Written by new-contact on Mar 7, 2014. Posted in On Location

Pinewood Studios makes deal to advise on new Chinese filming facility in Shandong

Pinewood Studios has made a deal to advise on the design of the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis, a new filming facility being built in the Shandong region of eastern China. The consultancy service agreement is with the Dalian Wanda Group, which plans to open the new studio in 2016.

First announced in September last year in a star-studded ceremony, the new studio facility represents an USD8.2 billion investment. It will offer sound stages, workshops, themed back lots and post-production resources and will be one of the largest filming facilities in China.

“We’re delighted to be working with Wanda on the design of the visionary Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis project, which we hope will be another successful step in our growing relationship with the Chinese film industry,” commented Pinewood Studios Chief Executive Officer Ivan Dunleavy.

Added Dalian Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin: “Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis will be the most advanced movie studio with the largest investment of the world."

We’re delighted to be working with Wanda on the design of the visionary Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis project.

Ivan Dunleavy, Chief Executive Officer of Pinewood Studios

"Wanda has invited the best companies and talents of the world to develop this project," he added: "I believe that with its opening in 2016, it will become one of the major centres of the movie industry in the world.”

In other Chinese industry news, Walt Disney Studios has made a deal with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) Pictures to co-develop Disney-branded feature films as co-productions between the US and China. Under the deal, US and Chinese writers will work together to create Disney films with distinct Chinese elements that will qualify as co-productions and will be distributed internationally.

“The combination of our media coverage and understanding of the China market and Disney's long-standing success in telling magical stories will surely spark a brand new chemistry that transcends age and borders,” said SMG Pictures Chief Executive Officer Su Xiao.

Studios in the US are increasingly pursuing Chinese co-production status for big-budget feature films in order to bypass the country’s tight annual quotas on international releases. Transformers: Age of Extinction is among the latest US studio movies to film partly on location in Hong Kong and mainland China through a deal with China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises.

(Transformers photo: Paramount Pictures/Michael Bay)