Alibaba Pictures pledges fund for young filmmakers1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteZhou Tong, in his early 20s, so far had only his girlfriend’s moral support and his mother’s money to make short films on tight budgets.
But now he thinks Chinese filmmakers, especially aspiring ones, may see better days.
Zhou’s confidence comes from Alibaba Pictures’ recent announcement that it will provide 1 billion yuan ($158 million) in funds for young filmmakers in the next three years.
Designed to help both domestic and foreign filmmakers, the company named its effort Project A, according to Zhang Qiang, CEO, Alibaba Pictures.
The funds are open to Chinese and foreign filmmakers age 45 or below. The project includes work opportunities under three mentors: Anthony LaMolinara, who won an Oscar for special effects in 2005 for Spider-Man 2; Renny Harlin, the director of Die Hard 2; and Zhang Yibai, a popular Chinese director known for his college romance Fleet of Time.
“We hope to nurture our own directors of blockbuster films by first letting them work with masters on coproductions,” Zhang Qiang said at a press conference in Beijing. “In series movies, we could probably produce the third, fourth installments on our own after the apprenticeship.”
Read the full article here>> via China Daily
Image: China Daily
