DreamWorks plans attraction in Xuhui
DreamWorks Animation and several Chinese partners plan to build a 20-billion-yuan ($3.14 billion) film-focused attraction called the Dream Center at the Xuhui riverside by 2016, the company announced Tuesday with the local government at a joint press conference.
The Dream Center is part of a series of projects that DreamWorks Studios and its partners are undertaking in Shanghai under a new China-based joint venture, Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Company.
The California-based film studio holds a 45 percent stake in the new company, which has an initial investment of $330 million, according to Xinhua News Agency. The remaining 55 percent of the company is split between the local government and DreamWorks' other Chinese partners: China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment.
The Dream Center will be built on an 8.4-kilometer swath of the Xuhui riverside on the western bank of the Huangpu River in Xuhui district, said Sun Jiwei, Party secretary of Xuhui district. The local government hopes to turn the area into a cultural and entertainment center in the mold of Broadway in New York City and the West End in London. The center will feature the world's largest IMAX screen and a number of cinemas, cultural creative enterprises, restaurants and tourist attractions.
Chief among the joint venture's projects is a new animation studio that will be headquartered in the same area as the Dream Center. Oriental DreamWorks aims to bring in thousands of animation professionals to the city, according to a news release from the local government. The studio will focus on film and television production.
"The Chinese movie market is expanding by more than 30 percent every year, so Oriental DreamWorks could help the film industry expand at an even faster pace," said Zhang Pimin, vice minister of the State Administration of Radio Film and Television.
As one of the largest international investment projects in China, Oriental DreamWorks will help produce the third installment of DreamWorks' popular movie franchise, Kung Fu Panda. The company also plans to create its own feature-length animated film in 2017, a year after the scheduled release of Kung Fu Panda 3. After the release of its first movie, Oriental DreamWorks plans to produce one to three films per year.
The studio will combine elements of Chinese culture with DreamWorks' cutting edge production technology, said Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG. "Without question, China has what is needed to make a great animated film. This is a perfect fit for us at DreamWorks," he said at the press conference.
Katzenberg denied that there would be competition between the Dream Center and the Disneyland theme park in the city, which is expected to open in 2015. "The Dream Center is a very creative and unique culture entertainment media center, which is very different from Disneyland," he said.