| Warner vows to compete pirated DVDs in China |
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- CAV Warner Home Entertainment Co., the first Sino-foreign joint venture licensed to sell audio-visual products in China, says its only opponents are pirates and plans to hoist them on their own petard.
Backed by one of Hollywood's most famous studios, Warner Brothers, the company's Chinese venture isn't only importing foreign films, it's distributing Chinese-made films to Chinese audiences.
CAV Warner has come up with a new strategy to beat the DVD pirates at their own game. It's decided to basically match their prices while providing superior quality.
"We'll compete with pirates on price, quick release and better quality DVDs," said Tony Vaughan, managing director of the CAV Warner.
CAV Warner has signed a deal to distribute its third Chinese film, the winner of the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion Award, "Still Life" directed by Jia Zhangke.
"Pirated DVDs are unfair to the filmmakers," Jia said, adding, "I hope the legal DVD production companies will help change this situation."
Jai says part of the pirating problem is restriction imposed bythe government on importing foreign films. The government authorizes the release of only a handful of foreign films each year.
CAV Warner will offer three versions of "Still Life" of DVD which will range in price from 10 yuan, 15 yuan and 25 yuan (3.125 U.S. dollars), said CAV Warner's director of marketing Edward Cheng.
The company has also distributed the Chinese-made films "Crazy Stone" and "Jade Warrior", both of which did well at box office.
Hollywood companies generally sell DVD's of their movies which have been authorized for release for 70 yuan, while pirated copies can be bought for as little as five yuan, but are often of very poor quality.
Increasing the number of authorized movies and quickly releasing them on the market would undermine bootleg DVDs, said Yu Wenzhen, director of MVD of Joyo.com.
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