Local Fixer Services

A fixer in China does far more than translate Mandarin. The role spans Mandarin, Cantonese in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and the regional dialects that shape access in Chengdu, Xi'an, and Lijiang. It also carries guanxi (关系), the relationship capital that decides whether a Hutong courtyard owner, a Bund building manager, or a Yangshuo karst-village headman welcomes a foreign crew or quietly shuts the gate.

Our fixers hold contacts that global producers cannot build on a short scout. These include NRTA liaison officers who handle foreign script reviews, CFCC co-production officers, Beijing Municipal Bureau and Shanghai Film Bureau case workers, the Hengdian studio production office, and the Public Security Bureau (PSB) district captains whose word moves a Forbidden City or Great Wall application up the queue.

On the ground, the picture gets sharper. Our fixers know how the provincial cash rebates in Hengdian, Qingdao, Wuxi, Xiamen, and Hainan work with CFCC co-production status. They also read the rhythm of Chinese production months, including the full shutdowns around Chinese New Year and the Oct 1-7 National Day Golden Week.

For shoots arriving in country, that knowledge means fewer surprises. Our fixers lead the permit liaison with NRTA, CFCC, CAAC drone officials, and the provincial film bureaus. They brief crews on the protocols that keep good relations with Hutong neighborhood committees, Tibetan monastery custodians, and ethnic minority villages in Yunnan and Guizhou. They also set up the cash-flow details that fall outside a typical production manager's brief.

A few details matter here. We handle CNY settlements through SAFE-compliant channels, work visa M and Z types for crew coming from outside the mainland, and ATA carnet processing through Beijing Capital or Shanghai Pudong customs. Our team also lines up English-speaking medical contacts at Peking Union, Beijing United Family, Shanghai Huashan, and the Hong Kong network for crew incidents. These fixers work alongside line producers without doubling up. They stay on call twenty-four hours a day for the issues global shoots always raise, from Lhasa's altitude buffers to Hong Kong cross-border logistics.