One of the small miracles about the film and television production business, which is the business I’m in, is how well it travels. From its very beginnings film became an international language, shared, it seemed, by all.

But business is no stranger to paradox.

As my industry has grown in wealth and power, so it has shrunk in its global appeal.

Hollywood has many fewer international stars than it had in 1950, or in 1940, or for that matter in 1920.

Part of the reason is that the movies added a language barrier, but that doesn’t explain the world-wide appeal of Garbo and Bogart and Brando.

No, what shrunk the world of entertainment was television; the reason being that TV is structured and paid for everywhere as a national service. Its programs are then dumped at a fraction of their production costs on the rest of the world, sold for what they will bring.

Only about 5% of US television revenues come from foreign TV sales, compared to 55% for their movies.

This is a bad situation for all cultural contributors. As the universal appeal of literature, opera and theatre has proven, storytelling is universal.

It does not stop at borders.

For me, the most hopeful development in our business is that the national stranglehold on television may be relaxing, which brings me to OPEn.

Ours is a collaborative business. I can’t make TV or movies for the world unless I know the world, and I don’t just mean audience. Audiences aren’t the problem.

I’m talking about talent. As a producer, all I do is find and mobilize and cultivate talent.

So there will be no international television until the creative world community starts working together.

Norflicks, my company, has big plans for China: three relatively large projects, two of them inspired by Chinese culture, while the other will attempt to make exquisite use of China as a location.

But we did not know any Chinese producers or directors, nor did we know the structure and practices of Chinese television.

That’s where OPEn came in – now we do.

Now when we talk to China, we speak as colleagues, not as strangers, thanks to OPEn.

I could say more, but I’d prefer you see the movie.

So would OPEn.

Best regards,
Richard Nielsen
President and Founder, Norflicks Productions Ltd.