In recent years, many media producers, screenwriters, technicians and investors from the Asia-Pacific region have been attracted to projects in the People's Republic of China. The Chinese state's recent willingness to consider collaboration with foreign partners is a major factor that is enticing and supporting a range of new ventures. Projects, often with a lighter commercial entertainment feel, compared with the propaganda-oriented content of the past, are multiplying. With this surge in production and the availability of resources and locations, creative talent is moving to the Mainland from South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. This volume examines this phenomenon, looking at examples from film, documentary, television, animation and games.
Industry Reviews
From webtoons to popular blockbusters, Willing Collaborators offers an expansive and critical insight into the industrial workings of the dynamic and fast changing landscape of East Asian media production. The editors have assembled an impressive array of contributors to this volume, producing an essential study that elucidates exemplary moments in the 'long game' of collaborative East Asian media production and in particular the key role of China in this vibrant network. -- Olivia Khoo, Associate Professor in Film and Screen Studies at Monash University
Charting the East Asian creative migration converging in China, Willing Collaborators: Foreign Partners in Chinese Media encompasses a range of audio-visual industries including film, television, animation and online video services. This lively new collection contributes to our further understanding of an evolving East Asia and indeed global mediascape under the sway of China. -- Ying Zhu, Professor in the Department of Media Culture, College of Staten Island, the City University of New York; author of Two Billion Eyes: The Story of China Central Television and the forthcoming book, Film as Soft Power and Hard Currency: The Sino-Hollywood Courtship
Required reading for understanding the ambitions and appeal of China's film industry and market, which have shot from near irrelevance to become East Asia's cinema hub in less than 20 years. This ground-breaking and eye-opening anthology reveals that Hollywood's China connection is only one small part of a much larger, more complex and more compelling story. -- Chris Berry, Professor of Film Studies at Kings College London
Drawing on essential case studies from throughout Asia, Willing Collaborators offers a timely, informative guide to understanding China's influence on media collaborations within the region. For readers seeking to understand the transformative power of Chinese capital in media and beyond, Willing Collaborators draws together a stunning array of leaders in the field to weigh in on this increasingly important topic. -- Aynne Kokas, author of Hollywood Made in China
China's media are developing a global presence and Willing Collaborators: Foreign Partners in Chinese Media provides welcome insights into the dynamics of the global-regional-local nexus. This collection of essays by leading scholars in the field is a valuable contribution to the study of a highly relevant and yet under-researched topic, for which the editors deserve strong commendation. -- Daya Thussu, Professor of International Communication, University of Westminster
