Sony's profit surges on healthy film, game, music growth

EXCLUSIVE: The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Janet Yang Productions announced the four winners of the inaugural Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge, which awards a $15,000 production grant to four AAPI women or non-binary filmmakers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese video streamer iQiyi unveiled a rare quarterly profit in the three months to March, amidst a mixed picture on revenue and subscriptions.The company, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange but is predominantly controlled by Chinese tech conglomerate Baidu, said in a filing that it had achieved net income attributable of RMB169 million ($26.7 million), compared to net loss attributable of RMB1.3 billion in the same period in 2021.After more than a decade of annual losses, the company has recently discovered a need to become more efficient and focus on earnings rather than growth.Revenues between January and March 2022 amounted to RMB7.3 billion ($1.1 billion) a decrease of 9% year-over-year. But the revenue portion that came from membership services was RMB4.5 billion ($705.4 million), increasing 4% year-over-year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTang Wei, the Chinese star of Korean film “Decision to Leave,” says she told director Park Chan-wook that he’d made her life complete after seeing the finished version of the film at its Cannes Film Festival gala premiere.The film played in competition this week in Cannes. She revealed her confession on Tuesday at a press event, accompanied by Park, cast member Park Hae-il and scriptwriter Chung Soo-kyung.Switching between Chinese and English, Tang Wei said: “This in not the first time I’ve worked with a Korean director.

Kristen Stewart nailed casual chic as she departed the Hôtel Martinez during the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival on Monday.  The actress, 32, flashed the band of her underwear beneath a white Chanel crop top while exhibiting her legs in a pair of distressed denim shorts. Hitting the streets of the French city, she is currently staying at the five-star hotel, where prices per night reach a staggering €1,251 (£1,060).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe question arising at every Cannes Film Festival lineup announcement about why the festival has not selected films from a particular country tends to irk chief selector Thierry Frémaux. But this year, with films from China notable by their absence, Frémaux may be asking himself if he messed up, or whether bigger forces are at play?Last year, Cannes was at pains to conceal its selection of Hong Kong pro-democracy film “Revolution of Our Times” until as late as possible, in order not to alert mainland Chinese authorities or disrupt the other Chinese indies showing in the festival.China experts differ as to how much Cannes’ defiance last year was a factor in this year’s de facto boycott.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam has appointed its new team line up and structure as the festival revamps.

Japan that she and her fellow Ukrainians will not give up defending their land and culture from Russian invasion and are determined to win the war and rebuild an even more beautiful country.“My weapon is language and music,” Karol said in Tokyo as she concluded a weeklong visit to rally support for Ukraine. “My words are strong and my music moves emotions.”“The biggest tragedy today is the deaths of children.

IZ*ONE vocalist Jo Yu-ri will be releasing new music next month, as confirmed by her agency WAKEONE.The entertainment confirmed Jo’s impending comeback in a brief statement to South Korean news outlet Top Star News earlier today (May 13). WAKEONE noted that the K-pop idol will be “making a comeback with a mini-album in June”, as translated by Soompi.Jo’s forthcoming record will be her first release since making her solo debut in October 2021 with the single album ‘Glassy’.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIn the early years of the 21st century, bankers to the film industry set their eyes on East Asia and headed for Hong Kong and Beijing. They could see that mainland China’s decision to open the film business to the private sector had the potential to be a game-changer.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSpotify CEO Daniel Ek revealed that he is putting his money where his mouth is, releasing a Twitter message announcing that he will invest $50 million in the music streaming company.“I’ve always been vocal about my strong belief in Spotify and what we are building. So I am putting that belief into action this week by investing $50M in $SPOT.

Exploring the contentious debate surrounding germline editing within human embryos, Cody Sheehy’s documentary “Make People Better” is, like its subject, a complicated dive into the practicalities and ethics of genetic modification. Using the story of Dr.

The Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival announced its 2022 lineup including Disney’s documentary Mija and the Warner Bros. Pictures/HBO Max film Father of the Bride bookending the celebration. LALIFF will run from June 1 to 5 at the TCL Chinese Theater and TCL Chinese 6 in Hollywood.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorMunich-based Global Screen has acquired family entertainment film “School of Magical Animals 2” for worldwide distribution. A first teaser will be presented at the Cannes Market for the project, which has a budget of more than $13 million.

China and Hollywood used to seemingly have a healthy, symbiotic relationship. Hollywood released massive blockbusters in the Asian nation, they made massive bank, audiences were happy, and presumably Chinese theater owners were doing quite well for themselves, along with Hollywood often got massive box office boosts from the country.

Sleep is crucial for people of all ages and new research suggest that seven hours a night is the magic number for those in middle to older age.

Rush Hour 2 and Die Another Day, has died at the age of 86.Tsang was reportedly found unconscious in a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district on Wednesday (April 27) after returning from a trip to Singapore. Tsang was later pronounced dead at the scene.According to the South China Morning Post, Tsang took a COVID-19 rapid antigen test on Tuesday and tested negative.