Firms see Hollywood bright lights

Leading players in US film industry welcome further investment from Chinese companies

The success of Chinesebacked films at this year’s Oscars marks a strong reflection of the growth of Chinese investment in not only the US movie industry, but the global entertainment sector.

Digital Domain, a California-based digital production company backed by investors from Hong Kong, for instance, was nominated for Best Visual Effects at this year’s Academy Awards for its work on one of the highest-grossing films of 2014, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

It was the second nomination for the company, formerly known as Sun Innovation. Its work on Iron Man 3 earned it an Oscar nomination last year too.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also handed two Scientific and Technical Awards to the company for two of its technologies: Mova, a facial performance-capture system, and Drop, a software toolkit for simulating large-scale destruction scenes.

Hong Kong entertainment company Sun Innovation paid HK$392 million ($50.58 million) in July 2013 to buy the American visual-effects group from Beijing’s Galloping Horse. In 2012, Galloping Horse bought 70 percent of Digital Domain, while Reliance Media retains 30 percent.

With its acquisition of Digital Domain 3.0, Sun Innovation plans to expand its reach and play a growing role in the burgeoning international feature film industry.

Last year saw a huge increase in Chinese film and media companies opening Hollywood branch offices too. Forming partnerships and entering co-financing agreements are seen as very much the golden tickets to Hollywood success for many Chinese investors.

Shanghai-based media group Fosun, for example, joined with Hollywood producer Jeff Robinov, the former Warner Brothers chief, to set up Studio 8 in 2014.

Fosun and Huayi Brothers Media Corp competed for the acquisition of Studio 8 and Huayi had announced a planned $150 million investment in the venture.

Fosun then raised that to $250 million and successfully closed the deal, making it the largest acquisition involving Chinese capital in Hollywood film industry history.

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc then bought the distribution rights of all of Studio 8’s films globally, except for the greater China region.

Bona Film Group, China’s largest privately owned distribution company, meanwhile, announced toward the end of 2014 that it had obtained the exclusive distribution rights in China for several co-productions with Studio 8, including Ang Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, which is set to start shooting this April.

To many observers, the relationship between wealthy Chinese investors and the American film industry will only intensify.

Chinese investment in the US entertainment industry, including film, has grown to around $2.7 billion, according to the Rhodium Group, which tracks Chinese direct investment in the US.

Le Vision Pictures, one of China’s leading entertainment companies, established a Los Angeles office in 2013 with a $200 million investment.

By the end of last year it had more than 10 employees, and was considered the premier creative engine in the “BeijingLos Angeles-Silicon Valley”. LeTV group also owns the largest online-film library in China.

Wanda Group, China’s largest commercial property developer and owner of the AMC theater chain, also announced its first major entertainment real estate purchase in Los Angeles last August with a $1.2 billion investment.

Wang Jianlin, its chairman, said his ambitions in Los Angeles are aimed squarely at premier Hollywood film-industry targets that can help support the group’s own Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis and Qingdao International Film Festival projects in China.

Robert Lundberg, senior vice-president of China Lion Film Distribution, said he considered the Wanda purchase a “smart move” and believes a flow of Chinese investment money into the industry is good for both Chinese and American filmmakers.

“On the other hand, there is also so much talent in China,” Lundberg said, “and a lot of American producers still do not appreciate how many resources there are in China.”

Hollywood film veteran Stephan Manpearl, the owner of Manpearl Entertainment Marketing, summed up the overall mood perfectly.

“In today’s global economy,” he said, “increasing interest in media and entertainment by Chinese companies is positive.”