ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Storytelling is a profession, but nevertheless, storytelling has a long history in tradition, culture and entertainment. However, like everything else, storytelling has its rules, which rules can only be followed if there's a legal guideline. It is the work of the lawyer/ entertainment attorney who helps to find a mutual ground and lay out the legal “playground”, where the basics of any strong professional relationship can gain potential to be transformed into success. If these instructions are followed correctly, you hit the milestones which will lead to the achievement of your goals.

In the entertainment industry, these milestones could be anything. Including but not limited to, projects, production stages, marketing strategies, translations, creative perspectives, execution, staff hiring, talent hiring and so on. Anything that you could imagine a small town to take, since as many of the inspirational quotes state, “it takes a small town…”to create, produce and innovate.

Shiwen does it all. Her profession uniquely combines creative approach with production elements, production elements with innovation, no matter it is about the language (legal terminology, jurisdictions), culture (rules & regulations, criteria) or tradition (expectations & needs). Shiwen teaches and defi nes them all by giving fundamental assistance to any project and team to build a fruitful and long-lasting business relationship.

It would be diffi cult for me to explain in a few words what Shiwen's craft is about, but fortunately there is a book you can read which will get you going in deal-making. Don't worry if it seems too much at the beginning to take, the book will help you to make the journey of negotiation an easier and more comfortable experience, as you explore new angles to understand the nature of the entertainment business.

Because the world of entertainment is constantly changing and ever evolving, it is your advantage to understand how you can benefit from making deals and expand your business at foreign grounds, international markets with international creators, producers and businesses.

The knowledge you will gain by being able to connect a huge market like China to the rest of the world or vice versa, is powerful and inevitable. As producers and dedicated storytellers, it is our job to help those with a creative voice and talents to reach and infl uence audiences worldwide. It is our job to build strategic new ventures and put stories in a form where they can be delivered as film, TV or digital content. It is our job to entertain and we can rely on Shiwen's profession for navigation through language barriers, traditional requirements and cultural diff erences by collaboration.

Thank you Shiwen for your support and guidance.

Sincerely,

Kinga Sarah Smith

Kinga Sarah Smith, CEO at Reverse Engineering Studios Inc., Producer of Alien Isolation-Digital series in association with 20th Century Fox, Executive Producer of Lone Survivor, 2Guns, November Man, and Non-Executive creative producer at Sony Pictures TV.