Cultural park brings blockbuster future to city’s creative industry
On April 21, one day prior to the opening of the Beijing International Film Festival, a group of movie industry representatives from Thailand, the guest of honor for the ongoing BJIFF, visited the Beijing Huairou Film and Television Industrial Park, which is dubbed China’s film capital.
Part of their itinerary around the industrial park in Huairou, a district on the outskirts of Beijing, were visits to the State Production Base of China Film Group, the Huairou campus of the Beijing Film Academy and the International Film and Television Service Center.
While learning about the development of the park, the Thai guests gained a better understanding of Beijing’s film and TV industry.
As a vital movie industrial cluster in the city, the park is now home to more than 1,000 movie studios as well as related cultural businesses.
Government data show that some 8 billion yuan ($1.15 billion) has been poured into the park over more than two decades, and more than 3,000 movie and TV shows had been shot in the park by the end of 2022.
Amazed at the industrial progress and professional development in the park, the Thai representatives said they wish to have further exchanges and cooperation with the park in the future.
The Huairou film industrial park is adjacent to the Huairou Science City, putting the district on the fast track to growth, integrating film industrial resources and innovation expertise, as well as its well-preserved ecosystem and advantages in hosting conventions and exhibitions.
During this year’s Spring Festival holiday in January, four movies that led the box office in the domestic market — The Wandering Earth II, Full River Red, Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, and Hidden Blade — were made in Huairou, local media reported.
Among the blockbusters, The Wandering Earth II, adapted from a science fiction novel, received support from experts in a national priority program on space science affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientists, who work at the Huairou Science City and have contributed to the launches of a series of satellites, add a scientific touch to the film.
Wang Danrong, artistic director of the State Production Base of China Film Group, told Chinese media that in the early years after China Film Group settled in the industrial park in 2008, there was much room to improve for the park’s infrastructure and industry.
The emerging Huairou Science City is a twist in the growth of the local film and TV industry, bringing about enormous hope, Wang said.
“Multiple CAS institutes that have relocated to Huairou have brought with themselves their research achievements, which represent the cutting-edge technologies.
“All of our moviemakers are looking forward to the combination of arts and their research results,” he noted.
With a growing number of advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence applied to the movie industry, it will pave the way for innovative thinking and methods for the movie industry, thus boosting the growth of the district’s creative industry and creating new engines for regional economic development, local officials said.
Culture-related industries in Huairou are projected to generate 18.3 billion yuan in revenue in 2025, they added.
Huairou started to become a permanent venue for the Beijing International Film Festival in 2015. Capitalizing on the annual event, the district is ramping up efforts to spur spending on diverse cultural offerings, create a never-ending film festival and inject new vigor into the local economy.