Alibaba Pictures Group, the film division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has agreed a deal with film studio Huayi Bros, which includes a loan of $103M (RMB700M). Alibaba said the agreement was part of a plan to be more closely involved in major movies released during China’s four key holidays: Chinese New Year…

The president of Alibaba’s streaming service, Youku, has stepped down and is believed to be co-operating with Chinese officials as part of a potential corruption case. Yang Weidong, who has worked at Youku for around five years, joined the company before it was fully acquired by Alibaba in 2015. "(Yang) is understood…

Tom Hardy's Taboo has headed for China after Alibaba and Youku struck deals for the FX and BBC drama. The two companies struck the deals for the period thriller with The Media Pioneers, a UK-China media group run by Managing Director Maggie Liang. It will air on the digital platforms of both firms. Produced by Scott…

Cinedigm has reached an agreement with Chinese video streaming giant Youku to distribute 30 of its original feature films in North America, a significant milestone in Los Angeles-based firm’s efforts to distribute contemporary Chinese-language content in the U.S. Under their partnership, Cinedigm will attempt to…

Jack Ma, the former English teacher who built one of the world’s most influential e-commerce businesses, said he will step down as Alibaba’s executive chairman next week to focus on philanthropy, the New York Times reported. Alibaba transformed how the Chinese people shop and make purchases, and made Ma the richest…

eOne and Alibaba are teaming up to co-produce a Peppa Pig movie, which will get a franchise-first theatrical release in China. Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year, a full-length, live action-animation hybrid pic, is scheduled for release in China on February 5, 2019, and will be distributed by Alibaba Pictures. The…

Chinese state-backed media group CMC, the prominent local and international media and entertainment financier, says it has raised 10B RMB ($1.5B) in a fundraising round from investors including Alibaba and Tencent. The new investment brings the firm’s valuation to around 400B RMB ($60B), it says. The A-round…

Cinedigm is betting its future on the rising popularity of streaming services in North America and in China. The Los Angeles-based company said it plans to triple the number of over-the-top services from its current three offerings — the comic-book and fantasy focused CONtv, the documentary-film centric Docurama, and…

Alibaba-owned Chinese SVOD service Youku is developing a drama with Sony Pictures Television after revealing that it looking to step up its partnerships with the Hollywood studios. The Chinese digital broadcaster also lifted the lid on a number of other original projects at the Mip TV market in Cannes, where…

SVOD service Acorn TV has acquired the U.S. rights to FremantleMedia International's crime drama No Offence. The digital platform has picked up the first two seasons of the series, which was created by Shameless and State of Play creator Paul Abbott. The drama, which is produced by AbbottVision for Channel 4, is a…

Thousands of hours of Disney TV series and movies will be available in China after the Hollywood studio struck a major streaming deal with Alibaba's SVOD service Youku. More than 1,000 episodes of Disney animated series will be made available, including DuckTales and My Friends Tigger & Pooh, while live-action movies…

Chinese streaming video service iQiyi, which is owned by the internet giant Baidu, is planning an initial public offering in the U.S. next year, according to multiple reports. The IPO will value the company at $8 billion-$10 billion, both Reuters and Bloomberg reported, citing unidentified sources. A report in the Sout…