More Chinese entertainment firms are set to enter Hollywood. (Photo : www.zumahollywood.com)
Hollywood has given Chinese entertainment and film production firms more golden tickets to the coveted U.S. and global entertainment sector as more Chinese-supported films bag awards in this year’s Oscars.
A perfect example of this is the good fortune received by the California-based digital production company Digital Domain, which was recognized for the second time after it earned a nomination in the Best Visual Effects category during the 2015 Academy Awards because of its work on 2014's "X-Men: Days of Future Past."
Formerly known as the Sun Innovation, the company was also nominated during last year's Oscars after it helped produce the third sequel of the "Iron Man."
In 2013, Sun Innovation was able to acquire Digital Domain 3.0 for HK$392 million ($50.58 million) from Beijing's Galloping Horse.
Since Beijing's Galloping Horse maintained 70 percent of Digital Domain, Sun Innovation was able to take control of the American visual-effects group to produce award-winning technologies such as Mova, a system that captures facial performance, and Drop, a software toolkit used to simulate large-scale destruction scenarios.
Meanwhile, many other Chinese film companies have been expanding their reach to the U.S. by opening satellite offices and branches in Hollywood.
These include Shanghai's media group Fosun, which worked with the former Warner Brothers chief Jeff Robinov in 2014 to establish Studio 8.
Fosun competed with Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, which revealed its plan to invest $150 million to acquire Studio 8.
However, that amount was topped by Fosun with a hefty $250 million, closing the deal with Studio 8. This was considered the largest acquisition that involved a Chinese firm in all of Hollywood film history.
