Digital Media Rights Buys Nine-Film Slate From China Lion (EXCLUSIVE)

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – North American streaming and aggregation firm Digital Media Rights has licensed a slate of nine Chinese-language movies from distributor China Lion.

The films which have already enjoyed specialty theatrical releases in North America range from 2016 titles to 2018 hits. They include recent mainland Chinese hit “A Cool Fish,” to 2017 Taiwanese drama “A Gangster’s Daughter” and Japanese director Shunji Iwai’s Chinese romance “Last Letter.”

The films will be available on DMR’s own OTT channels AsianCrush, the leading Asian streamer, horror and cult channel Midnight Pulp, popular general entertainment channel Yuyu TV, as well as via Amazon Prime, and The Roku Channel. DMR’s OTT channels work on a freemium model, with viewers offered a free service or a $5 monthly subscription that includes DMR’s entire selection of titles (without commercials), early releases, director’s cuts and exclusive content.

“As one of China’s leading film distributors, has a long track record of international success. We’re proud to add their films to our curated and growing digital catalog,” said John Stack, manager of acquisition & programming, who negotiated the deal on behalf of DMR.

China Lion was founded in 2010 and releases films in Canada, the U.S, the U.K. and Ireland. It has a sister company releasing in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

Other titles covered by the deal include “Shed Skin Papa,” Airpocalypse,” “Lobster Cop,” “Agent, Mr Chan,” “Oolong Courtyard: Kung Fu School,” and “Tag Along: The Devil Fish.”