Shanghai Pearl Studio Film and Television Technology Co., Ltd, doing business as Pearl Studio[1] (formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, the trade name of Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese film production company owned by CMC Capital Partners. The company was founded as a Chinese-American joint venture in 2012 by DreamWorks Animation and Chinese investment companies. The company mainly produces Chinese-themed animated and live-action films and their derivatives for distribution within China and worldwide. In 2018, CMC (China Media Capital) acquired NBCUniversal's stake in the studio.
History[]
Oriental DreamWorks logo.
On February 17, 2012, DreamWorks Animation announced a joint venture with China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment to build a Shanghai based family entertainment company named Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd. or Oriental DreamWorks for short. The new venture was expected to develop and produce original Chinese animated and live-action content for distribution within China and worldwide. The company also produces live entertainment content, theme parks, games and consumer products. Oriental DreamWorks, owned 45% by DWA and 55% by the Chinese partners,[4] launched on August 6, 2012,[3] with the cash and intellectual capital worth $350 million.[5] To produce animated films, 37 Entertainment, a Chinese animation studio with 175 employees, which had already worked on some of DWA's television productions, has been acquired.[6]
Beside producing its own content, Oriental DreamWorks acts also as a distributor for DWA's productions. Releasing The Croods in 2013, ODW became the first company in 20–30 years that got a license to import Western films.[7]
On November 25, 2015, Peilin Chou was appointed as the head of creative for feature animation at Oriental DreamWorks.[8]
The studio's first animated feature film, Kung Fu Panda 3, was released on January 29, 2016,[9] and was made in co-production with DWA, with 1/3 of the film being produced in China.[6] The studio's first original film, titled Abominable, followed in 2019.[10] On March 15, 2017, it was reported that NBCUniversal would sell off its stake in Oriental DreamWorks for restructuring and possibly face problems with Chinese antitrust investigation.[11]
A film adaption of The Tibet Code, co-produced by China Film Group, was announced, but was cancelled.[12][13][14]
On September 26, 2017, Peilin Chou was promoted to the role of Chief Creative Officer.[15]
On February 1, 2018, CMC Capital Partners announced that they have taken the full ownership of Oriental DreamWorks and renamed it as Pearl Studio. Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation still continued to collaborate with Pearl Studio for Abominable in 2019. Frank Zhu was appointed CEO.[16]
On September 29, 2019, it was reported that Abominable had ranked in $30 million worldwide during its opening weekend.[17]
Productions[]
Feature films[]
Oriental DreamWorks[]
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) (additional production work)[11]
- Penguins of Madagascar (2014) (additional production work)[11]
- Home (2015) (additional production work)[11]
- Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) (full co-production with DreamWorks Animation; distributed by 20th Century Fox)
Pearl Studio[]
- Abominable (2019)[10] (co-production with DreamWorks Animation; distributed by Universal Pictures)
- Over the Moon (2020)[18][19][20] (co-production with Glen Keane Productions, Netflix Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks; distributed by Netflix)
- Spy Friends (2020) (traditional animation segments)
- Untitled Chinatown Project (TBA)[18]
- The Monkey King (TBA)[18]
- Illumikitty (TBA)[18]
Dream Center[]
Template:Update Part of the deal with the Chinese partners was also an entertainment and culture complex called Dream Center. Built in Shanghai with an investment exceeding $2.7 billion,[5] it would feature series of theatres, cinemas, shopping areas, galleries, hotels, restaurants and the world's largest IMAX screen, and was expected to open in 2017 (may be delayed).[3] As of May, 2017, the future of the Dream Center is unknown, and has most likely been scrapped.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Oriental Dreamworks Relaunches As 100% Chinese-Owned Pearl Studio (February 2, 2018).
- ↑ DreamWorks Animation SKG's (DWA) CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg on Q3 2014 Results - Earnings Call Transcript. Seeking Alpha (October 29, 2014). “Our studio is now up and running with 250 people,...”
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 DreamWorks Animation. "Rising Dreams in the Orient: Oriental DreamWorks To Establish Headquarters in Xuhui", August 6, 2012.
- ↑ "Oriental DreamWorks Rewrites Its China Production Strategy", September 6, 2013.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Szalai, Georg. "DreamWorks Oriental to Eventually Produce Two, Three Films a Year in China", October 10, 2012.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "DreamWorks Animation SKG Management Discusses Q3 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript", November 1, 2012.
- ↑ "DreamWorks Animation SKG Management Discusses Q1 2013 Results - Earnings Call Transcript", April 30, 2013.
- ↑ Peilin Chou Will Head Up Oriental DreamWorks' East-West Creative Fusion (November 25, 2015).
