According to information gathered by Tencent Tech reporter Fan Xiaodong on October 8th, Le Vision Pictures will use a strategic $200 million fund to set up a North American subsidiary in the near future to make inroads in Hollywood.
According to available data, Le Vision Pictures was established at the beginning of 2011 and belongs to LeTV Holdings. In 2013 they produced and distributed nine films earning a total of 105 billion yuan at the box office. Last June the studio signed Zhang Yimou, director of such famous Chinese films as "Hero" and "Raise the Red Lantern," to direct for them. By the end of the third quarter of 2014, Le Vision Studios had produced and distributed nine films and grossed 2 billion yuan at the box office. More films such as "The Crossing,""Shanghai Noir," and "Automata" will come out in the fourth quarter.
In August, 2013, Le Vision raised $200 million in series A financing. Shenzhen Capital Group was the main investor. Others including the Leshi Xingyun Film Culture Fund also invested. Le Vision Pictures announced this September that series B financing had raised $340 million with Hengtai Capital among those investing.
Le Vision announced their Sino-US joint film production strategy in 2013. The plan involves establishing a North American subsidiary in Los Angeles as well as a jointly funded Sino-US film and visual media intellectual property rights research and development center. The studio also has plans for joint Sino-US film production and intends to offer services such as helping the big six Hollywood studios gain access to the Chinese film market, and joint Sino-US film merchandising.
Chairman and CEO of LeTV, Jia Yueting, recently put forth his “Beijing, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley theory.” The theory states that since Beijing, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley are global drivers of innovation in the areas of the Internet, art, and technology, respectively, LeTV will establish subsidiaries in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley in order to perfect their platform, content, device, and application environment model.
This article was originally published at QQ.com. Copyright 2014.
