China's Dalian Wanda Group has added another entertainment trophy to its stable of overseas acquisitions, paying $1 billion for Dick Clark Productions, the TV company that produces the Golden Globes and the "Miss America" pageant.
Wanda is one of China's most important conglomerates and China's largest property developer. Its chairman, Wang Jianlin, is China's richest man by most measures, with an estimated net worth exceeding $32 billion.
The company owns AMC Theatres and bought Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion in January. In September, it announced a movie partnership with Sony Pictures.
Diversifying away from China's weakening property market, Wanda Group has made entertainment a major focus of its growth in recent years. It has openly embraced a mission to fend off Western imports in the Chinese market and become a globally recognized Chinese entertainment brand.
That push into the U.S. entertainment industry has raised alarm among some American lawmakers concerned about creative freedom and the promotion of Chinese propaganda. A group of legislators recently asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office to review Chinese takeovers.
The namesake company of legendary American television host Dick Clark was purchased in 2012 by a group including investment firm Guggenheim Partners. It produces several awards shows and the New Year's Eve countdown show in New York.
Wanda said in a statement Friday that Dick Clark Productions' existing management "will remain in its entirety," and that both sides had reached a long-term operating agreement. It expects Dick Clark Productions to show "strong increases" in revenue and profit every year, but did not say whether its agreement with management was contingent on revenue targets.
Wanda's statement said it expected to find ways to coordinate development between Dick Clark Productions and its previous deals in film, tourism and sports.
Hollywood has eagerly welcomed Chinese partners. From 2000 to 2015, Chinese direct investment in U.S. entertainment firms amounted to $4 billion, according to Rhodium Group. That pace then skyrocketed in January with Wanda's purchase of Legendary, which almost doubled that total by itself.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More