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Disney Announces First Film Production in China

The Walt Disney Company announced its first film production in China on December 14, adding to its efforts to break into the booming Chinese entertainment market.
The Chinese-language film, The Secret of the Magic Gourd, began shooting in October in the eastern city of Hangzhou and is expected to be released next year. It is based on a popular children's book by the late Chinese novelist Zhang Tianyi.
Disney's partners are the State-owned China Film Group Corporation, and Hong Kong's Centro Digital Pictures, a special effects house best known for its work on director Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. The China Film Group is the main film production and distribution company on the Chinese mainland, with interests in studios, a movie channel and DVD sales. Centro also worked on Chinese director Chen Kaige's newly released The Promise.
Disney has opened Disney-brand stores in several mainland cities and is reportedly in talks with Shanghai to establish a theme park and a television channel.