From Discovery’s Encounters at the End of the World (2007) to BBC’s The Blue Planet II (2017), documentary filmmakers have revealed the world to the Chinese audiences with breath-taking images and reflective stories. The past decade has seen the change of both documentary distribution and the filmmaking techniques. Audiences can watch a factual programme not only from television, but also from online streaming websites or VOD. Emerging technology such as profession alaerial photography, 4K, and VR have been also commonly used in documentary filmmaking. These changes have drawn young generation’s attention to documentary, who have become a significant audience group for documentary market in China. The industry therefore seeks ways to follow the new trend and cater to the taste of the new generation.

In order to motivate directors to produce more high-quality documentaries for young audiences, GZDOC will collaborate with Tencent Video this year to set up a special fund of 1 million RMB for the ‘China Story’ International Pitching Session. This collaboration is aimed at providing those outstanding proposals with support in terms of marketing guidance and financial investments. Consulting service on the project’s production and distribution will be also provided to the project winners. Project-proposers will also have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with Tencent Video representatives face to face.

As a leading online streaming website in China, Tencent Video sees the importance of content quality and keeps developing innovative projects. Tencent Video previously started with bringing works from BBC, National Geographic Channel, ITV to Chinese audience by purchasing their copyrights and till now,it has partnered with top television networks like BBC to produce quality factual contents such as The Blue Planet II (2017). Apart from acquiring international documentaries, Tencent Video puts efforts in producing domestic documentaries and factual contents for niche market.

The submission for ‘China Story’ International Pitching Session closed on 20^th September, 2018. By the time GZDOC will select excellent projects and the finalists will be announced in November.