SHANGHAI — Tucked away in a quiet design studio in this fast-growing city, a team of young animators, illustrators and computer programmers is bringing an ancient Chinese village to digital life.
上海——在这座快速发展的城市，一间安静的工作室里窝着一群年轻的动画设计师、插画师和电脑程序员。他们正在让一座中国古镇在数字世界里重现。
Using three-dimensional texture painting software, the team — mostly graduates of China’s leading arts schools — is adding intricate details to temples, palaces and pagodas. Team members are also helping animate the movements of the digital characters, including two pandas named Po and Mei Mei.
这个团队里的成员大多毕业于中国顶尖的美术院校。利用三维纹理绘图软件，他们正在为寺院、宫殿和宝塔增添复杂逼真的细节。这些工作人员还会让数字角色动起来，包括两只熊猫——阿宝和美美。

“This is what I really love to do,” says Fang Zheng, a 32-year-old animator who studied environmental arts in college. “I’ve always been interested in characters and cartoons and things like that.”
“这是我非常热爱做的事，”32岁的动画师方征（音）说。“我一直对角色和卡通之类的东西感兴趣。”方征大学时的专业是环境艺术设计。
The project, part of the next installment of the blockbuster Hollywood film franchise “Kung Fu Panda,” represents a shift in China’s moviemaking ambitions.
他们从事的项目是好莱坞系列大片《功夫熊猫》(Kung Fu Panda)的最新续集的一部分。它同时也代表着中国在电影制作方面的抱负的转变。
No longer content simply to build movie sets and provide extras in Hollywood films, Chinese studios are moving up the value chain, helping to develop, design and produce world-class films and animated features. They want a bigger role in the creative process, one that will allow them to reap more rewards, financially and artistically.
中国的电影公司已不再满足于为好莱坞的影片搭设场景或提供临时演员，而是正在向价值链的上游移动，参与到世界级影片和动画长片的开发、设计和制作当中。他们想要在创意过程中扮演更大角色，而这将让它们获得更多回报，无论是经济上，还是艺术成就上。
“Kung Fu Panda 3” is the first collaboration between Hollywood’s DreamWorks Animation and its Chinese partner, Oriental DreamWorks, which is partly owned by a government investment fund and a private equity firm, China Media Capital. DreamWorks Animation has taken the lead in the creative and design work for the animated feature, which is scheduled for release in early 2016. Oriental DreamWorks contributes by adding Chinese elements, creating storyboards and building parts of the 3-D digital sets.
《功夫熊猫3》是好莱坞的梦工厂动画电影公司(DreamWorks Animation)及其中国合作伙伴东方梦工厂(Oriental DreamWorks)的首个合作项目。东方梦工厂的所有方包括一个政府投资基金和一家私募公司——华人文化产业投资基金(China Media Capital)。该片计划于2016年初发行。梦工厂动画负责这部电影的创意和设计工作。东方梦工厂则负责为影片添加中国元素、制作情节串联图板，以及打造部分三维数码场景。
“We’re trying to develop Chinese creative talents,” says James Fong, the chief executive of Oriental DreamWorks.
“我们正在努力培养中国在创意方面的人才，”东方梦工厂的首席执行官方淦说。
It is part of a broader push by China Media Capital into the entertainment business. Over the last few years, the investment firm has made deals with Warner Bros. and the IMAX Corporation of Canada. It also helped develop a Chinese version of the hit TV show “The Voice.”
这是华人文化产业投资基金进军娱乐业的宏大计划的一部分。过去几年，这家投资公司与华纳兄弟(Warner Bros.)及加拿大的IMAX公司达成了多笔交易。此外，它还协助推出了热门电视节目《好声音》的中国版。
For American companies, such collaborations offer access to new talent and the chance to understand better a culture that will increasingly be portrayed in its films. And coproduction deals provide greater access to China’s tightly regulated market, which in a few years is expected to surpass the United States as the world’s biggest film market.
对于美国企业来说，这样的合作既是接触新人才的渠道，也提供了更好地理解未来将更多地出现在其电影里的中国文化的机会。此外，合拍也可以让美国公司更容易进入受到严格管控的中国市场。预计几年之后，中国就将超过美国，成为全世界最大的电影市场。
With China adding an average of 15 cinema screens every day, the country’s box office brought in $4.8 billion last year, tripling in size since 2010, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. And Chinese piracy is no longer such a significant threat to American studios; for example, “Transformers: The Age of Extinction” made more money in China than in the United States.
