My friend is going into the film industry (hopefully) but had a minor question?

Well... as a Movie Writer, to tell you the truth, I think your friend should take the two. Reason why; is if your friend is staring in a Chinese film or Japanese film he really MUST understand the language of the script, if he doesn't understand the writing of the script than probably he won't be making any film, but also is up to him. What film does he wants to do either Japanese or Chinese.