China currently did not have sufficient international, versatile, and craftsman-type talents to meet film industry needs, said experts.
Speaking at a film education forum held on Thursday, Professor Hou Guangming, secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Film Academy, said that, with China undergoing film administration system reform and tax rectification, the industry’s general development trend was still optimistic in the long term.
He was speaking at the International Film Education Forum focusing on the theme of “Cinematic Arts Education: The Current Situation and Prospects for the Future.”
According to a report by China.org.cn, China’s film industry was passing through a period of flourishing prosperity and diversified development. In 2018, it made 890 films approved for theatre release, while the number of online broadcast movies surpassed 2,000. Domestic box office returns were expected to exceed 60 billion yuan (US$8.68 billion), so that China was likely to surpass North America to become the world’s biggest market in the next two years, he said.
The professor noted that, since the reform and opening up program began 40 years ago, the film industry had been able to create its own style and distinctive characteristics. However, the industry could not continue to develop without rational and sustainable development of film education.
There had been rapid development in this regard. The latest figures show that a total of 425 universities had enrolled a broad range of undergraduate students in film and television majors this year.
Yet, there were still problems of a mismatch between supply and demand in Chinese film education, and there remained a gap in talent training models and concepts between China and the developed countries such as Europe and the United States, Hou said.
Professor Hu Zhifeng, dean of School of Arts and Communication at Beijing Normal University, said that, in the past, Chinese universities only trained talents for a single type of work in film studios, and there remained shortages in technicians and artisans with international-vision and versatility.