Shanghai Media Group, CMC Capital, Warner Bros, RatPac, WPP bet on content
Shanghai Media Group (SMG), Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., CMC Capital Partners (CMC), RatPac Entertainment LLC and WPP are creating an investment platform (CMC Creative Fund) dedicated to investing in Chinese and international entertainment content opportunities covering film, TV and live entertainment.
The Creative Fund will focus on individual projects in three key areas. Projects will include films and television properties as well as live stage and theatrical events, including musicals, that are Chinese-language or would appeal to Chinese audience, for distribution to each project’s most appropriate outlet, whether in China or beyond. Warner Bros., RatPac and WPP will also work with their partners at SMG and CMC to share their production and distribution expertise with up-and-coming players in the Chinese entertainment industry through seminars, co-productions and creative partnerships.
CMC has focused on investing in key areas within the ecosystem of China’s content creation industry since its inception. The company has worked with strategic partners who have extensive industry resources to jointly develop platforms and tools in order to systematically elevate our capabilities to create premium content. “Chinese audience’s demand for high quality content has increased exponentially in the past few years while the taste and consumption behaviour of the young generation have also been rapidly evolving. Such changes have posed new opportunities and challenges for content creators in China. We hope that this new platform will effectively combine the respective strengths of our partners in areas of creative development, production experience, industry resources and talent development, on the one hand, together with the development of the China market and the rising demand of the audience for content, on the other hand, and will provide superior resources and full-scale support for the new generation of content creators in China,” commented Ruigang Li, Chairman of CMC.
SMG’s aim is to become China’s most innovative media and entertainment conglomerate with global influence and pays great emphasis on content creation. “Content has been one of the main driving forces underpinning SMG’s development. We, together with our public listed subsidiary, Shanghai Oriental Pearl (Group) Co. Ltd (OPG), are keen on participating in the international content market on a broader and deeper basis through this strategic partnership, which is expected to enhance our capabilities in content creation and thus help us meet the increasing demand for cultural products and the challenges of promoting China’s creative industry and international exposure. We believe that this platform will enable SMG to explore the industrialisation and internationalisation of our content creation, further help with consolidating and enhancing SMG and our new public listed company’s content competitive edge, and accelerate our new media transformation, ” commented Jianjun Wang, Executive Vice President of SMG.
We believe China is a market with incredible potential and a wealth of talent. We are excited to be working with our partners at Shanghai Media Group and CMC Capital to continue our history of helping to develop and grow the entertainment industry in China in a respectful and meaningful way. We are very proud to be part of this vibrant creative community,” said Kevin Tsujihara, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros.
Co-Founder and CEO of RatPac Entertainment, Brett Ratner is a world class producer and director in Hollywood, best known for the TV series ‘Prison Break’ that was hugely popular in China and around the world, and the widely popular films such as ‘Rush Hour’ series, ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, and the recent ‘Hercules’ that will be released in China on October 21. A passionate believer and devoted practitioner of fostering young talents, Mr Ratner also has extensive interactions with China from his previous projects involving Chinese talents and stories. He said, “It is exciting to have the opportunity to collaborate with our colleagues from China. I hope to best exploit my experience, techniques and connections in the industry to help China’s creative talents, especially the younger generation, to create Chinese projects that will be successful in the global markets.”
“This investment plays to our focus on developing content opportunities around the world and builds a new partnership in the world’s second largest market,” commented Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP.
