China Arts Festival 2014 Guangzhou poster

China Arts Festival (2014 Guangzhou)

Being one of Asia’s biggest, most important culture events, the China International Performing Arts Festival is hosted by Ministry of Culture of the P.R. China and People’s Government of Guangdong Province, Co-Organized by People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality, executed by Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication of Guangzhou Municipality.

I was invited to deliver a keynote address on September 23, 22014, using my “rich Broadway experience and depth of Chinese industry knowledge“.

中国广州国际演艺交易会是目前中国两大国际性演艺交易会之一。它由中华人民共和国文化部和广东省人民政府主办,广州市政府和广东省文化厅承办,广州市文化广电新闻出版局执行承办。

In the keynote speech, Mr. Simkin spoke passionately about his concern of the current level of quality of live entertainment options currently available in China and the steps to creating a much needed global phenomenon. In Mr. Simkin’s speech, he outlined his strong and persuasive belief in the 3 urgent key challenges for the Chinese market:

  • Urgent need to dramatically enhance the quality of production and nurture creativity
  • Understand the importance of global marketing and packaging of shows to bookers and ticket buyers
  • Improve management techniques and understanding of need for commercial thinking.

His speech was extremely well received, and was followed with in-depth discussions with various delegates from both the Chinese industry, Chinese Government and foreign attendees.

China Arts Festival 2014 Guangzhou 40 The following day, Mr. Zhu Kening, Secretary General of the China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA) echoed Mr. Simkin’s concerns, and called for his association and respective government to find solutions to the 3 steps as a sense of urgency and focus for the Chinese industry.

China Arts Festival :: China International Performing Arts Festival

(2014 Guangzhou)

China Arts Festival (2014 Guangzhou) China Arts Festival (2014 Guangzhou) China Arts Festival (2014 Guangzhou) China Arts Festival (2014 Guangzhou) China Arts Festival (2014 Guangzhou) China Arts Festival (2014 Guangzhou)

China Culture Daily newspaper article October 22, 2014 with summary extract of Mr. Simkin’s speech from the China International Performing Arts Fair…

China Arts Festival 2014 Guangzhou China Youth Daily Spread Moments

中国广州国际演艺交易会座谈会精彩发言摘编

托比·辛肯(沈途彬)(美国倪德伦环球娱乐公司执行副主席及高级制作人)

造就全球风靡,需要世界一流的剧目、顶级水准的营销、以全球市场为目标的推广。” 在开发市场时,把中国的演出带到国外,如何让演出经久不衰,这是富有挑战性的。首先,我们要完全打破固有的思维,用一个全新的观点来考虑,不局限于国内巡演,或单纯以低票价吸引观众,而是要产生一种长期的价值,打造独特的中国艺术形象及创意,并将它呈现给国际观众。其次,我们要真正适应国际市场,我认为有四步:第一是制作高质量的演出;第二是实现市场化,准确的品牌定位、精美的包装;第三是丰富的营销手段,包括如何推销演出及加强对品牌的认同;第四是要找到决策人,找到真正的大老板。 对于如何能制作国际水准的剧目,我认为也有4个步骤:第一,故事易懂,方式要简单。第二,诠释。把作品的情绪及情感、制作人的用意传递给国际观众,让他们了解故事本身的复杂性。第三,预算。这非常重要,要符合行业的标准。第四,社会媒体。要想尽一切办法把剧目的信息,通过良好的包装和统一的品牌设计,推广到国际网络,同时交到决策者手上。 《中国文化报》