Abstract
This chapter explores the creative activity of Chinese film producer Alibaba Pictures, in particular its construction of a creative signature through industry strategy. The film division of the Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba Pictures was formed in 2014 and swiftly developed its own projects as well as cofinanced numerous high-profile Hollywood releases. Alibaba’s first official domestic release, See You Tomorrow (擺渡人, 2016), merges mainland elements (writer Zhang Jiajia’s popular, web-based stories) with the pedigree of its Hong Kong coproducer, Jet Tone. The film exemplifies Chinese companies’ amalgamation of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese cultural materials, creative workers, and production expertise. With attention to See You Tomorrow as well as Alibaba’s other film projects, the chapter interrogates the ongoing mainlandization of Hong Kong filmmaking practice and the corresponding Hong Kongification of contemporary Chinese popular cinema.
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Thanks to editors Gina Marchetti, Aaron Magnan-Park, and See Kam Tan for valuable feedback on this chapter.
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Gallagher, M. (2018). Alibaba Goes to the Movies. In: Magnan-Park, A., Marchetti, G., Tan, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Asian Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95822-1_6
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