The “Dialogue: Economic Studies Forum on Contemporary Film and Television Culture” organized by the Faculty of Finance, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the City University of Macau and the China Europe International Business Association was held today (9th) on Taipa campus at the Cultural Centre. People from different sectors of society, including senior practitioners, were invited to share their insights, to analyze the potential benefits of the film and television economy from the perspective of new structural economics and discuss industry upgrade and diversified economic models of Macao. Pro-Rector Ip Kaui Peng of the City University of Macau said in his speech that the cultural and creative industry was one of the important industries of Macao’s strategy of moderate economic diversification. The 2021 Policy Address of the SAR government also talked about promoting the industrialization of culture and sports and the development of the film and television industry. To achieve that, Macao could start with the film industry and combine it with the high-end services industry to create a carrier of cultural tourism and cultural industry and meet the impending needs of Macao and the Greater Bay Area for new cultural industry and new models of cultural consumption. At the same time, it was important to promote the cooperation between the cultural industry and the financial industry, reduce the financing obstacles of the cultural industry, give market greater vitality, and improve the quality of the industry. Derio Chan, President of the China Europe International Business Association, pointed out that film and television culture had been developing rapidly in the contemporary era and had great potential and a significant scale of development. The film and television cultural economy was at the junction where the cycles of old and new industries intersected. The supporting industries related to the movie industry could help provide high value-added employment and business opportunities and promote overall economic development at important junctures of time.
During the panel discussion, guests shared their views on the current development of the film and television industry in the Mainland and Macao. Ms Lei Cheng I cited examples of movies to show that a number of movies filmed by young people in Macao had won international awards. Mr Bowie Lam and Ms Catherine Chau talked from the perspective of an actor and pointed out that cultivation of talent was important for the development of film and television cultural industry. They suggested that the SAR government support and encourage practitioners of the industry to further their studies to raise the quality of the work behind-the-scenes so that cultural soft power could be strengthened by enabling Chinese culture to have more far-reaching influence. Mr Li Zisong pointed out that the Chinese film and television industry was going through a golden period of development and in the future, China would become a leading force of the film and television industry. Macao should ride on the tides and attract talent and leverage characteristics of Macao to develop a Macao’s film and television industry with its uniqueness. Mr Wang Haige said that Macao was keen on developing the film and television industry and suggested that Macao commit greater efforts in that area to give its strategy of moderate economic diversification greater momentum. Mr Wu Zaiquan believed that both culture and economy were at the core of social development and it was therefore important to instill greater self confidence in Chinese culture and enhance cultural soft power. Ms Zhu Wanji demonstrated the huge cultural and economic benefits driven by the film and television industry by analyzing different movie and television works.
During the interactive session, the guests attending the event exchanged views on a wide range of issues, including the cultural focuses, characteristics of story interpretation and actors’ performance of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, and how those connected with or complement with mainland culture. At the same time, cultural characteristics, market positioning and economic benefits were adopted as the perspectives to discuss the quality of practitioners, levels of internationalization, service targets, and employment and business opportunities brought by the film and television industry. With respect to the questions of how entertainers maintain their competitiveness and how the Greater Bay Area could have greater cooperation in that economic area, it was pointed out at the forum that as the film and television platforms were evolving, online platforms had become more important and the behavioral patterns of the audience should be changed. From the perspectives of television stations, legislators, actors, governments , investors, producers and film and television awards evaluation, expected social and economic results could be achieved by implementing policies that catered for the needs of the film and television industry, creating an ideal ecological environment that would better balance correct social values, promoting cultural tourism economy, expanding Mainland and overseas markets so that the film and television industry could yield economic benefits and become a driving force for economic growth to ensure that the development of the film and television industry fit for the scale of Macao.
Guests including Mr Wu Zaiquan, Vice Council Chairman of the City University of Macau and President of the Macao Wisdom Humanities Encourage Political Association, Mr Bowie Lam, renowned actor and film and television producer, Ms Catherine Chau, famous actress, Ms Zhu Wanji, Head of Culture and Tourism Bureau, Pengjiang District of Jiangmen, President Li Zisong of Macao Lotus TV, Ms Lei Cheng I, Macao Legislator, Wang Haige, Chairman of the Huading Awards etc. spoke at the Forum. Other guests and leaders who attended the event included Adrian Cheung and Eva Khong, respectively Dean and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Finance, and Zhong WANG, Executive Associate Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
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Source: Faculty of Finance, CityU Reporter
Editing: Xu Zhibin
Photography: Li Binghong
