What's new (May 25)
Mann promotes Revenge
American actor Gabriel Mann, star of ABC's TV thriller Revenge, met his fans in Beijing recently. The Chinese video website Youku.com invited him to promote the show, which has been available on the website since 2011 and has drawn 20 million clicks so far. Mann, a 41-year-old former fashion model, plays a computer genius who helps the protagonist with her revenge plan. Mann says the Chinese actress he wants to work with the most is Li Bingbing, who played Ada Wong in Resident Evil 5 last year. Youku has renewed its copyright deal with ABC to release the show's third season, which is in preproduction now.
Gorilla in 3-D
Beijing-based Huayi Brothers has cooperated with South Korean media group Showbox to make a film starring a baseball-playing gorilla. Titled Mr Go, the 3-D film features a computer-generated gorilla who loves baseball. It took a 300-person team four years to make, and is the first Asian film character created using motion capture technology. Wang Zhonglei, president of Huayi Brothers, describes the character as "a vegetarian who weighs 285 kg , wears baseball suits, and always loves to protect ladies". South Korean director Kim Yong-hwa directs the film, starring mainland actress Xu Jiao. It is expected to premiere this summer.
Outbound travel tips
Qyer.com, an outbound tourism website in China, has announced its strategic cooperation with Skyscanner, the British flight search engine. Skyscanner is known for its self-guided tour, and qyer.com is a popular site for travel tips. With the collaboration, travelers can now search and compare domestic and international flights of various airlines, including low-cost ones, on qyer.com.
Fine arts hub
The China National Academy of Painting announced the launch of China Fine Arts Center recently in Beijing. Jointly established by the CNAP, the Hong Kong General Nice Group and the China International Exhibition Center, the China Fine Arts Center functions as a comprehensive art hub of art creation, exchanges, exhibitions, sales and circulation. To ensure the authenticity of the artworks, the center only accepts and sells works of living artists. The first stage construction of the center will be a 12,500-square-meter space of 52 studios and two public exhibition halls.