Big-screen theater technology company Imax (NYSE: IMAX) is in the headlines today for a savvy move that will make it look more Chinese as it attempts to grab a major slice of the nation’s booming film market. The newly announced deal has Canada-based Imax selling 20 percent of its China unit to 2 local partners, including one with strong ties in China’s commercial capital of Shanghai. Equally interesting, Imax is saying it aims to list its China unit on one of China’s stock exchanges in the next 5 years, in what would become a rare instance of a domestic IPO by a majority foreign-owned company. Read Full Post…
A new announcement from US movie producer Village Roadshow is once again casting a spotlight on the growing love affair between Hollywood and China, which is showing no signs of slowing as the relationship celebrates its first anniversary. The announcement also highlights the huge potential of China’s box-office, whose rapid growth is being partly fueled by relaxation of rules that are suddenly allowing a lot more foreign-produced and funded movies into China. The Village Roadshow announcement also reflects the growing influence in China of locally made movies, which can do quite well by combining Hollywood skills with movie makers more familiar with Chinese tastes.
Just a year after leading global toy maker Mattel (NYSE: MAT) decided it didn’t want to play in China, the second largest US toy company Hasbro (Nasdaq: HAS) is taking a shot at the market with a new joint venture that could stand a better chance of success. Unlike Mattel, which shuttered its flashy House of Barbie in March last year, Hasbro is taking a more behind-the-scenes approach to the market by developing toys for the China market rather than making any major retail initiatives. While there’s certainly no guarantee of success in this tough market, this kind of back-end approach seems a bit more suitable for a less-developed market like China where consumer tastes and spending patterns are a bit different from those in more mature markets like the US and Europe.
Hollywood’s growing love affair with China continues to steam ahead with word that James Cameron, director the blockbusters “Titanic” and “Avatar”, is setting up a joint venture in the city of Tianjin. Unlike the growing number of Hollywood companies that have flocked to China this year, Cameron’s venture won’t offer any mass-market products to consumers and instead will focus on supplying technology to Chinese filmmakers to help them make more 3D moves.
The new love affair between China and Hollywood seems to be growing day by day, even as signs of some minor alarm bells emerge in Washington at the rapid development of this budding romance. The latest twist in the China-Hollywood saga has Digital Domain (NYSE: DDMG), a leading visual effects company, teaming with Chinese partner Galloping Horse Film in a joint venture production house that will initially use Digital Domain’s technology to convert traditional films into 3D. (
