Celestial Pictures appoints Gillian Zhao as MD for China

Zhao (pictured) will be based in Beijing and report to Ross Pollack, CEO of Celestial Pictures in Hong Kong. She will be responsible for growing all of Celestial Pictures’ business lines in the mainland, including channel distribution, content licensing, and film and television series production.

Leveraging the competitive advantage of Celestial Pictures’ Shaw Brothers Film Library (SB library), the world’s largest Chinese film archive, Zhao will help drive distribution of the SB library and develop partnerships with digital platforms and content creators in China to extend its reach. She will also be ramping up Celestial Pictures’ TV series and movie production efforts in China. 

“We are very pleased to have Gillian on board to lead our efforts in China. She has introduced many breakthrough ideas and developed strong partnerships throughout her career,” said Ross Pollack, CEO of Celestial Pictures.

“With her extensive experience and a deep understanding of the China market, Gillian will be able to strengthen Celestial Pictures’ engagement with mainland partners and step up the progress we have made in accessing China’s media market as well as its growing digital platforms,” he added.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Celestial Pictures focuses on Asian-language film and television content origination, aggregation and worldwide distribution. It also owns several television channels, including Celestial Movies, Celestial Movies Asia, Celestial Classic Movies and WaTV.

Reported in February, Celestial Pictures signed an exlusive five-year output deal with Media Asia Distribution.