All articles by Liz Shackleton – Page 186
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Phoenix TV boss buys major stake in Hong Kong's ATV
Mainland China-based entrepreneur and Phoenix Satellite TV chairman, Liu Changle, has grabbed a controlling stake in Hong Kong free-to-air broadcaster Asia Television (ATV).A company controlled by Liu, Vital Media Holdings (VMH), has acquired a 46% stake in ATV from Dragon Viceroy Ltd - a joint venture between Liu and ATV ...
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Sun Cybernetworks in Chinese distribution move
Rapidly expanding Hong Kong media group, Sun Television Cybernetworks Holdings, plans to acquire a 50% stake in mainland Chinese film producer and distributor Beida Huayi.Owned by Chinese producer Dong Ping, Beida Huayi was one of the minority investors in Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and held ...
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Hong Kong's Celestial lines up starry debut
Start-up Hong Kong studio Celestial Pictures has lined up some of the territory's hottest talent for its debut production slate including local box office sensations Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng and acclaimed director Stanley Kwan.The company has signed a co-production deal with Lau's Teamwork Motion Pictures, to kick off with ...
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Hong Kong's Celestial Pictures builds team for vertical integration
Fledgling Hong Kong studio Celestial Pictures has appointed industry veteran Gordon Cheung as executive vice president of distribution.Cheung was formerly executive vice president of Hong Kong digital effects house, Centro Digital Pictures, where he was responsible for sales and distribution of the company's own productions. He also spent 10 years ...
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Two Hong Kong film companies plan Growth Enterprise Market floatations
Two Hong Kong film companies - production house Milkyway Image and distributor Panorama International Holdings - plan to float on Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) in the next few months.Milkyway - which is 50% owned by Hong Kong producer-director Johnnie To - is understood to be seeking a listing ...
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Hong Kong's Lark flies with new distribution arm
Lark International Holdings (LIH), which owns Hong Kong exhibitors UA Cinemas and Cityplaza Cinemas, has launched a distribution arm, Lark Films Distribution (LFD).Headed by former Edko Films executive Karen Wong, LFD plans to acquire 8-10 films a year with a focus on quality US product. The company has already attended ...
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Shaolin Soccer scores at Hong Kong Film Awards
Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer was the big winner at the 21st Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday night (April 21), scoring seven of the 19 prizes, including best film and best director.Chow also scooped the best actor and best new director awards, while his co-star Wong Yat Fei won best ...
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Hong Kong's TVB believed close to dropping Galaxy launch plans
Hong Kong's leading broadcaster TVB has denied reports that it is pulling out of the local pay-TV market by dropping plans to launch its $640m (HK$5bn) Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting platform.According to a report in Hong Kong daily, the South China Morning Post, TVB board members, led by chairman Sir Run ...
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Media Asia loses Star TV's library to Fortune Star
News Corp-owned broadcaster Star TV has ended its eight-year film distribution contract with Hong Kong's Media Asia Group, following the launch of its own international distribution unit, Fortune Star Pictures.Media Asia has handled worldwide distribution of the 600-title Star film library since 1994. It will now be distributed by Star's ...
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Golden Harvest losses increase by 34.5%
Losses at Hong Kong studio: Golden Harvest increased by 34.5% to $3.1m (HK$23.96m) in the six months to December 31, 2001, compared to $2.3m (HK$17.81m) for the same period the previous year.However, at the same time group turnover increased during the second half of 2001, by 8% to $17.6m (HK$137m), ...
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Film buyers heading to Hong Kong Asia screenings
Film buyers from 15 countries, including the US, UK and Japan, have confirmed their attendance at Hong Kong's new film market, the Hong Kong Asia Screenings (HAS), which is set to take place April 2-4.Organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and Hong Kong industry association, the MPIA, ...
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Shaolin Soccer scores with Hong Kong award nods
Stephen Chow's kung fu and soccer comedy, Shaolin Soccer, led the pack in the nominations for the 21st Hong Kong Film Awards with 13 nods including best film and best director.The record-breaking film, which became Hong Kong's biggest-grossing local production ever last year, with a box office haul of $7.4m ...
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Poon joins Hong Kong's Fortune Star Pictures
Peter Poon has joined Hong Kong-based broadcaster Star TV as general manager of Chinese-language programming division, Fortune Star Pictures.Poon was formerly deputy general manager at Hong Kong's Media Asia Group, where he took particular responsibility for international distribution.Fortune Star's credits include feature film I Do and 30-part drama series Devil ...
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Marry A Rich Man has box office benefits
Hong Kong production Marry A Rich Man took pole position at the local box office over the competitive Chinese New Year holiday period, grossing $1.53m from 31 screens (Feb 8-14) and beating Monsters, Inc. to the top spot.The romantic comedy, produced by Hong Kong start-up SML, was released on Feb ...
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Hong Kong's Han revives classic Chinese vampire
Han Entertainment, the Hong Kong-based multimedia company established by former Media Asia head Thomas Chung and Michelle Yeoh, has added a contemporary take on the classic Chinese vampire genre to its burgeoning development slate.The project, entitled Jiang Shi, is being scripted by French writers Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud, who ...
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Taiwanese website offers studio movies for $1
A Taiwanese web-site has incurred the wrath of Hollywood for offering web-casts of thousands of major film titles for just $1.Current rental releases such as Shrek, Legally Blonde and American Pie 2 are available on the site - Movie88.com - which streams movies online using Real Player software. The site's ...
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Harry Potter scores in China, despite piracy
Despite early availability of the title on pirate DVD and VCD formats, Warner Bros. estimates that Harry Potter grossed a promising $2m from 300 theatres during its first week of release in China (Jan 30 - Feb 5)."It's out-performing The Mummy Returns, but not doing as well as Pearl Harbor ...
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Hong Kong film studio plans come under threat
Ambitious plans for a new film studio complex in Hong Kong could be under threat as three investors in the project - Hong Kong's Media Asia and Mei Ah Entertainment and Taiwan's Era Group - have decided to pull out.A consortium of six companies, led by Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers, ...
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Hong Kong launches online copyright database
Hong Kong's Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) has stepped up the fight against piracy by launching an online database which carries updated information on a film's copyright.The database, at www.mpia.org.hk , allows law enforcement officials - in both Hong Kong and overseas - to check a film title against detailed ...
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Hong Kong exhibitors get window extension
Hong Kong's exhibition body, the Hong Kong Theatres Association, has reached an agreement with local distributors to extend the territory's theatrical window to at least one month.Currently, VCDs and DVDs of local titles are often released at the same time as, or only weeks after, their theatrical release. However the ...