Latest update December 15th, 2015 10:12 PM
Producer Li Yaping: swift adaptating a popular IP into a blockbuster
Li Yaping (on the right), founder and CEO of AIM Entertainment, is the Producer of BEIJING LOVE STORY and RUNNING MAN.
On the market: Before the huge success of LOST IN THAILAND, it was difficult to make it in the Chinese film industry. There were not many opportunities for newcomers. Then it is like a wave rushing towards us and our ship drifts along. I am not sure whether the sailors resting at the port are ready for the wave or how far it could take us. Although it has suggested more possibilities, there are still lots of things to do in this industry to achieve some real accomplishments.
On the career path: Prior to my first feature, a children’s film, kind of China’s LES CHORISTES, I was basically a cinephile who had worked for the national TV channel for several years before I started my own audio-visual business. That film didn’t stand out, and I went on to look for a proper story for my next film.
On the adaptations: Actor Chen Sicheng is the creator of the pop TV series BEIJING LOVE STORY and I talked to him that it could be developed into a feature film because first of all the romance in the TV series becomes a reality – the two protagonists fall in love and get married; meanwhile, Chen’s charisma is a constant reminder of BEIJING LOVE STORY to the mass audience. We discussed about the film project and managed to find Wanda Media as a production partner in 2012, when the market was not so optimistic as it is now. We had doubts in casting, making the budget, and some other problems, but whining is not my way. Editor’s note: the film BEIJING LOVE STORY ended up earning 65.3 million USD at the box office, quite impressive for the leading actor Chen, also (a first time) director of the film.
RUNNING MAN is another experiment, for me and for Zhengjiang Satellite TV – to adapt a household reality show, to a theatrical film. We learn a lot from Seoul Broadcasting System, the original creator of this IP, who has been running this program for 4 years. We need first to introduce and spread this idea, and to make it local for the Chinese audience. In less than 3 months, ZTV broadcast the show and my team devised the possible film adaptation: what should be kept in the film and what should not; how to surprise the audience when they see their favorite show on the big screen.
On China’s film industry: It is now like a jigsaw puzzle. The canvas is vast and it silhouette is still vague. I hope that one day, in China, we can make films like THE ATTORNEY, or something more commercial like THE TERROR LIVE. I always hear people say that Korean filmmakers are so lucky that they can make whatever stories they create. However, you cannot blame the system for everything, and it takes time for creators to get there.
When you think about it, the current Chinese film industry is like what the Korean film industry was like 15 years ago – that was the era when lots of young filmmakers were coming back from the US after studying filmmaking. Right now in China, there are a growing number of young filmmakers coming back from the US and elsewhere, who could also have the potential to reshape this film industry. Young talents have untold creativity and possibility. Look at what Jeong Tae-sung and Bong Joon-ho have been contributing to the Korean cinema, and attempting to make a difference.
I have bought the adaption rights of a Korean film in 2014 at the Asian Film Market in Busan and will make a Chinese film based on it in 2015. We will announce this project soon.
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