Exhibition industry veterans Charles Wesoky and Ira Stiegler are teaming with Beijing-based film producer and distributor Jimmy Wu to launch a cinema management company, CMG (China) Limited, which aims to build 50 cinemas in China by 2011.

Wesoky, former CEO of AMC and United Cinemas International (UCI), has been named advisory chairman and co-founder of CMG.

Former Warner Brothers International Cinemas (WBIC) vice president and architect Ira Stiegler, who was in charge of designing WBIC's Chinese cinemas, is named as co-founder and chief architect of CMG

Former Sina.com vice president Zhang Mingming will serve as COO of the new company. Wu serves as chairman and CEO.

CMG, which will brand its cinemas as 'Lumiere Cinema', plans to build nine multiplexes in mainland China by the end of 2008. Construction planning is already underway in four second-tier Chinese cities: Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Jinhua.

CMG will also build a nine-screen cinema in Beijing 's shopping district Wangfujing, together with Hangzhou-based Intime Department Store Group. Intime recently acquired the building of the former Jixiang Theatre, a historical site which was famous for Peking Opera performances.

Wu was formerly UCI's Greater China chief representative and is also an independent producer.

In 2005, he established a film production company China Vision and produced Zhang Yibai's romanctic thriller Curiosity Kills The Cat. The company is now working on two further Chinese-language projects.

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