Two of the Hong Kong entertainment industry’s biggest names, Media Asia and One Cool Pictures Group have joined forces to launch a new company that will tap into fast-growing social media content production. The move reflects how social media and social commerce have gained while traditional forms of entertainment and retail have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new company, Cool Style will produce content, promote third-party content and also be involved in talent management. Model-actress Angelababy was named a strategic shareholder of the new company.
Production will cover a range of different social media platforms. FMP, a production company founded by actor-director-producer Stephen Fung (“Into The Badlands,” “The Adventurers”) will be involved in planning and production of short-form content.
Cool Style says it will promote emerging entertainers through partnerships with online platforms.
Social commerce has grown exponentially over the past five years in China, where retail social commerce sales were estimated to have reached $242 billion (RMB1.68 trillion), or 12% of the country’s total retail e-commerce business, according to estimates from EMarketer.
Direct sales online, particularly those conducted via livestreaming on social media, became even more prominent during 2020, when social distancing measures and lockdown rules limited people’s travel.
The new game plan for Cool Style is “to fuse traditional entertainment with the new economy and to support Hong Kong entertainers to develop their careers in the new digital economy utilizing short-form content,” said Media Asia and One Cool Group in a joint statement.
Media Asia and One Cool had previously partnered on projects including film production and the production of TV series “Who Sells Bricks in Hong Kong,” which aired on ViuTV last year.
