Emmy winner taps Chinese film market

 　　BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhua) -- On a wooden bench in Christopher Bremble's office sit two golden Emmy trophies¹, awards for excellence² in American television. Bremble's Beijing-based studio, Base FX, has earned acclaim³ for its work on HBO dramas "The Pacific" and the ongoing⁴ "Boardwalk Empire."

　　But now the American film director is looking to bet the studio's future on the potential of China's fledgling film market after nosing out new opportunities in the country.

　　"There's an amazing energy in Beijing - you could feel it building up a few years ago - but now much of the Asian media industry is focused here in Beijing," he said.

　　Bremble set up BaseFX in downtown Beijing's Sanlitun business district in 2006 for the outsourcing of visual production work for Hollywood films and American television. He started the workshop with a core team of 12 people, primarily doing work on sci-fi productions.

　　What brought Bremble to Beijing initially⁵ were the relatively⁶ low labor⁷ costs and ample supply of competent digital artists. Base FX has recruited about 200 visual effects producers over the last six years, 98 percent of them locals.

　　These days, the studio is doing more post-production for domestic films, including "The Flowers of War," a film by acclaimed⁸ director Zhang Yimou that was nominated in the best foreign language film category at last year's Oscars. Bremble and his team are currently working on Lu Chuan's historical drama "The Last Supper."

　　China has about 10,000 screens nationwide, and box office earnings⁹ in 2011 totaled 13 billion yuan (2.1 billion US dollars). Although the per capita data is not particularly gratifying, the total market is still "alluringly¹⁰ huge."

　　Bremble firmly believes in a burgeoning¹¹ Chinese film industry as it is "changing and the appetite to make bigger films is growing."

　　"The Flowers of War" was made for a record investment of 600 million yuan.

　　However, China's filmmakers are facing challenges in terms of diversifying¹² the appeal of their films and balancing their budgets, Bremble said.

　　"Chinese producers churn out historical dramas and romantic comedies that perform poorly worldwide, but seldom invest in sci-fi."

　　"Also, the paycheck for big stars in China is astoundingly high," Bremble said.

　　Bremble said the U.S. film industry managed to deal with similar problems in its own development, adding that he believes China's film industry will do the same.

　　"What I expect to bring to China is the Hollywood way, a collaborative pipeline¹³ that helps to circulate brilliant ideas," he said.

　　"China's development is fascinating in that there's a real sense of risk-taking and learning from failure," Bremble said, adding that he hopes to one day work on an Emmy- or Oscar-winning Chinese production.

1 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

3 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 alluringly   

诱人地，妩媚地

参考例句：

• She turned and smiled alluringly at Douglas. 她转过身对道格拉斯报以迷人的一笑。 来自柯林斯例句

11 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

12 diversifying   

v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的现在分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• Some publishers are now diversifying into software. 有些出版社目前正兼营软件。 来自辞典例句
• Silverlit is diversifying into new markets, such as Russia and Eastern Europe. Silverlit正在使他们的市场变得多样化，开发新的市场如俄罗斯和东欧国家。 来自互联网

13 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。