Fosun to invest in Studio 8, set up partnership

Fosun International Limited, one of the largest privately owned conglomerates on the Chinese mainland, announced Monday that it had signed an agreement to invest in Studio 8, a US movie production company, aiming to launch a cross-border business partnership to tap into and profit from China's burgeoning movie industry.

Fosun said in a statement that after the investment the company would distribute movies produced by Studio 8 on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Studio 8 was founded by Jeff Robinov, the former president of Warner Bros Motion Pictures Group who helped oversee some of the studio's most commercially successful and critically acclaimed movies including Argo, winner of the Oscar for Best Picture in 2013, and Gravity, which won seven Oscars in 2014, including best director.

Fosun did not reveal the exact amount of the money involved in this investment, and an e-mail seeking response did not receive an immediate reply.

The company said in the statement that it would "integrate the world's leading film and entertainment resources to build a global culture platform encompassing movies, entertainment, cultural consumption and media networks through mergers and acquisitions and equity investments."

China was the second-largest international film market in 2013, with a box office of $3.6 billion, behind the $10.9 billion market in the US and Canada, according to data released by the Motion Picture Association of America in December last year.

Yearning for more profit in China, more Chinese film companies have signed deals with their counterparts in Hollywood, Hao Xi, an analyst with Entgroup, told the Global Times on Monday. Hao's company tracks the entertainment industry in China.

"Film production techniques and marketing strategies are easy to copy, but the complete industrial chain in Hollywood, including financing services and production insurance, are what China should attempt to model," said Hao.