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Author Topic:   China
DavidChang
Director

Posts: 887
From:Toluca Lake, California
Registered: Apr 2000

posted May 14, 2012 04:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidChang   Click Here to Email DavidChang     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Twentieth Century Fox parent News Corp. has agreed to acquire a 19.9% stake in Beijing-based Bona Film Group, the latest attempt by Hollywood to cash in on Asia’s biggest movie boom. It also signals the global aspirations of China’s second-largest independent movie production and distribution firm.

News Corp’s investment comes after a 30% jump in China’s box office sales last year to $2.1 billion. In the first quarter, China passed Japan as the largest overseas theatrical market for Hollywood films. Government forecasts show it should catch up with the U.S. box office by 2015.

Bona’s 2011 3-D release “Flying Swords of Dragon Gate,” took in $68.9 million in China, ranking fifth ahead of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows -- Part 2.” The martial arts epic directed by Tsui Hark and starring Jet Li will get a limited North American release in IMAX theaters in September.

“We are committed to bringing the best quality Chinese films to broad audiences around the world,” Yu Dong, Bona’s chief executive said in a statement. “News Corporation's extensive global reach, investment and distribution will help accelerate our strategy to expand our global footprint.”

The investment by News Corp. was seen by industry observers as Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch’s latest in a long string of attempts to crack China’s strictly regulated media and entertainment market. In the past, he complained about the country's thicket of opaque regulations, refocusing the company’s Star TV unit on India in 2009.

Murdoch's film studio 20th Century Fox, like all its Hollywood rivals, faces a high barrier to entry in China, where the government bars imports from taking home more than 25% of sales. The number of annual film imports China allows to share in ticket sales rose to 34 from 20 earlier this year. Fox is currently enjoying the spotlight here with the 3-D release of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster "Titanic,” which has grossed more than $100 million for state-run distributor China Film Group, the country’s sole licensed importer.

One way around the China Film Group bottleneck is to co-produce films that are not limited in number nor are as severely restricted in how much money they can repatriate. Fox International Productions already has made a few Chinese-language co-productions with modest success.

"One of Bona's unique advantages is its vertically-integrated business model, which differentiates the company from other film distributors in China," Jack Gao, News Corp’s chief executive for China investments, said in the statement from Bona.

A News Corp. spokesperson who asked not to be named when reached by phone on Monday said: “All our affiliates, including 20th Century Fox, from time to time work with local partners. There will be collaboration opportunities but we have nothing concrete planned yet.”

Hollywood’s dealings in China recently came under scrutiny when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sent letters of inquiry to several studios, including Fox, asking about their business practices here.

David Wolf, an independent Beijing-based media analyst, said the investment in Bona looked like News Corp. playing “catch up” after a raft of recent pan-Pacific tie-ups, such as one between Hollywood’s Legendary Pictures and Orange Sky Golden Harvest of Hong Kong and Beijing; DreamWorks Animation’s plans to work with the Shanghai Media Group and two other state-run partners to build a studio in Shanghai; and the Walt Disney Co.’s plans to work with the Ministry of Culture and Tencent, China’s largest Internet company, to develop animation in China.

“What we are seeing is a new willingness by the big Hollywood studios to come into China with a minority stake hoping to gain a foothold and leverage up over time,” said Wolf, who added that it was difficult to put a value on the News Corp. investment in Bona.

China is also looking to expand its presence in North America. The Wanda Group, the largest theater operator in China, is in talks to acquire part or all of AMC Entertainment, the second-largest cinema circuit in the U.S. and Canada.

News Corp. purchased its stake in Bona directly from Yu, who, according to the company's statement, recently bought 1.5 million ordinary Bona shares from the Sequoia Funds and 1 million shares from both SIG China Investments One and Matrix Partners China Funds at an average of $11.40 per share, or $5.70 per American Depositary Share (ADS). The restructuring reduced Yu’s stake in Bona to 27% from 37.2%.

Analyst Dick Wei, J.P. Morgan Chase's head of Asia Internet and new media research in Hong Kong, said in a research note that it was “positive” for Bona, a client, to move away from venture capital partners and take on strategic investors who could bring “long term value for the business.”

In the note, Wei added, “The transaction should lift Bona’s brand image in global movie industry. We expect News Corp (Fox) to bring U.S. production expertise to Bona, creating more opportunities on high-quality joint-productions. In addition, News Corp will help Bona build up a global presence to distribute its own domestic productions in international market."

