Josh Selig, founder and president of China Bridge Content and former CEO of Little Airplane Productions, recently attended this year’s edition of the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival (June 20 to June 24). This week, we’re running his key takeaways from the event in a series that looks at the state of China’s TV market. 

I attended the Core Forum, which is a morning of speeches by officials from the National Radio and Television Administration (formerly known as SARFT). The speakers were quite eloquent, and they encouraged attendees to “tell Chinese stories in an international language.” They said, “Culture is like water; it moistens everything,” adding that, “Without the soil, we cannot grow the food of creation.” 

Now, I happen to like gardening metaphors, so I enjoyed these speeches very much. And I was impressed that these Chinese leaders took the time to say a few kind words to the animation industry. Not once in 25 years of attending events like Kidscreen Summit have I seen a single US government official show up and use even one uplifting gardening metaphor.

The keynote speech was delivered by John Hsu, managing director of The Walt Disney Company in China. He played a video about Disney’s 100-year anniversary that ended with the resonant voice of Walt Disney himself saying, “You’ve helped make this dream come true!” 

John spoke of Disney’s deep commitment to China, as demonstrated by the trips Disney has hosted in years past for select Chinese studios to travel to LA for a week of training and mentoring. (I know a few folks who attended these sessions, and I heard they were amazing.)  John said, “We hope to have meaningful dialogue with Chinese creators,” and he closed with the sweeping pronouncement that Disney will continue to “have profound and positive influences on all walks of life.” 

I had a quiet lunch with one of the Chinese industry’s more senior executives, and she shared with me in confidence that getting Chinese productions into Western markets seems like an impossible task. 

“It’s true that, in the past, our Chinese shows might not have been good enough for some international partners,” she said. “But these days, especially on the streaming platforms, we have some really outstanding Chinese content. And yet for us, it’s still hard to even get a meeting with our Western colleagues. We wonder why they aren’t interested? We think maybe it’s like a club, and they prefer to consider shows from their old friends. This is a little painful for us. It feels like we don’t matter.”

What could I say? That there is no club? That there’s an even playing field in the international animation market? (I’ve heard this same complaint over the years from some of the best studios in India, Africa and Latin America.) I didn’t know what to tell my friend, so I told her the truth. 

“You’re right. There is a club. And I believe Chinese companies have only two ways to overcome this: The first one is to try and join the club, and you may find that many of the members are quite welcoming. But, if joining the club isn’t possible due to language or culture or distance, then I’d give you the same advice I’d give anyone going to the markets. In the words of Steve Martin, ‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.'” 

She laughed and said, “Got it.”

Yesterday, Selig explored the general outlook of the massive Chinese market, and how some companies are looking to expand internationally. Tune in tomorrow for the final part in this series, which looks at opportunities for international companies looking to work with Chinese companies, and what the future could hold for this important regional market. 

Pictured: The CICAF great hall, courtesy of Josh Selig.