John Hughes, co-founder of vfx company Rhythm & Hues, which filed for bankruptcy shortly after being nominated for an Academy Award for its work on Life of Pi, is helping Chinese filmmakers set up a major visual effects company in Beijing.
The deal was formalized on Tuesday between Hughes and the administrative committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development. The new vfx company, located in Beijing’s suburban Daxing district, as well as an accompanying visual arts center, will be named after Hughes.
According to a report in China Daily, Hughes revealed during the agreement signing that he’s been learning how to speak Chinese for the last five years and has even given himself a new Chinese name, Zhang Chi. He said that he hoped the new company would encourage positive flows between the West and East, namely by importing more U.S. technology into the Chinese vfx market, while creating Chinese films that will perform better in the international market.
