
Poster of China Salesman
1905 movie network news At the American Film Market (AFM) held in November, 2017, a China film attracted the favor and snapped up by filmmakers from all over the world at the world’s largest film fair, and achieved a good sales result of over 6 million US dollars in one fell swoop. It is a commercial action film.
Exported to more than 60 countries to realize the true meaning of "going out"
The Hollywood Reporter and The Wall Street Journal compete for coverage.
Founded in 1981, the American Film Market (AFM) is an annual trade fair sponsored by the American Film and Television Alliance, and it is also the largest film fair in the world. It is also known as the three largest film market exhibitions in the world with the Berlin Film Market Exhibition and the Cannes Film Market Exhibition. However, unlike the other two, which belong to Class A film festivals, AFM has not set any awards. It is a pure summit of free trade of mainstream films in the world, and it is also an entertainment event in Hollywood film industry with the same reputation as Oscar. In 2017, this year’s AFM has more than 80 countries, more than 2,000 film projects, more than 1,000 film production companies and more than 400 distribution companies from all over the world, and conducted 8-day exhibitions, forums, transactions and social activities. Filmmakers from all over the world, relying on their unique vision and market sense, conducted a "treasure hunt" here.
Up to now, few mainland China films have attracted attention in the American film market (AFM), and even fewer have made good deals. China’s first feature film "China Salesman" about the theme of "Belt and Road" attracted great interest from the participants once it was unveiled at the AFM grand meeting. After the movie was seen in the movie theater of film makers and media outlets, it was not only recommended by the front page of AFM field magazine, but also reported by The Hollywood Reporter, an authoritative entertainment media in the United States, calling it "the classic with the most AFM characteristics" and

Director Tan Bing (first from the left in the front row) and the American distribution team.
The Wall Street Journal, an authoritative financial media in the United States, specially interviewed director Tan Bing for this purpose. The article not only strongly recommended the film to overseas audiences, but also affirmed and applauded the film’s "real going out" of China culture.
In addition to the great concern of the media, the market response of the film makes people sit up and take notice of the overseas situation of domestic films. Film distributors from more than 60 countries all over the world, including the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea and India, have signed copyright sales and 50% box office distribution contracts with China Salesman. At present, the total sales amount exceeds 6 million US dollars, which is the highest sales amount obtained by China mainland films in AFM so far. In the future, the box office revenue generated by the release of films in these countries will undoubtedly be tens of millions of dollars.
Tai Sen teamed up with Siegel to perform transnational commercial war+North African civil war
Shooting twists and turns in many countries and encountering many terrorist attacks.
China Salesman not only featured China stars such as Ethan and Li Ai, but also assembled boxing champion Tai Sen and Hollywood action superstar steven seagal. According to the director, this work, with an investment of over 100 million yuan, is based on a true story. It tells the story of a quick-thinking China communication salesman who discovered a major conspiracy while selling equipment to North Africa and managed to prevent the outbreak of a civil war. Director Tan Bing not only turned steven seagal, the darling of AFM American film market, into a legendary mercenary, but also made mike tyson, the former champion of boxing, the leader of the armed forces. In an eight-minute fight scene, Siegel’s lightning fast clapping and Tai Sen’s heavy punching complement each other.

Poster of China Salesman International Edition
Of course, it is not easy to get these two heavyweight action stars to join, and the negotiation process is very difficult. Director Tan Bing revealed that he had lobbied in the United States several times. The crux of the problem was that "both of them wanted to win in the gladiator", which forced the director to promise them to end the fight with a draw.
In addition, the shooting location of "China Salesman" traveled to France, Switzerland, Tunisia, China and other places. The action scenes included tank explosions and unique Arabian cavalry. While shooting in France and Tunisia, the crew also experienced the terrorist attacks in the two countries at that time. This extraordinary birth process has made this film break the business routine in the market and has great impact. The film combines the thrilling transnational commercial war with the political game in Africa, creating a unique temperament and pattern.
Become the biggest "hot" of AFM full-court Chinese movies
Why director Tan Bing’s declassified works are popular overseas?
The reason why "China Salesman" can stand the eye-catching test of many foreign filmmakers in the American film market (AFM) and stand out among thousands of films, The Hollywood Reporter said: "In today’s chaotic mainstream film industry, with the influx of hundreds of millions of dollars from Silicon Valley, the living space of classic films in the AFM American film trading market has been greatly reduced. However, I am glad to see that this classic movie is still attractive enough to attract people who are loyal to the Hollywood classic model. " It is worth mentioning that there are other China films in the same period as "China Salesman", among which there are some heavyweight films that have become popular in the domestic market, but due to many reasons, they have failed to achieve ideal sales performance.

American authoritative media have reported one after another.
According to Ms. Marcy, a senior Hollywood filmmaker who is the exclusive agent for overseas distribution of this film, "It is really a lot to sell to more than 60 countries at a trade fair. We also sold many Middle Eastern countries, even Syria, which is still in the war period, and Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt and South Africa. There are more than 30 countries along the Belt and Road. Most of the 10 films that our company exhibited this time were produced in the United States, but the sales performance of China Salesman ranked first, and the sales results greatly exceeded our expectations. For this reason, we opened champagne to celebrate. "
The work "Flowers inside the wall and fragrance outside the wall" was completely unexpected by director Tan Bing. Talking about the reasons for the film’s popularity in overseas markets, director Tan Bing thinks that, first of all, the film "China Salesman" successfully draws lessons from the classic Hollywood film narrative structure. Secondly, the internationalization of production: in addition to the influence brought by the joining of Steven Siegel and mike tyson, the international nature of the film also includes that more than 75% of the original version is in English, and more than 90% of the actors are foreign actors.

Director Tan Bing at AFM
Finally, it is because we have chosen an excellent international professional marketing team. The general agent for overseas film distribution is a senior Jewish film distributor in Hollywood, USA, who has rich experience in international film distribution and contacts. They have been involved since the stage of drama production and followed the whole process of film production. In fact, "China Salesman" is not a co-production, and it doesn’t cost any foreign money. It is a pure domestic film, but it is international. This film is a model of real cooperation with Hollywood, because it is done in full accordance with the practice of professional international film distribution and trading cooperation.
Next, "China Salesman" will continue to "compete" in Berlin, Cannes and other major film market exhibitions in 2018, and the copyright sales are expected to exceed 100 countries and regions.