Just five hours south of Shanghai lies an exact replica of the sprawling Forbidden City, down to the last imperial courtyard, furnished drawing room and dragon, including the flares of its nostrils and coils of its tail.
It lies within in the vast confines of Hengdian Studios, Asia’s largest studios or movie backlot, covering 330 hectares in Zhejiang Province where villagers are only too happy to act as extras in epics filmed there. It’s also a theme park.
　　Films include “The Promise”, “Curse of the Golden Flower”, “Hero” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
　　Now, a foreign documentary, “The World’s Largest Studios” by Bright Shadow films, goes behind the scenes and takes an in-depth 52-minute look at Hengdian Studios and the Chinese movie industry.
　　It is one of the first documentaries by a foreign production company based in China, says Bright Shadow Founder and Managing Director Charlie Moretti.
　　It has been sold worldwide and its invitation-only premiere will be held next week. It may be viewed soon on international channels and producing an extended DVD is under consideration.
　　It is also the first major documentary on Hengdian, founded around 10 years ago by Xu Wenglong.
　　It is larger than the movie lots of Paramount Picutres and Universal Studios combined and is larger than the Second Distric in Paris.
　　Hengdian is commonly called China’s Hollywood or the Hollywood of the East.
“This extraordinary microcosm has been the set of hundreds of Chinese films and television series. It even contains an exact recreation of the Forbidden City built for a film. So our documentary looks at the lives of the businessmen who started the studios with just 2,000 yuan (US$261), the gardeners who tend the grounds, the actors and actresses and everyone else in between,” says Moretti.
　　The Chinese movie industry is very unique, continues the Frenchman.
　　“The rules are different from the West. Sound is not recorded so they can shoot quicker and actors don’t need to get every sentence right. For TV series they can film one-hour episodes every other day.
　　“Huge crews are available because labor is a lot cheaper, people can even be hired to do minor effects like creating ripples in the water by hand and every set is open, meaning tourists are just as present as the crew. Exceptions are made, however, for a huge blockbusters like ‘Hero.’”
　　The two breakthrough films for Chia were “Crouching Tiger, Hdden Dragon” and “Hero”, continues Moretti.
　　“What impressed the world most about ‘Hero’ was the sheer scale of the set.” He cites a line from the script, “Imagine recreating Buckingham Palace or Versailles all for the sake of one movie.” So this cocumentary looks specifically at this set and the industry that created and uses it.”
　　Bright Shadow Films, a French production company was set up in Shanghai in 2005. Moretti’s Chinese partner — Chinese partners are required of foreign businesses — is Softtrek.
It can be extremely difficult and complicated to shoot in China, but Moretti managed to get excellent access with his Chinese crew.
He sold the idea to Hengdian with what amounted to a PR pitch: it’s a fabulous story, a great idea with wonderful visuals, it’s very positive.
　　China is full of superlatives, and this is one of them.
　　About coming to China, Moretti says: “ It was a bit of a gamble but we believed this is where a lot of the business would come eventually and there is so much worldwide interest in China.”
　　Now, the company has a truly international and cultural feel. It is run by European and Chinese filmmakers and the well-known UK artist, Jack Vettriano is its primary investor. “A little nod was made to Jack as the narrator Douglas Williams is also a fellow Scot. We are hoping he will make the pilgrimage over to Shanghai for the premiere.”
　　Why Hengdian?
　　Moretti explains, “Originally I started this company with the intention of making films in China and as part of my research I came across this amazing complex. Whenever I would meet with investors the thing that systematically wowed them were the studios, so Hengdian was a natural first project.”
Fortunate to be able to film almost freely in the studios, the 27-year-old producer and director continues, “This kind of intimacy is only feasible if you have lived in china for a long time. In fact you usually have to be Chinese to be allowed to do this sort of thing. As such we were one of the first, to operate within the law but also within its limitations.”
Directed by Matt Clark and Moretti and with their own crew of 16, filming took over two weeks.
　　“We followed crews, interviewed as many of the protagonists as possible and just ovserved the general running of the studios. It was a very surreal experience. Watching the sun rise and set whilst being alone in the middle of the faux Forbidden City was very humbling and unforgettable.”
　　Having seen both the real Forbidden City and the recreation, he continues, “It is amazing. Every single painting and sculpture has been reproduced by hand. The only difference is that where there was marble there is now plaster and unless you want to dig you would never be able to tell. The original took 14 years to build; Hengdian’s only took 14 months. This shows the ability China has to move mountains for film making whilst having gained conscience to preserve historical monuments.”
　　Now, after almost 12 months (conception to delivery ) Bright Shadow Films has produced the documentary in French, English and Chinese, soon to be translated into 27 languages.
　　For an international audience the documentary had many local touches. “All voices for the English version were found and recorded using talent here in Shanghai. It was also 100 precent made here, written, edited and produced.”
　　The soundtrack was also composed locally by expat composer Greg Yu.
　　“What is amazing about Greg is that he is a film composer and we wanted to give the documentary as much of a film-like quality as possible. Using Greg, enabled us to get this unique finish,” says Moretti.
　　Presented at the Mip TV at Cannes ( a festival similar to the film festival but for TV products held one month earlier ) the documentary generated huge interest, getting picked up by the National Film Board of Cannada that is distributing it worldwide.
　　However, Moretti says, “We wanted the premiere to be helod in Shanghai as a great way to invite local partners, and besides this is at the heart of where it is all happening.”
　　The premier will be held Thursday at Creek Art. “Although the event is invitation-only, people should soon be able to watch the documentary on international channels. We are also exploring the possibility of making an extended DVD.”
　　Now having completed “the World’s Largest Studio,” he says, “we have many other projects in the pipeline that are soon to become realities. In China there is a never-ending supply of subject matter of documentaries and Shanghai is a perfect platform to operate from.”
With final tips for budding film makers, Moretti concludes, “Be curious and always ask the question ‘why’. However most important, don’t underestimate the importance of research and always expect the unexpected.”
　　For more information visit: www.brightshadowfilms.com