Christopher Spicer Quoted in The Hollywood Reporter on Dealmaking Between Hollywood and China

The Hollywood Reporter has quoted Akin Gump entertainment partner Christopher Spicer in the article “Hollywood and China: How to Push a Deal to Actually Close,” which looks at the best ways to seal a deal between a Hollywood studio and a Chinese company. Several recent pacts, the article reports, have been abandoned due to the difficulty of dealmaking in China, despite the potential for growth remaining very appealing.

According to the article, the recent collapse of several cross-border deals involving little known Chinese companies should be a signal that more thorough due diligence is required. Spicer said he and his colleagues get calls “all the time from people claiming to have hundreds of millions of dollars who want introductions to studios and large producers. Yet when it comes time to sign an engagement letter and put up a $50,000 retainer, they disappear, and we never hear anything again.”