Interviewing Tian Jin, the vice minister for the People's Republic of China's State Administration of Radio, Film & Television (SARFT), I found myself the subject of media scrutiny for a change, the prey rather than the predator. His entourage swept in, and the interview was conducted under the hot spotlights of numerous TV cameras and glaring flashes of myriad press photographers.

For as the vice minister explained, the delegation to this year's MIPTV wasn't just about international co-operation in the media space but part of a wider remit to enhance international relations and encourage confidence at a time when it's most needed.

"We brought our delegation to conduct in-depth exchanges with our international counterparts at MIPTV," he told Television Asia Plus. "We also brought our confidence to the international broadcasting community. As our Premier (Wen Jiabao) has previously said, confidence is more important than gold or money, so we are at this market to increase confidence and seek co-operation opportunities. It is the responsibility of not only broadcasters but also media professionals to encourage confidence. Meanwhile we are taking this chance to also increase relations between China and other countries."

In its efforts to foster co-operation, seek co-production and boost international confidence, China bought its biggest ever delegation to MIPTV 2009, comprising over 200 delegates representing over 40 broadcasting organizations, and over 4,000 hours of programming hours.

The morning of China Day, 31 March 2009, saw the Focus on China Forum at which Tian Jin's keynote speech called to deepen co-operation for joint development. "We hope that China Day activities will act as bridges of friendship and co-operation, helping TV professionals from different nations to see the development of Chinese TV industry and China, and to increase communication and cooperation with Chinese partners," he said.

Citing partnerships with over 200 broadcast organizations from over 100 countries and regions, he said China has co-produced with international counterparts nearly 1,000 hours of TV dramas, documentaries and animations.

"Among these highly acclaimed are, for example, Wild China an HD documentary for Wild Series co-produced by CCTV of China and BBC of the UK; Shaolin Wuzang an animation jointly produced by Shanghai Fantasia Animation International Ltd and Les Cartooneurs Associes of France; Taiping Heavenly Kingdon, a historic drama jointly edited for the international market by CITVC of CCTV and Warner TV International of USA."

Tian went on to outline three points for SARFT's vision of TV

exchange and cooperation namely:

1. Expanding common ground for a mutual benefited future

2. Deepening cooperation with a concerted effort

3. Creating high quality content via renovation

The vice minister's keynote was followed by a panel on co-productions with China: Documentary, in which executive producer from the BBC's Natural History Unit Brian Leith talked about his experiences making the highly-acclaimed Wild China. David Haslingden, CEO of National Geographic Channels International & National Geographic Channel US, and CEO of Fox International Channels, spoke of the necessity to find co-production content that works both in China and internationally. And the ubiquitous Liu Xiaolin, president of the Beijing Asian

Union Culture & Media Investment Ltd spoke of the co-production opportunities available in China. Fourth panelist was Ma Runsheng, president of distribution division at China International TV Corporation. TVAplus

Two announcements at China Beijing Broadcast Production Association Reception:

Filming of first Chinese German action movie China's Asian Union and Germany's Action Concept are joining forces to produce a slate of four to five action movies for release on numerous platforms across China and Europe.

The first movie, Mission Overseas, has a budget of US$5 million, and tells the story of a Chinese chauffeur who comes to Germany to get back his boss' kidnapped daughter. He has to team up with a down-on-his-luck German detective who's reluctant to help.

Producers from China are Liu Xiao Lin and Ma Zhongjun who co-produced Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and were involved in the production of Seven Swords, and from Germany Hermann Joha.

Scriptwriting will be overseen by Stefan Retzbach, cast and director have yet to be announced. The movie will be shot in English, on location in China and Germany.

"It's a classic buddy action movie with a lot of humour and family values", says Liu, executive director of Asian Union, "there is a great demand for this genre in China amongst a wide audience"

Distribution worldwide except China and Germany will be handled by Wolfgang Wilke from Action Image, the distribution arm of Action Concept.

