7 March 2016
Warren Cross, Managing Partner
Cross & Co Lawyers
Australia is a world leader in creative services. Think George Miller, Cate Blanchett, The Wiggles, ACDC, Village Roadshow. With the rise of the middle class in China, “let me entertain you” comes firmly into view.
Location-based entertainment known as theme parks are big business in China. Over 180 million people visited China’s theme parks in 2015. Sydney based H20 Entertainment performs daily water ski shows at award winning Ocean Kingdom Park on Hengqin Island off Macau. Ocean Kingdom is part of a $10 billion development of Hengqin Island, including a direct road link to Hong Kong. Sydney company Freestyle Kings are shortly to open their motocross show in theme parks also owned by Chimelong. Opportunities abound. Village Roadshow is to raise $750 million for a panda theme park in Chengdu. They have signed on to manage a mega marine park on Hainan Island in 2017. Leading Chinese animator Tony Wong is establishing theme parks based on animated characters taken from leading films. Disney Shanghai will open its doors later this year.
The growth in China is across all entertainment platforms and media. China will have more movie going customers than the United States by 2018. Theatrical box office in China is growing at 30% per annum. China wants its own franchises with associated merchandising spin-offs. It has seen the economic benefits to the Hollywood studios from Star Wars, Shrek, Lion King and the like. The 2014 animated production “Monster Hunt” by Hong Kong studio Edko Films has grossed $US500 million. Incredibly Hong Kong based Stephen Cow’s “Mei Ren Yu” (The Mermaid) smashed this record within 2 weeks of its Chinese release earlier this year. Australian Chinese co- productions gather speed, with Adelaide’s Mario Andreacchio’s co-produced feature “The Last Dragon” achieving No 1 at the Chinese box office.
Australian produced entertainment has achieved great success in international markets. Live productions such as Nitro Circus, Dirty Dancing, Walking with Dinosaurs and Priscilla have all set box office records. Once reliable distribution partners are established in China, Australian creative ventures will enjoy similar success .The non-convertibility of the yuan remains the key impediment, however free trade zones such as Shanghai will lead to full currency tradability. The recent Australia China FTA can only accelerate Australian creative services in China. China’s middle class has an enormous appetite for entertainment. Australia is well placed to be at the vanguard of China’s emergence as the entertainment capital of Asia.