Quick Take: Youku Tudou Employees to Join Alibaba Pictures

Youku Tudou, the major video streaming website owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., will be pooling resources with the film production arm of its parent company, Alibaba Pictures.

The video company’s CEO, Yu Yongfu announced the move in letter to employees on Tuesday. Youku employees will be joining Alibaba Pictures’ team.

The cooperation will give Alibaba Pictures priority rights to invest and develop titles, as well as the rights to existing online film franchises owned by Youku Tudou. The two will jointly establish a talent agency and work together in film distribution.

Alibaba completed the buyout of video-streaming giant Youku Tudou in April for $4.2 billion. The e-commerce giant has made multiple forays into filmmaking, including purchasing 1 billion yuan ($145 million) worth of convertible bonds from China’s third-largest theater chain, Dadi Cinemas, and buying an undisclosed stake in Amblin Entertainment, the U.S. production company founded by Steven Spielberg.

After nearly two years of expansion and acquisitions in the movie industry, “Alibaba Pictures owns a considerably large number of film-making infrastructure. The next stage is about upgrading to produce quality content,” a company spokesperson told Caixin.

Contact reporter April Ma (fangjingma@caixin.com)