Corporate
October 13, 2004
China Film Group, Hengdian Group And Warner Bros. Pictures Partner To Create Warner China Film HG Corporation
(October 13, 2004 - Burbank, CA & October 14 - Beijing) – The China Film Group, Hengdian Group and Warner Bros. Pictures have partnered to create Warner China Film HG Corporation (“Warner China Film”), the first Sino-foreign joint venture filmed-entertainment company in the history of the People’s Republic of China. The announcement was made today in Beijing by Yang Buting, Chairman of the China Film Group; Xu Yongan, Chairman of the Hengdian Group; and Barry Meyer, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Warner Bros.
Warner China Film is the first venture approved under a new regulation issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) allowing the establishment of Sino-foreign joint venture film production and distribution companies. The formation of Warner China Film brings together China’s leading state-run filmed entertainment conglomerate (China Film), China’s largest privately owned film and television enterprise (Hengdian Group) and the world-renowned and globally recognized filmed-entertainment leader (Warner Bros. Pictures).
Warner China Film will develop, invest in, produce, market and distribute Chinese-language feature films, telefilms and animation. Production budgets will range from approximately RMB 12 to 50 million (USD 1.5 to 6 million) for feature films and from approximately RMB 1.7 to 2.5 million (USD 200,000 to 300,000) for each telefilm.
Yang will serve as the initial Chairman of the Board of Warner China Film; Richard Fox, Executive Vice President, International, Warner Bros. will serve as Vice Chairman. Warner China Film will be based in Beijing and Han Sanping, currently General Manager of the China Film Group, will serve as Warner China Film’s initial General Manager.
“Warner China Film marks a new milestone for the Chinese film industry and demonstrates that it is quickly opening to foreign investment, and ready to take its rightful place in the global entertainment business,” said Yang. “This partnership represents a true ‘dream team’—three companies that are each leaders in their respective fields that bring vast, mutually complementary strengths and resources to the table.”
“We at the Hengdian Group have long believed that China's filmed entertainment sector is poised for spectacular growth,” said Xu. “Warner China Film is the perfect complement to our growing film and television production, distribution and exhibition businesses.”
“We are deeply honored that the China Film Group and Hengdian Group have agreed to partner with us in this pioneering venture,” said Meyer. “The formation of Warner China Film, as well as our ongoing investment in multiplex cinemas in China and a planned home video marketing and distribution joint venture, demonstrate our firm commitment to the Chinese film industry and our confidence in the marketplace. It is through ventures such as these that the Chinese film industry will reach its full potential.”
“Through our other local production ventures, we have seen that audiences respond strongly to films that reflect their own culture and life experience,” said Alan Horn, President & Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros., who has oversight of all of Warner Bros.’ film operations. “Warner China Film will work with the country’s outstanding filmmakers to create world-class films, telefilms and animation for audiences both in China and around the globe.”
Initial projects under consideration include feature films proposed by directors Feng Xiaogang, Jiang Wen and He Ping; a Chinese-language animated co-production; and a series of telefilms with Zhang Guoli as executive producer. Warner China Film plans to announce its first feature by year-end and to commence production in early 2005.
About China Film Group
China Film Group (“CF”) is the largest and most influential state-run film enterprise in China. CF’s scope of business spans film and television production, film distribution and exhibition, film importation and exportation, cinema circuit management, digital cinema construction, movie channel, print developing and processing, film equipment management, digital film production, film and TV compact disc production, ancillary products, advertising, property management as well as real estate. For over a decade, CF’s subsidiary, China Film Import & Export Corporation, has been the sole government-authorized importer of films. It should be noted that another CF subsidiary, China Film Co-production Corporation, is charged by SARFT to oversee and manage all Sino-foreign co-productions. CF’s film and TV production units include: the former China Film Corporation, Beijing Film Studio, China Youth Film Studio, China Film Co-production Corporation, China Film Equipment Corporation, Movie Channel Production Center, Beijing Film & Video Laboratory and Huayun Film & TV Compact Disk Co., Ltd. Each year, China Film Group produces more than 30 feature films, 400 TV plays and 100 telefilms.
About Hengdian Group
Hengdian Group is one of China’s most powerful private enterprises, with investments in six major industries: electric and electronics, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, trade and logistics, education and consumer health, hi-tech agriculture, and film and entertainment. According to the 2002 All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce survey, Hengdian Group was the third-highest revenue generating company in China, with revenue of RMB 8 billion (USD 966.1 million).
The Hengdian Group has over 60 subsidiaries, 130 affiliated companies and three PRC-listed companies, as well as 24 entities resulting from the merger/acquisition of state-owned enterprises, and six joint ventures with overseas conglomerates.
Hengdian’s film and entertainment-related businesses are expanding rapidly. The Hengdian World Studios features two modern soundstages and a dozen scenic motion picture sets spanning different periods of Chinese history. Since 1996, the company has invested over RMB 2 billion (USD 240 million) in constructing the Studios, which include a replica of the Forbidden City (100 acres) and are home to the production of some 50 films/TV dramas every year. The Hengdian World Studios have recently received the honor of being designated by SARFT as China’s first “Film and Television Experimental Zone”. The designation carries it with a number of tax and other incentives designed to encourage film and television producers to avail themselves of Hengdian’s locations and facilities.
About Warner Bros.
Warner Bros., a fully integrated, broad-based entertainment company, is the global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of entertainment and their related businesses. Warner Bros., a Time Warner Company, stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry, from feature films to television, home video/DVD, animation, comic books, interactive entertainment and games, product and brand licensing, international cinemas and broadcasting.
Warner Bros. Pictures has been at the forefront of the motion picture industry since its inception and continues as a worldwide box office leader today. With some 30 offices around the world, Warner Bros. Pictures is also the leader in the distribution and marketing of feature films to the worldwide theatrical marketplace, releasing films to more than 175 territories. Warner Bros. Pictures is home to such recent world-renowned hit films as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “The Matrix,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “Troy” and “The Last Samurai.”
# # #