http://topnewsplanet.com/rss/en/ TopNewsPlanet - local news search engine TopNewsPlanet.com http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83896/grant-and-hurley-win-holiday-snaps-pay-out.html Fri, 16 May 2008 14:08:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83896/grant-and-hurley-win-holiday-snaps-pay-out.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83883/hierro-backs-spanish-successors.html Fri, 16 May 2008 14:00:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83883/hierro-backs-spanish-successors.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83888/retail-sales-down-in-march.html Fri, 16 May 2008 13:38:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83888/retail-sales-down-in-march.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83889/ftse-buoyant.html Fri, 16 May 2008 13:34:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83889/ftse-buoyant.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83890/iseq-up-69-points-in-morning-trade.html Fri, 16 May 2008 13:27:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83890/iseq-up-69-points-in-morning-trade.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83884/captains-cannot-wait-to-get-going.html Fri, 16 May 2008 13:00:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83884/captains-cannot-wait-to-get-going.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83897/posh-im-a-terrible-actress.html Fri, 16 May 2008 12:53:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83897/posh-im-a-terrible-actress.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83898/beyonce-to-become-desperate-housewife.html Fri, 16 May 2008 12:44:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83898/beyonce-to-become-desperate-housewife.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83899/barton-moves-to-paris.html Fri, 16 May 2008 12:42:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83899/barton-moves-to-paris.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83900/berry-denies-engagement-rumours.html Fri, 16 May 2008 12:40:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83900/berry-denies-engagement-rumours.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83867/bright-start-for-westwood.html Fri, 16 May 2008 12:29:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83867/bright-start-for-westwood.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83868/lowry-to-defend-close-title.html Fri, 16 May 2008 12:01:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83868/lowry-to-defend-close-title.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83885/turkey-tournament-fabulous.html Fri, 16 May 2008 12:00:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83885/turkey-tournament-fabulous.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83869/late-fitness-test-for-rovers-boco.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:59:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83869/late-fitness-test-for-rovers-boco.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83901/britney-and-gibson-on-holiday-together.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:29:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83901/britney-and-gibson-on-holiday-together.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83891/ladbrokes-reveals-champions-league-boost.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:26:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83891/ladbrokes-reveals-champions-league-boost.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83870/oaks-target-for-mint.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:23:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83870/oaks-target-for-mint.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83871/ronaldo-hints-at-possible-united-move.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:11:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83871/ronaldo-hints-at-possible-united-move.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83872/hegarty-back-for-harps.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:10:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83872/hegarty-back-for-harps.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83873/all-to-play-for-in-ucd-united-clash.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:08:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83873/all-to-play-for-in-ucd-united-clash.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83770/mel-takes-britney-on-holiday.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:05:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83770/mel-takes-britney-on-holiday.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83874/doolin-confident-of-drogs-chances.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:03:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83874/doolin-confident-of-drogs-chances.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83836/studios-aftra-continue-negotiations.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:01:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83836/studios-aftra-continue-negotiations.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83835/gta-iv-on-xbox-outsells-ps3.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:01:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83835/gta-iv-on-xbox-outsells-ps3.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83834/after-pellicano-christensen-up-next.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:01:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83834/after-pellicano-christensen-up-next.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83833/spain-greece-face-epidemic-of-piracy.html Fri, 16 May 2008 11:01:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83833/spain-greece-face-epidemic-of-piracy.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83832/outsiders-run-into-chinese-regulations.html Fri, 16 May 2008 10:59:00 +0200 International movie company interest in China can scarcely ever have been greater than it is today. Western companies now eye the impressive B.O. totals achieved by top films in China -- China/Hong Kong pic "The Warlords" took $28 million, "Transformers" took $36.4 million -- and want a piece of it. International sales companies report that a new generation of specialty Chinese distribs is also actively seeking rights to foreign arthouse titles.
But producers, buyers and sellers all understand China remains a market with strict import quotas (20 revenue-sharing films per annum and another 40 can enter on a flat-fee basis) and that several times a year Chinese authorities operate "blackout periods, " when Hollywood films cannot be released. And the government recently republished its code on film eexamination (see box).
Restrictions even apply to companies from Hong Kong (which has a separate legal system from China's), and in the field of production they only have limited privileges compared with other foreign players.
