Paul Weiss assists DreamWorks Animation with Oriental adventure

Mentioning China, intellectual property, culture, media and the West in one sentence has a surprisingly positive spin with the signing of an agreement on 7 August between DreamWorks Animation SKG and media fund China Media Capital, media conglomerate Shanghai Media Group and investment company Shanghai Alliance Investment to establish a joint venture company, Oriental DreamWorks.

The historic agreement allows the makers of such box office smashes as the Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar series to forge a major inroad into Chinese entertainment, and according to Dreamworks legal advisers Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison was a “groundbreaking” transaction. The Paul Weiss team included corporate partner Jeanette Chan, associate Peter Davies, former associate David Lee, China law consultant Yuanyuan Zhou and senior paralegal Bianca Ip.

Chan told China Business Law Journal the most interesting aspects of the deal with regard to PRC law included “structuring the investment and the formation of the joint venture, together with the contribution of IP and the rules governing foreign investment in media and entertainment in China”.