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Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World’s Largest Movie Market
The inside story of the U.S.-Chinese superpower conflict playing out behind the scenes of today’s movie industry, from the leading media scholarChina surpassed North America to become the world ’s largest movie market in 2020. Formerly the focus of exotic fascination in the golden age of Hollywood, today the Chinese are a make-or-break audience for Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. And movies are now an essential part of China’s global “soft power” a Chinese real estate tycoon, who until recently was the major shareholder of the AMC theater chain, built the world’s largest film production facility. Behind the curtains, as this brilliant new book reveals, movies have become one of the biggest areas of competition between the world’s two remaining superpowers.
Will Hollywood be eclipsed by its Chinese counterpart? No author is better positioned to untangle this riddle than Ying Zhu, a leading expert on Chinese film and media. In fascinating vignettes, Hollywood in China unravels the century-long relationship between Hollywood and China for the first time.
Blending cultural history, business, and international relations, Hollywood in China charts multiple power dynamics and teases out how competing political and economic interests as well as cultural values are manifested in the art and artifice of filmmaking on a global scale, and with global ramifications. The book is an inside look at the intense business and political maneuvering that is shaping the movies and the U.S.-China relationship itself—revealing a headlines-grabbing conflict that is playing out not only on the high seas, but on the silver screen.
Will Hollywood be eclipsed by its Chinese counterpart? No author is better positioned to untangle this riddle than Ying Zhu, a leading expert on Chinese film and media. In fascinating vignettes, Hollywood in China unravels the century-long relationship between Hollywood and China for the first time.
Blending cultural history, business, and international relations, Hollywood in China charts multiple power dynamics and teases out how competing political and economic interests as well as cultural values are manifested in the art and artifice of filmmaking on a global scale, and with global ramifications. The book is an inside look at the intense business and political maneuvering that is shaping the movies and the U.S.-China relationship itself—revealing a headlines-grabbing conflict that is playing out not only on the high seas, but on the silver screen.
377 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 2, 2022
3 people are currently reading
1211 people want to read
About the author
Ying Zhu
66 books6 followersYing Zhu is a senior lecturer in the Department of Management at the University of Melbourne. He studies on the evolution of human resource management in China and Vietnam.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 3, 2022
Mr. Zhu informs the reader of the massive investment by Chinese business enterprises. The most prominent being Legendary Film Studios. Chinese business interests have also been instrumental in funding many high-budget films. For lovers of how movies are made and funded this is a worthwhile read.
June 25, 2024
A very thoroughly researched analysis of the Chinese film industry, with a particularly detailed focus on the past two decades. The author struggles with English fluency, but it remains a riveting account of how China became the world's biggest film market.
May 10, 2022
Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World’s Largest Movie Market by Ying Zhu
Ying Zhu is Professor Emeritus of City University of New York and it shows in this book. Well research, she covers the positive and negative interactions between China and Hollywood from 1900 till today. This is an excellent resource book as well as a primer for someone interested in the Chinese film industry. There are loads of interesting tidbits such as Harold Lloyd’s first “talkie”, Danger, released on 22 November 1929, led to protests when shown in Shanghai in early 1930 due to the negative portrayal of Chinese in San Francisco Chinatown.
I think the book highlights how poorly the Chinese historically have been in making movies that people will pay to see. This problem became worse for the Chinese movie goes when during the Mao-era, US movies were prohibited in China until the re-opening of relations with the US in the late 1970’s. During this dark era only one US film was shown in China; The Salt of the Earth produced in 1954 by three blacklisted director, writer and producer it tells the story of a Zinc miner strike in New Mexico using actually miners and their families from the mines.
During my work life, I spent quite a bit of time in China and became a fan of Chinese movies including those I could buy on the street for $1.00. Dr. Zhu covers the complete history of the frustration of Hollywood especially Jack Valenti President of the Motion Picture Assoc. of America MPAA from 1966-2004. Although the Chinese tried to main some amends, they did not nor have they today prevented Western movies and television programs from being pirated. Today, all one needs is a VPN and a recorder and there are ways to tap into movies even prior to their general release. Like nearly all industries there is a dream of tapping into the China Market. Larry Kaplan of Buena Vista International said about the China market for films: “There’s a future, but there’s not much of a present.” And it still is today forced backward by Covid. Dr. Zhu also covers how China tried to buy their way in purchasing film studios and screens in the US. They had partial success with some joint ventures but seem to mainly fail when they try on their own. Oddly, “Soft Power” in the movie and music industries is not a skill the Chinese have learned like their neighbors the Koreans.
