You are viewing the archive: “Bruno Wu”

Cannes: Bruno Wu & Pierre-Ange Le Pogam Kick Up Angel Storm Joint Venture

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 11:56am PDTTags: Bruno Wu, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Stone Angels

Over the course of a busy 15 months, Chinese media mogul Bruno Wu has announced a series of joint ventures and projects with Hollywood and UK partners. His latest announcement is a tie-up with French producer Pierre-Ange Le Pogam (Grace Of Monaco). The pair’s Angel Storm will look to make action-based Euro-Chinese co-productions and franchises. Here’s the release:

Cannes – May 17, 2013 – Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Entertainment has formed a joint venture with French film mogul and producer Pierre-Ange Le Pogam (Grace of Monaco, Hitman) and his company Stone Angels to form Angel Storm, which will develop and produce action-based European-Chinese co-productions and franchises. The first two projects identified are SHANGHAI, which will start production early next year and TRIANGLE. READ MORE »

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Justin Lin & Bruno Wu’s Perfect Storm Form TV Division; Hires Former FX Exec Danielle Woodrow To Run

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday April 24, 2013 @ 12:20pm PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Bruno Wu, Danielle Woodrow, Justin Lin, Perfect Storm Entertainment

Perfect Storm Entertainment has added a television division to its company and brought aboard former FX executive Danielle Woodrow to run it. Formed last March as a joint venture by Fast & The Furious 6 … Read More »

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Pinewood To Dig Into China With Bruno Wu; Will Mogul’s Latest Deal Bear Fruit?

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday April 17, 2013 @ 2:33am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Bruno Wu, China, Pinewood Shepperton Film Studios

The UK’s Pinewood Shepperton is the latest Western outfit to hook up with Chinese media mogul Bruno Wu via a joint-venture to finance and produce content in China for the global market. The 50/50 partnership with Wu’s Seven Stars Media Limited will be called Song Lin (Pinewood in Chinese) with each side initially putting up $1M for R&D on local business proposals. Those include co-production opportunities; training courses to be given by British institutions in Beijing and other cities; financing and related services for local productions; film-themed entertainment venues in Shanghai and regionally; and film-themed projects in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan. A UK chairman will be appointed.

This is the most recent announcement involving Wu in what’s been a busy 14 months. In February 2012, he burst onto Hollywood’s radar with plans for an $800M media and investment fund and subsequently formed a joint-venture with Fast Five helmer Justin Lin for a slate of films. He also outlined plans to build entertainment and media hub Chinawood in Tianjin with an investment of over $1.27B. Wu was then in Cannes to say he would back the John H. Lee remake of John Woo’s The Killer and in December hooked up with Avi Arad’s Arad Productions to develop superhero franchise properties inspired by Chinese history and mythology, starting with Rise Of The Terracotta Warriors. Those films along with Gong Li-starrer The Last Empress are in development.

Some industry insiders both in China and in Hollywood have been skeptical of Wu and his ambitious announcements, which so far don’t appear to have produced much tangible output. However, he is understood to be “incredibly well-connected politically” which foreigners believe cannot hurt in a territory like China, where the government retains a tight grip on the media. Read More »

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Bruno Wu, Avi Arad Form Joint Venture; Duo To Produce ‘Rise Of The Terracotta Warriors’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday December 11, 2012 @ 10:21am PSTTags: Bruno Wu

Beijing/Los Angeles, December 11, 2012: Seven Stars Entertainment, led by Chairman Bruno Wu, will form a joint venture with prolific producer Avi Arad (The Amazing Spider Man, Iron Man) and his company Arad Productions, to develop superhero franchise properties which encompass live-action tent pole feature films, animated television series, and ultimately growing into merchandising, various digital platforms, and mobile applications. All of the stories are inspired by Chinese history and mythology. The first project, RISE OF THE TERRACOTTA WARRIORS is based on an original story idea by Arad and inspired by the history and mythology behind China’s legendary Terracotta Army sculptures which were created to protect China’s first emperor in his afterlife.

“Avi is a copious producer of fantasy, superheroes and sci-fi as well as one of the world’s top toy designers,” said Bruno Wu. “I think it’s important to provide the next generation with role models and Avi is the ideal partner to bring this Chinese myth to life in a multi media environment, including a major Chinese-US co-production tent pole movie.”

