US-China summit: Janet Yang optimistic despite woes

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Netflix seeks aggressive push into India, says Ted Sarandos

LOS ANGELES, Oct 29, (RTRS): If American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to be taken at his word, the Asia Society’s US-China Entertainment Summit taking place Tuesday in Los Angeles could be a short meeting. Pompeo this week said that the US would oppose China “at every turn.”

Janet Yang, noted producer, and chair of the summit, says there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of cross-Pacific business relations. And that the growing list of obstacles provides more reason to talk.

“So much seemed unpredictable three months ago. It is wonderful that we should be doing this now,” she said. “There is actually a much bigger bridge now between the US and China, and people to people connections, than there was a few years ago. That didn’t happen in my generation.”

The list of problem areas seems only to have grown in the past months. At the entertainment industry level, they include: worrying signs of a new box office slowdown in China; significant confusion in the movie production sector as the Chinese industry resets itself after the Fan Bingbing scandal and related tax issues; and regulatory uncertainty that has followed the changed status of the State Administration of Press Publishing, Radio, Film, and Television. At the political level, the tit-for-tat tariffs and trade battle and pushback against Chinese military are in danger of becoming a new Cold War. Certainly, comments like Pompeo’s are not encouraging.

Yang’s sunnier outlook, however, comes from a more grounded and pragmatic understanding that people adapt to new circumstances and businesses evolve. “The circumstances may seem dire, but things always happen to ameliorate them.”

She acknowledges that Chinese companies are no longer falling over themselves to pump money into Hollywood through corporate acquisitions and that many companies have been bruised as a result. But she says that leaves the ones left standing in a better place.

Co-productions

“This has been the year when we’ve seen the most successful US-Chinese co-productions,” Yang says. That is a reference to “The Meg”, which grossed over $140 million in both China and North America. But she includes in that analysis “Crazy Rich Asians”, which is not a co-production, but is set in a Singaporean-Chinese milieu.

The Summit will feature a case study analysis of “The Meg” as well as “Asians” producer John Penotti as part of a discussion on whether relations have hit a Great Wall.

Yang suggests that China’s rise has looked fragile at other times in recent history. But the economy has defied the naysayers and continued to grow. And growth of the entertainment industry has outstripped it, as an ever larger proportion of the population joins the middle classes and increases its disposable income.

“Conditions seem dire, but in practice they are not so dire. The things that seem like difficulties people find a way around. Chinese people are so resourceful,” yang says. She credits the growth of the private sector for part of that strength. “Market forces are now so overwhelming. China no longer has a completely planned economy. Technology is playing a (growth) role too.”

Also:

LOS ANGELES: Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos says the global streaming giant is planning an aggressive push into the Indian market. It will involve increased production and may include a reduced subscription price.

“We have 10 original shows in production right now and six original films coming up for 2019 and more to come,” said Sarandos. He was speaking as part of a masterclass delivered at the Mumbai Film Festival.

Netflix’s investment in licensing of Indian content has more than doubled since the service launched in India. “It’s been a very aggressive push into India and a vote of confidence that we can do well here,” Sarandos said.

India is an extremely price sensitive market. Netflix subscriptions begin at $6.83 per month in India whereas Amazon Prime Video’s monthly rate is $1.76.

Responding to a question from Variety about whether Netflix would consider reducing prices in India in order to increase its subscriber base, Sarandos said: “Part of the consumer science of Netflix is trying to figure out the right price value for every country. A lot of it really is about how much you have to watch. It’s not about the price sensitivity as much as the value sensitivity.” Sarandos said that the value for each customer is relative to how much of Netflix they watch. “We’re always trying to adjust the price to suit the market, and that’s true of all countries,” Sarandos said.

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