I highly recommend this book for some who is a serious of film history and especially the relationship over a century between China and Hollywood.
Ying Zhu is Professor Emeritus of City University of New York and it shows in this book. Well research, she covers the positive and negative interactions between China and Hollywood from 1900 till today. This is an excellent resource book as well as a primer for someone interested in the Chinese film industry. There are loads of interesting tidbits such as Harold Lloyd’s first “talkie”, Danger, released on 22 November 1929, led to protests when shown in Shanghai in early 1930 due to the negative portrayal of Chinese in San Francisco Chinatown.
I think the book highlights how poorly the Chinese historically have been in making movies that people will pay to see. This problem became worse for the Chinese movie goes when during the Mao-era, US movies were prohibited in China until the re-opening of relations with the US in the late 1970’s. During this dark era only one US film was shown in China; The Salt of the Earth produced in 1954 by three blacklisted director, writer and producer it tells the story of a Zinc miner strike in New Mexico using actually miners and their families from the mines.
During my work life, I spent quite a bit of time in China and became a fan of Chinese movies including those I could buy on the street for $1.00. Dr. Zhu covers the complete history of the frustration of Hollywood especially Jack Valenti President of the Motion Picture Assoc. of America MPAA from 1966-2004. Although the Chinese tried to main some amends, they did not nor have they today prevented Western movies and television programs from being pirated. Today, all one needs is a VPN and a recorder and there are ways to tap into movies even prior to their general release. Like nearly all industries there is a dream of tapping into the China Market. Larry Kaplan of Buena Vista International said about the China market for films: “There’s a future, but there’s not much of a present.” And it still is today forced backward by Covid. Dr. Zhu also covers how China tried to buy their way in purchasing film studios and screens in the US. They had partial success with some joint ventures but seem to mainly fail when they try on their own. Oddly, “Soft Power” in the movie and music industries is not a skill the Chinese have learned like their neighbors the Koreans.
I highly recommend this book for some who is a serious of film history and especially the relationship over a century between China and Hollywood.
June 2, 2022
Hollywood in China by Ying Zhu is a comprehensive and important look at the film industry in China both in relation to Hollywood as well in its own right.
While this certainly falls into the broad category of film history (as well as current events) it excels in an aspect of that history that is often glossed over, namely the business of filmmaking. Many film history books, even those on national cinemas, focus on the films themselves and get into just enough of the business side to help the reader understand why certain trends might have occurred. Frankly, in most cases, this is sufficient.
Because of the global economic positioning of both China and the United States a more detailed analysis of the business side is essential to a full understanding of what has come before and what may yet come. Zhu makes this history and analysis both informative and enjoyable. I don't want to give the impression that the films themselves are overlooked, they aren't. But where the norm is to include enough economics to explain film trends, here the films are just as often used to explain the economics.
What I am calling the business side includes the political environments as well. What films were shown and not shown, which might even surprisingly, at first, having been allowed (think Rambo here). For the film history person there is enough discussion of films to keep this from being just about the business, but the emphasis is clearly on how we have gotten to where we are and what it might say about where we are going.
I would recommend this to readers who want to better understand the state of global filmmaking, both the creative and the financial sides.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
While this certainly falls into the broad category of film history (as well as current events) it excels in an aspect of that history that is often glossed over, namely the business of filmmaking. Many film history books, even those on national cinemas, focus on the films themselves and get into just enough of the business side to help the reader understand why certain trends might have occurred. Frankly, in most cases, this is sufficient.
Because of the global economic positioning of both China and the United States a more detailed analysis of the business side is essential to a full understanding of what has come before and what may yet come. Zhu makes this history and analysis both informative and enjoyable. I don't want to give the impression that the films themselves are overlooked, they aren't. But where the norm is to include enough economics to explain film trends, here the films are just as often used to explain the economics.
