China opens 1.3M square foot Digital Film Studio

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Happy July 4th to all!

I just heard from Scott Wood of Digidesign, in Beijing who tells me:

"I've been the principle workflow designer and will be on site testing and training their staff on "camera to digital cinema master" workflow training at the massive new 1.3M square foot China Film Group facility North of Beijing, which opens later this month. Think “digital film” meets “Chinese manufacturing” meets “massive funding.” It is likely now the largest media workflow center in the world, designed to put out 80 feature films and 200 TV movies each year. These guys seriously invested in file based workflow, from acquisition to delivery."

Here is what China's "People's Daily online" reports:

China to build national digital film base

The expansion project of the shooting base for the Beijing Film Production Studio will be turned into a national digital film project. Located in Huairou, a suburb of Beijing. The project with 1 billion yuan investment will likely become the world's largest film-making base once it is completed.

Yang Buting, chairman of China Film Group Corporation, said the project, which would also be served as the company's film base, would cover a floor space of 119,000 square meters. It will be much larger than the 25-year old production base for the Beijing Film Academy by the third ring road in the capital city.

The new base, designated as the national digital film project, will have various channels of fund resources. The State Administration of Radio, Film and TV, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance have all granted financial support. China Film Group will be responsible for the operation of the project which will help the company implement its overall strategy.

The base distinguishes from any other base in China with its large scale, hi-tech equipment and all-board services. There are 16 film studios. One of them, with 5,000 square meters, is designed to meet the demand of especially large settings or special settings.

When the project will be completed has to be decided yet due to its massive scale and complicated facilities. But the ambition is to make it the world's largest, best-equipped film studio in five to ten years, which can produce 80 feature movies, 100 digital movies and 200 motion pictures made for television.

By People' s Daily Online

RL