platform.

 

  Q&A (extracts)

Bu TAN

ifeng.com

We provide financial support in this series, and wish them to create more products with the themes about the spirit of urban dwellers in the future.

 

Xiongzhou SHI

We have some new works launched this year. Many of them are about 24 hours of life in Beijing. I think we will not do it the same way like you do. You tend to guide others.

 

Wei ZHU

VICE CHINA

There are too many tags to define this video. I think the levels of the video are more attractive to audience, which shall be enriched.

 

6. Steel Rose

The proposer Hongyan LIU brings us her pitch– Steel Rose, a story of a star goalkeeper, Hong GAO, who is the chief coach of the Chinese Women U17 Football Team. The documentary tells the story of her transformation from a star football player to a coach. The director wants to show problems of women and their development.

 

Q&A (extracts)

Ove Jensen 

European Documentary Network（EDN）

I think it’s interesting, and it will have great potential in the international film festival. But there also exists some problems related to taste, and I want to discuss more with you.

 

Madi Ju

VICE CHINA

Instead of personal experience of Hong GAO, I want to know more about the experience and life of athletes under such a regime. Will the video include contents of such young athletes?

Answer: We have contents of three young athletes, who are supporting roles and important sublines of our documentary.

 

7. Journey East with Archie Kao

Producer Jerry CHAN of“Journey East with Archie Kao”brings us his pitch. The film records the journey of Archie Kao as the host to explore Chinese culture. Making use of two cultural backgrounds of Archie Kao to feel China, it gives rise to a new hybrid form of cultural expression, a combination of tradition and modernization. Thus, it brings a brand new angle and feeling of freshness.

 

 Q&A (extracts)

VikramChanna

Discovery Networks

I think it’s a good idea that will attract much attention. We have many ways to introduce tourism in China, yet they change very fast. Do you have some new ways, such as displaying in VR, in which Archie Kao can engage in rather than simply speak about it.

 

Xinhao He

Founder of ROI Festival

Other proposers have collected some portion of capitals. Have you collected your own capitals?

Answer:

We are still in initial stage and we have just made the plan. We will use self-owned capitals. But everything is just started. We have not put into real work.

 

8. Home Sweet Home

The video tells a life story of an old couple in coal subsidence area. It reflects the influence of an era through such a story.

 

Q&A (extracts)

Elizabeth Radshaw

Hot Docs Canadian International Film festiva

Many industrial forums will be interested in your theme. I think it is interesting that you capture the emotion of the old couple and the transition of times. I want to know the attitude of children of the couple.

Answer:

They had three daughters who live in cities. They have had a son who died young. Their daughters want them to move to cities.

 

Julie Campfield 

Ro*co Films International

Are you interested in international distribution and promotion? I love your pace of narration. It is an international topic. Many cultures have such problem. Actually, we have connection to our land. I prefer the angel you choose to characterize this type of emotion.

 

9. Madame Ching

This video tells a story of a widow who was once a hooker in Guangzhou and then kidnapped by a captain. She became a pioneer of feminism and experienced an uncommon life through many battles.

 

Q&A (extracts)

He CHANG 

Will you complete this video by SGI?

Answer:

Yes, we will use this technology. But it will not last too long, since 15 minutes are the limit to attract the attention of audience.

 

Wenhua ZHANG

Yixia Technology

Miaopai is a platform for young people. How do Madame Ching and similar videos attract young audience who were born in the 1990s?

Answer:

Everyone loves the story of pirate. We were short of capitals when we filmed the video. We have no boats and no actors, so I filmed some dynamic footages to attract young audience with exciting contents.

 

10. Encounter

It tells ordinary stories with shining points in every corner of the world to trigger the interest of people.

 

 Q&A (extracts)

Liang LIU 

KanDao Technology Co.,Ltd.

We pay attention to characters when we are watching the VR. We want to put ourselves in other’s position. It is a good pitch to show VR technology. But you must consider how to attract the attention of audience. 

Answer:

I think there is a balance point between storytelling and environment display. We will have a guidance on the view.

 

Nick Fraser

Yaddo and The WHY Foundation

I also had the same feeling yesterday. I think it very interesting after watching your video and I want to be your partner. Such a story will be well-received worldwide, no matter in Japan or in China.

 

One-on-One interview

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Editor: Xiao Ye