Relativity Media, the film studio responsible for producing Bridesmaids and The Social Network, is entering a partnership with Huaxia Film Distribution and SkyLand Film-Television Development, both Chinese companies. The move is meant to be a step toward penetrating the elusive Chinese market. Relativity is also planning a China-U.S. distribution company with a private equity firm and a Chinese media company.
Relativity chief executive Ryan Kavanaugh said on a conference call that the company’s new alliances will "help bridge these two worlds." And surely the company will need all the help they can get. Kavanaugh acknowledged the importance of working with partners that already have strong connections to the Chinese government in order for a presence in the world’s most populous nation to be viable.
Kavanaugh said in a statement that China is home to a rapidly growing film industry and Relativity’s new initiatives to tap into that market are both for bringing China to the world and the world to China. Part of the partnership deal means that Relativity will start to distribute its blockbusters in China under SkyLand’s brand.
