SHANGHAI: Walt Disney Co plans to expand a partnership with state-owned Shanghai Media Group to include co-production of movies along with development, distribution and marketing of television shows.
The alliance will boost local content creation for international markets and create new business models in digital and conventional media, said Li Ruigang, Shanghai Media chairman, in a joint statement with Disney yesterday.
The companies extended their 15-year relationship in March to develop Disney-branded movies together for China.
Disney is boosting its business in the country to challenge rivals, including Time Warner Inc and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc, as growing incomes and consumer spending spur demand for movies and television.
Box office receipts surged 27 per cent to US$3.6 billion (RM12 billion) last year in China, data from the Motion Picture Association of America shows. The country is the world’s largest movie market after the United States.
Walt Disney is also close to registering a Chinese joint venture to expand families’ and kids’ digital choices, it said yesterday. Bloomberg