Bros Forever was his next non-grossing film.

"The difference is that this short feature has a simple storyline to tell." Results, judging by page views, proved to be better than The Duel. Bros Forever brought Van Dam a considerable audience of 150,000 people based on online click statistics.

Van Dam's business could not afford conventional high-profile promotions like posters, press conferences, evening parties and banquets, but he put one small partnership with a giant company to strategic use.

"[With] Sony Pictures Entertainment, we attached the [movie] link to its game video console for a worldwide promotion; it really works when it has shown that more than 100,000 people have seen it through the connection."

"Our stories heat up at the chat rooms," Van Dam said. "[Ironically], while Chinese people are unaware about what we are doing, our stories have a powerful impact on overseas audiences like the Arabs. Maybe kung fu is a very normal thing for the Chinese; that's why we are here, at the birthplace of martial arts."

Not fake is how Van Dam likes to describe his films. His movies are true to kung fu form, unlike most martial arts movies, he said.

Van Dam's stories are well received online, but Peter Ledor's experience suggests foreigners making films in China can have much greater success.

Peter is an American, but he is the well-known producer and founder of the Imar Film Co. Ltd. based in Beijing. Started up in 1997, it is also the first legal, multifaceted independent film company in China. The company's box office hits in the Chinese mainland market in recent years include films such as Spicy Love Soup, Shower and A Beautiful New World.

Both Van Dam and Peter are beneficiaries of China's new market-oriented policy for the film industry. The Chinese Government has gradually relaxed restrictions to grant private and overseas investors easier access to the industry in terms of production, distribution and even setting up cinemas. In 2004, China further lowered the threshold for private and foreign capital to enter the film producing market, sparking off a spate of new productions. However, these independent producers still have obstacles when it comes to censorship, intellectual property protection and finance.

Easier to kick than shoot

In the Chinese movie industry, there's an old joke: "If you hate someone, please let him make movies."

Rough estimations show that 90 percent of Chinese films cannot recover their costs, according to Southern People Weekly magazine. It's also an industry that historically has shrunk in China. In 1991, the national box office stood at 2.4 billion yuan, while in 1999, it fell to 850 million yuan. Although in 2004, producers had begun collecting more revenue, films making big bucks are still huge budget Hollywood films.

In China's indigenous film market, heavyweights such as Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and Feng Xiaogang overwhelmingly took up available industry financing to support their productions. Meanwhile, young film aces with good scripts are often hampered by a lack of money.

"The biggest challenge for young men is money to shoot," said Professor Zhang Xianmin of Beijing Film Academy.

Most of these people will turn to overseas investors or their friends for help.