Alibaba to invest HK$5 billion in Hong Kong entertainment sector
Chinese multinational technology giant Alibaba has pledged to inject HK$5 billion into Hong Kong’s entertainment sector to finance promotion to an international audience.
Hong Kong-made television dramas, films, events and training of young creatives will receive funding from video platform Youku, Alibaba Pictures and other businesses under the media arm of Alibaba, the company announced on Monday.
The five-year project, dubbed the “Hong Kong Cultural and Art Industry Revitalisation Program,” would concentrate on film production and distribution, rights acquisitions and television series production, a government statement read.
Kenny Ng, associate professor of the Academy of Film of the Hong Kong Baptist University told HKFP at the time that the new scheme may be more attractive to filmmakers who were already familiar with the complicated procedures of getting a green light from mainland Chinese authorities for a film to be released.
Those who were not familiar with the rules may need to rely heavily on middlemen, the scholar said.