Producer David Heyman, whose credits include the Harry Potter movies, is helping to bridge the gap between Asian and Hollywood content creators. Daily Variety reports that he has joined the greenlight committee of Access Asia, a $300 million fund formed by principals in Hollywood, Hong Kong and China. He will be working with former United Artists, Columbia and Paramount president David Picker, among others.
Access Asia aims to finance and produce mainstream films, television program, video games and other media projects for the Asia and the international market. Over the next five years, the group plans to back 15 to 20 Hollywood-style films for around $15 million each, as well as smaller-budgeted movies by Asian filmmakers.
One of the first projects will be an animated feature titled Sock Shop, which will blend traditional and CG animation to explore the lives of socks that disappear from the laundry. Another is Battle World, a mix of live action and CG animation built around a fantasy video game-theme.
Sponsors include Heyman’s father, producer John Heyman (A Passage to India), Fred Wang of Hong Kong-based Salon Films and Christopher Brough of Canadian TV production outfit Dotcom Prods.