Chinese law classifies film and television as “restricted” industries and there is little or no clear precedent for successful foreign direct investment in these sectors. An attempt by Warner Bros. to break into China’s cinema business ended in 2006 when the studio pulled out after three years following a change in rules by the Chinese government that barred majority ownership. Warner’s cinemas in China were ceded to the CFG.

Neither Bona nor News Corp. responded to multiple phone calls and emailed requests for further information on Monday.

Bona, which is China's only U.S. listed film studio, last week posted first quarter net income of $2.3 million, up 3.4% from the same period a year earlier. First quarter net revenues rose 126.8% to $43.7 million.

Bona shares, first listed on the Nasdaq in 2010, have risen 10.74% over the last year and closed on Friday in New York at $5.98 each, near the upper end of a 52-week range that topped out at $6.30.

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DavidChang
Director

Posts: 887
From:Toluca Lake, California
Registered: Apr 2000

posted June 29, 2012 10:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidChang   Click Here to Email DavidChang     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Venture to Stream Movies in China (wsj)
A company with ties to both the Chinese government and to Hollywood said it is bringing a Netflix-like movie-streaming service to mainland China, with films from at least one major U.S. studio. The as-yet-unnamed service is a joint venture between Jiaflix Enterprises and a subsidiary of the government-owned China Movie Channel. The new service will launch this fall with films from the library Paramount Pictures. Jiaflix executives said they are in talks with the other big Hollywood studios and expect to close another deal this summer. The new streaming service resembles that of Netflix which has identified expansion in Latin America and Europe as a central element of its growth strategy. Netflix has yet to enter the Chinese market, where online piracy has long served as a deterrent to Western entertainment companies. China Movie Channel's online subsidiary, M1905.com, already makes some Chinese movies available online. Founded in 2004, the site has more than 3 million registered users, the companies said. The new service being started with Jiaflix will make foreign movies, including U.S. studio releases, available to Chinese audiences. Among Jiaflix's founders is Sid Ganis, a movie producer and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the entity that presents the Oscars. His credits include "Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo" and "Pan Am," the now-cancelled prime-time soap opera about the airline. His cousin Marc Ganis, president of the sports-business advisory firm Sportscorp. Ltd., is another cofounder. A third partner, Chinese entrepreneur Kenneth Huang, has been involved in American sports teams' business dealings in China. The men said they funded the new venture themselves. In addition to providing movie content on the Internet, the U.S.-China enterprise also has plans in the works for co-production and exporting Chinese movies abroad, according to Marc Ganis. Among the challenges facing the new service: convincing Chinese to pay to watch films and television shows, when pirated versions of so many programs are pervasive in the country. Jiaflix and M1905 said the two companies are developing "a program to combat Internet piracy in China." The companies didn't elaborate. Sid Ganis said in an interview Thursday that by distributing movies online, his company would be able to circumvent the limits that the Chinese government places on the number of foreign films that can be released in theaters there. "The Chinese government is welcoming the idea of the Internet becoming a source for film enthusiasts to access good movies legally," he said. Restrictions on Internet content are "less cumbersome" than in theaters, he added. Asked what kind of money Paramount stands to make from the Jiaflix deal, Sid Ganis said the service offers exposure in China for the studio's catalogue of new and old movies. "In the long run there's money to be made on the Internet," he said. "It's a business deal that hopefully will become lucrative."

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HollywoodProducer
A-List Writer

Posts: 2815
From:La Canada
Registered: Jun 2000

posted January 11, 2013 05:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for HollywoodProducer   Click Here to Email HollywoodProducer     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Chinese TV maker TCL pays more than $5 million for the naming rights to the landmark Grauman's Chinese Theatre (lat)