Avi Arad added: “Bruno and I share an affinity for Chinese history and culture and his knowledge will help guide me through this fascinating world of Chinese mythology. We are excited to introduce a new set of superheroes and other wonders of the world in a contemporary way to the Chinese youth and audiences around the world.”

Wu and Arad will serve as producers on the projects and Alexandra Bland from Arad Productions will executive produce. The deal was negotiated by Fred Milstein, Chief Executive Officer of Seven Stars Entertainment, on behalf of the company.

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Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars To Back U.S.-China Co-Production ‘The Last Empress’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday July 10, 2012 @ 11:56am PDTTags: Bruno Wu, Seven Stars Film Studios, The Last Empress

Related: Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Partners With Jake Eberts In Allied Productions East

Beijing/Los Angeles, July 10, 2012: Seven Stars Film Studios (“SSFS”), a subsidiary of Seven Stars Entertainment Group led by Chairman Bruno Wu, announced today that SSFS will be the lead investor in a China-US co-production of The Last Empress. This epic English-language feature will bring together an Oscar-winning® team including producer Jake Eberts (GANDHI, DRIVING MISS DAISY, DANCES WITH WOLVES), writer Mr. Shen Yuhe (TOWARDS REPUBLIC) with producer Jeremy Thomas (THE LAST EMPEROR) as a consultant.

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Bruno Wu To Finance John Woo-Produced Remake Of ‘The Killer’: Cannes

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday May 18, 2012 @ 3:25am PDTTags: Bruno Wu, John Woo

(Cannes) May 18, 2012 –– Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Film Studios (SSFS) has agreed to finance John Woo and Terence Chang’s Lion Rock Productions ‘THE KILLER’, the English language retelling of John Woo’s iconic 1989 action film. John H. Lee (A MOMENT TO REMEMBER, 71: INTO THE FIRE) will direct the script by Josh Campbell (ONE SQUARE MILE). Sarah Yan Li, China’s most promising rising star, will co-star in the thriller. Additionally, Li is a top graduate from China Central Academy of Performing Arts, China’s top performing art academy, and was recently selected as the spokesperson of China’s leading automaker Brilliance Automobile. Li is repped by CAA.

Lion Rock’s John Woo and Terence Chang will produce alongside Lion Rock’s Lori Tilkin, who will executive produce. Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars will finance the film which begins filming Q4 2012 in Toronto. Seven Stars’ CEO Fred Milstein closed the deal prior to Cannes.

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Financier Fred Milstein Lands Key Roles At Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 7, 2012 @ 2:55pm PDTTags: Bruno Wu, Seven Stars Film Studios

Beijing/Hong Kong/Los Angeles, May 7, 2012: Bruno Wu, CEO Harvest Seven Stars Media Private Equity (HSSMPE) and Chairman of Seven Stars Global Entertainment (SSGE), the parent company of Seven Stars Film Studios (SSFS), today announced that Fred Milstein will become President, International, HSSMPE and Chief Executive Officer of Seven Stars Film Studios (SSFS), with immediate effect.

Milstein will be based in Los Angeles and will bring his considerable experience as a pioneer in finance and filmed entertainment to the East/West remit of HSSMPE and SSFS, with an oversight on all of their investment strategy and joint ventures outside of China. Milstein will report to Bruno Wu, Harvest’s Lindsay Wright and the HSSMPE board of directors.

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Bruno Wu Sets Chinawood: China-Based Media Hub For Hollywood

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Sunday April 29, 2012 @ 6:25pm PDTTags: Bruno Wu
Mike Fleming

Beijing/Los Angeles, April 30th, 2012: Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Entertainment and the Government of the Binhai New Area, Tianjin, today announced the establishment of the “Chinawood Global Services Base”, the largest filmed entertainment and media hub in China. Targeted at the US led Global industry, with an investment of over US$1.27billion/RMB 8billion across an area of eight hundred thousand square meters, “Chinawood” will be the headquarters for a large number of financial, technical and creative companies involved in the Global media world. Significantly, with around 35% of the investment earmarked for film financing, it will play a major role as a base for Chinese co-productions with North America, Europe and other countries across the Asia Pacific. The initial build comprising of 35,000 square meters of offices is nearing completion and will open in October 2012.

“Chinawood” will dramatically benefit Chinese co-productions but, equally, US production partners as recognised co-productions between the two are exempt from Chinese import quotas (currently 34 per annum), opening up the market to US filmmakers, whilst also building up a global infrastructure and opportunities for Chinese filmmakers, talent and financiers eager to invest in mainstream, commercial and tent-pole movies.