Crystal Film Animation appointed lead studio for Platinum Films' Matt Hatter Chronicles Crystal Film Animation, part of the Crystal Group, has been appointed by Platinum Films as the lead animation studio on Matt Hatter Chronicles, an adventure comedy designed to appeal to both boys and girls, described as 'Indiana Jones meets TinTin'. The show combines both 2D and 3D animation and claims 'an all new style of animation.' 26 half-hour episodes have been commissioned by Nickelodeon UK.

In August 2007, Crystal Film Animation was named as the Graphic Design Service Supplier for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Crystal had provided a complete range of specialized graphic design services for 135 Olympic projects, including the most watched TV event program - the Opening Ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympics.

On March 24 2009, London 2012 announced that Crystal Group has become the sixth Tier Three Supplier to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the sixteenth company to join the London 2012 domestic commercial program. Crystal becomes the Official Digital Imaging Services Supplier.

MyChinaChannel (Singapore) partners with SDI Media Group

SDI Media and MyChinaChannel (Singapore) announced that it has signed a strategic alliance agreement to jointly market relevant quality infotainment content about China to the world. The contents will be distributed globally targeting at non-Chinese and overseas Chinese audiences who wish to know China better.

MyChinaChannel will aggregate, produce and repackage infotainment content about China. With this alliance, MyChinaChannel distribution business will leverage on SDI Media's worldwide network and expertise in subtitling, language dubbing and content localization capabilities.

Channel NewsAsia presents a co-production with China Multimedia Networks A 13-part series, Sun-Tzu: War on Business, produced in partnership between Channel NewsAsia and China Multimedia Networks (CMMN), and supported by Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) will debut in January 2010 on Channel NewsAsia International and thereafter, distributed worldwide by BBC Worldwide.

Sun-Tzu's Art of War is seen as an ancient codex that holds the

secret to winning wars. The reality series will feature a different

company each week as it undergoes the Sun-Tzu treatment at the hands of a business leader. Stories will feature key business capitals in the Asia Pacific - Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney.

MediaCorp appointed official media partner for Shanghai World Expo 2010 MediaCorp has been appointed official media partner for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.

Channel NewsAsia will be the platform to broadcast the events and activities of the Expo, expected to be one of the largest events on the global calendar next year, to 22 territories in Asia. The channel will also provide concerted news coverage and special reports of the activities related to the mega exposition, in a year-long commitment.

Singapore & China collaborate on 'subway drama' The Media Development Authority (MDA), Singapore media company Ufinity and Chinese company Prime Time Entertainment, are collaborating to produce the first Singapore-China subway drama - A Starry Night - to be broadcast simultaneously in trains and train stations in Singapore and China, reaching out to over 15 million daily commuters.

The project is supported by media platform owners, namely SMRT Media in Singapore and Digital Media Group (DMG) in China. Singapore's Threesixzero Productions has been commissioned to undertake the creative process of this project.

FME and Asian Union forge first ever factual programming joint venture in China FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) and Asian Union (AU), one of China's most established production companies has announced the formation of Vision Ventures Media Ltd. (VVM). VVM will be dedicated to increasing the trade of factual programmes to and from China.

Liu Xiao Lin from Asian Union will be chairman of Vision Ventures Media Limited, and Ganesh Rajaram, VP sales Asia, FME, will be a board director and responsible for the programming relationship between FME and VVM.

Through the cooperation between FME and AU, targeted Chinese programmes will be selected for the international market, whereby AU will work with the Chinese producers to re-version the content, and FME will use its global network to sell the international version.

The development aspect of VVM will involve forging creative partnerships between Chinese and international producers in the development of new factual programmes. VVM will act as an incubator for the development and production of co-productions. Due to regulations surrounding foreign investment in content in China, the joint venture is registered in Hong Kong SAR.

David Ellender, CEO, FremantleMedia Enterprises commented, "China is a hugely important region for FME serving as a major market for our programmes. Asian Union is by far one of the most renowned in the industry and we're delighted to be partnering with them in what represents a key part of growth strategy for the Asia Pacific region."

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