It seems other people other than me see the potential of the Film Industry here in Shanghai. As the government slowly releases its strict controls over the media, China’s potential market of 1.3 Billion people will become lucratively attractive to foreign production companies. Still, even now China restricts only 20 foreign films a year to enter China’s market. This does not really matter if you consider the amount of rampant piracy in China. Movies can be found on DVD in China even before hitting theaters in the US! Of course, the low cost of production of movies in China, is another draw for the foreign studios.

Some argue this is cultural, while others say it is communist. Perhaps it is a little of both, but the fact remains that film companies would love to get their hands on such a market.

The La Times had this to say:

Every studio seems to have a China Project on the go. But, like the political class in Washington, there is no consensus in Hollywood on how to handle a country caught in the purgatory between one-party rule and go-go capitalism. About all the studios agree upon is that they need some kind of toehold. Set up a business here. Make connections. Be ready for the day it all blows open — if it ever really does.

Everyone seems to see the potential, but we are all waiting for the dam to break. What we have now is simply a trickle, but it still seems enough to lure in many producers. You see the Beijing based companies coming to Shanghai to shoot, both for better locations, and to get that much farther away from the all-seeing eye of the government. Also, those Honkies have realized the saturation of their market and see Shanghai as a fresh new ground.

Even more foreign productions are starting operations making movies in China for China. Even now you can see films such as The Painted Veil, Milk & Fashion, and even Mission Impossible 3 coming to town.

WIth a low cost and huge potential market, it is an ideal market, poised behind only Bollywood and Hollywood as one of the top movie making industries in the world. If the piracy is crubed and the government opens up, China could very well make it to the top.