Co-productions receive a far greater share of the Chinese box-office than do the films qualifying under the import quota, at circa 41%-$44% instead of only up to 25%.

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Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Partners With Jake Eberts In Allied Productions East

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday March 27, 2012 @ 10:00am PDTTags: Bruno Wu
Mike Fleming

Related: Seven Stars Forms Joint Venture With ‘Fast Five’ Helmer Justin Lin

Beijing/Los Angeles, March 27, 2012: Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Film Studios has signed its second joint venture to create Allied Productions East with financier/producer Jake Eberts (‘GANDHI’, ‘DRIVING MISS DAISY’, ‘DANCES WITH WOLVES’, ‘A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT’, ‘CHICKEN RUN’).

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Bruno Wu’s China-Based Seven Stars Forms Joint Venture With ‘Fast Five’ Helmer Justin Lin

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday March 19, 2012 @ 11:24am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Bruno Wu, Justin Lin
Mike Fleming

Related:
Is Peter Loehr Joining Bruno Wu’s $800M Film Fund?
Chinese Create $800M Entertainment Fund

Justin Lin Fast Five Bruno WuBeijing/Los Angeles, March 19th, 2012: Bruno Wu’s Seven Stars Film Studios has signed a joint venture with acclaimed director Justin Lin (‘BETTER LUCK TOMORROW’, ‘FAST AND FURIOUS: FAST FIVE’) to form Perfect Storm Entertainment.

Justin Lin will partner with Bruno Wu: Chairman of Seven Stars Global Entertainment (SSGE), the parent company of Seven Stars Film Studios; and CEO of Harvest Seven Stars Media Private Equity Ltd (HSSMPEG) to create a slate of films.

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Peter Loehr Leaving CAA Beijing Office; Joining Bruno Wu’s $800M Film Fund?

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday March 15, 2012 @ 6:47pm PDTTags: Bruno Wu, CAA, Harvest Seven Stars Media Fund, Peter Loehr
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Loehr, who has been head of CAA’s Beijing office since it opened in 2005, will be leaving the agency. I’m hearing that he’s in talks to join Bruno Wu, the Chinese entrepreneur who last month unveiled a plan … Read More »

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UPDATE: Chinese Create $800M Fund To Invest In Global, Local Entertainment

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday February 6, 2012 @ 4:04am PSTTags: Bruno Wu, CAA, Harvest Seven Stars Media Fund

UPDATE, 4:04 AM: The official press release from Harvest Seven Stars Media Fund detailing its investment areas is below.

PREVIOUS, 2:56 AM: Last month, I reported on a group of Chinese investors said to be “scouring” Hollywood for acquisitions. That consortium, led by Chinese media entrepreneur Bruno Wu along with Harvest Global Investment and Pacific Alliance Group, was eyeing a big target after holding preliminary talks with Summit ahead of its acquisition by Lionsgate. Companies thought to be in the consortium’s sights included Lionsgate and Miramax. Today, The New York Times reports that Wu and his wife Yang Lan, a well-known Chinese TV personality, are joining Harvest Fund Management via their Sun Media Group to create Harvest Seven Stars Media Private Equity, an $800 million fund to invest in existing entertainment companies, provide backing for filmmakers and build a distribution system in China and elsewhere.

China is booming right now amid a 30% surge in box office in 2011 and expectations that receipts will reach $5 billion in the next few years. According to the Times report, Wu said he and his partners are eager to bring blockbuster-style films into China by participating in big-scale co-productions. And, Wu’s not ruling out a Reliance-like investment in a Hollywood company. Asked if the new fund would back a company as big as DreamWorks, the media entrepreneur answered in a word, “Yes.” The NYT says CAA is advising the fund via its Beijing office with several deals with producers nearing completion. “The goal is pretty straightforward; it’s to make a maximum return, of course, for the investors,” Wu told the newspaper. Read More »

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Chinese Investors Seek Big Hollywood Acquisitions, But Who’s The Target?

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday January 23, 2012 @ 2:02pm PSTTags: Bruno Wu, Legendary East, Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment

Amid Hollywood’s efforts to push into China comes word of a Chinese investor group that’s “scouring” Hollywood for companies to buy. After holding preliminary talks with Summit prior to its acquisition by Lionsgate, a consortium led by Chinese media entrepreneur … Read More »

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