CAA China has teamed up with the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society to unveil a joint initiative that will foster Chinese-language genre film projects.
The HGC initiative will operate an open call for projects from Monday until the end of October. Five successful projects will be selected and presented at next year’s FilMart rights market and HAF project matching event.
As part of the program, “CAA China will fund $20,000 cash awards to each of two handpicked projects to support their development, with customized guidance from mentors.” CAA China may also choose to board the winning projects later by entering into script development agreements.
“We are witnessing the rise of a new generation of Chinese filmmakers who are the backbone of Chinese cinema,” said Mary Gu, CEO of CAA China. “By collaborating with HKIFF Society, our aim is to discover and support young filmmakers with industry awareness and mainstream expression. We want to facilitate their integration into the professional landscape while upholding due regard for the audience and the prevailing market trends.”
CAA China was set up in 2017 and is jointly owned by China’s CMC Capital Partners and Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency. With offices in Beijing and Shanghai, its operations span entertainment, sports and brand partnerships.
Filmmakers that CAA China represents include: director Layla Ji (“All These Years,” “Victim(s)”); Li Fei (“The Gift,” “Two Tigers”); Li Xiaofeng (“Back To The Wharf,” “Ash”); and Zhang Mo (“Who’s The Suspect,” “Sniper”); writer Chen Ji (“The Long Season”); Li Wei (“Shadow”); and Zhou Yunhai (“Godspeed”).
“The collaboration with CAA China is a testament to our growing reputation and demonstrates our commitment to pushing boundaries in promoting exciting new projects,” said Jacob Wong, HKIFFS industry director. “It expands HKIFF Industry’s strategic partnership base in Asia.”
In 2021, the HKIFFS consolidated all its industry initiatives under the newly established HKIFF Industry banner. These span the HAF Film Lab (a boot camp for young filmmakers), HAF for in-development (IDP) and work-in-progress (WIP) projects (co-production market), HAF Goes to Cannes (screening opportunity), and HKIFF Collection (consultative support for festival strategies, sales, and distribution).
The 6th HAF Film Lab, featuring eight Chinese-language projects, is underway and wraps on Friday.
The 22nd Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF22) is set to run March 11 – 13, 2024, alongside the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s 28th Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FilMart), March 11-14, 2024.
CAA China’s filmmaking clients director Lei Lei (“Silver Bird and Rainbow Fish”), actor Xue Xuchun (“A New Old Play”, “Silent Ghosts”, and “The Wind Will Say”), cinematographer Robbin Feng (“A New Old Play”), film editor Liu Xinzhu (“The Cloud In Her Room”), and colorist Fu Shu (“All about ING” and “The Cloud In Her Room”) are also recent HAF alumni.
