Fosun invests in Hollywood Studio 8 to cooperate with Ang Lee on new film layout industry chain

Fosun's introduction of the Hollywood film industry system is not limited to a single content research and development and production process. "We are as always optimistic about the cultural industry for a long time and have already laid out the layout of the industrial chain." Fosun's introduction of the Hollywood film industry system is not limited to a single content research and development and production process. "We are as always optimistic about the cultural industry for a long time and have already laid out the layout of the industrial chain."

Original title: Fosun invests in Studio8 to collaborate with Ang Lee on

a new film On the evening of June 10, on the eve of the official opening of the Shanghai International Film Festival, the "Fosun & Studio 8 Shanghai Night" was held in Shanghai. Fosun Group Chairman Guo Guangchang, Studio8 founder and CEO Jeff Robinov, and director Ang Lee made a joint appearance. The three parties will cooperate on a series of new film projects next. The details of the new film are still confidential.

Fosun Group is a large-scale cross-disciplinary investment group in China. It has just completed an investment of US$1 billion in Studio8, which is the largest investment made by a China investor in a Hollywood production company. Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun Group, said in his speech: "We respect Studio8's 'craftsman spirit' and appreciate their meticulous and affectionate approach to content production. So we have seen Studio8 develop steadily in the past two years. We believe that with the joint cooperation of Fosun and the joint efforts of many friends like Director Ang Lee who support our development, we will definitely be able to bring everyone something that screams and keeps reminiscing in the future."

Jeff Robinov, founder and CEO of Studio8, also introduced the project progress of Studio8 in the two years since its establishment. Currently, there are more than 30 films in the research and development process, and TV series works are still being developed. Jeff Robinoff was president of Warner Bros. and served in management for 17 years. He has directed "Batman","Harry Potter" series,"Inception" and other influential works.

Fosun's introduction of the Hollywood film industry system is not limited to a single content research and development and production process. "We are as always optimistic about the cultural industry for a long time and have already laid out the layout of the industrial chain." Huang Jingyan, managing director of Fosun Group's film and television investment department, said,"In the film and television production process, we took the lead in investing in Studio8 with Sony Pictures. Studio8's first play was" Half Time Without War "in cooperation with Director Ang Lee. It is expected to be released in North America on November 11 this year; in the film and television distribution and screening process, we initiated the privatization of Bona and cooperated closely with Shanghai Film Group." Fosun is committed to building a world-class IP in the film industry. It also covers the film and television artists and fan economies, and further opens up all aspects such as production, distribution, screening and derivatives.

Huang Jingyan also said: "In the future, Fosun will continue to consolidate 'IP content + fan economy + commercial monetization'. You will see that Fosun has created world-class IP through big directors, which has given its film and television works many opportunities for commercial success: first, sales through theaters, second, secondary sales such as online video playback and on-demand, and third, Derivative product economy. We are very optimistic about the New Third Board or the Hong Kong market and believe that there is a lot of room for development in the future."

Unfortunately, the latest achievement of the three-party cooperation,"Half of War" directed by Ang Lee, has not yet been fully produced and will not be unveiled at the Shanghai Film Festival. The series of new film projects they will cooperate on next are still confidential. Let's wait and see.

Fosun: Ang Lee was not moved by too much money.

On June 10, reporters talked to Jeff, founder and CEO of Studio8. Robinov and Huang Jingyan, general manager of Fosun Group's film, television and entertainment business unit, chatted about the story behind their "three strands of rope twisted together" with Ang Lee. Unfortunately, Ang Lee's next new film plans after "Half Time Without War" will not be announced during this Shanghai Film Festival, but one thing is certain that Ang Lee's new film will still be an international film, facing the global market. The participation of China investors will not change Ang Lee's creative freedom.

[The origin of the three-party cooperation between Ang Lee, Studio8, and Fosun]

Fosun invested US$1 billion in S8. It hit it off with Ang Lee because of the same concept

. Previously, Ang Lee had cooperated with various major traditional Hollywood studios, but in the new film "Half Time Without War" In the production list, we found Studio8 (hereinafter referred to as S8). S8 is a young Hollywood production company. Its founder, Jeff Robinoff, was the president of Warner Group. He has led a series of high-quality works such as the Batman trilogy, The Hangover, Inception, Escape from Tehran, Gravity, etc. Although Jeff Robinov and Ang Lee have never worked together, they have always had a good personal relationship (Ang Lee's son Li Chun once starred in "Hangover 2"). Coupled with the fact that China Fosun Group has recently become a major shareholder of S8 and invited Ang Lee to cooperate, a three-party alliance was reached.

