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.And I m not arguing for the end of film.But the realproblem here is that film production is so prohibitively expensive.If this is the case, then focusing more on video means that we canmake less expensive films.Which is to say that it s better to makefilms than to not make them.SD: So do you think that co-productions are particularly useful at thismoment?UM: The first film we produced with Korea was the first co-productionbetween Japan and Korea the first.As I m sure you know, becauseKorea held Japan in such animosity, they didn t allow Japanesecultural products to enter their borders no television, no film, nomusic.Though the ban has since been lifted.So when we began towork on this co-production, of course, it was a time when Japanesefilms couldn t be shown in Korea.But then, for the first time, it Stephanie DeBoer 233was decided that if it s a co-production it could be shown in Korea.To speak in monetary terms, Japanese production companies makethis kind of film in order to make a profit.And if you think of itin terms of cultural exchange, it is ludicrous that the film not beshown in the country of one of its production participants.Butfor the first time, we began with a commitment that if it wereconsidered a co-production there would be no problem in thisregard.There had been co-productions before this, but they werenever shown in one of the countries even though both parties hadagreed to work together.This is not a true co-production.But thistime it was different.It is because it was the first film allowed toalso be shown there that I consider it to be the first co-production.We wouldn t have made the film without this possibility.This isa common problem with co-productions as long as you get thefunding you can make any film you want, but it still may not beallowed to show in one s country.There are many cases of this intelevision.SD: We often hear that now is a time for Asian film.You ve workedin this context for a long time from the nineties, at least.So Iwonder about your opinion on this.UM: This is a difficult question so I m not sure that I can answer it.But when people say that, the future is Asia, it seems to methat they re conflating film with larger global conditions.A hugepercentage of the world population is in China as well as in India.To have a realistic view of the world, you cannot ignore Asia thisis the age we live in and so we have this phrasing.It would begreat if, in regards to film, now is the age of Asia. But this isreally a question of economics.I m not so optimistic to think thatbecause the value of Asia may have increased that Asian filmswill automatically spread out over the world, or that its quality orquantity will automatically increase.Notes1.Mackintosh, Berry, and Liscutin 2009: 8.2.In this sense, interviews can be considered mutual yet also conflicting actsof framing, as the researcher and the producer encounter one another withframeworks that converge just as often as they diverge.For further reflectionon this, upon which my thinking here is indebted, please see Ortner 2009.The term framer in this context comes from a conversation between Ortnerand John Caldwell.Also, Ortner s experience of the difficulties involved in 234 Framing Tokyo Media Capital and Asian Co-Productiongaining access to film producers in the context of the Hollywood certainlyalso rings true to my own experiences in Tokyo.3.Curtin 2003.4.These interviews were conducted in Japanese and translated by me, withthe support of an Indiana University CAHI Research and Travel Grant andIndiana University OVPIA Overseas Research Grant.Many thanks to MasayoSodeyama for transcribing the interviews into Japanese.BibliographyCurtin, Michael (2003), Media Capital: Towards the Study of Spatial Flows, International Journal of Cultural Studies, 6: 2, 202 8.Mackintosh, Jonathan D., Chris Berry, and Nicola Liscutin (2009) Introduction, Cultural Studies and Cultural Industries in Northeast Asia: What a Difference aRegion Makes, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Ortner, Sherry B.(2009) Studying Sideways: Ethnographic Access in Hollywood, in Vicki Mayer, Miranda J.Banks, John T.Caldwell (eds), Production Studies:Cultural Studies of Media Industries, New York: Routledge, 175 89. 11 Working Through China inthe Pan-Asian Film Network:Perspectives from Hong Kongand SingaporeVivian P.Y.LeeAsia s cinematic landscape has undergone important changes in the lastten to fifteen years, and some of these changes can be attributed to theincreasing influence of Mainland China in the region, both as a lucra-tive market and an emerging film production center.Chinese-languagefilms, and indeed popular mainstream cinema at large, nowadays canhardly avoid confronting, directly or indirectly, the cultural, economic,and political realities of the most populated nation in the world.Thismulti-layered and multi-directional encounter has informed some ofthe critical reflections on East Asian cinemas presented in this volume.China s peaceful rise to international prominence, at least in economicterms, was visually asserted in the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening cer-emony further
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