Chinese products growing in Hollywood films

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Directors have the final say on how a product appears, and Liu has her client's authorization to accept or reject the offer, but not the right to change the plot to present the product as the client wishes.

Ensuring the product placement comes out as agreed is Liu's job.

She usually goes to the studio and checks the effect of the placement frame by frame, where each frame is 1/24 second.

Chinese brands are still discovering the potential of product placement in Hollywood films to target the China market.

Liu watched Transformers 4 in a cinema in the US and found the foreign audience did not react to the appearance of Chinese brands as they did when they recognized Bud Light or Victoria's Secret in the movie. Chinese brands that want greater exposure to overseas audiences need vision and perseverance, she says.

Electronics giants Lenovo and TCL are among Chinese firms trying to reach out through the silver screen.

"For electronics companies, achieving a larger market share is not something that can be achieved in a single movie. It requires a long-term internalization process," says Liu.

In Hollywood movies, the highest bidder is not necessarily selected, as it depends on whether the product suits the film.

The production cost of Transformers 4 was $200 million, and the contribution of product placement companies was a tiny fraction of this. Some Chinese movies, however, can be entirely funded by placement clients.

Filmworks, which now has 15 staff members and offices in Shanghai and Los Angeles, was recently bought by WPP, the world's largest advertising and public relations company based in London, and is managed by GroupM, the largest advertising company in China.

Liu maintains she's only a tiny cog in the film industry, but an enthusiastic one as the mother-of-two defines herself as a story lover first, and as a businesswoman second.

"A great movie is a good story well told," says Liu, who bought the China distribution rights to Dallas Buyers Club, despite misgivings that its China cinema release could be hindered by themes involving AIDS, homosexuality and other "sensitive" topics."I thought it was a great movie that a Chinese audience should be able to watch legally," says Liu.

She sold the movie to Youku, an online video sharing platform, and donated screening rights to the Shanghai International Film Festival.

"If I had not bought it and no one else did, I would have felt the movie and the Chinese audience were both wronged," she says.

Asked about her vision for the company, she says, "I want to keep focused on doing what I do the best, and to be the best in this market."