Every film endeavor presents a challenging business venture.

A finished film, which is born from a tiny spark of creativity and comes to life on the silver screen, is not possible without the generous support of investors. The commercial nature of film renders it susceptible to the influence of investment logic, which offers both opportunities and obstacles to the growth of a film project. 

Against the backdrop of high-quality development, the industry is facing transformation and upgrading, with changes in how capital enters projects. Establishing mutual trust and empowerment between projects and capital has become a pressing issue in the industry.

The Forum on Investment and Financing, themed "Breakthroughs and Navigating Challenges in Film Investment and Financing", will be held on the morning of April 22. The forum is organized by the Beijing International Film Festival Organizing Committee (BJIFF Organizing Committee) in collaboration with Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd., Poly Film Investment Co., Ltd., Beijing Film Academy, and is organized by Online Film Market Co., Ltd. Beijing Bank is designated as the only official cooperative financial institution for this event.

The Forum on Investment and Financing will examine how the film industry can capitalize on industry upgrades, draw upon international experiences, foster innovative approaches, and surmount the challenges of film financing. Yu Dong, Founder and Chairman of Bona Film Group Co., Ltd., Wang Yibing, CEO at Dirty Monkeys Studio and Super Lion, Catherine Ying, President of CMC Pictures and Pearl Studio, Dai Wei, Vice President of Bank of Beijing, Roberto Stabile, Head of Special Projects, Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture (DGCA-MiC), and others will gather for a brain-storming session aimed at resolving the challenges of investment and financing in the film industry.

Difficulty in financing: How to go from doubt to trust? 

The asset-light and high-risk characteristics of the film industry naturally contradict the expectation of returns and stable investment from capitals. What is the barrier to prevent the doubtful two from trusting and cooperating with each other? How can they step forward to embrace with each other? How to form a virtuous interaction and circulation between them? The Forum on Film Investment and Financing will, through step-by-step analysis, find root causes, and provide solutions in a retrospective way. 

The way to make breakthrough: How to change the unilateral development mode to a bilateral one? 

Films like torches, bring together thousands of eyes, but also require cooperation. The win-win situation of investment and financing, in particular, requires wisdom from both inside and outside the industry, and experience from both home and abroad. Facing transformation and upgrading of the industry, how to take this opportunity to reach multi-party consensus, make more efforts to jointly innovate financing methods, strengthen financing capacity, and improve financing strength? Discussion and exchange will be made on the forum to seek win-win situation between the film industry and investment and financing. 

Furthermore, the forum will feature the launch of the Beijing Film Industry Development Investment Fund Plan, aimed at invigorating the industry; present the China Film Investment and Financing Development Report 2023 to analyze industry trends; and initiate distinctive financial instruments by Bank of Beijing to alleviate industry challenges.