Universal Pictures is taking direct distribution control of its movie releases in Hong Kong and has appointed Anita Cheung Woon-man to head its new outpost in Hong Kong. For more than 10 years, Universal movie titles have been sub-distributed in Hong Kong through Edko Films.


Cheung joins from 20th Century Fox, where she has worked for 16 years, most recently as general manager. As GM of the Hong Kong office, Cheung will oversee sales, marketing, and provide local leadership to all functions in Hong Kong, and build an integrated team operation. She reports to Jo Yan, MD and executive VP, China, Universal Pictures International.


Universal set up its mainland China office in Beijing in November 2014. It has a consumer products division in Shanghai. The company is responsible for managing the marketing of all of Universal’s movies accepted for release in the market.


“Anita is an exceptional, commercially astute business leader who will help drive our Hong Kong team and business forward,” said Yan, in a statement. “We want to thank Bill Kong and Maria Koo at Edko, who have been dedicated and committed partners for more than a decade. We are tremendously grateful for their years of service and their work creating enormous success for our titles during their many years of partnership with Universal in the market,” said Duncan Clark, UPI’s president of international distribution.