Washington Filmworks (WF) is pleased to announce that film was part of Governor Jay Inslee’s 2013 trade mission to China. The purpose of the mission is to help Washington State businesses identify new overseas partners and establish business relationships. Over 90 businesses travelled with the trade mission to China.

Yesterday, WF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s premiere production and distribution company DMG Entertainment at a film and technology reception in Beijing, China. The partnership between WF and DMG was designed to further international business development opportunities, support intercultural understanding, promote Washington State as a destination for Chinese motion picture production, and establish relationships with government and business entities on both sides of the Pacific.

There were over 100 people in attendance at the event, including Chinese media and film industry leaders. Tony Zhang, a Vice President at DMG, countersigned the MOU with WF. DMG is best known for creating the most innovative and memorable content across multiple platforms, including theatrical motion pictures. The film studio develops, produces, and distributes a diverse portfolio of commercially driven Chinese and international films, including The Founding of the Republic (2009), Go Lala Go! (2010), and most recently Iron Man 3 (2013).

This agreement is an exciting new endeavor designed to develop long-term collaboration between the motion picture and creative technology industries in Washington State and China. DMG aims to produce motion picture and television projects in Washington beginning in 2014 and WF will lend production resource information and support to these projects. This agreement also opens the potential for funding assistance to projects that qualify for Washington’s incentive programs by creating content in state that employs Washington cast and crew, and utilizes Washington vendors.

In addition to the MOU there were several other film initiatives announced, such as a retrospective of the work of director Ning Ying in Seattle, cultural exchange thru mini-movies produced in both China and Washington, and a future fundraising event to be held in 2014 in support of the construction of a Bruce Lee Action Museum. RedMotion Co. of Shanghai also seeks to partner with Ken Etheridge Associates out of Bellevue on a digital animation production.

It is with great pleasure that we embark on this new and exciting opportunity to bring more motion picture production to Washington State. WF would like to thank our colleagues from the cities of Bellevue and Seattle, the Department of Commerce, the Washington State China Relations Counsel, Governor Jay Inslee and his team for helping with this endeavor.

For links to press, and photos from the event, see our post Unleashing the Power of Partnership.