中国平均每天新增15块银幕。根据美国电影协会(Motion Picture Association of America)的数据，中国去年的票房收入达到了48亿美元（约合300亿元人民币），是2010年的三倍。此外，中国的盗版问题也不再是美国电影公司的重大威胁。例如，《变形金刚：绝迹重生》(Transformers: The Age of Extinction)在中国的票房收入就超过了美国。
The rapidly growing market is reshaping the way Hollywood deals with China, from the scripts it accepts to the marketing strategies it adopts. Some of America’s biggest television and movie production houses, including HBO and Warner Bros., are already pushing into China with a raft of joint ventures, partnerships and cofinancing projects.
这个快速增长的市场正在重塑好莱坞与中国打交道的方式，从可以接受的剧本，到营销策略的选择，不一而足。美国的大型影视制作公司，包括HBO和华纳兄弟，已经开始通过创办合资企业、建立伙伴关系以及参与资助一些项目，在进军中国市场。
Lionsgate, the American studio that produced “The Hunger Games,” has licensing and financing deals with Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, and Hunan TV, a Chinese state-owned broadcaster. A unit of the Hollywood studio Legendary Pictures is co-producing an action film here with the award-winning Chinese director Zhang Yimou. And last year, when the former Warner Bros. executive Jeff Robinov set up a new Hollywood studio, he received a $200 million investment from the Fosun Group of China.
推出了《饥饿游戏》(The Hunger Games)的美国狮门娱乐公司(Lionsgate)已经与中国电商巨头阿里巴巴及国有的湖南电视台签订了几笔内容许可和融资协议。好莱坞公司传奇影业(Legendary Pictures)的一家子公司，正在与著名中国导演张艺谋合拍一部动作片。去年，华纳兄弟前高管杰夫·罗比诺夫(Jeff Robinov)从中国的复星集团获得了2亿美元的投资，创办了一家新的好莱坞电影制作公司。
“The center of gravity is shifting so rapidly from Hollywood to China,” says Rob Cain, a consultant who runs Chinafilmbiz.com. “And it’s not just that the audience is going to come from China; so is the capital.”
“重心正在迅速地从好莱坞向中国转移，”中国电影业务网的所有者、行业顾问甘敏中(Rob Cain)说。“来自中国的将不光是观众，还有资本。”
The Chinese government is supporting the deals, seeing them as part of a broader “soft power” push aimed at enhancing the country’s image and the way its people and culture are depicted on the big screen, at home and abroad. As global filmmakers look to gain entry to the market, they must now consider the tastes and preferences of a Chinese audience, not to mention the wishes of the ruling Communist Party.
中国政府正在为这些交易提供支持，并将它们看做更大层面的“软实力”努力的一部分。此举旨在提升中国的形象，改善国内外影片里刻画中国民众和文化的方式。在寻求进入中国市场的时候，全球的电影工作者现在不仅需要考虑中国观众的品味和偏好，更要琢磨执政的共产党的心思。
“Because of the importance of the Chinese market to Hollywood, no one wants to make movies that offend China,” says T.J. Green, a former Warner Bros. executive who now runs Apex Entertainment, which builds cinemas in China. “Some may see that as self-censorship.”
“因为中国市场对好莱坞的重要性，谁都不想拍出冒犯中国的电影，”华纳兄弟的前高管T·J·格林(T.J. Green)说。他现在经营着在中国建电影院的APX国际影院投资（香港）有限公司。“一些人可能会认为那是自我审查。”
That is the price of market entry. A few years ago, the Chinese authorities whetted Hollywood’s appetite by raising the quota on foreign film imports, allowing Hollywood to receive a bigger share of the box-office profits and approving more coproductions with local partners.
这是进入中国市场的代价。几年前，通过增加外国影片进口配额、允许好莱坞获得更大的票房利润分成以及批准更多与本土合作伙伴制作的合拍片，中国当局激起了好莱坞的胃口。
But analysts say greater access to China doesn’t mean unfettered access. Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” for instance, was heavily censored in China. And Hollywood studios complain that the release dates of some Western films are often shifted to bolster local movies.
不过，分析人士指出，更大的准入机会并不意味着不受限制。比如，昆汀·塔伦蒂诺(Quentin Tarantino)拍的《被解救的姜戈》(Django Unchained)就在中国遭到严重审查。并且不少好莱坞电影公司抱怨，为了支持国产片，一些西方影片的上映日期常常被更改。
The market, in other words, remains tightly regulated. Authorities have also made clear that they want China to develop its own powerhouse studios, perhaps even its own version of Hollywood, that could eventually compete with Tinseltown.
换句话说，中国市场依然处于被严格管制的状态。当局也明确表示，他们想让中国发展自己的大牌影视企业，甚或是自家的好莱坞，最终能与丁塞尔镇（代指好莱坞——译注）匹敌。
Major Chinese studios are already taking shape. Alibaba has a studio called Alibaba Pictures. Bona Film and Huayi Brothers are now power players. And then there is the China Film Group, the state-run giant that has its own production bases and long experience working with Hollywood studios.
