Twentieth Century Fox opens Asian studio
HONG KONG (AP) -September 9, 2008 The new studio will be a joint venture with the Asian satellite
broadcaster STAR, called Fox STAR Studios, the two companies said
in a joint statement.
Both companies are units of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News
Corp.
Fox STAR Studios will start out making Bollywood films in Hindi
as well in other regional Indian dialects.
STAR India president for strategy and corporate development
Vijay Singh will lead the Indian operation.
"We are in discussion for producing not only traditional
Bollywood films but also innovating and targeting emerging
genres," Singh said in the statement.
Fox STAR Studios will also branch into the Chinese-language and
southeast Asian markets soon, the statement said.
STAR spokeswoman Jannie Poon said Fox STAR Studios will operate
from several locations, with its first unit based in India's
Mumbai, home of the Bollywood industry.
Other major Hollywood studios producing Asian movies include
Sony Pictures Entertainment with its Columbia Pictures Film
Production Asia, which invested in Ang Lee's Oscar-winning kung fu
hit "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
Warner Bros. Pictures set up a joint venture with China's
state-run China Film Group and Hengdian Group in 2004, and has
invested in Hindi films.
The Walt Disney Co. last year released a Chinese-language
children's movie that mixed live action and computer animation. It
has also teamed up with Indian studio Yash Raj Films to make
computer-animated movies.
