Disney Makes Deeper Inroads in China
The Walt Disney Company in China, the Ministry of Culture’s China Animation Group, and Tencent, China’s internet service provider, have formed a partnership, “The National Animation Creative Research and Development Cooperation.”
It aims to advance the country’s animation industry. The organization, announced at a signing ceremony in Beijing today, April 10, will serve as an incubator to train local talent and develop original content that will entertain audiences in China and worldwide.
[ Also Read: China: New Battleground for PepsiCo and Coca-Cola ]“The National Animation Creative Research and Development initiative is focused on nurturing local talent and recognizes the importance of developing original local animation content,” said Andy Bird, chairman of Walt Disney International.
Mr. Bird was joined at the ceremony by Liang Gang, chairman of the Board for China Animation Group, Ren Yuxin, a senior executive of Tencent, and Gao Zheng, deputy director general, Cultural Industry Department for the Ministry of Culture.
As part of the initiative, Disney will provide its expertise in storytelling from concept creation and story development to market research.
Disney will work with the China Animation Group and Tencent to foster local content across mediums, including television, motion pictures and digital platforms, for distribution in China and internationally. Tencent will provide online marketing support.
