Xiaojuan Zhou about her experience with children’s films

After 20 years in children’s filmshe could write a book about the industry, both encyclopaedia and autobiography, a bestseller in the making. But no… Xiaojuan Zhou decided to bundle some thoughts, especially for you. A critical gaze from someone who follows every development in the field of children's film from the first row, not as a spectator but as a driving force.

It all started with my first Canadian employer, Mr Rock Demers who was and is still considered by many to be the ‘Disney of the North’. Rock produced two dozen children’s films most of which were co-produced with foreign countries. His TALES FOR ALL collection, almost all based on original scripts, filled a niche at the right time and together they became legend.

Almost around the same time, in the late 80s, another like-minded producer emerged in the Netherlands. Burny Bos, a broadcaster and children’s book writer, wanted to make good children’s films. He identified wonderful children’s novels by Dutch writer Annie M.G. Schmidt and adapted them for the big screen. From his firm hits were created, one after another.

It was my good fortune that when I started working in children’s films, these two gentlemen were already well established on the market. Over a period of two decades they became my collaborators, mentors and friends.

Fond memories

After having handled about 200 children’s films, there are so many fond memories, such as:

- A low budget Russian film about a 6-year-old orphan grossed A$ 1,000,000 in Australia! Local press teased that the orphan became a millionaire.

- When a Finnish Christmas film opened in Chinese cinemas, the distributor called me in a frenzy to ask to talk to the scriptwriter. He wanted to find out the conversation between the writer and Santa Claus – what did Santa tell him in private?

- A Dutch film about the cultural misunderstanding of young Chinese immigrant Winky was an unexpected success. It melted my heart when, at the end of a screening in Montreal, one small kid raised her hand and popped the cutest question I had ever received: Are you Winky?

-MINOES, a Dutch 2001 catwoman film, is my all-time favourite, equal to, in my book, SOUND OF MUSIC, WIZARD OF OZ, PIPPI LONGSTOCKING or HEIDI. The film has been sold and resold in many countries. In the US, it was first a DVD release and then had a small theatrical release years later – yes, in this order, and for a dubbed live action film!

For those who wish to listen, here is a short list of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to films for children: 

Seek fantasy and adventure: Social drama is necessary as it reflects realities, but kids all over the world love fantasy and adventures.

Sorry, but keep your childhood story to yourself: This may sound offensive, but I have seen so many cases wherein the story belongs to the childhood memory of the writer/director but does not, in my opinion, appeal to the kids today. 

Hone your skills: So many stories have good intentions but fail to be executed according to international standards. A good children’s film needs to be a good film, no matter who your audience are.

Set your expectations reasonable: I tend to enjoy working with producers whose expectations are lower than my own. That way, it is more likely that I could bring them nice surprises. Ha, self-protection, you may say.

Keep your sales agent informed and inspired: The earlier you get your sales agent involved, the better. The more useful information you provide, the better. The more supportive you are, the better. A wise producer will know how to motivate without looking overbearing.

Animation can be good, but is not always the solution: People are a lot less fussy about the lip sync of animated characters. But animation does not guarantee absolute success. Children need to see live action which is more identifiable to themselves.

Double shoot, coproduce, presales: So many wonderful European films would have sold many times more, if there were an original English version available. It is a shame to deprive English speaking countries of the pleasure of enjoying these films (I would blame mainly the buyers who are more close minded than the kids). I still hope to find ways to double shoot or mix shoot.

As President of Attraction Distribution, Xiaojuan Zhou brings over two decades of experience and expertise in film and TV distribution and international cooperation. She was instrumental in raising Attraction Distribution to a position of world leadership in high quality family films and kids entertainment brands. She has fostered long term relationships with dozens of producers and hundreds of distributors and broadcasters around the world. She is based in Montreal and works in English, French and Chinese.