HONG KONG — Star TV has signed a five-year deal that gives the satellite network exclusive television and ‘Net rights to at least 24 movies produced by the Media Asia Group in the next four years.
The multimillion-dollar agreement will also further strengthen a long-standing partnership between the two corporations.
Homegrown focus
Star chairman and CEO James Murdoch said his company remained firm in its conviction that new services would be driven mainly by the strength of creativity and the resonance of local content available across its networks.
“This deal is an alliance that cements our relationship with one of the most insistently innovative local content providers. It is an alliance that further reinforces Star’s huge strength in local content services,” he said.
Media Asia, headed by Thomas Chung, is one of Hong Kong’s fastest-growing film companies. It is expected to produce at least six movies per annum in the next four years; its library has 800 titles for distribution. Company’s annual production budget is some $26 million.
‘Cops’ on the beat
Its latest action thriller, “Gen Y Cops” — a $6.5 million co-production with Regent Entertainment toplining Paul Rudd (“The Cider House Rules”) — is slated for completion this autumn.
News Corp.-owned Star has signed similar output license agreements with other local film production companies, including Golden Harvest, China Star, Universe, Mei Ah and Golden Network Asia.
