Headlines from China: The “Unlucky” Talent Television & Film Co.

The “Unlucky” Talent Television & Film Co.

Over the past three years, the shareholders of Chinese entertainment firm Talent Television & Film Co.(唐德影视) had a quite wild ride. Talent Television & Film Co. went public in 2014 when the Chinese entertainment market was booming. The company soon became noteworthy in the A-share market for its capabilities of producing quality film and TV content as well as its high-profile celebrity shareholders. There were times when Talent Television and Film Co. gained tremendous attention, resources, and ultimately revenues because of its close collaborations with A-listers. Today, however, this model is taking a toll on the company. The Legend of Ba Qing (巴清传), a 66-episode big-budget historical TV drama produced in 2017 by Talent and stars top actors such as Fang Bingbing, Gao Yunxiang and Ma Su, is still not released. Soon after the production of the TV series was completed, Ma Su got caught up in a series of scandals regarding her personal life. Then Gao Yunxing was accused of sexually assaulting a woman while working on a TV show in Australia. When people think things couldn’t get any worse, Fan Bingbing was called out by Chinese TV host Cui Yongyuan regarding tax evasion. Currently, it’s still unclear when Legend of Ba Qing will be released, if it can be released at all. Read more on National Business Daily

TVB Revenues Boosted by Collaborations with Chinese Streaming Platforms

TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited)’s 2016-2018 financial reports show that the company’s revenues in mainland China increased significantly. In the first half of 2018, its revenues generated in mainland China went up by 66% year-over-year to HKD 404 million ($51.48 million). And the main reason behind this striking growth is the network’s collaborations with Chinese streaming sites, such as iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Youku. Facilitated by CMC, TVB formed strategic partnerships with a few major Chinese streaming sites in 2015. At the beginning, the collaborations were limited to content licensing. Gradually,   TVB started producing content for mainland audiences with investments from these platforms. Today, their collaboration model has become co-developing and co-producing shows that are often set in mainland China and closely related to mainland audiences’ lives. Read more on Entertainment Capital

Donnie Yen Finishes Filming ‘Ip Man 4’

Ip Man 4, the fourth installment of the Ip Man film series, recently finished filming. The film is directed by Wilson Yip and tells the life stories of the Wing Chun grandmaster of the same name. Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen, who plays the grandmaster Ip Man, Bona CEO Yu Dong, and the film’s executive producer Bak-Ming Wong attended a celebration event on September 13. Donnie Yen told the press that he felt great pressure when filming the first Ip Man movie. But today, he is very relaxed and feel confident about this new film in this well-liked series. Read more on Mtime