Yuedong Liu: A Strategic Expert in Film Distribution Leading the Rise of Domestic Chinese Films

Written by Tom White

The highly anticipated Chinese-language film Caught by the Tides has announced its official release in Germany on May 15, 2025. Following scheduled releases or screenings in France, Japan, Italy, and Romania, the film continues to attract strong international attention. Its widespread appeal, combining artistic value with cultural depth, is closely tied to the efforts of Yuedong Liu, a leading figure in global film distribution. Through precise market insights and innovative strategies, Liu has not only propelled Caught by the Tides onto the global stage but also secured its recognition at major domestic and international film festivals, making it a benchmark case in the successful overseas promotion of Chinese cinema.

Under the strategic leadership and planning of Yuedong Liu, Caught by the Tides has achieved remarkable international acclaim. As a driving force behind the film’s distribution and global outreach, Yuedong Liu played a central role in elevating the work to prestigious platforms. The film was honored with the “Annual Film Award” at the 2024 Southern Weekend Cultural Originality List (Greater Bay Area) Annual Ceremony—an accolade jointly selected by senior film critics and cultural scholars. This award recognizes works that have made exceptional contributions to the preservation and innovation of Chinese culture, further highlighting Yuedong Liu’s success in positioning the film as a cultural milestone.

The film’s influence extended beyond domestic borders under Yuedong Liu’s guidance. Caught by the Tides was shortlisted for the Palme d'Or in the main competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival—a testament to its artistic merit and global resonance. Being recognized by Cannes, the pinnacle of world cinema, reflects the film's success in reaching the highest echelon of international art cinema. Additionally, at the 48th São Paulo International Film Festival, the film emerged as the winner of the “Best International Film Award,” standing out among over 300 entries from more than 50 countries. These accolades underscore how Yuedong Liu’s international distribution strategy successfully amplified the global visibility of contemporary Chinese cinema, allowing it to engage in meaningful dialogue with diverse audiences and critical circles worldwide.

The success of Caught by the Tides is a vivid manifestation of Yuedong Liu's innovative distribution strategy. As a leading figure in the Chinese film distribution field, Yuedong Liu, with his keen market insight and professional distribution experience, formulated a distribution path of "leveraging core cities + promoting in a stratified manner in secondary markets" for Caught by the Tides, promoting the stable growth of the film with a medium-sized scale and providing a new approach for the international distribution of domestic Chinese comedies. This series of achievements not only continues Yuedong Liu's brilliant performance in the domestic market but also provides a replicable and promotable international operation model for the Chinese film distribution industry.

Looking back on Yuedong Liu's film distribution career, each of his successes has been driving the transformation of the industry. As early as 2014, facing the film The Taking of Tiger Mountain adapted from a red classic, Yuedong Liu, with precise schedule planning and effective market promotion, successfully integrated the red classic with commercial elements, achieving a box office success of 883 million yuan, opening up a new path for the distribution of subsequent red-themed films such as Operation Red Sea and The Battle at Lake Changjin. During the National Day holiday period in 2016, Yuedong Liu took the lead in distributing the film Operation Mekong. With its content closely related to social hot topics and the sentiment of patriotism, he carried out precise market layout and schedule selection, making the film set off a viewing craze as soon as it was released. Eventually, it achieved a box office of 1.187 billion yuan in the Chinese mainland and 174 million US dollars globally, ranking first in both daily box office and the number of viewers for 17 consecutive days, becoming a benchmark for the commercial success of police and bandit-themed films and also providing an example for the precise marketing of domestic genre films.

In the fiercely competitive film market, Yuedong Liu has always maintained excellent strategic adaptability. Facing the intense competition of multiple films in the same schedule, he can always, with his keen market sense, adjust the distribution strategy in a timely manner to ensure that the film occupies the best schedule and screening positions. Taking Operation Mekong as an example, in the face of the challenges from popular films in the same period, he, through in-depth cooperation with cinemas and precise screening arrangements, secured a high screening rate during prime time for the film and adjusted the screening schedules in real-time according to the viewing data of different regions, ultimately achieving a win-win situation in both box office and word-of-mouth.

Yuedong Liu's achievements are not only reflected in the box office figures but also in the high recognition of the industry. With his outstanding contributions in the film distribution field, he was invited to join the China Film Association. As an authoritative organization gathering many elites in the film industry, the acceptance of Yuedong Liu by the China Film Association is a full affirmation of his professional ability and industry influence. His joining has also injected a new concept of "using distribution to feed back creation" into the association, promoting the industry to pay more attention to the key role of the distribution link in the film industry chain.

From deeply cultivating the domestic market to expanding the international territory, Yuedong Liu has always been driven by innovation and based on professionalism. The international distribution of Caught by the Tides this time is another important milestone for him in the global market. In the future, with his continuous deep cultivation in the domestic and international film markets, he will surely lead more Chinese films to the world and inject a continuous stream of impetus into the prosperity and development of the Chinese film industry.

Photo Credit: Yuedong Liu