Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming November 2015 14 Cover Story Last month finally saw the opening of Studio City, ending a 14-year saga with a slew of twists and turns worthy of the best Hollywood psycho-thriller. By Muhammad Cohen E ven before the curtain went up last month, Studio City had provided plenty of action, adventure and mystery. This hugely anticipated production, a decade and a half in the making, has seen an A-list cast come and go and, in some cases, come back. Throughout the canceled shoots, rehearsals, rewrites and retakes, Studio City has been viewed as pivotal to Cotai, perhaps never more so than now amid Macau’s drawn out doldrums. The Studio City story begins in 2001, when eSun Holdings secured 13.1 hectares (32.3 acres) of land for HK$300 million (US$38.7 million) from the Macau government to build a media training facility, suitable for film and broadcast production as well as teaching. eSun is an investment arm of Hong Kong conglomerate Lai Sun Group, headed by Peter Lam, specializing in entertainment operations and property development. Another Lai Sun subsidiary, Media Asia Group, then known as Media Asia Entertainment, remains a leading producer and distributor of Chinese language film and television programs. Through various related companies, Lai Sun also produces music and live entertainment. Lai Sun was founded as a garment producer – its brands include Crocodile – and has extensive mainland interests. Investing in Macau in those early days of Chinese administration was likely viewed favorably by Beijing. Persuading eSun to jumpstart the creation of a film industry was a big get for local authorities. In addition to fostering economic diversification, an elusive but much desired goal even in 2001, the Macau government had convinced eSun to build its film school in that unwanted swampy landfill between Coloane and Taipa called Cotai, where (separate) plans for semiconductor plants and housing estates had previously fallen through. Already a long running drama Studio City