Changchun Film Studio & Movie Festival City

Changchun Film Studio
Changchun Film Studio is the cradle of modern China's movie industry. The surrendering of Japan in World War II caused the Manchukuo Film Association to split in 1946. The parts that were sanctioned by the Chinese government would integrate with the Yan'an Film Studio and the Northeast Film Studio. The War of Liberation would break out in 1949 forcing the studio to move to Changchun. By 1950 it was considered founded, and by 1955 the Northeast Film Studio technically no longer exist, since China's Ministry of Culture would officially rename the newly combined entity as "Changchun Film Studio". Under the new name, it would also become the first registered film factory under the PRC.

Century City - Film Theme Park
Also in 2003 an announcement was made with an initial investment of about US $120 million to begin the first phase of the construction of the "Changchun Film Theme Park" under Ideattack company. The design is modeled after Hollywood's Universal Studios, covering an area of 1 million square meters, it is the first park of its kind in China integrating film entertainment with film tourism. The construction is divided into three stages, and the investment has grown to 1.5 billion RMB (about US $193 million). The movie world section of the park was opened to tourists on a trial basis in September and October 2005 at a price of 128 yuan (US $15) per entry. The Changchun government estimates the center would hopefully draw in at least 1.5 million people a year in the future from home and abroad making US $27.1 million.

Located in Changchun Jingyuetan Tourist and Economic Development Zone and conceived by a world top-notch design company, the Century City displays special effects of film and TV through the state-of-the-art science and technology, demonstrating China's advanced technology in the film industry.

China Changchun Film Festival
The 11th China Changchun Film Festival may have ended over the weekend. But we now have the chance to go behind the scene to its founder and organizer, Changchun Film Group Corporation. Formerly known as Changchun Film Studio, the state-owned studio had a hard time transitioning to a corporate structure, but managed to survive in the market after years' effort.

The Changchun Film Studio was dubbed "the cradle of modern China's movie industry". The country's first feature-length film, "Bridge" was produced here, and so were the first batch of non-propagandistic commercial hits in the 1970's. But with the country's marketization processed in full swing in the 1990's, film talents swarmed to booming cities for privately-invested projects with promises of more funding and room for creativity. This left state-owned studios to their own devices.

Having suffered profit losses for six years in a row, Changchun Film Studio became the first studio to be restructured from an entirely government-funded institution to a corporate one. Absorbing independent film talents and social investments, the group set up 16 subsidiary companies. Modelling after Hollywood's Universal Studios, China's first movie theme park was opened in 2004, integrating film entertainment with local tourism.

Changchun Film Festival was also undergoing changes. Launched in 1992 by the local government and Changchun Film Studio, the festival keeps expanding its vision to include a greater range of Chinese-language movies, no matter their genre, and whether they're made by individuals, private companies or state-owned studios.

Wang Quan'An, Director said, "There's so much emotions attached to this studio. People stuck together to get through the hardest times... Because we wouldn't let such a great film studio disappear. The revival of the studio also reflected the change of movie audience's aesthetic taste. "
 
Mu Fangzhou, Changchun said, "It may not be the largest film festival in China, but in the past twenty years, Changchun Film Festival has grown as a platform especially showcasing Chinese language films. hence witnessing the development of modern China's movie scene.