DMG has eye on big picture

A movie poster touts Iron Man 3, which generated global box-office revenue of about $1.2 billion.[Photo / China Daily]

Beijing-based media and entertainment company DMG Entertainment Group will maintain its steady pace of one joint production with Hollywood every year, a senior executive said.

"We will produce Transcendence in 2014," said Chen Bin, vice-president of DMG, on the sidelines of the two-day 17th Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium, which ended Thursday in Beijing.

"When cooperating with the best entertainment companies such as The Walt Disney Co and Marvel Entertainment LLC, we all feel that global cooperation and cultural integration is a trend that brings cultural and commercial success."

DMG produced the science fiction film Transcendence with Alcon Entertainment, Straight Up Films and Syncopy Films. Leading director and producer Christopher Nolan served as one of the film's producers.

Iron Man 3 co-produced by DMG, carried out in 2013 and generated global box-office revenue of about $1.2 billion.

Chen said that the company's commercial success largely derives from its open attitude to cooperation, its deep understanding of audiences and its long experience in marketing films.

DMG began as an advertising agency in the 1990s, and it began distributing foreign films in the Chinese film market in the late 2000s.

It began producing Chinese films, starting with The Founding of a Republic, in 2009. It was involved in the production of Looper, which was exhibited in 2012.

Chen said that the company considered going global the same year it entered the film sector, and it began to seek opportunities in Hollywood.

Audiences' film tastes change with the times, and it's important to keep up with these changes.

Chen added: "Culture requires the support of commerce, and we find that the appropriate use of advertising can be a good way to lower business risks."

Chen said the company's next joint production, which he didn't identify, would cost more than 100 million yuan.

Last year, box-office revenue in China hit $2.8 billion. In the first six months of this year, it was about $1.8 billion. PricewaterhouseCoopers has forecast that box-office revenues in China will hit $5.5 billion by 2017.

The nation has about 15,000 movie screens, and it adds five to 10 each day.