Hollywood looks east (3)

Journey to the West

Written, produced and directed by famed Hong Kong director Stephen Chow, Journey to the West was jointly financed and co-produced by Chow's Hong Kong based company Bingo Movie Development, Village Roadshow Pictures Asia, the Greater China division of Los Angeles-based Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, Edko Films of Hong Kong and China Vision Media Group of Hong Kong. Huayi Brothers Media Group was the film's co-production partner and distributor on the Chinese mainland.

"Our VRPA team vetted the project concept, provided funding and advised on investment and distribution arrangements," says Ellen Eliasoph, president and CEO of VRPA. "We also assisted with marketing and publicity for the film, and, through our affiliated companies, are handling its marketing and distribution in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand."

Eliasoph, a graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School who speaks fluent Mandarin, became the first Hollywood executive based in China when she established Warner Bros' Beijing office in 1993, importing The Fugitive to China as the first Hollywood revenue-sharing film.

VRPA's second release, Say Yes!, a Chinese-language remake of the hit 1991 Fuji Television drama 101st Marriage Proposal, opened on Feb 12, 2013, and set a new China record for a romance film screening on Valentine's Day, earning 47 million yuan. The movie was jointly financed and co-produced by VRPA, New Classics Media, Fuji Television Network and Asia Times Cultural Media.

With the success of its two film releases in the same week, VRPA captured the lion's share of the Chinese New Year holiday box office, peaking at 85 percent on Valentine's Day, and becoming the first foreign co-producer to have the No 1 and No 2 films at China's box office at the same time.

Eager to gain access to Chinese consumers, some of Hollywood's biggest names - including DreamWorks Animations and 20th Century Fox parent News Corp - are making deals with local partners.

DreamWorks announced a joint venture last year with three government-backed companies in China: China Media Capital, Shanghai Alliance Investment and Shanghai Media Group (SMG).

The joint venture will make Shanghai's western bank of the Huangpu River a new cultural district with theaters, clubs and a studio that will be the home of Oriental DreamWorks, where co-production movies will be produced.

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