Dalian Wanda Group has appointed Stephen Mensch as CEO of its new film studio and media complex, Qingdao Oriental Movie Industrial Park, while Rose Kuo has been named CEO of the Qingdao International Film Festival.
The news was announced in Cannes by Hawk Koch, president of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and special advisor to Dalian Wanda Group.
The festival, which will hold its first edition in autumn 2017, aims to “serve as a bridge between Eastern and Western filmmaking cultures”.
Kuo was previously executive director of the Film Society of Lincoln Centre, which organises the New York Film Festival, and the artistic director of Los Angeles’ AFI FEST.
Mensch previously served as director of strategic production partnerships and studio operations at Turner Broadcasting. He was also one of the founders of Georgia Production Partnerships (GPP) and started his career as general manager and vice president of sales and marketing for Feature Systems production equipment.
The studio and festival were first announced at an event in Qingdao last September attended by Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman and John Travolta, along with Chinese stars including Zhang Ziyi.
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