mm2 Asia unit, Chinese media firms to jointly invest US$25m to produce films

A UNIT of mm2 Asia Ltd will join hands with two Chinese media companies to co-invest US$25 million to co-produce five films and multiple online films over the next three years, the producer of films and TV/online content said.

mm2 Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of mm2 Asia Ltd, will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) during the 2017 ContentAsia Summit with New Culture Media Hong Kong Ltd - a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanghai New Culture Media Group Co, Ltd - and 9i Film & Television Media Co Ltd, to do so.

The group noted that online films is a format which is now immensely popular on the Chinese Internet.

It said that all parties will work together on the conceptualisation, development, production, distribution and merchandising of the said five films to maximise commercial value and audience reach.

Chang Long Jong, chief executive officer of mm2 Asia, said: "This MOU marks a new milestone in the development of our movie pipeline for the Chinese speaking markets of North Asia and South-east Asia.

"We look forward to co-developing and co-producing an exciting slate of films with our Chinese partners through this collaboration. We are committed to growing our content business in North Asia and will continue to seek such win-win partnerships to achieve our goals."

The group also said Dongfang Jiaying Television Cinema Media Share Company, which has received large investment from various Chinese entertainment industry leaders including Alibaba Pictures, has expressed interest in taking part in the collaboration, and is looking at areas such as film investment and distribution, and new media financing.

Taiwanese publicly listed post-production company, Bossdom Digiinnovation Co Ltd, also stated their interest in participating in this strategic alliance, it noted.