Seeking Mainstream Success

By+Tang+Yuankai

More than 20 Chinese films and TV dramas will be broadcast on Propeller TV UK between September and October in the United Kingdom， underscoring Chinas move to export entertainment to the global market. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and UK Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy Ed Vaizey unveiled the broadcasting plans at the China-UK Film and TV Conference in London on September 20. The event， hosted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press， Publication， Radio， Film and Television， is part of the 2015 ChinaUK Year of Cultural Exchange.

China hopes the dramas will be as successful as Tiger Mom Cat Dad. The TV drama was available in nine countries and regions beginning in May， including the United States and Canada. It depicts the juxtaposition in parenting styles between a strict mom and a relaxed dad and was featured in a BBC article on its website on May 28.

BBC Chineses Vincent Ni explained why the drama was such a success， saying， “Its been a long time since Chinese TV aired such a drama that captured the two seemingly conflicting education philosophies so well. While closely following the drama， Chinese audiences also took to social media to discuss， share and voice their different opinions of the way to raise kids.”

Other Chinese dramas have taken off in the African market， but industry professionals say that they need to adapt to foreign audiences tastes and create new plot lines if Chinese films and TV series are going to have a fighting chance in the mainstream market abroad.

African market

Chinese TV dramas have seen more success in Africa than in any other region in the world.

A family comedy called A Beautiful Daughter-in-Law Era， which tells the story of a young， newly married couple who must deal with meddling in-laws， quickly became a hit in Tanzania after it premiered in the East African country in 2013.

“Tanzanians call Chinese girls they come across in the streets Doudou， who is the leading woman in the drama，” said actress Hai Qing， who plays the character Doudou， underscoring the popularity of the drama in the African country.

In a move to further capitalize on the comedys success， the 2015 Beijing TV Dramas & Movies Broadcasting Exhibition debuted eight Chinese TV dramas and nearly 20 films that will air on television over the course of the year. The films and dramas from the event， which was held in September in South Africas Johannesburg， have all been dubbed in English， French and several African dialects.

A Beautiful Daughter-in-Law Era was the first Chinese drama series to be dubbed in Swahili.

Previously， Chinese film and television products exported to East Africa were shown with the original soundtrack and Swahili subtitles， but due to the continents high illiteracy rate， many audience members are unable to read them. Another problem is that most families view the drama on a small TV screen as TV sets have only just begun to gain traction in Tanzania.

Kenyan actress Josephine Moeni Waweru and actor Khamis Juma Swaleh dubbed the two leading roles for the African version， while other characters were dubbed by anchors from China Radio International， a Beijing-based radio broadcaster.

“The drama reflects the daily lives of todays Chinese people， and it will tell the African audience about the ‘real China，” said director of the drama Liu Jiang.

Cultural differences

Before the dramas have the chance to alter perceptions about China abroad， they must first get exported and viewed. Production isnt a problem， since China became the worlds largest TV drama producer in 2010. It created a total of 429 dramas with 15，983 episodes in 2014.

The number of countries and regions importing Chinese television series has expanded from 10 in the early 1990s to more than 100 last year， but not all of the dramas were as well received by foreign viewers as A Beautiful Daughter-in-Law Era.

And the high number of dramas exported doesnt necessarily translate into monetary gains. In 2013， Chinese dramas made 105 million yuan （$16 million） abroad， while South Korean dramas made 955 million yuan （$150 million）， according to a report in the Shanghaibased Wenhui Daily.

In March， the English version of the cos

tume drama hit Empresses in the Palace， also known as The Legend of Zhen Huan， was compressed from 76 episodes into six 90-minute episodes and released on the American streaming website Netflix. However， the drama proved to not be as popular as it was on the Chinese mainland， or in Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan. One reason for its failure is the vast differences between Chinese and Western cultures. Another is the difficulty in translating Chinese to English and vice versa.

“There is a lot in ancient Chinese culture that cannot be translated. Many lines in The Legend of Zhen Huan have connotations that were lost in translation，” said director of the drama Zheng Xiaolong.

Currently， Chinese TV series are mainly exported to countries in the Asia-Pacific region， particularly Southeast Asia， according to statistics from the International Copyright Exchange， a state-owned copyright protection and trading center. Western markets are far less saturated， likely because of the huge cultural differences between the East and the West.

Much needed change

When The Legend of Zhen Huan aired in Japan in 2013， it received over 1，400 likes on social networking websites. During the same period， the American crime drama Breaking Bad got 4.9 million likes and the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory received 26 million likes.

Industry insiders say a lack of plot ingenuity and incompatibility with foreign viewers tastes have kept Chinese films and TV series from entering the mainstream market abroad. Notably， historical period dramas accounted for over 80 percent of China-made TV dramas that have been released in foreign markets over the past 20 years.

The most popular Chinese TV series overseas have adapted to the preferences of the local audiences， said Guo Yanmin， an associate professor at China Communications University in Beijing.

He added that many Chinese TV series have similar plots and lack distinctive characteristics， hindering their success overseas.

“Its essential to improve the quality of our work. Many dramas are crudely made， which even the Chinese dont want to watch， not to mention overseas audiences，” Zheng said.

Meng Jian， a professor at the Shanghaibased Fudan Universitys Journalism School， believes contemporary Chinese issues and stories about ordinary people in China would be more appealing to foreign audiences.

Hes not alone.

“Ive been hearing about the achievements that China has made and how huge the changes have been in the country over the past 30 years， and Ive seen some pictures on the Internet. But the TV series， which tell stories of ordinary people with normal street scenes in China， are more vivid and convincing，” 36-year-old Tanzanian Paul Udoto told AFKInsider， a premier website dedicated to covering African news from a business perspective， in 2013.