Warner Chappell Music Opens Second Office in Mainland China

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Chinese crime drama Sheep Without A Shepherd, one of the last big box office hits in China before cinemas were forced to shutdown, grossing $167M, has been set for a UK theatrical release by distributor Trinity CineAsia.Theaters have started re-opening in the UK and multiplexes including Cineworld and Vue are set to following in the coming weeks.

Sec. of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S.

said in a statement provided to Axios.The new law, enacted last week an hour before the 23rd anniversary of the city’s handover from British to Chinese control, effectively ends the special legal status the city has enjoyed since 1997 under the “one country, two systems” policy. Among other things, it criminalizes activities broadly defined as secessionist, subversive or terrorism that include advocating for democracy or criticizing the authoritarian government in Bejing.

Rebecca Davis editorTencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) has established a strategic partnership with Japan’s CoMix Wave Films Inc., the animation studio and distribution firm best known for works by helmer Makoto Shinkai.The new partnership will see the original soundtracks from 17 popular Japanese animated films put up on TME’s music platforms: QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and KTV app WeSing.Two of Shinkai’s films have been hits in China in recent years.

Boz Scaggs in North America. The deal covers Scaggs' catalog from 1968 to the present and all his releases going forward.Scaggs has been releasing music for more than 50 years, with highlights including tracks such as “Lido Shuffle,” “It’s Over,” “What Can I Say” and “Lowdown,” the latter of which won a Grammy for Best R&B song in 1977.

Myka Stauffer has come in hot water with her fans after revealing that she rehomed her autistic son that was adopted from China. After concerned viewers wanted to know if Huxley was safe, they contacted her local police department who did a full investigation.

Rebecca Davis editorLeading Hollywood visualization studio The Third Floor (TTF) has opened its first Beijing office. It seeks to create a hub in China on par with its other main outposts in Los Angeles and London that will cater primarily to local projects.

Sounds like the Stauffers are off the hook!

Rebecca Davis editorMusic industry service provider Outdustry has this week launched Outdustry Songs, a new independent music publisher focused on China, with an exclusive sub-publishing deal with U.S. indie Reservoir.Founded in 2006, Outdustry provides specialist A&R, rights and marketing services, aimed at the China and India markets.

Tom Grater, Jill Goldsmith Yesterday’s news that the European Union will not lift travel restrictions on the U.S. due to the scale of the country’s ongoing coronavirus outbreak prompted concerns about the re-start of American film and TV production based in Europe.As of today (July 1), travelers from 15 countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and China can cross borders into the EU, but the U.S.

Jill Goldsmith The Council of the European Union has kept restrictions on travel from the U.S. in place even as it lifts them for 15 other countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and China starting tomorrow, July 1.U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIt is tempting to envision Chinese media firms as the local equivalent of a familiar Western brand. That mindset imagines Weibo as the Chinese Twitter, iQIYI as the Chinese Netflix, and WeChat as a Middle Kingdom version of WhatsApp.The reality is usually more complicated.

In late May, YouTuber Myka Stauffer and her husband, James, announced their decision to give up Huxley, the four year old autistic boy they adopted from China almost three years earlier. A month later, she posted an apology, saying "no adoptee deserves any more trauma.”In a seven-minute-long video that has since been taken down, the couple recounted how Huxley had "a lot more special needs that we weren't aware of, and that we were not told" during the adoption process.

Rebecca Davis editorUniversal Music Greater China (UMGC), a division of Universal Music Group, said Thursday that it has signed Sunnee, a former member of popular Chinese idol group Rocket Girls 101, which disbanded earlier this week. Sunnee, a Thai singer of Chinese descent whose full Mandarin name is Yang Yunqing, is the first of the former 11-person group to sign with a major music label.

MGM’s International Distribution and Acquisitions arm has acquired the remaining international territories, excluding China, for Bill & Ted Face the Music from Endeavor Content. The third film in the series from Orion Pictures—starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in their respective roles as Theodore "Ted" Logan and William "Bill" S.