"It took us a long time to find partners. We compared about 10 proposals, and Jeff Robinoff's understanding of the industry, his industry experience, and our comparison of some data are much higher than the industry level. At the end of 2014, we signed a US$1 billion debt + stock contract with S8, 250 million in equity and 750 million in debt. This is equivalent to a credit limit. They can be used for all investments. This amount is unprecedented in the history of investing in Hollywood production companies." Huang Jingyan, a senior executive of Fosun Group, told reporters. As a large cross-disciplinary investment group, investing in S8 is their largest investment in the film industry to date. In turn, S8 is also very positive about Fosun. Jeff said that Fosun is like Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and its management is trustworthy.

On the one hand, he has completed a huge investment in the S8, on the other hand, Huang Jingyan is also moving An Lee with sincerity. She flew to New York several times and had long face-to-face talks with Ang Lee at the dinner table. Finally, she confirmed that their film concepts were completely consistent, so she established a relationship of trust: "Director Ang Lee's artistic concepts are very advanced, and every film has new breakthroughs. It is consistent with what we are looking for and is also a three-time Oscar winner. We met him late and hit it off." As a result, S8, Fosun and An Lee all connected each other.

[What can Fosun and Studio8 provide for Ang Lee?]

Using investment to open up upstream and downstream industrial chains, directors can concentrate on creative

work. Different from the situation when he relied on "counseling funds" to make films, today's An Lee has become the target of film capital chasing, especially in the context of such an active domestic capital market. Regarding the question of how to impress Ang Lee, Huang Jingyan answered three reasons: "First, we have a long-term cooperation and don't look at the success or failure of a single film. We don't want to make popcorn movies, but want to make a visual experience and interpret something in it; second, both of us have good and professional teams and will not feel like working for each other; third, what An Lee himself wants to do may not be the most important thing, but also depends on the resources behind it."

"Some of Lee's film concepts need resource support, such as his ideas for theaters, ideas for technology, ideas for art films, and ideas for derivatives. Only we can help him because Fosun is very big, with Cirque du Soleil, resort centers, and fashion brands. We can help Ang Lee form a good ecological environment. Domestic box office is now the main revenue source, but in the United States, online on demand, DVDs, derivatives, theme parks, etc. are." Fosun Group has also invested in Bona Films before. As an investment group with strong strength, using capital to open up upstream and downstream industrial chains is also their unique strength.

"We want directors to specialize in artistic creation without having to involve their energy in more things. The system in the United States is very complete, but it is not enough in China. Directors must not only be directors, but also be producers, casting assistant directors, etc. I hope to establish an open platform to allow more talented directors to come in and help them realize their dreams. What I admire most is Disney. The huge kingdom it has created is difficult to defeat." Huang Jingyan said.

[What will Ang Lee's new film look like?]

It will not be announced at the Shanghai Film Festival for the time being.

Jeff Robinov, CEO of international film S8, revealed that S8 and Ang Lee had discussed a project before and entered "Half of War" a year ago. Now they are talking about a new project, but it will not be announced during the Shanghai Film Festival. If there is news, you will be told later.

Therefore, fans who wish to see Uncle An's new film first, you may be disappointed. This year's Shanghai Film Festival will neither show any new films by Ang Lee nor announce what he plans to shoot after establishing cooperation with China investors. Huang Jingyan said that Fosun's investment does not mean that Ang Lee will speed up the development of films themed in China. Ang Lee will still shoot international films; as an investor, Fosun cares not about the domestic box office of the film, but the global box office results. In Jeff's view,"The more practitioners and investment in China's film industry, the more changes will be made to the products, and it will have greater production and better visual effects. The differences between China's local films, films produced by China and American films will become increasingly blurred."

So, what exactly is an "international movie"? For example, Jeff said that the next movie in S8 is called "The Solutrean", which has an international aesthetic and a universal story. The creator even created a language specifically for the movie, similar to "Avatar" or "The Lord of the Rings". Every country requires subtitle translation. For every country, it is a "foreign language film" and tells the story of a little boy and a wolf.

S8 is a new company. Unlike the old Hollywood studios, which have many brands and IPs. How will S8 go in the future? "We want to build our own IP, rather than chasing existing IP. Like" Matrix "and" Inception ", we need to have original ideas. So we want to work with writer directors. A lot of the ideas come from filmmakers to make a movie from scratch." It is understood that S8 now aims to release six films globally every year.

How does S8 plan to retain a great director like Ang Lee and maintain a long-term cooperative relationship? Jeff revealed: "When I was at Warner, I wanted to create an environment where filmmakers wanted to come in: to give support, share the same vision as filmmakers, and help them create the movies they wanted to make. It was a great experience and they were all willing to come. The key is to talk in the way of artists, understand their vision, and help them implement it."

Editor: yvette