Veteran producers Cora Yim and Benjamin Lin are launching a production company, S11 Partners, with an equity investment from Hong Kong-listed Medialink Group.
Based in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the new outfit aims to develop, finance, produce and distribute original and market-driven Chinese-language content for global audiences.
The company is launching an initial slate of three films at Filmart, two of which – Mrs Killer and Oppa, I Hate You – are being co-produced with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment.
Mrs. Killer, a Hong Kong-Taiwan-Malaysia co-production, is about a retired assassin-housewife forced back into action. The project is written and directed by Liao Ming-yi whose directorial debut I Weirdo was nominated in six categories at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards.
K-culture satirical comedy Oppa, I Hate You is being set up as a Taiwan-South Korea co-production with S11, Imagine Entertainment and Warner Music Group. The project is reuniting scriptwriter Liao Min Kai and script consultant Sharon Wu, who worked together on hit Taiwanese comedy Marry My Dead Body.
The slate also includes The Marriage Drive, written and directed by Hong Kong’s Lawrence Kan, whose recent feature In Broad Daylight was one of the highest-grossing local films in Hong Kong last year. His new project won the In Development Award (IDP) at last year’s Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF).
Based in Hong Kong, Medialink Group is an an IP [intellectual property] management company engaged in media content distribution and brand licensing.
Yim and Lin recently worked together on crime thriller anthology series Taiwan Crime Stories, which streamed on Hulu and Disney+.
“We are committed to delivering exceptional and high-value Chinese-language content to our audiences,” said Yim and Lin in a joint statement. “We will adopt a producer-centred approach and with our experiences working with talents in the region and a deep understanding of the audiences, we are confident that S11 Partners will offer a dynamic platform for creative talents to unleash their creativity and craft compelling stories that enthral audiences throughout Asia and beyond.”
Prior to producing Taiwan Crime Stories, Yim worked in production and distribution at companies including Golden Harvest Entertainment, Media Asia Group and Fox Networks Group Asia. She has previously produced Chinese-language series include The Trading Floor (2018) and Stained (2019).
Lin, who is based in Taiwan and is also CEO of CalFilms Asia, has a background spanning screenwriting, financing and co-production across the film and television industries, working on films including Peace Breaker (2017), The Gangs, The Oscars And The Walking Dead (2020) and Plurality (2021).
Medialink Group Chairman and CEO Lovinia Chiu, said. “Medialink, being a dynamic leader in Asia’s media content and IP management industry, is confident that S11 will enhance our capacity and capability to produce Chinese-language content for the Asian market and leverage its global distribution network.”