- ↑ "Bryan Cranston, Mads Mikkelsen & Rebel Wilson Board 'Kung Fu Panda 3′", April 9, 2013.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 'How To Train Your Dragon 3' Flies To 2019; Uni's DWA To Scale 'Everest'. Deadline (December 5, 2016).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Patrick Frater. "Oriental DreamWorks Heads for Restructuring, Sale", =Variety, March 15, 2017.
- ↑ "DreamWorks sees global potential in Tibet Code", Xinhua News Agency, 8 June 2013.
- ↑ Coonan, Clifford. "Katzenberg Touts 'Tibet' as He Targets Chinese Auds", Penske Business Media, 21 April 2013.
- ↑ Zhang, Rui. "DreamWorks to make bestseller Tibet Code into film", China Internet Information Center, 20 April 2013.
- ↑ Oriental DreamWorks Names Peilin Chou As CCO; Designs Robust Animation Slate (September 26, 2017).
- ↑ "China's CMC Takes Full Ownership of NBCUniversal's Oriental DreamWorks", The Hollywood Reporter. (in en)
- ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (29 September 2019). DreamWorks Animation & Pearl Studio's 'Abominable' Bigfoots B.O. With Near-$21M Opening Weekend.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Don't Count Out Oriental Dreamworks; Chinese Studio Announces 6 Feature Film Projects (October 3, 2017).
- ↑ Glen Keane Will Direct 'Over The Moon' For Pearl Studio And Netflix (February 6, 2018).
- ↑ Disney Animator Glen Keane to Direct Netflix's Over the Moon (February 6, 2018).
External links[]
Template:Animation industry in China Template:Film production companies of China
| v - e - d | ||
|---|---|---|
| A subsidiary of NBCUniversal, a Comcast company | ||
| Feature films | Antz (1998) • Shrek (2001) • Shrek 2 (2004) • Shark Tale (2004) • Madagascar (2005) • Over the Hedge (2006) • Shrek the Third (2007) • Bee Movie (2007) • Kung Fu Panda (2008) • Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) • Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) • How to Train Your Dragon (2010) • Shrek Forever After (2010) • Megamind (2010) • Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) • Puss in Boots (2011) • Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) • Rise of the Guardians (2012) • The Croods (2013) • Turbo (2013) • Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) • How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) • Penguins of Madagascar (2014) • Home (2015) • Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016) • Trolls (2016) • The Boss Baby (2017) • Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) • How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) • Abominable (2019) • Trolls World Tour (2020) | |
| Traditionally-animated films | The Prince of Egypt (1998) • The Road to El Dorado (2000) • Joseph: King of Dreams (2000 direct-to-video) • Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) • Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) | |
| Produced with Aardman | Chicken Run (2000) • Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) • Flushed Away (2006) • Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget (2023) | |
| Produced with Movie Land Animation Studios | Funimals (2018) • The Hampster Movie (2019) • The Legend of Disguise (2020) | |
| Upcoming films | Jin (2020) • The Croods 2 (2020) | |
| Franchises | Shrek • Madagascar • Kung Fu Panda • Monsters vs. Aliens • How to Train Your Dragon • Tales of Arcadia | |
| Television specials | Shrek the Halls (2007) • Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (2009) • Merry Madagascar (2009) • Scared Shrekless (2010) • Kung Fu Panda Holiday (2010) • Madly Madagascar (2013) • Trolls Holiday (2017) | |
| Short films | Shrek 4-D (2003) • Far Far Away Idol (2004) • The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005) • First Flight (2006) • Hammy's Boomerang Adventure (2006) • Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) • B.O.B.'s Big Break (2009) • Legend of the Boneknapper Dragon (2010) • Megamind: The Button of Doom (2011) • Night of the Living Carrots (2011) • Gift of the Night Fury (2011) • Book of Dragons (2011) • Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (2011) • Puss in Boots: The Three Diablos (2012) • Rocky and Bullwinkle (2014) • Dawn of the Dragon Racers (2014) • Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll (2016) • DreamWorks Theatre (2018) • Bird Karma (2018) • Bilby (2018) | |
| People | Bill Damaschke • Chris Meledandri • Jeffrey Katzenberg | |
| Subsidiaries | DreamWorks Channel • DreamWorks Classics (Big Idea Entertainment • Harvey Entertainment • Jay Ward Productions) | |
| Related topics | Amblimation • DreamWorks Pictures (DreamWorks Records • DreamWorks Television • DreamWorks Interactive • Go Fish Pictures) • Illumination (Illumination Mac Guff) • In amusement parks (DreamWorks Experience) • Pacific Data Images • Pearl Studio • Universal Animation Studios (Unproduced projects) • List of productions (Other programs • Unproduced projects) | |
