A British friend of mine James Bayliss-Smith started working at the revamped CCTV news (formerly CCTV 9) as a producer/director/cameraman/editor since April. His first project was to help produce a ‚landmark‘ documentary series about the Shanghai world Expo which was on television last week and is being repeated again, starting tonight.
The series is called ‚Expo’s meaning, Shanghai’s mission‘ and is a five part ‚authored‘ documentary series written and presented by Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn. Dr. Kuhn is an internationally respected China expert who has written books about the Chinese leadership. The series was the first international co-production that CCTV news has ever undertaken and we think it has proved to be a great success, perhaps a model for future productions. James did a bit of everything during the production and also worked on a couple of other projects. He is currently editing a film he shot and directed about the Chinese wine industry.
The times and dates are as follows. All times are for China (GMT + 8
hours). Below the dates and times I have provided a link to each
episode so you can watch them at your leisure.
Episode 1 – Better City, Better Life
Thursday 19th August 18:30 PM
http://english.cntv.cn/program/rediscoveringchina/20100810/104896.shtml
Episode 2 – The World Comes to Shanghai
Friday 20th August 2:30 AM 13:30 PM 18:30 PM
http://english.cntv.cn/program/rediscoveringchina/20100811/104674.shtml
Episode 3 – Shanghai’s Epic Story
Saturday 21st August 2:30 AM 13:30 PM 18:30 PM
http://english.cntv.cn/program/rediscoveringchina/20100812/104952.shtml
Episode 4 – China goes to the world
Thursday 26th August 2:30 AM 13:30 PM 18:30 PM
http://english.cntv.cn/program/rediscoveringchina/20100813/104643.shtml
Episode 5 – Shanghai, World City
Friday 27th August 2:30 AM 13:30 PM 18:30 PM
http://english.cntv.cn/program/rediscoveringchina/20100814/102667.shtml
CCTV have also produced a special website for the series. Have a look:
http://english.cntv.cn/english/special/explore_expo_with_kuhn/homepage/index.shtml
In June James had the great privilege of visiting the Tibetan county of Yushu, less than two months after they experienced a devastating earthquake. He was the Cameraman and they were making a film about the aftermath of the earthquake. The film ended up being about how the Tibetans are using their spirituality and Buddhist faith to overcome the grief of the disaster. It can be seen here:
http://english.cntv.cn/program/rediscoveringchina/20100814/101754.shtml