Ellen Eliasoph will Serve as President and CEO of Perfect Village Entertainment, Launching an Initial Slate of Feature Films to be Distributed in China and Beyond
June 20 2017 Shanghai – Perfect World Pictures, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group and WME | IMG China today announced the launch of Perfect Village Entertainment, a China-based film and television production company with global reach. In keeping with the operating philosophies of each of the partners, Perfect Village will be a creator and talent-friendly filmed entertainment label that draws upon the combined IP and brand assets, content creation and distribution capabilities of both Perfect World and Village Roadshow to create distinctive, innovative content for the China and global marketplace. WME | IMG China will provide the new venture with local support across its network of brands and licensing relationships as well as access to its global packaging, sales and distribution infrastructure.
With offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, Perfect Village will engage in the development, financing, production, marketing and distribution of a slate of feature films, animation and premium online series filmed primarily in Chinese and intended for distribution throughout Greater China and around the world.
China / Hollywood film veteran Ellen Eliasoph has been named as Perfect Village’s President and CEO. Together with her current Village Roadshow Pictures Asia staff, Ms. Eliasoph will transition to Perfect Village to form the core of the new venture’s operation, which will be based within the Perfect World headquarters in Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Perfect Village’s initial slate of films in production includes its upcoming 2017 releases, the sci-fi actioner Bleeding Steel starring Jackie Chan, and Reborn, a cyber-hacker thriller starring Chinese actors Han Geng and Rhydian Vaughan, and featuring Japanese music and television superstar Tomohisa Yamashita in his acting debut. Perfect Village’s tentpole release for calendar year 2018 will be the highly anticipated Zhang Yimou epic Shadow, now in its final month of filming, which stars Deng Chao, Sun Li, Zheng Kai, Guan Xiaotong and Wang Qianyuan.
The company also announced today that it has commenced pre-production on a live action/animated feature that will bring Hero Dog, the beloved star of one of Perfect World’s hit television shows, together with “Hollywood superstar cat” Garfield.
Other projects in development include several that, drawing upon Village Roadshow’s Australian heritage and positioning, will film in Australia’s unique locations and avail themselves of Australia’s world-class VFX and post-production capabilities. These projects will provide opportunities for WME | IMG’s clients, properties and partners to participate in the Chinese market.
Jie Lian, Chairman and CEO of Perfect World Pictures, stated “We believe that the Chinese film industry is on the brink of a new “Golden Age” of growth in which great indigenous stories and IP will be brought to screens across all platforms , utilizing world-class production techniques and resonating with audiences both in China and around the world. Finding the right partners has been a critical element of our strategy for seizing the moment. As soon as we began brainstorming with Village Roadshow and WME | IMG about what we could do together, we realized that our collective content creation capabilities and vast global network of talent relationships and distribution platforms, along with the big-picture vision and great chemistry we all share, strongly positions us to capitalize on this tremendous opportunity. We couldn’t be more thrilled to announce the launch of this partnership.”
Greg Basser, CEO of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, remarked “When we established Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Asia in 2011, we set our goals high and persevered in our belief in the Chinese marketplace with aspirations we would find partners who share our vision and values, and who are committed to building a business together for the long term. The formation of Perfect Village, in collaboration with these stellar partners, represents the fullest possible realization of our dream to build a localized film development and production operation in China creating world-class content for China and beyond.”
“Through the launch of Perfect Village, we’re looking forward to growing our role in creating and selling content within China,” remarked Michael Ma, WME | IMG China CEO. “There’s tremendous opportunity for our diverse talent and brand network to extend their reach through content tailored to Chinese audiences that we can package and sell using WME | IMG’s global network.”
The Raine Group provided strategic advice to the partners in the establishment of Perfect Village.