Beach House Pictures (BHP), a Blue Ant Media company, announced a significant expansion of its operations throughout the Asia Pacific, bolstering the production company’s position as one of Asia’s largest indies. This growth includes a majority stake acquisition of Tokyo-based production company, Vesuvius Pictures, and the appointment of Felix Feng to General Manager, Beach House Pictures China, which supports the company’s ever-growing slate of China-based productions for Chinese audiences.

Vesuvius Pictures’ co-founders Hyoe Yamamoto and Deborah Barillas will maintain a minority stake in the production company and their roles as Creative Director and Managing Director, respectively. Both will report to Jocelyn Little, Managing Director and Donovan Chan, Creative Director, Beach House Pictures. Felix Feng will be based in Beijing and also reports to Donovan Chan and Jocelyn Little. All changes are effective immediately.

“China and Japan are two of the world’s fastest-growing TV markets and if you take the future of premium content seriously, you would want to be there. With this latest expansion, Beach House Pictures is poised for significant growth in 2021 and beyond,” said Donovan Chan, Creative Director, Beach House Pictures.

“These investments in Japan and China reflect our excitement about these two markets, as well as the creative and economic dynamism of the Asia Pacific region in general. We are honoured to welcome Hyoe, Deborah and Felix to our company,” said Sam Sniderman, Co-president, Global Production, Blue Ant Media.

Vesuvius Pictures specializes in premium original Factual, Factual Entertainment, Reality, and Scripted programming. Founded in 2012, the production company’s credits include high profile fiction and documentary films, including an episode of Alex Gibney’s Dirty Money for Netflix and an episode for Earn a Living, an interactive web documentary series produced for ARTE and VPRO; and a feature-length documentary film, Samurai and Idiots – The Olympus Affair, which was released theatrically in Japan with BBC, ZDF, ARTE, SVT and Danmarks Radio. The company’s short films include Keihiro Kanyama’s Paramedic and Yosep Anggi Noen’s Rumah.

The acquisition of Vesuvius Pictures complements BHP’s production capacity as a creator of scripted and unscripted programming for international and U.S.-based streamers and broadcasters. Vesuvius Pictures has integrated seasoned English-speaking talent across all of its pillars of business, including development, production, casting, post-production, legal, and finance, creating a unique offering for North American co-producers and commissioners who seek opportunities to create premium content in Asia.

Felix Feng, General Manager, Beach House Pictures China, is charged with growing and overseeing an exciting slate of broadcast, digital, and branded content for the China market and international distribution. His role will also include overseeing the company’s development and production, while also creating and maintaining relationships and business in the region. Felix will work closely with Donovan Chan and Managing Director of Beach House Pictures, Jocelyn Little on the company’s overall production strategy.

Felix is a television veteran with over a decade of experience in developing, producing, and overseeing factual content. Before joining, Felix was a senior producer at Youku, a top Chinese streamer of Alibaba; a former Director of Business Development at Discovery Channels China and senior producer for NHNZ China. Felix possesses a unique working knowledge of the China content market and maintains extensive and well-established relationships throughout the Chinese and international industries. His international programming credits include Eddie Peng Journey to Save Sea Turtles (Youku, WildAid, Amazon Prime), Celebration Nation (Tencent & Natgeo), Megastructures (Natgeo), Secrets of Ancient Man-made Marvels (Discovery), Life Force II (NHK, CICC, Discovery), End of the Wild (Animal Planet & CCTV9), China Revealed China (3DNet), Big Pacific (PBS & CCTV9), China from Above (Natgeo & NDR) and China War Diaries (ZDF).