What I am calling the business side includes the political environments as well. What films were shown and not shown, which might even surprisingly, at first, having been allowed (think Rambo here). For the film history person there is enough discussion of films to keep this from being just about the business, but the emphasis is clearly on how we have gotten to where we are and what it might say about where we are going.
I would recommend this to readers who want to better understand the state of global filmmaking, both the creative and the financial sides.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
October 12, 2023
The complexities of making Hollywood films to be released in China and making Chinese films for audiences in the U.S. and beyond is similar to the polarized political forces between the two superpowers.
It’s been a complex and constantly changing relationship for over 100 years!
Chinese films are almost exclusively seen in China while Hollywood films are exported and viewed by most countries worldwide.
For example, Chinese film INTERNATIONAL box office receipts are just 1-5% while Indian films is 20-30% and Hollywood films up to 65%?
Can Chinese blockbusters have the global soft power the way Hollywood films currently do?
Time will tell. But it may be a difficult road because as the author quotes “What makes Hollywood the envy of the world is something unique and precious: creative freedom. This freedom has never been perfect. Throughout its history, the American Dream Factory has been subject to state censorship, self-censorship, and soul-killing commercial pressures. But is has never been enslaved. If it agrees to that now, the whole world will feel the loss.”
I would have given the book 5 stars but the chapters seemed choppy, sometimes redundant, and seemingly written at different times or edited by different people.
It’s been a complex and constantly changing relationship for over 100 years!
Chinese films are almost exclusively seen in China while Hollywood films are exported and viewed by most countries worldwide.
For example, Chinese film INTERNATIONAL box office receipts are just 1-5% while Indian films is 20-30% and Hollywood films up to 65%?
Can Chinese blockbusters have the global soft power the way Hollywood films currently do?
Time will tell. But it may be a difficult road because as the author quotes “What makes Hollywood the envy of the world is something unique and precious: creative freedom. This freedom has never been perfect. Throughout its history, the American Dream Factory has been subject to state censorship, self-censorship, and soul-killing commercial pressures. But is has never been enslaved. If it agrees to that now, the whole world will feel the loss.”
I would have given the book 5 stars but the chapters seemed choppy, sometimes redundant, and seemingly written at different times or edited by different people.
November 3, 2022
This new book by Ying Zhu provides an excellent, insightful, and nuanced historical view of the relationship between Hollywood and China. Hollywood's long relationship with China, stretching way back to the Republican era, is very convoluted and often rocky. While Hollywood has attained some success in penetrating the lucrative Chinese market, it has been threatened recently by the US-China tradewar and more recently, the pandemic. Indeed, the scope of the book allows the readers to appreciate the intricacies of the Sino-Hollywood relationship.
It's a must-read for researchers of Hollywood and Chinese film history, popular culture, and US-China international and commercial relations.
It's a must-read for researchers of Hollywood and Chinese film history, popular culture, and US-China international and commercial relations.
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June 14, 2022Unfortunately, I found the formatting of this book difficult to push through. So much information was given and I quickly lost track of the narrative. I DNF this book at 20%.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Hollywood in China by Ying Zhu. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC to review.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of Hollywood in China by Ying Zhu. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC to review.
November 3, 2022
Although i am steeped in Chinese history & literatures, i knew very little about Chinese cinema, and its interaction with Hollywood
This book provided deep and insightful history and analysis of this tangled history; I learned a lot!
This book provided deep and insightful history and analysis of this tangled history; I learned a lot!
August 24, 2022
I received an arc from NetGalley.
4.5 stars
This was so good and I learned so much. Academic books are kinda hit and miss with me, whether I know a lot about the topic or not.
In this case, I knew basically nothing about the topic, and I learned a lot more than I expected.
I learned about:
- the history of Hollywood
- the history of China's film industry
- the history of the relationship between China's film industry and Hollywood.
But also:
- the history of China
- the way history impacted film around the world
- the effects of China's censorship on Hollywood films.
- the history of Hong Kong.
- the relationship between China and the USA
- the relationship between China and Russia
Probably even more I can't think of right away.
