Native name | Pearl 东方梦工厂 (Pearl Dōngfāng mèng gōngchǎng) |
---|---|
Formerly | Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd. (2012–2018) |
Company type | Private |
Industry | Film industry |
Founded | August 6, 2012 [1] |
Founder |
|
Headquarters | , China |
Owner | China Media Capital [2] (2018–present) |
Number of employees | 250 (2014) [3] |
Parent | DreamWorks Animation (2012-2018) |
Website | www |
Shanghai Pearl Studio Film and Television Technology Co., Ltd, doing business as Pearl Studio, [2] formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, the trade name of Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co., Ltd., is a Chinese animation 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.
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, [1] 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 grossed $30 million worldwide during its opening weekend. [17]
Title | Release date | Distributor | Co-production with |
---|---|---|---|
Kung Fu Panda 3 | January 29, 2016 | 20th Century Fox | DreamWorks Animation China Film Group Corporation Zhong Ming You Ying Film |
Abominable | September 27, 2019 | Universal Pictures | DreamWorks Animation Zhong Ming You Ying Film |
Over the Moon | October 23, 2020 | Netflix | Netflix Animation Glen Keane Productions Sony Pictures Imageworks |
The Monkey King [18] | August 18, 2023 [19] | Netflix Animation Star Overseas Reel FX Animation Studios Tangent Animation | |
Kung Fu Panda 4 | March 8, 2024 | Universal Pictures | DreamWorks Animation |
Title | Notes |
---|---|
Untitled Chinatown Project | [18] |
Illumikitty | [18] |
Lucky | [18] |
Anitya | [20] |
Ultraland | [21] |
In the Stars | [22] |
Zodiac | [23] |
Title | China Release date | Worldwide Distributor | Produced by |
---|---|---|---|
The Croods | April 20, 2013 | 20th Century Fox (Worldwide) CJ Entertainment (South Korea) | DreamWorks Animation |
Turbo | September 18, 2013 | ||
Mr. Peabody & Sherman | March 28, 2014 | DreamWorks Animation Pacific Data Images Bullwinkle Studios | |
How to Train Your Dragon 2 | August 14, 2014 | DreamWorks Animation | |
Penguins of Madagascar | November 14, 2014 | DreamWorks Animation Pacific Data Images | |
Home | April 24, 2015 | DreamWorks Animation | |
Trolls | October 28, 2016 |
Title | Release date | Distributed by | Produced by |
---|---|---|---|
How to Train Your Dragon 2 | June 13, 2014 | 20th Century Fox | DreamWorks Animation |
Penguins of Madagascar | November 26, 2014 | DreamWorks Animation Pacific Data Images | |
Home | March 27, 2015 | DreamWorks Animation |
This article needs to be updated.(March 2018) |
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 (it was eventually delayed). [1] As of May 2017, the Dream Center is in limbo.
Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American media proprietor. He was the chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and business operations for the company's feature films. After departing Disney, he co-founded DreamWorks Animation in 1994, where he served as the company's CEO and producer of its animated franchises including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon until stepping down from the title in 2016. He has since founded the venture capital firm WndrCo in 2017, which invests in digital media projects, and launched Quibi in 2020, a defunct short-form mobile video platform which lost US$1.35 billion in seven months.
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA) (also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio owned by Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a division of Comcast. The studio has released a total of 48 feature films, including several of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Shrek 2 (2004) having been the highest at the time of its release. Its first film, Antz, was released on October 2, 1998, and its latest film was Kung Fu Panda 4 on March 8, 2024; their upcoming theatrical slate of films includes The Wild Robot on September 20, 2024, and Dog Man on January 31, 2025. Additionally, DreamWorks has reserved two release dates for animated films: August 1, 2025 and September 26, 2025.
Pacific Data Images (PDI) was an American visual effects and computer animation production company based in Redwood City, California, that was bought by DreamWorks SKG in 2000. It was renamed PDI/DreamWorks and was owned by DreamWorks Animation.
Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The first installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, it was directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, from a screenplay and story respectively written by the writing teams of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris. The film stars the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Randall Duk Kim, James Hong, Dan Fogler, Michael Clarke Duncan and Jackie Chan. The film, set in a version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals, centers on a bumbling panda named Po (Black), a kung-fu enthusiast living in the Valley of Peace. When the savage snow leopard Tai Lung (McShane) is foretold to escape imprisonment and attack the Valley, Po is unwittingly named the "Dragon Warrior", a prophesied hero worthy of reading a scroll that has been intended to grant its reader limitless power.
Kevin Lima is an American film director who has directed A Goofy Movie (1995), Tarzan (1999), 102 Dalmatians (2000), and Enchanted (2007). He is married to Brenda Chapman, the head of story for The Lion King (1994) and the co-director of The Prince of Egypt (1998) and Brave (2012).
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Kung Fu Panda is an American media franchise that originally started in 2008 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping, a giant panda who is improbably chosen as the prophesied Dragon Warrior and becomes a master of kung fu, the franchise is set in a fantasy wuxia genre version of ancient China populated by anthropomorphic animals. Although everyone initially doubts him, including Po himself, he proves himself worthy as he strives to fulfill his destiny.
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Penguins of Madagascar is a 2014 American animated spy action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and PDI/DreamWorks and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Eric Darnell and Simon J. Smith from a screenplay written by Brandon Sawyer and the writing team of Michael Colton and John Aboud, and a story conceived by Alan Schoolcraft, Brent Simons, Colton and Aboud, it is a spin-off of the Madagascar franchise, and the fourth film overall. Despite the title of the film, it is directly unrelated to the Nickelodeon TV series of the same name. Starring the voices of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Jeong, Annet Mahendru, Peter Stormare and John Malkovich, it takes place directly after the events of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012), following the adventures of four Adélie penguins - Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private - as they join forces with the North Wind intelligence agency to stop the Giant Pacific octopus Dave, who seeks revenge on all Adélie penguins across the Earth for being upstaged by capturing them.
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Kung Fu Panda 3 is a 2016 animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation, China Film Group Corporation, Oriental DreamWorks and Zhong Ming You Ying Film, and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the third installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise and the sequel to Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011). The film was directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni and written by the writing team of Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.
Alessandro Carloni is an Italian film director, animator, and art director, best known for his work with DreamWorks Animation in general, particularly the Kung Fu Panda films. He co-directed Kung Fu Panda 3, alongside Jennifer Yuh Nelson.
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Abominable is a 2019 animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation, Pearl Studio, and Zhong Ming You Ying Film. Written and directed by Jill Culton and co-directed by Todd Wilderman, the film stars the voices of Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, and Tsai Chin. The film follows a teenage girl named Yi (Bennet) who encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, names him Everest and embarks on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth along with her mischievous friends Jin (Trainor) and Peng (Tsai), but the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Paulson) to help Everest get home.
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