People, Pixels and Production

Not too long ago I was personally invited to visit some industry development in China. Modus is currently working on digital effects of a very ambitious project for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, so we have new contacts with the Orient to explore. I have been to Asia before, but this was a first trip to China, very exciting. Considering the work to be done at Modus, I opted for a very short trip of only three days (!) so I would not have to suffer too much from jet lag on my return; the sheer adrenaline rush of spending a few days in China is enough to keep me awake on the other side of the world for a few days.

My trip was in part as an official guest of the 2nd China International Cartoon Creative Industry Fair (CICCIF), taking part in Wuhu, near Nanjing. (Yes, coolest city name). Not too sure what to expect, on a very not and sunny  morning I was politely ushered to an exterior stage, where about a hundred delegates and myself were greeted by a crowd of thousands!

I’m on the stage, in a dark suit under the blistering sun for an hour..

My view from the stage. The Chinese sure know how to open a conference!

The conference was interesting, even though not specifically geared towards digital effects. However, a large number of production houses were on location, and this is what business development is all about. Even without a clear agenda, you can mingle with a totally new territory of business opportunities. China Central Television for example, with over 20 channels, has a billion viewers as a daily audience…

As for the rest of my time, food is always the place for official talks, so business and formal government dinners were the norm. I raised few eyebrows as a Caucasian who can use chopsticks… Gan bei!

 One of many elaborate dinners. By the way, that’s not orange juice, but corn juice.

With business and government representatives. Don’t know if you can find me, I’m the one with dark hair.

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