Chinese TV maker TCL has paid more than $5 million for the naming rights to the venerable Grauman's Chinese Theatre opened in 1927 by showman Sid Grauman. The Hollywood Boulevard landmark will now be called the TCL Chinese Theatre, helping the Chinese company raise its profile. The theater is used almost weekly for red-carpet premieres, and draws nearly 4 million visitors a year. "This is one of the landmarks of North America," said Hao Yi, vice president of TCL Group. "It can be a bridge to link the cultures of China and North America." Indeed, the deal spotlights the growing ties between Hollywood and its most important overseas movie market. Major studios have cut billion-dollar deals to build theme parks and production facilities in China, which last year surpassed Japan as the largest foreign market for U.S. films. At the same time, Chinese investors are acquiring high-profile American entertainment assets. In September, China's Dalian Wanda Group bought AMC Entertainment, the nation's second largest theater chain, for $2.6 billion. Another Chinese company partnered with an Indian corporation to acquire Digital Domain, the special effects company co-founded by filmmaker James Cameron. The naming rights deal, to be announced Friday, comes 18 months after Samaha and Kushner acquired the theater. The previous co-owners were Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures' parent Viacom Inc. "This is a monumental day," Samaha and Kushner said in a statement. "The milestone relationship between TCL and the Chinese Theatre will allow us to do many of the upgrades and the preservation projects we earmarked." Planned improvements include a new extra-wide screen, stadium seating, superior sound and projection systems, and a new box-office marquee on Hollywood Boulevard. Kushner and Samaha selected TCL from a list of prospective corporate sponsors culled by Premier Partnerships, the L.A.-based sports and entertainment sales firm that brokered the naming rights last year for the Chinese Theatre's Hollywood and Highland Center neighbor — the Dolby Theatre, formerly the Kodak Theatre. Some of TCL's technology, including large LED screens and digital signs, will be featured in the movie palace.

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a
A-List Writer

Posts: 609
From:a
Registered: Aug 2001

posted March 15, 2013 05:18 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for a   Click Here to Email a     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
'Django Unchained' to be shown in China (lat)

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" will debut in China on April 11, marking the first time a film by the writer-director will screen in that nation. The violent western, a box office hit for its backers Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Weinstein Co., has so far grossed $241 million overseas and $161 domestically. It's unknown how long a run "Django" will receive in China, but most foreign films screened there are limited to a one-month engagement by the Chinese government. But U.S. movies can still garner a tidy return in a limited run: Ang Lee's Oscar-winning "Life of Pi," for example, took in $90.8 million in China over the course of one month. "Django," for which Tarantino recently won the Oscar for original screenplay, has star power that could attract Chinese audiences. The movie features Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz, who won the Academy Award for supporting actor for his portrayal of a bounty hunter working in the South in the late 1850s. It's not clear how the graphic film, which centers on a former slave's quest to free his wife from a cruel plantation owner, will resonate with Chinese audiences. It is expected to get a wide release in the country.

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DavidChang
Director

Posts: 887
From:Toluca Lake, California
Registered: Apr 2000

posted September 04, 2013 02:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidChang   Click Here to Email DavidChang     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hollywood Prevails in Tax Dispute With China

Hollywood appears to have prevailed in a dispute with China's state-owned film distributor that had held up hundreds of millions of dollars in box-office payments due U.S. studios. The Motion Picture Association of America trade group informed its member studios that a standoff over whether a new value-added tax should be taken out of their cut of box-office receipts has been resolved in the American movie industry's favor, according to two people briefed on the situation. China Film Group Corp., a state-owned distributor, attempted to deduct the tax from Hollywood studios' share of ticket sales in the country. Under an agreement reached last year by American and Chinese officials, foreign movie producers can collect as much as 25% of ticket sales in China. American studios this year objected to the deduction, arguing that the roughly 2% tax wasn't their responsibility, and as a result refused to accept any payments from China Film for their productions. American studios are eager for access to the country, which has grown quickly and last year became the world's second-largest movie market, behind the U.S. But Hollywood has been flummoxed by policies designed to protect movies produced in China from competition. Those tactics include a quota on imports, blackout periods during which no foreign movies are allowed to play and release-date decisions that pit similar Hollywood films against each other at the box office.

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indiedan
A-List Writer

Posts: 8504
From:Santa Monica
Registered: May 2000

posted August 28, 2014 01:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for indiedan   Click Here to Email indiedan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
For Hollywood, Not All Box Office Dollars Are Equal

