Archives
Huayi Brothers Movie World
Huayi Brothers Movie World opened July 2018 in Suzhou, China, after six years of construction and at a cost of over $50 million. Like Disneyland or Universal Studios, the sprawling theme park is based around the company’s most popular films, such as the Detective Dee series. The park includes five major themed areas, including a Tang Dynasty palace and a Civil War-era courtyard complex, along with merchandise shops at every corner. One of the highlights is a live action show where the audience can watch how action on the stage is transformed, through multiple cameras and live editing, into a […]
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Zhongshan Movie & Television Town
Zhongshan Movie & Television Town is located in Guangdong Province next door to the childhood home of Sun Yat-sen, first President of the Republic of China. The town is based around landmarks from Sun’s life and travels, including a London police office, an English church, the San Francisco Chinese Expats Club, and the family’s residence in New York. It was created by the local government for the shooting of a 2001 biographical TV drama. It continues to be used today for period TV series and films.
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China Film Group State Production Base
The China Film Group Corporation is the largest state-owned film production and distribution company in China. It is the only official importer of foreign films to China and has had a hand in numerous large scale co-productions bringing foreign stars to China, including Matt Damon in The Great Wall and Keanu Reeves in Man of Tai Chi. The production base in Yangsong Town, Huairou, outside Beijing, includes state-of-the-art digital production facilities, sixteen sound stages, equipment and props warehouses, and large outdoor studio lots. On any given day you might see a busy 20th century street scene, a martial arts fight, […]
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African Streets outside Beijing
One of the newest additions to China Film Group lot outside Bejing is a North African streetscape built for megahit action film Wolf Warrior II (战狼2). In the 2017 film, a former elite special ops soldier saves a group of Chinese nationals caught up in a rebel attack in an unnamed African country. The film is one of a series of recent releases that highlight contemporary China’s global reach. As Evan Osnos wrote in The New Yorker, “Wolf Warrior II captures a new, muscular iteration of China’s self-narrative, much as Rambo’s heroics expressed the swagger of the Reagan era.” It […]
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The Beijing Film Studio
While little actual film production takes place in Beijing these days, the capital area remains an important center for the film industry, home to the Beijing Film School, the China Film Archive, the National Film Museum, and the central government’s film and television administration. The old Beijing Film Studio in central Beijing, now largely abandoned, was used for classic films such as The Last Emperor (1987) and Farewell, My Concubine (1993). The remaining warehouses and back lot have been slated for demolition. I visited last year to photograph the surviving set pieces, a few small clusters of traditional wooden shops […]
Read MoreNew Photobook: Once Upon a Time in Shanghai available now from Daylight Books!
My latest photobook, Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (Daylight Books, 2019), documents the movie industry in mainland China. The book is now available for order from the publisher Daylight Books. You can also find it at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington DC. Or ask your local bookstore to order it!
Read MorePress Release: Artist Talk – Mark Parascandola: China Film
Artist Talk: Thursday, February 11, 2016 from 6 PM – 8 PM BRINK DC – 1516 U St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20009 WASHINGTON, DC – Massey is incredibly pleased to announce new photographic work by artist Mark Parascandola. Following along his previous series, Once Upon a Time in Almeria, China Film documents film sets and locations around Beijing, Shanghai, and Hengdian, China. China is the second largest film market in the world, after the U.S., and it continues to grow. Box office receipts amounted to $6.8 billion in 2015, a 49% increase over the previous year. Around the […]
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China Film Project Statement
China is poised to become the largest motion picture market in the world. A set of images documenting enormous exterior film sets constructed around China.
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“China Film”: Upcoming exhibition at Black Rock Center for the Arts
The exhibition “China Film” documents film sets, locations and the vast outdoor movie sets around Beijing, Shanghai, and Hengdian, China. The images provide a window into an evolving movie industry and global media culture. The exhibition will be on view November 18-December 19, 2015 at Blackrock Center for the Arts. Plans to travel the exhibition are in the exploratory stages. Meet the Artist Reception: Saturday, November 21st from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. Artist Talk: Sunday, December 13th beginning at 4:00 PM. Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 p.m. ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: […]
Read More“China Film” at Black Rock Center for the Arts
China is poised to become the largest motion picture market in the world. Entire towns have been devoted to making movies in order to feed the growing demand. And Hollywood studios are teaming up with the Chinese industry on big budget productions. In China Film, photographer Mark Parascandola documents the vast outdoor movie sets around Beijing, Shanghai, and Hengdian, China. The images provide a window into an evolving movie industry and global media culture. China Film Mark Parascandola November 18 – December 19, 2015 Please join us… Meet the Artist Reception Saturday, November 21 5:30 – 7-30 PM FREE Artist […]
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