Even without prior knowledge about filmhistory this book was very easy to understand and very comprehensive. There was a lot of information in this book, and very little repetition. (Many academic texts repeat things over and over)
This book provided an interesting insight in China's film industry in comparison to the rest of the world. It was great to learn about how it has grown and how it has developed. I'm from the Netherlands which doesn't have much of a film industry, but I live in Japan which has a booming one (especially comparatively).
Learning about all the effects of economic and political changes throughout the world on film was very interesting and something I hadn't thought about before. You can probably learn a lot about China through watching Chinese films, by seeing what the censors allowed throughout the years (because from what I've read in this book, that has changed a lot too)
I had no idea about how much influence Chinese companies and China had on American films. Learning the sudden boom of 3d films was partly caused by a trade deal with China, for example.
I also found it interesting to learn about early Hollywood and how they "traded" films with other countries. Yet often didn't actually show the foreign films, which feels very scummy. It does explain why American films have spread so much.
I thought it was really funny how "in 2019, 8 in 10 of the top grossing films in China were produced in China" was seen as a concern by the USA. I mean, I'm pretty sure most top grossing films in the USA are from the USA too, so it's really quite hypocritical to complain about that…
a Wall Street Journal article reminds us that China is not doing anything Hollywood hasn't done before. I love that it gets called out too. Because really, if they're doing the same thing, it's totally unfair that only one gets vilified.
This book was occasionally inconsistent with its use of abbreviations. CGI was used abbreviated, which is fine, but then got explained on page 210, which is a bit late. I think most people know what CGI is, but it would be more useful to use the full term the first time it gets brought up.
I learned so much by reading this book, and I really enjoyed it. It was well written and full of information, and is definitely worth the read!
4.5 stars
This was so good and I learned so much. Academic books are kinda hit and miss with me, whether I know a lot about the topic or not.
In this case, I knew basically nothing about the topic, and I learned a lot more than I expected.
I learned about:
- the history of Hollywood
- the history of China's film industry
- the history of the relationship between China's film industry and Hollywood.
But also:
- the history of China
- the way history impacted film around the world
- the effects of China's censorship on Hollywood films.
- the history of Hong Kong.
- the relationship between China and the USA
- the relationship between China and Russia
Probably even more I can't think of right away.
Even without prior knowledge about filmhistory this book was very easy to understand and very comprehensive. There was a lot of information in this book, and very little repetition. (Many academic texts repeat things over and over)
This book provided an interesting insight in China's film industry in comparison to the rest of the world. It was great to learn about how it has grown and how it has developed. I'm from the Netherlands which doesn't have much of a film industry, but I live in Japan which has a booming one (especially comparatively).
Learning about all the effects of economic and political changes throughout the world on film was very interesting and something I hadn't thought about before. You can probably learn a lot about China through watching Chinese films, by seeing what the censors allowed throughout the years (because from what I've read in this book, that has changed a lot too)
I had no idea about how much influence Chinese companies and China had on American films. Learning the sudden boom of 3d films was partly caused by a trade deal with China, for example.
I also found it interesting to learn about early Hollywood and how they "traded" films with other countries. Yet often didn't actually show the foreign films, which feels very scummy. It does explain why American films have spread so much.
I thought it was really funny how "in 2019, 8 in 10 of the top grossing films in China were produced in China" was seen as a concern by the USA. I mean, I'm pretty sure most top grossing films in the USA are from the USA too, so it's really quite hypocritical to complain about that…
a Wall Street Journal article reminds us that China is not doing anything Hollywood hasn't done before. I love that it gets called out too. Because really, if they're doing the same thing, it's totally unfair that only one gets vilified.
This book was occasionally inconsistent with its use of abbreviations. CGI was used abbreviated, which is fine, but then got explained on page 210, which is a bit late. I think most people know what CGI is, but it would be more useful to use the full term the first time it gets brought up.
I learned so much by reading this book, and I really enjoyed it. It was well written and full of information, and is definitely worth the read!
August 15, 2022
Stultifying and more than a little agenda-driven. On the plus side, I’ve got some Chinese movies to look up and watch in my spare time.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews