Alibaba has been inking deals with entertainment firms, the latest of which is its partnership with Disney. (Photo : Reuters)
Former head of Alibaba Pictures' LA division, Zhang Wei has been appointed as the new president for the film unit of the Chinese e-commerce tycoon Alibaba, as the holding company tries to step up its entertainment business.
Zhang currently handles cross-border business and investments as Alibaba's senior vice president, while former senior president Deng Kangming will be assigned to manage legal business, finance, market relations and human resources, the paper said.
Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, invested over $4 billion in its entertainment business in 2014. The firm searched for hot content and prospective Hollywood buys, but has made no major steps yet.
Zhang Qiang (not connected to Wei), CEO of Alibaba Pictures, will be supervising the two executives as they push for new content development and production.
Harvard MBA degree-holder and former talk-show host Zhang Wei has served Alibaba in varying responsibilities since 2008. She used to be the COO responsible for TV power Star's daily operations in China.
Alibaba has experienced a lot of setbacks in its entertainment business, losing $53.56 million net last year.
The group is engaged in some films to be produced by Hong Kong producer Wong Kar-wai, such as "Bai Du Ren," which is set to be directed by writer Zhang Jiajia and presenting Tony Leung as the lead man.
Alibaba Pictures' revenues dropped to $16.33 million in 2014, from $45.1 million in the year before that. It comprised of income generated from stakes in "Dearest" by Peter Chan and "Breakup Buddies" by Ning Hao, together with the TV drama series "Bayonet Hero."
To counter the firm's losses, Alibaba said in April that it would combine two of its businesses, the Taobao Movie online ticketing system and the Yulebao production crowdfunding platform, into Alibaba Pictures.
In August, Alibaba, together with Ma's Yunfeng Capital, invested $1.2 billion in online video-streaming site Youku Tudou.
Zhang Wei holds a bachelor's degree in international organizational management from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. She continued on to pursue her MBA from Harvard University.
