CAA China Appoints Veteran Sports Executive Mary Gu Shuhang as CEO

The veteran sports and entertainment executive comes to the newly formed CAACMC joint venture after a long stint at the Special Olympics.

CAA China, the newly formed joint venture from Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency and China’s CMC Capital Partners, has named Mary Gu Shuhang Chief Executive Officer.

Gu Shuhang (顾抒航) comes to the company from the Special Olympics International, where she most recently was Regional President & Managing Director, East Asia.

The CAA/CMC partnership is focusing on motion pictures and film finance as well as sports services, branded content, live events, television, and music touring throughout Greater China.

“I have tremendous respect for the business CAA has built in China, and am honored to join CAA China, under the visionary leadership of Richard Lovett and Li Ruigang, at this very important moment in the company’s growth plan,” Gu said in a statement.

In her new role, Gu will work alongside Jonah Greenberg, who spearheads CAA China’s movie business, Roeg Sutherland, head of the agency’s Global Film Finance and Sales Group, and Daniel Manwaring, who leads CAA’s Chinese film finance practice.

“In our 12 years in China, we have built the region’s largest and most successful motion picture agency,” said Richard Lovett, President, CAA. “Now, we are moving into the next stage of our strategic growth plan for CAA China. Mary will accelerate this momentum using her expertise and network of relationships to further diversify our capabilities and reach in sports and entertainment throughout the region.”

In addition to various roles at the Special Olympics International, Gu was President of the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. She is also a co-founder of China’s premier track and field event, the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, and previously served in senior capacities for such luxury hotel brands as Ritz-Carlton and Shangri-La.

CAA opened its China office in 2005 and has been involved in 75 Chinese-language film projects in addition to numerous co-productions, according to the company.

In May, CAA China teamed up with online ticketing platform Weying to acquire nine French films, including Cannes Official Selections and Palm D’Or contenders “Loveless,” “Redoubtable,” “Rodin,” “You Were Never Really Here,” “A Gentle Creature,” “Ismael’s Ghosts,” “Tesnota,” “12 Jours” and “Racer and the Jailbird.”