By Ben Fritz

The cut of each box office dollar that studios take varies from as little as 25 cents in China to about 50 cents in the U.S. Above, people watch 'Titanic 3D' at a theatre in Taiyuan, China. Photo: Reuters
"Transformers: Age of Extinction," released last month, made just over $1 billion in movie theaters around the world, about the same as its predecessor, 2011's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."
But not all box office dollars are created equal. The recent film will likely generate tens of millions of dollars less in revenue for Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures than the previous installment in the hit series. The reason: "Age of Extinction" took in far less than its predecessor in the U.S. and Canada—and far more in China.
The cut of each box office dollar that studios take varies from as little as 25 cents in China to about 50 cents in the U.S. On top of that, more-developed nations have robust DVD, digital and television markets that generate additional revenue following a movie's run in theaters. Developing countries, as well as ones with high piracy rates, have small or virtually nonexistent post-theatrical businesses.
"A dollar of box office is not a dollar of revenue," said Bill Block, chief executive of film finance and production company QED International.
The actual revenue value for Hollywood studios of a box office dollar—the only financial data point typically reported publicly—varies widely. In China, where nobody buys DVDs—at least not legitimately—and digital and TV distribution businesses are minimal, studios receive only about 27 cents on the box office dollar, according to internal studio analyses viewed by The Wall Street Journal. In the U.S., with its comparatively robust post-theatrical businesses, $1 of box office translates into about $1.75 of total revenue over a decade.
"It's a question of how much of that you can collect and how robust the ancillary markets are, and that really varies between territories," Mr. Block said.
A U.S. movie that sold $100 million of tickets domestically would allow a studio to collect about $50 million during its theatrical run, but over the next decade could bring in another $125 million ifrom sources including DVD sales, video-on-demand, and airings on HBO, basic cable and Netflix.
Russia and South Korea generate about 55 cents per box office dollar, according to the studio analyses, while Japan brings in 83 cents and the U.K. $1.30 over about a decade.
Box office is a strong, though imperfect, predictor of DVD sales. In addition, higher ticket sales typically trigger higher payments, up to a cap, for future TV airings.
Domestic box office sales are down 15% in the U.S. and Canada this summer, according to Rentrak Corp., which collects movie sales data. That's largely because studios released only 12 movies with budgets close to or more than $100 million between May and August, compared with 22 during the same period in 2013. Production delays on several would-be blockbusters contributed to the downturn in releases.
At the same time, domestic audiences seemed to lose interest in certain franchises.
This summer's "Transformers" took in $244 million in the U.S. and Canada—a low for the series and a full $108 million less than the previous installment in 2011. In China, meanwhile, where Paramount signed several partnerships in a major push for the movie, "Age of Extinction" made $301 million, compared with $165 million for "Dark of the Moon."
Combined, that's a $28 million gain in ticket sales for "Age of Extinction." In terms of ultimate revenue to Paramount, however, it is expected to lead to significantly less.
Revenue formulas are estimates and vary for any particular movie based on a number of factors including genre, competition, and word-of-mouth. A movie's ultimate profitability depends in large part on what a studio spent to make and market it. Despite the apparent drop in revenue, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" is the highest grossing movie world-wide so far this year and almost certainly profitable.
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2," from Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Entertainment and "Edge of Tomorrow," from Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros., also underperformed in the U.S. and made more in foreign countries with less-favorable box office splits and smaller home entertainment and television businesses.
"Trading U.S. dollars for dollars from other countries typically means your profitability is not as strong," said a senior executive at a major studio.
Sony's "22 Jump Street" took in less than "Edge of Tomorrow" world-wide—$304 million versus $364 million—but will likely bring in significantly more revenue. That's because the comedy sequel collected $190 million domestically, while the science-fiction film starring Tom Cruise made just $100 million in the U.S. and Canada.
Other summer movies whose revenue may be better than their global box office totals suggest, thanks to disproportionately strong performances in the U.S. and Western Europe, include Walt Disney Co.'s "Guardians of the Galaxy," "X-Men: Days of Future Past," from 21st Century Fox Inc.'s Twentieth Century Fox, "Neighbors" from Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros.' "Tammy."
Despite the smaller revenue opportunities, studios are expending more effort to reach moviegoers in fast-growing foreign markets. Their goal is to find new audiences in China, Russia and Brazil without losing viewers in the U.S., where theatrical attendance has been roughly flat for the past decade.
April's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," for instance, brought in $83 million more than the first "Captain America" movie domestically and collected $116 million in China, where its predecessor wasn't even released under that country's foreign film quota system.
"What we're all striving for is that when these foreign markets explode, they bring in additional revenue, rather than cannibalize existing markets," said Joe Drake, a founding partner of the independent film company Good Universe.
Marketing costs also tend to be lower overseas, particularly in China, where government restrictions forbid most studio-sponsored advertising.
Although physical DVDs are unlikely to make a comeback, film producers are betting that as moviegoing increases in foreign countries, other post-theatrical businesses such as digital distribution and television will grow significantly in coming years, increasing the ultimate value of a box office dollar.
"You have to invest in these markets for the long term," said Nick Meyer, CEO of international film sales and production company Sierra/Affinity, "and ingrain the cinema-going habit."