中国的大型影业公司已经在成形了。阿里巴巴旗下拥有一家阿里巴巴影业集团有限公司。博纳影业和华谊兄弟是目前市场上的大玩家。此外还有国有巨头中国电影集团。中影集团有自己的制作基地，还有与好莱坞影业公司合作的长期经验。
“We want to learn how to make movies that appeal to a global audience,” says Ren Zhonglun, president of the state-run Shanghai Film Group, which is also negotiating to form alliances in Hollywood. “Eventually, we need to go global.”
“我们希望学习如何拍出能吸引全球观众的影片，”上海电影集团总裁任仲伦说。“最终，我们需要走向全球。”上影集团也在与好莱坞进行结盟谈判。
One of the most ambitious efforts is being financed by the private equity firm China Media Capital, which has become one of Hollywood’s preferred partners in China.
在最具雄心的尝试中，其中一项得到了私募公司华人文化产业投资基金的资助。该公司已经成为了颇受好莱坞青睐的中国合作方之一。
Last year, China Media Capital announced plans to create a “global content investment fund” with Warner Bros. and the global advertising giant WPP, among others. The firm has bought a stake in the Chinese operation of IMAX. With government backing, China Media brought in new partners to develop a $3.1 billion “Dream Center,” a cultural and entertainment district in Shanghai with theaters, performance halls, restaurants and shops.
去年，华人文化产业投资基金宣布，计划与华纳兄弟和全球广告巨头WPP等企业共同创立一个“全球内容投资基金”。该公司收购了IMAX中国业务的部分股份。在政府的支持下，华人文化产业投资基金引入了一些新的合作伙伴，以在上海开发一个名为“梦中心”的文化娱乐区。该项目投资达200亿元人民币，将容纳剧院、演艺厅、餐馆和商铺。
The China Media Capital executive behind many of these deals is Li Ruigang, a former government official and Shanghai media executive. It was Mr. Li, 45, who helped set up Oriental DreamWorks, the Shanghai joint venture working on “Kung Fu Panda 3.” Alongside projects with DreamWorks Animation, the studio is also working on its own portfolio of television programs, films and animated features.
在这些交易中，很多项目的背后都有华人文化产业投资基金的负责人黎瑞刚的身影。他曾经是一名政府官员，上海媒体界的高管。正是45岁的黎瑞刚，帮助成立了在参与制作《功夫熊猫3》的合资企业东方梦工厂。除了与梦工厂动画电影公司合作的项目外，东方梦工厂还在拍自己的作品，包括电视节目、电影和动画长片。
“We’re talking to all the major Hollywood studios,” Mr. Li said during an interview at the headquarters of China Media Capital in Shanghai. “But we’re also developing our own original Chinese stories. We want it to be high-quality animation that can be distributed globally.”
“我们正在和好莱坞所有的大电影公司洽谈，”黎瑞刚在华人文化产业投资基金位于上海的总部接受采访时说。“但我们也在开发自己原创的中国故事。我们希望是能在全球发行的高质量的动画片。”
The Oriental DreamWorks studio, now a temporary space in a glass office tower, looks like a creative playground, decorated with colorful toys and Lego blocks. Most of the 260 employees are working on elements of “Kung Fu Panda 3.” Overnight, they ship large computer files to California, where the work can then be integrated into the movie.
东方梦工厂的工作室现在是一处临时的地方，位于一栋玻璃办公楼里，看上去像一个创意游乐场，装饰着五彩缤纷的玩具和乐高(Lego)积木。其260名员工中的大部分人都在从事与《功夫熊猫3》有关的工作。他们会在夜里将相当大的电脑文件传给加州。在那里，相关工作再被融入整部电影中。
They are determined to forgo dubbing into Chinese, so the partner studios are effectively producing two films. The characters’ mouths and jaws are being animated for two languages, English for most audiences and Mandarin for cinemas in China.
他们决心放弃中文配音，所以这两家合作的公司实际上是在拍两部影片。角色的嘴巴和下巴的动画制作是针对两门语言设计的，即面向大部分观众的英语和面向中国院线的汉语。
“We want to leverage the best of the Hollywood creativity with the best Chinese characteristics,” said Mr. Fong of Oriental DreamWorks. “We make it faster, do it cheaper, and in the end do something really innovative.”
“我们想用最好的中国特色来最大限度地利用好莱坞创造力的精华，”东方梦工厂的方淦说。“我们会做到更快、成本更低，最终做出真正创新的东西。”