LINK Editor and well known filmmaker R. Paul Dhillon and his company MMM Films’ recent trip to China as part of Heritage Minister Melanie Joly’s film and cultural exchange delegation was an extremely productive one, he tells the LINK. “Our first stop in Beijing was extremely productive and educational on everything film and culture in China. Learning how China operates is key to doing anything in this country and it’s no different when it comes to Film, Digital, Gaming, Animation and art-books-live events-museums, to give you the full picture of the cultural exchange on this Historic delegation, the first of its kind from Canada. We are extremely privileged to be on this trip and are immensely enriched by it,” Dhillon said. The delegation visited the Biggest Film and television company in China – The Shanghai Film Group, which has been a pioneer in Chinese cinema history and makes everything from Blockbusters to Documentaries and children’s programming.
The film part of the large Canadian delegation – with 59 companies taking part – met the top brass of The Shanghai Film – which Dhillon said was one of the highlights of his trip. The B2B meetings, held both in Shanghai and Beijing, were also great in getting to know many of China’s film companies and how they operate in a government-free market system in the burgeoning Communist economic behemoth. Many Chinese companies Dhillon and his partner Don Fiorvento met were looking to work with foreign companies on film and television companies on all kinds of Chinese as well as international film and television projects. “We received a lot of interest in our upcoming feature film The Fusion Generation, which we are hoping to sell the digital and television rights to a big company here. Indian films are really doing well and they like the novelty of our Indo-Canadian romantic comedy. Fingers crossed,” Dhillon said. “After a great nine great days of visiting China, being hosted at an official dinner thrown by the Chinese Cultural Minister Luo Shugang at an Art Museum across from the famed Tiananmen Square and a host of one-on-one film meetings – we left China with a great satisfaction of having made so many friends and optimistic of many collaborations in the future. Loving the vibe in China,” Dhillon said.