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indiedan
A-List Writer

Posts: 8504
From:Santa Monica
Registered: May 2000

posted November 17, 2014 01:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for indiedan   Click Here to Email indiedan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Warner Bros., Brett Ratner cut deal to create Chinese investment fund
Warner Bros. is partnering with filmmaker Brett Ratner and two Shanghai-based companies to create a fund that will invest in film, television and live entertainment projects targeting Chinese audiences. The entity, called the Creative Fund, will be capitalized "in excess of $100 million," according to a person with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly. For Warner Bros., the deal is seen as a way to cultivate relationships in China's creative community, this person said. The studio's Chinese partners in the pact are CMC Capital Partners, a state-backed private equity firm; and Shanghai Media Group, a media and entertainment conglomerate. The other partners in the deal with Warner Bros. -- Hollywood's biggest movie studio -- are Ratner's RatPac Entertainment and WPP, one of the world's largest advertising firms. The pact isn't Warner Bros.' first with Ratner, the co-founder and chief executive of RatPac. Last year, another of the "Rush Hour" filmmaker's ventures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, struck a four-year co-financing deal with the studio that is valued at about $450 million. News of the deal comes a day before Warner Bros. is slated to participate in an investors event being hosted in New York by its parent company, Time Warner. At the gathering, Warner Bros. is expected to detail its upcoming film slate, and could discuss impending layoffs. CMC Capital Partners' entertainment investments include a stake in IMAX China that it acquired in April. It has also partnered with DreamWorks Animation to build a large entertainment, dining and shopping development in Shanghai. Shanghai Media Group operates 15 satellite and cable networks, including Dragon Television.

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DavidChang
Director

Posts: 887
From:Toluca Lake, California
Registered: Apr 2000

posted November 17, 2014 02:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for DavidChang   Click Here to Email DavidChang     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
China to Require Permits for Foreign TV Shows Streamed Online

Foreign TV shows and movies streamed online in China will need to have permits issued by a state watchdog, China Daily reported Monday. The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARPPFT) has been ordering the removal of popular foreign shows as well as trailing warnings of coming tougher regulation for months. The announced permit policy will see all foreign TV shows and movies reviewed by watchdogs before being made available for viewing online, reported China Daily, which has close links to the Chinese government and is considered a reputable source on matters of state policy. The Big Bang Theory was the most high-profile casualty of a Chinese government attempt to censor overseas content, ordering that the show be removed from legal video sites in April. Other U.S. shows that ran afoul of the TV watchdog were The Good Wife, NCIS and The Practice. The sudden removal of The Big Bang Theory led to series creator Chuck Lorre responding sarcastically with one of his signature 'vanity notes' which ended with the defiant words: "The overlords of 1.3 billion people are afraid of our sitcom. Exactly what we were going for!" The new policy means that Chinese audiences will not now, legally, be able to watch certain shows simultaneously as they are broadcast overseas. The bureaucratic imposition of extra waiting time to watch shows caused by the permit policy has become a hot topic on Chinese social media and hit the top 10 most discussed items on Sina Weibo. Some producers of foreign shows are looking to get out in front of China's censors by providing full episodes for review well in advance. Producers behind the incredibly popular South Korean TV dramas are said to be pursuing this strategy.

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indiedan
A-List Writer

Posts: 8504
From:Santa Monica
Registered: May 2000

posted November 17, 2014 02:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for indiedan   Click Here to Email indiedan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
China Box Office Projected At $4.9 Billion In 2014, Official Says

Some estimates earlier this year put 2014’s projected box office in China at about 28B yuan, or around $4.49B. New takings cited by Wang Fenglin, VP of the Chinese Film Producer’s Association, are eyed at 30B yuan or $4.9B. That’s hardly anything to sneeze at, but would fall short of some other government projections which have previously pinpointed 30.7B yuan or $5B, a figure thought to be coveted by the powers that be in China where the film business is highly regulated. Still, according to official state news agency Xinhua, Wang told a gathering on Sunday that China is on track to overtake the U.S. to become the largest film market in the world within three years. Screens and revenue are growing at a rate of 30% annually. In the first nine months of the year, local movies had 51.4% of the market, even though Transformers: Age Of Extinction is the No. 1 movie of the year with an official $301M. The Top 10 at the 2014 box office is still split between China and Hollywood with five titles each. They include homegrown fare Breakup Buddies and The Monkey King, and imports X-Men: Days Of Future Past and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. After an October that was packed with Hollywood films, Chinese titles will begin to flood the box office over the remainder of the year. However, big ticket U.S. movies like Interstellar, Penguins Of Madagascar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I are still to release. Interstellar goes out on November 12.

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