A solution that has been offered time and again is for foreign companies to co-produce with China. A film that qualifies as local is exempt from blackouts, earns better rentals and has access to the media for local promotion.
HK producers have been quick to spot that the China market is now mushrooming thanks to multiplex building, and they have become adept at setting up pics as Mandarin-language, HK-mainland co-productions.
"Everyone wants to get into co-production these days. We can't build a base in China on two or three imports a year, " says a China-based exec of one Hollywood major. "What's more, a good Chinese action film has a market in Europe and the U.S., something that is not true of a co-produced Bollywood movie."
However, recent months have seen howls of outrage and disappointment from Chinese, Hong Kong and foreign producers alike as the co-production system appears to have ground to a dead halt.
"Nothing has been approved in the last two months, " says one Hong Kong-based exec. "The Film Bureau's hands are tied, and the safest way for them not to get out of line is to do nothing. We don't see this changing until after the Olympics at the earliest, and even then the process will be very, very cautious."
Says another source: "There is going to be a huge gap in local movies. That may not show up this year, but it will definitely hit the B.O. in 2009."
Reasons for the slowdown appear to be a backlash against films that may have flirted too much with the rules on content -- drugs, sex, organized crime and politics are all taboo -- and others that have traveled to festivals or presented different versions in China and abroad.
All that combined with hypersensitivity to China's image at a time when the country is hosting the Olympic Games means "there won't be another 'Lust, Caution' for another five years, " according to one producer.
Most visible example came in January and February, when Michael Hafstrom's "Shanghai, " which touches on sex, drugs and 1940s collaboration with Japan, was told it would not receive a shooting permit. Producers walked away from $3 million sets that had already been built. "Lust" star Tang Wei and "Lost in Beijing" producer Fang Li and helmer Li Yu were all banned from working.
Optimists point to Stephen Chow's sci-fi fantasy "CJ7" and China-set horror pic "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" as examples of new genres being approved.
In March, the Film Bureau took the unusual step of republishing its code on film examination, which producers say is now being interpreted more narrowly than before. "We are not even sure we can show people smoking in our movie, " one Hong Kong producer says.
Tong Gang, director of the Film Bureau, tells Variety that rumors of 50 co-productions being suspended pending re-examination was a "misunderstanding."
"We have an examination process. But we don't have a real re-examination process. After any modifications we've asked for, we just have a check. We don't ask the examination board to re-examine, " he says.
Tong, who says negotiations over "Shanghai" were ongoing, adds there were many misunderstandings coming from the Hong Kong biz.
One thing that is clear is that many companies are not only hoping the disconnect will fast be rectified, they are counting on it.
Only last month, China Film Group announced a co-production finance package and plans to open a Los Angeles branch office with Nasdaq-listed Xinhua Finance Media.
And heavyweight players Polybona and Chengtian recently toured Los Angeles with the message that they are very much open for business.

CHINA'S FILM EXAMINATION CODE
Article 24
The national film examination system: The films without the approval by film examination department of broadcasting, film and television administration department of the State Council cannot be distributed, showed, imported and exported.
Article 25
Films are prohibited to contain the following content:
(1) Opposing the basic principles of the constitution;
(2) Endangering national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity;
(3) Leaking state secrets, endangering national security or harming the national honor and interests;
(4) Inciting national hatred or ethnic discrimination, sabotaging national unity or harming national customs and habits;
(5) Promoting evil religions, superstition;
(6) Disturbing social order, or undermining social stability;
(7) Promoting obscenity, gambling, violence or abetting the commission of crimes;
(8) Insults or slander others, against other people's legitimate rights and interests;
(9) Against public morality or the nation's outstanding cultural traditions;
(10) Other contents prohibited by legal, administrative regulations, and state regulations.]]> http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83832/outsiders-run-into-chinese-regulations.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83831/toback-toe-to-toe-with-tysons-tale.html Fri, 16 May 2008 10:59:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83831/toback-toe-to-toe-with-tysons-tale.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83830/star-will-air-weinstein-films-in-asia.html Fri, 16 May 2008 10:59:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83830/star-will-air-weinstein-films-in-asia.html http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83829/lionsgate-to-play-perfect-game.html Fri, 16 May 2008 10:59:00 +0200 http://topnewsplanet.com/go/en/article/id/83829/lionsgate-to-play-perfect-game.html