Overseas online market a boon for Chinese content providers

McGurk also says that with leading studios often more focused on their big-budget movies targeting global markets and small firms short of resources, medium-sized distributors are probably the best option for Chinese content makers seeking alliances.

Meanwhile, surveys show that Chinese content makers can expect growth beyond theaters.

The online market for streaming content has been approximately $22 billion a year in the United States for a couple of years now, says McGurk.

Supporting the view that the online market is a new opportunity, Bill Sondheim, president of Cinedigm's Entertainment Group, who was alongside McGurk at the ongoing Beijing International Film Festi-val, says: "It's a mistake to look at the American market as just box-office takings. The online market is almost twice the size of the theater market in the US.

"For a Chinese filmmaker, if you want to look at the potential of the American market, you need to look at the entirety. In the US, we have had theaters for a very long time. But now we are getting into the streaming world," he adds.

For now, Cinedigm plans to enter strategic alliances with six Chinese movie and television companies.

And so far, the Los Angeles-headquartered Cinedigm, which has a distribution net covering 60,000 digital and retail storefronts and over 93 percent of connected devices in North America, has already distributed more than 600 Chinese films and TV shows in North America, including Feng Xiaogang's Aftershock; the Ip Man franchise, starring Donnie Yen; and Shock Wave, starring Andy Lau.

Speaking about the deal and how Cinedigm can help, McGurk says: "By analyzing data from all of these (Cinedigm) sources, we have deep knowledge about what audiences want to see, and about when and where they want to see it. Now, we want to bring that expertise to the Chinese entertainment industry."