Pockets of directing and production excellence in Asia-Pacific are continuing to take business away from big Western heavy-hitters, most notably in Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and New Zealand, where the talent is proving to be more than a match for competitors outside the region.
But as these markets firm up their international reputation for creativity and high production standards, others in the region, chief among them China, are stifled by a persistent belief among clients that West is best, a reluctance to invest in hi-tech kit, red tape, and low budgets.
That's not to say talent and vision don't exist there, but more widely there's some catching up to do, and some lessons to be learned. Velocity Films proprietor Barry Munchick is one of many industry players to have noticed a recent shift in attitude among clients and creative agencies towards using local rather than Western production teams.
"It's always been 'Get me a Western heavy-hitter or make me a happy price'," he says. "That's starting to change, and there are some really fine filmmakers around the region." No longer are home-grown directors the budget option; yes, they may be cheaper than flying in Oliver Stone, but they're also being sought out by those who can afford the best. Peter Grasse, of Australia-based Curious Film, says Thais in particular -- in a phenomenon born of Thailand's consistent success at awards shows like the Asian Advertising Awards and AdFest --are being sought out for work that used to be handed to non-Asians. He was recently involved in a pitch for Visa, for instance, that went to a team with a Thai director. "They used to get a lot of foreign directors; now they're looking at directors that have Asian sensibilities. They wanted to do it with an Asian director and I think they wanted to work specifically with a Thai director," Grasse says.
But it's not just the Thais -- and long-established feature film markets like Hong Kong and Taiwan -- who are convincing international clients that they're just as good as the best from the West.
Jamie Popham, business development director with Malaysia-based Passion Pictures, says clients are increasingly putting their faith in Malaysian production companies and film directors. Passion, as a result, is doing more regional work now than ever before. "We are also doing more work that might otherwise go to Thailand or Hong Kong -- and work from Thailand," he says. "We still do get requests for foreign film directors for a certain style or look, but I consider that to be on the wane because of the calibre of the locals."
Down Under, too, production houses are benefiting from an appreciation of the quality of work they produce, not just the fact that they can do it on a tight budget, with New Zealand especially benefiting from the success of feature films made there, such as Narnia, Lord of the Rings and King Kong. Stephen Douglas, general manager of Auckland-based Film Construction, says the emphasis on high production values, along with the 'colonial can-do attitude' leads to "how the f*** did they do that for that, for that budget?"
He says a large part of Film Construction's revenue now comes from TV commercial projects from other Asian markets, including China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Korea.
"And with China becoming a bigger player everyday, we expect the work flow out of Asia to increase quite significantly," Douglas explains. "The thing about Asia is that it contains approximately 50 per cent of the world's population, which means that there are some pretty big advertising campaigns launched from within the region. The world has now truly become a smaller place, and it's not unusual to work on a job that has a client in Asia, the agency in Europe and the production company in New Zealand."
It's not such a happy story in China. "Advertising is so new there, and there's a lot of education to take place before it starts to get up to the standards that a lot of the international creatives really need," says Munchick. Grasse says the demand for Westerners -- or outside help from Chinese speakers in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan -- is, therefore, as strong as ever. "If you really want to impress your client, you bring in a Westerner to work on their ad," he says. Mike Evans, Shanghai-based executive producer of Wine Studios, says Korean and Japanese directors are also being brought in for Chinese productions. One of the problems holding back Chinese production houses is their general reluctance to invest in what are still fairly expensive pieces of kit, despite prices having come down significantly in recent years,
Evans says the official requirement for any foreign film or advertising related company to form a 'cumbersome' relationship with a local partner is at least as big an issue. "The answer to the problem would be for China to allow 100 per cent ownership of production-related businesses, while at the same time strictly regulating the final product in terms of content and not creative direction," he says. "The first step would also involve relaxing the regulations for production companies solely involved in TVCs and then take a wait-and-see attitude before allowing foreign companies into other production sectors."
There are some challenges to the growth of the TV commercial production industry that apply equally to China and other Asian markets, chief among them budgets -- always tight, always competitive, though starting to ease slightly now compared to a couple of years ago.
The other big problem is lead-time, and production houses around the region say clients and agencies almost never allow enough time to realistically and comfortably come up with the ad they have in mind. "Ever since the '97 crash, budgets haven't really recovered completely," says Freddie Yeo, general manager of Frameworks, a post-production house in Singapore. "Budgets are always being cut because there's a lot of other media options out there, and the more there are for clients to explore, the more that the budget (for TV commercials) will be cut." But there may yet be a silver lining; as mobile streaming and broadband TV become more mainstream, the demand for TV-style advertising -- that's commercials -- could well end up being stronger than before.
In the meantime, though, there's still enough work to go around, for both the best local production centres, and those from the West whose allure may be fading somewhat. Grasse says:"People get scared that Asia's going to dry up (for foreigners), but it won't. "A great director is a great director, and the right director is the right director for the right script at the right time."
