[Article] Hamasaki leading Avex's China offensive

[Maxker]

I hope Ayumi will produce the theme song for this movie


Sizing up China: Chinese, Japanese talent taking showbiz in new direction

08/27/2007
BY MAYUKO TOKITA, STAFF WRITER

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With its mix of Chinese and Japanese talent, Hong Kong directors and Chinese-Japanese financing, thriller movie "Confession of Pain" exemplifies the new direction in which the Asian entertainment industry is heading.

The film features the song "Secret," written and performed by Japanese pop star Ayumi Hamasaki. In the Chinese release, the song is covered by Hong Kong's Denise Ho in Mandarin.

The film's co-star is the versatile Taiwanese-born Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, whose fluency in Japanese and Chinese has allowed him to enjoy a career that spans Japan and China.

The movie opened in Japan in July after it made 720 million yen in box-office revenue in Hong Kong and other parts of China following its premiere in December.

The movie was funded and distributed by Media Asia Films and Sil-Metropole Organization, both based in Hong Kong, China's Polybona Films and Japan's Avex Entertainment Inc., Hamasaki's management company.

Avex is one of a growing number of Japanese showbiz companies looking to expand in China and elsewhere in Asia.

The company is teaming up with China's Chengtian Entertainment Group and other Asian companies to produce what would be the most expensive Asian film to date.

Veteran Hong Kong and Hollywood director John Woo is shooting the film, which tells the story of the Battle of Red Cliff during ancient China's Three Kingdoms period.

Avex says its $75 million (9 billion yen) production budget is the largest ever in Asia's motion picture history.

The cast includes the two stars of "Confession of Pain," Kaneshiro and Tony Leung Chiu-wai.

Avex, best known as a leading J-pop music label, is trying to turn itself into an all-round entertainment house in Asia.

Hamasaki, already well known around Asia, is leading the company's China offensive.

She held three concerts between March and April, one each in Taipei, Hong Kong and Shanghai, in her first solo performances in those cities. Her Web site added Chinese and English sections ahead of the Asian tour.

"We consider East Asian countries as a single market," said Hajime Taniguchi, managing director in charge of international strategy at Avex Group Holdings Inc. "We have to produce (songs and movies) that will be a hit not only in Japan but also throughout the region."

He said China's coastal regions plus Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan have a potential market of 500 million people, larger than the U.S. market of 300 million.

The company has been investing heavily in movies since it set up a visual content business division in April 2005.

Avex officials estimate that China's overall box-office revenue will skyrocket from 39 billion yen in 2006 to more than 230 billion yen in 2015, compared with Japan's 200-billion-yen market in 2006.

China also offers a lucrative market for concerts and other live performances.

Generally, ticket prices for a concert vary widely from 3,000 yen to 27,000 yen, while the range is more limited in Japan, between 4,500 yen and 8,000 yen, according to Avex officials.

The most expensive tickets for Hamasaki's concert at Shanghai Grand Stage on April 22 were priced at about 35,000 yen, but they were sold out within an hour.

Morning Musume, the all-girl pop group that marks its 10th anniversary this year, attracted attention when it announced in March that two Chinese teenagers have joined as its first non-Japanese members.

Tsunku, the group's producer, said one of his goals is to expand into other parts of Asia and that Li Chun, 19, who goes by the stage name of Junjun, and Qian Lin, 16, known as Linlin, would play important roles.

Morning Musume is already selling CDs in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Up-Front Agency Co., the group's management company, said it hopes to sell CDs and hold concerts in mainland China in the future.

Still, entertainment companies face a host of problems in China, most notably insufficient protection of intellectual property rights.

Tsuburaya Productions Co. has failed to capitalize on the popularity of Ultraman, the hero of its special-effect TV series, which dates back to 1966.

The company has met with a large number of counterfeit Ultraman goods, such as toys and clothing, since the programs began airing in China in 1993.

"We have not been able to earn profits commensurate with our well-known characters," said Executive Managing Director Ken Fukui. "The rules and regulations for licensing businesses are still underdeveloped in China."

For the past four years, Tsuburaya has been considering producing a Chinese version of Ultraman TV program with a local partner, with Chinese performers and settings.

The move is partly in response to the Chinese government's tighter regulations on broadcasting Chinese-dubbed versions of overseas TV programs.

Hideyuki Saida, who has been involved in Asia's music industry for more than 15 years at Pony Canyon Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., said China is still a niche market for many Japanese companies because potential customers are concentrated in affluent coastal cities.

"We cannot succeed unless we have overwhelming capital or music content that can seize a dominant share of the market," said Saida, who now serves as a manager at Pony Canyon's International Marketing Visual Entertainment Headquarters.

He acknowledged that the Chinese market is too lucrative for any music company to ignore.

Online music distribution is one promising area, given the popularity of cellphones and portable music players in the country.

In March, Pony Canyon launched online downloading service in South Korea. It is now offering 2,000 tunes.

Saida said the company will consider similar services in Taiwan as well as Hong Kong and other parts of China if demand warrants investments.(IHT/Asahi: August 27,2007)
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Source: http://www.asahi.com/