Smarter Hollywood gets local in Asia1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHollywood is getting smarter about engaging with Asia on more equal terms, having learned lessons from earlier unsuccessful attempts, according to two senior Hollywood executives at the second In Conversation seminar held Wednesday at ScreenSingapore.
According to Sanford Panitch, president of Fox International Productions (FIP), Fox has already made between 15-20 non-English language films, and has local production activities in 11 countries around the world, including India, China and South Korea.
“We define [our productions] as films that don’t need the US to recoup,” said Panitch. “Because of the increased marketing cost just trying to get above the clutter of the massive studio tentpoles it’s very hard for any independent film to survive the US. It’s true for Fox Searchlight, true for us.”
While his studio has had a history of releasing foreign films in America, including My Name Is Khan which last year saw a 150+ print release and achieved a $5 million gross, Panitch acknowledged that the major studios were no longer touting their ability to open foreign films internationally.
