A producer’s guide to choosing and working with Mainland partners—co‑production vs. service models, stages/backlots, finance & labor, and secure data delivery.
Approved by the national co‑production authority, your film can attain “domestic” status for distribution. This route involves script submission, budgets, and approvals; timelines suit features and prestige series.
Chinese entities provide key resources—stages, crews, locations—while creative control is shared. Useful when qualifying fully as a co‑pro is impractical but deeper collaboration is needed.
You retain IP and overseas finance while a Chinese production company provides execution—permits, payroll, crews, and suppliers—through our production coordination desk.
Multi‑province arcs? Keep filings and parity builds aligned through our China video production fixer.
Massive period streets and support base for large‑scale shoots. We pair Hangzhou/Shanghai exterior days with controlled builds and extras at Hengdian as needed.
Modern stages including a constant‑temperature underwater facility and large exterior tanks—strong for VFX and water work.
For brand or studio‑adjacent work, we route via our Shanghai production company unit and the city’s service desk; post can finish through our post‑production service.
Most production‑service invoices map to the 6% VAT tier; we issue special/e‑fapiao and align Golden Tax with procurement.
We schedule around common multipliers—1.5× weekdays, 2× rest days, 3× statutory holidays—with caps, hot meals, and transport baked into call sheets.
Portrait‑rights consent, bilingual contracts with company chops, and location paperwork handled through location scouting & permits.
For on‑shore review we keep dailies in Mainland buckets; for export, recent rules eased some cross‑border transfers and extended security‑assessment validity. We choose the right path—exemption, Standard Contract filing, certification, or assessment—based on data types and thresholds.
For platform‑first campaigns, dovetail with online video; for executive messaging, see corporate video.
| Area | What good looks like | Our approach |
|---|---|---|
| Approvals & city access | Clear plan for provincial/municipal filings; stage/road options | We verify with city desks; in Shanghai we interface with the film service office while our Shanghai production agency aligns creative. |
| Crew & casting depth | Reliable HODs, extras, and talent pipeline | We draw on actor/model casting and regional crew benches like Beijing camera crew or Shenzhen cinematographer. |
| Gear & stages | Parity builds across units; access to large stages | We coordinate equipment rental and stage holds (e.g., Qingdao/Hengdian) with realistic load‑in/out windows. |
| Finance & audit trail | VAT fapiao issuance; bilingual contracts; clear PO/SOW | Our coordination team aligns vendor onboarding and Golden Tax checks. |
| Delivery & security | On‑shore review; compliant export path | We mirror file trees and hand off via secure links; see also our file sharing in China explainer. |
Brief: Launch film tied to a studio feature window, requiring mainland street work, stage interviews, and overseas finishing.
Approach: Service production with Shanghai/Hangzhou exteriors, stage day in Qingdao, extras at Hengdian; VAT setup; on‑shore review with compliant export of masters.
Outcome: 90s hero + 6x social delivered across territories; releases and fapiao cleared within cycle.
For location paperwork specifics, see China filming permits.
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