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Film Looms Large in Lego’s China Business Interests

Nov 2, 2015 / News /

In the recent high-profile public relations battle between artist Ai Weiwei and Lego, significant attention has been directed to the toy behemoth’s rapidly growing business interests in China. Read More

China’s Filmmakers Directed to Heed Socialism—Will Hollywood Follow?

Oct 31, 2015 / News /

Just days after the recent publication of the full transcript of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s major speech on arts and culture from October 2014, the country’s top leadership gave further indication that Xi’s retro vision of patriotic and morality-infused entertainment is meant to have an actual impact on China’s cultural scene. On October 20, the Read More

Chinese Hits Miss Out on the Global Box Office

Oct 26, 2015 / News /

If he’d had the time after meeting American captains of industry in Seattle and Barack Obama at the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping might have ducked out at the close of his United Nations appearance and into a New York movie theater to check on how China’s other soft power ambassadors—its movies, not its Read More

Chinese President’s Speech on the Arts: The Hollywood Connection

Oct 20, 2015 / News /

Last October 15, at the Beijing Forum on Literature and Art, Chinese president Xi Jinping spoke to a high-level audience involved in the creative industries on the role and direction of China’s arts and culture. While the occasion of the speech, titled “Talks at the Forum on Literature and Art Work,” along with some excerpts, was Read More

Dalian Wanda Opens $2.5 Billion Theme Park Resort in Southwest China

Oct 20, 2015 / News /

Developer Dalian Wanda dropped a big one on China’s southwestern region at the end of last month with the grand opening of its $2.5 billion Xishuangbanna International Resort. The entertainment complex is the second head-turning opening from the Dalian Wanda Group in the past year and another in a line of massive developments, such as Read More

China’s Celebrity ‘Wedding of the Year’ Promotes Stars’ Own Brands

Oct 14, 2015 / Entertainment Marketing /

This past week, the hot topic on China’s Weibo- and WeChat-sphere was the wedding of actors Huang Xiaoming and Angela Yeung (better known as Angelababy), a stereotypically fairytale event held at the very romantic Shanghai Exhibition Center. Attended by nearly 600 guests, among them celebrities like Li Bingbing, Shu Qi, Chiling Lin, and Hong Kong Read More

Finding Freedom in China on Film: A Q&A with Jia Zhangke

Oct 7, 2015 / People /

Like all of Jia’s films, "Mountains May Depart" contains strong social commentary. The film, which stars Jia’s wife, Zhao Tao, explores freedom: how one conceives of it, what one does to get it, and how others try to limit it. Read More

Copyright Pledges in China Film & TV Finance

Oct 6, 2015 / Legal /

Though a framework exists, the registration of pledges is not yet common in the Chinese film and TV business. Read More

A scene from Lost in Hong Kong. (Courtesy Image)

Will Blockbuster ‘Lost in Hong Kong’ Revive Chinese Tourist Numbers?

Oct 6, 2015 / News /

With a declining number of mainland visitors and slumping retail sales to match, Hong Kong is betting on the success of smash hit comedy Lost in Hong Kong to turn its luck around with Chinese tourists. While Chinese travelers are flocking to destinations like Japan to shop for the current Golden Week, Hong Kong retailers Read More

French Director’s Chinese Movie Balances Freedom With Compromise

Oct 6, 2015 / People /

In 2012, French movie director Jean-Jacques Annaud got a warm welcome in China after more than a dozen years as persona non grata there for having offended official Chinese Communist Party history with his 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet—the story of a German mountaineer’s sympathetic relationship with the young Dalai Lama before the monk Read More

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