Light Chaser Animation Studios () is a Chinese CG animation

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

based in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. The studio was founded in early 2013 by Gary Wang, the founder and ex-CEO of the popular Chinese video sharing website Tudou.com.

History

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on March 12, 2013, Gary Wang announced Light Chaser Animation, a movie studio to produce animated feature films targeting the rapidly growing Chinese movie market, which grew by 30% in 2012 and is widely expected to overtake the U.S. market in size by 2020. He cited the lack of quality domestically produced animation content, a rapidly growing domestic market, and improving environment for movie distribution, promotion and copyrights in China as the main reasons behind his decision. Light Chaser's website states that its main goal is to "create world-class animated films". Their first animated feature, '' Little Door Gods'', directed by Gary Wang opened in China on January 1, 2016. It premiered in the United States on May 20, 2017 at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

. Light Chaser's second feature film, '' Tea Pets'', was released in China on July 21, 2017. In the United States, Vision Films distributed the movie as "Toys & Pets". An airline safety video was made for

Hainan Airlines Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd. (HNA, ) is an airline headquartered in Haikou, Hainan, People's Republic of China. The airline is rated as a 5-star airline by Skytrax. It is the largest civilian-run and majority state-owned air transport company, m ...

starring this film's characters. Their third feature film, '' Cats and Peachtopia'', was released in China on April 5, 2018. In the United States, Viva Pictures released the movie as "Cats" on

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California, El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary ...

Pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

in late 2019, and distributed the movie theatrically on January 24, 2020. Their fourth feature film, '' White Snake'', directed by Amp Wong and Zhao Ji was released on January 11, 2019 in China. The film received a limited release in the United States and Canada on November 15, 2019, with

GKIDS GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works ...

acting as the distributor. It also debuted in France at the

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

. The film is a co-production with American studio

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Warner Bros. has rights in China and is credited as a co-producer due to its significant involvement in the creation of the film. The film won the Golden Angel for "Best Chinese & American Co-Production Animation Film" at the

Chinese American Film Festival Chinese American Film Festival (CAFF) is an American film festival held every November since 2006 in California (with events in Los Angeles and San Francisco, previously also in San Diego). History In 2005, the Chinese American Film Festival w ...

. Their fifth film, '' New Gods: Nezha Reborn'', was released in february 2021. A works-in-process feature about the film will premiere at the

. The company has been focusing on animation production technology since its establishment, and is building its own render farm and developing technology. In addition, the software has introduced Maya, Houdini, ZBrush, Arnold, etc.

Filmography

References

External links

Website of Light Chaser Animation Studios
Chinese animation studios Companies based in Beijing Mass media companies established in 2013 Chinese companies established in 2013 {{animation-studio-stub