China's CMC Buys Oriental DreamWorks, Relaunches as Pearl Studios

NBCUniversal Will Continue To Partner With Pearl Studio on its 2019 CG comedy-adventure ‘Everest.’

CMC Capital Partners has acquired full ownership of Oriental DreamWorks, which has been relaunched as Pearl Studio.

LOS ANGELES and SHANGHAI -- CMC Capital Partners, previously known as China Media Capital, has taken full ownership of Oriental DreamWorks and relaunched the animation studio as Pearl Studio. With full ownership, CMC expands its commitment to build Pearl Studio into one of the world’s leading creators of high quality animated content for every screen and platform.



“We are enormously grateful to our JV partners and especially NBCUniversal,” said Li Ruigang, Chairman and CEO of CMC. “As Oriental DreamWorks evolves and relaunches as Pearl Studio, we have successfully accomplished the goals we envisioned when we began building this business many years ago. We have a world-class creative and development team and a robust and exciting pipeline of projects we are committed to bringing to screens around the globe. The Pearl Studio team includes veteran artists, writers, filmmakers and executives who have a proven track record of success and they are visionaries and innovators who understand the global dynamics of this exciting business. The animation market could not be stronger right now in China or globally. We believe Pearl Studio is in a very unique and enviable position to be a bold new independent voice in the animation community.”
Pearl Studio will be led by CEO Frank Zhu and Chief Creative Officer Peilin Chou. The senior executive team also includes Head of Studio Dagan Potter, Head of Ancillary Business PC Xu and Head of Operation Cindy Zhou.
“We have tremendous respect for Li Ruigang and CMC, and look forward to many opportunities to work together as they continue to build this business as Pearl Studio,” said Jeff Shell, chairman, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
NBCUniversal and its DreamWorks Animation will continue to collaborate with Pearl Studio on its 2019 worldwide release of Everest. DreamWorks Animation’s film, television, consumer products and digital gaming businesses will now be part of NBCUniversal’s product offerings in China.