Motion Pictures
June 23, 2003
Ellen R. Eliasoph Appointed To The Newly Created Position Of Managing Director, China, Warner Bros. Pictures International
(June 23, 2003 – Burbank, CA) - Ellen R. Eliasoph has been appointed to the newly created position of Managing Director, China, Warner Bros. Pictures International, it was announced today by Sue Kroll, President, Marketing, Warner Bros. Pictures International, and Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, President, Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures International.
Reporting to Kroll and Kwan-Rubinek, Eliasoph will establish and manage a Warner Bros. Pictures International office in Shanghai, where she will be based, and will oversee the subsidiary’s Beijing office as well as its Hong Kong-based productions and acquisitions personnel. Her responsibilities will include supervising Warner Bros. Pictures International’s theatrical distribution activity in China and working with other subsidiaries of Warner Bros. Entertainment to ensure successful entry into the fast-growing China market. In addition, she will oversee the Studio’s feature film acquisitions and production work in the Greater China region, reporting to Richard Fox, Executive Vice President, International, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
“Over the last few years, we have identified China as a major growth market. Given the growing commercial potential of Chinese films, Ellen will be pivotal in our efforts there,” said Fox.
“As China develops into a consumer-driven film market, Warner Bros. Pictures International will pursue every opportunity to build a vibrant distribution business. With Ellen’s excellent relationships and her steadfast commitment to this market, she will play a key role in that process,” said Kwan-Rubinek.
Added Kroll, “As a 12-year veteran of Warner Bros. Asia Pacific, Ellen has a deep understanding of the company’s strategic direction; at the same time, she possesses sensitivity and instincts about the territory that will help us position our films and properties to resonate strongly with the Chinese audience.”
Eliasoph joined the company in 1990, where she served initially as Vice President and General Counsel and most recently, as Executive Vice President, Corporate Investments and Business Affairs of Warner Bros. Asia Pacific. She negotiated the first revenue-sharing theatrical release agreement in China in 1994, paving the way for Hollywood’s re-entry into the long-closed marketplace. She also negotiated the company’s 1998 acquisition of the Golden Harvest film library and its 2000 and 2001 feature film license deals with the Beijing Film Studio. Most recently, she planned, negotiated and supervised the production of the company’s first two forays into Chinese- language film production: the “Swordsmen of the Passes” ten-film slate and the upcoming Johnnie To feature, “Turn Left, Turn Right.” She has also been deeply involved with the Studio’s International Theatres group in its China entry initiative, which to date includes the first major multiplex investment made by an international cinema operator in Shanghai.
Prior to joining Warner Bros. Pictures International, Eliasoph served as an attorney at the firms of O’Melveny & Myers and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, where she specialized in joint venture, licensing and financing transactions involving China and Japan.
Eliasoph’s involvement with Asia began in her college years, during which she mastered both Chinese and Japanese, graduating summa cum laude from Yale University with a double major in Chinese Studies and English. After studying at Beijing University as a member of the first group of U.S. exchange students in the People’s Republic of China, she studied at and graduated from Yale Law School. Eliasoph has published a book and several articles on doing business in China and is a member of the State Bars of New York and California. # # #