US-China summit set for Los Angeles on eve of AFM

The Asia Society, Orb Media Group and China Film Co-Production Corporation will host The Co-Production and Cooperation conference at the WGA Theater. The event has been convened in response to the rapid growth of the Chinese film industry and what organisers call “a flurry” of new co-production activity.

More than 300 industry professionals from Hollywood and China are expected to attend. The Chinese delegation includes Xun Zhang, president of China Film Co-Production Corporation, and screenwriter Xiaowei Su, who wrote Aftershock (pictured) and serves as deputy director of the SARFT Script Center.

Peter Shiao, chairman of media and entertainment initiatives for the Asia Society Of Southern California and founder and CEO of Orb Media Group, will moderate.

“Co-productions and deeper levels of engagement between Hollywood and China are not a passing fad, but one of the most exciting developments in today’s global entertainment business,” Shiao said. “We are not having a conversation about whether the two sides should collaborate, but how to successfully navigate through a continually shifting landscape where both sides have much to contribute and learn.”

Confirmed Hollywood participants include Michael Corrigan, vice chairman of Orb Media Group; Elia Infascelli of William Morris Endeavor; Bill Mechanic, founder and president of Pandemonium Films and producer of Coraline; Rob Minkoff, director of The Forbidden Kingdom and The Lion King; Ken Stovitz, partner at Overbrook Entertainment and producer of The Karate Kid; Stephen Saltzman, partner at Loeb and Loeb; Jim Stern, CEO of Endgame Entertainment, and Janet Yang, president of Manifest Film Company and producer of The Joy Luck Club.

Speakers from the Chinese delegation include: Hongtao Yang, president, Ningxia Film Group; Tianyun Wang, vice-president of Shanghai Film Group; Zhongjun Wang, chairman and CEO of Huayi Brothers Media Corporation; Dong Yu, president of PolyBona Film Distribution Company, Ltd.; Lifeng Wang, president of Xing Xing Digital Corporation; Zhao Zhang, president of Enlight Media; and Tiedong Zhou, president of China Film Promotion International.

The event is co-organised by the Producers Guild Of America, Coalition Of Asian Pacifics In Entertainment and the USC Marshall Center For International Business Education And Research. Loeb & Loeb LLP and the USC US-China Institute are the sponsors.

For additional information visit the dedicated website.