The publicity-shy chief of Beijing Culture, which has backed such Chinese mega-hits as "Wolf Warrior II" and "The Wandering Earth," openly urged film directors Monday to stick to material pleasing to the Chinese state, for the sake of their investors.“If you’re shooting an art house or smaller budget films, it’s no problem — say what you want to say and shoot what you want to shoot," Beijing Culture chairman Song Ge said at his company’s first-ever press conference, held at...
Beijing Culture
Song
Ge
Chairman
The former Wanda exec has lead Beijing Culture since 2017, helping turn it from an under-the-radar tourism management firm into a Shenzhen-listed business. Now he’s steering one of China’s top entertainment companies as investor, marketer, talent manager, distributor and, increasingly, producer. (Beijing Culture is an investor in Variety China.) Song first entered the public eye when he put down a $120 million minimum guarantee to launch “Wolf Warrior II,” the action movie that became the most profitable feature in Chinese history. Recently, Beijing Culture has backed two other titles that have rocketed into the country’s top 10, such as the comedy-drama “Dying to Survive” and sci-fi epic “The Wandering Earth.” Dark comedy “A Cool Fish” was also a 2018 sleeper hit, grossing $117 million.
