Hollywood visual effects master to set up filmmaking center in Beijing

American filmmaker John Hughes speaks at a signing ceremony in Beijing, April 19, 2016. [Photo/chinanew.com]

American filmmaker John Hughes, who has led his colleagues to win six Oscars and been responsible for visual effects in some 100 Hollywood movies, plans to set up a filmmaking center in Beijing.

Hughes signed an agreement with the administrative committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area on April 19, marking the official launch of a visual effects company and visual arts center, both named after him, in Yizhuang of Daxing district in the southeastern suburbs of Beijing.

Dubbing himself a "white-collar worker", Hughes has been learning Chinese for five consecutive years and even has a Chinese name - Zhang Chi.

Today's filmmaking is an integration of art and technology, and a strong technological background is a must-have, he said.

Hughes expressed his hope that the Beijing filmmaking center will bring US technologies into China and promote Chinese movies on the international market.

So far, his Beijing visual effects company has finished registration procedures and will begin with visual effects making, visual product development, education/training, as well as virtual reality-related hardware, software and content development, he said.

The art center will be co-funded by Hughes' Beijing company and FTC Global, a leading venture incubator. They will work to build a filmmaking ecosystem covering early development, content, post-production, visual effects, education/training, and financial services. The center will also serve as a bridge to facilitate cooperation between Beijing and Hollywood in film and TV.

Liang Sheng, director of the administrative committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, welcomed the move, saying the project will help improve the overall capability of Yizhuang's technology-oriented cultural industry.

Hughes and his colleagues have won the Academy Visual Effects and Scientific & Technical Awards six times. They grabbed the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Life of Pi in 2013. Other movies they have worked on include The Golden Compass, Batman, The Fast and the Furious, The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter film series.

They were also responsible for HD production of Germany's Harry Potter theme park, as well as animation software development for DreamWorks and Walt Disney.