Huayi Brothers looks to beef up Hollywood stock

China lacks it, and Hollywood has it. But the two need each other's help.

That's one of the conclusions of Jerry Ye, who was hired as CEO of the film division of Huayi Brothers, one of China's largest film companies and now a major player in Hollywood after signing a three-year deal in 2015 with STX Entertainment to make a minimum of 24 movies before the end of 2017.

Since the signing, STX has released The Gift, a psychological thriller starring Jason Bateman and Joel Edgerton, which fared well with critics and beat box office expectations.

Beijing-based Huayi plans to co-finance and distribute up to eight English-language films a year, each with a budget of $60 million, according to CNBC. It also wants to produce several $100 million big-budget titles, CNBC reported. Ye said in an interview with Hollywood Reporter in May that Huayi is in discussions to make further investments in Hollywood, but he did not disclose details.

China lacks experience in making films for global distribution and Hollywood has a much more developed production and distribution mechanisms, Ye told the Hollywood Reporter.

"As we go international, we are starting from scratch, too. It's very important for Huayi to be able to engage in the whole process, from development to production to distribution, so that we can bring these mechanisms back to China," he said.

But where the US market may face challenges in shifting demographics and changing technologies, China is the "engine of the future for world film" because it has an audience that loves watching movies on the big screen, and the two countries need each other's help, he said.

Ye said that Hollywood also needs direct and frank information about the China market because it is so big.

STX was a good choice for a partnership because the company is a small one, compared to the studio giants in Hollywood, he said, adding that Huayi's relationship with STX reflects the "real cooperation" between the US and China.

Dennis Wang, chairman and CEO of Huayi, told CNBC in an interview in April, "So many American companies are coming to China, taking a certain percentage of our market share, yet they can still deliver billions of dollars of box office back home. I think companies like Huayi and Wanda do have the capital and experience to make English movies."

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com