U.S.-China Film Summit to be Held in L.A. this November

As Hollywood scales new box-office heights in China and Chinese investors and creative talent deepen their roles in Hollywood, Asia Society Southern California presents its Fifth Annual U.S.-China Film Summit on Tuesday, November 5, 2014. The highly anticipated event, the flagship of the Asia Society's Entertainment and Media in Asia (EMASIA) series, will take place at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST, followed by a Gala Dinner.

Featuring five insightful panel discussions, this year's timely Summit will focus on trends in U.S.-Chinese co-production and examine new dynamics in cross-border entertainment, including film finance, development of television programs and the rapid convergence of old and new media in China. THE SUMMIT has more supporting organizations and partner events than ever.

The program will also feature individual presentations by, among others:

· Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, which this week announced a $200 million investment in Studio 8. He will deliver a keynote address on the future of Chinese capital in Hollywood.

· Charles Rivkin, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs and former CEO of Jim Henson Company, who will deliver opening remarks.

· Miao Xiaotian, President of the China Film Co-Production Corporation, who will participate in a luncheon conversation.

"Our broad program scope, roster of top-flight speakers and history of cutting-edge programming distinguish Asia Society Southern California's EMASIA Film Summit as the premier event for Hollywood and Chinese film-industry leaders," said Thomas E. McLain, chairman of Asia Society Southern California and an attorney at Arnold & Porter LLP.

"As Hollywood and China grow closer with ever increasing velocity, a new, game-changing phenomenon - the nexus of traditional entertainment and new media - has fully entered the picture," added Peter Shiao, chairman of THE SUMMIT and CEO of Orb Media Group. "The fusing of technology and content and the movement of entrepreneurial companies, capital and creativity between the U.S and China mark our themes for the 2014 U.S.-China Film Summit. The global industry is at an inflection point, and THE SUMMIT is on the leading edge of that conversation this year."

The Summit's panel discussion lineup and partial list of speakers bear this out:

"Transformers and Beyond: Inside the process of creating U.S.-Chinese tentpole films" will be moderated by Janet Yang, producer of The Joy Luck Club, among other films, and will include Peter Loehr, CEO, Legendary East, a unit of the company that produced GODZILLA and Pacific Rim, and Han Wei, producer, most recently, of The Sun and the Moon.

"New Players: Fresh forces in cross-border finance" will be moderated by Hugo Shong, chairman, IDG Greater China, and founder of IDG Capital partners, China's first technology venture-capital firm. The panel includes Rafael Fogel, partner, Falcon Investment Advisors, Tang Xiao Min of China Culture Industrial Investment Fund and a senior executive from Bison Capital Holdings.

"Serial Dreams: Opportunities and challenges for developing episodic programs for broadcast TV or digital distribution" will be moderated by Stephen Saltzman, partner, Loeb & Loeb, and feature panelist Zhou Yuan, former executive of Shanghai Media Group, Kristian Kender, business development director at China Media Management, and Larry Namer of the Metan Development Group.

"Content Convergence: How BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) are changing the world" will be moderated by Peter Shiao, CEO, Orb Media Group, and feature Liu Chun-ning, president of Alibaba YuleBao, Gong Yu, CEO of Baidu/iQiyi, and a senior executive from Tencent.

"The C-Suite View: Big-picture strategies for U.S.-China film" will be moderated by Bennett Pozil, executive vice president and head of corporate banking at East West Bank. Panelists include Brian Goldsmith, co-COO, Lionsgate Entertainment, and Yu Dong, CEO of Bona Film Group.

Additional panelists and the Gala Awards Dinner honorees will be announced soon.

THE SUMMIT is presented in cooperation with Association of Film Commissioners international, Australians in Film, CAPE (The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), China Film Co-Production Corporation, China Hollywood Society, Hong Kong Association of Southern California, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Motion Picture Association of America, Producers Guild of America, USC US- China Institute, and Women in Film. Our partner events, which offer more ways to connect with the film industry, are the American Film Market, the largest motion picture trade event in the western hemisphere, and the China Onscreen Biennial, a two-week Chinese film program organized by UCLA.

To purchase tickets and for additional information on the Summit, please visit: http://asiasociety.org/us-china-film-summit.