Video websites eyeing big screen
An increasing number of Chinese online giants are teaming up with filmmakers to produce full-length movies. Han Bingbin reports.
As the main sponsor of this year's Venice International Film Festival, China's online giant iQiyi is licensed to stream 23 nominations from previous festivals, including six award-winning Italian productions that will run exclusively on the video website.
CEO of iQiyi Gong Yu says the website has established long-term and close relationships in the Asia-Pacific and America, and is now looking for new collaborations in Europe. China has around 500 million online video viewers, and over 60 percent of the content they watch is movies. The Chinese government has a quota system that limits the number of foreign films screened in Chinese cinemas, but so far it hasn't applied to online distribution.
