The group has also teamed up with the American Film Institute to educate and cultivate the next generation of film talents. It has provided a full scholarship to Amelie Wen, the first Chinese fellow at AFI, for both tuition and daily expenses.

"China has quite a long history, and there are lots of stories to be told," said Bob Gazalle, the current president and CEO of AFI. "By opening a door to Hollywood and shining a light on young talent we can help these stories find their way."

The 87-year-old Lisa Lu, Chinese-American actress and documentary producer, known for playing roles in many Hollywood movies, such as The Last Emperor (1987) and The Joy Luck Club (1993), also attended the scholarship award ceremony.

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Chinese filmmakers in search of global screen success

Though Gao has been spearheading such initiatives, he still feels that the unpredictable and random nature of businesses, especially those involving collection agents, escrow account holders and investors, makes it tough for companies.

"In China, most of the funding for the entertainment sector comes from the big four banks. Though we can find hot money and venture capital investments, most of these are short-term investments. It also makes you wonder how these companies can underwrite film productions, especially as no international film financing setup system is in place," Gao said.

This also explains why many Hollywood studios are partnering with Chinese companies to set up co-productions, Gao said. "Some (co-productions) have gone on to the global stage, many are still up in the air and some never make it past the planning stage.

"With the entertainment industry moving toward a more sustainable mode of growth, it is only a matter of time before Chinese filmmakers also adopt the Hollywood model for growth," Gao said.

Wheel turns full circle for Jack Gao

It is fascinating－and somewhat puzzling－to survey the trajectory of Jack Gao's career.

Gao started in finance and moved into high tech and then media and entertainment, and now the film industry. What is the rationale behind this long arc?

"I have not changed that much," he said. "It is the industry that has changed."

The integration of the medium with content, facilitated by ever-growing new technologies, has blurred the line that used to divide different industries. At the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival, where Gao launched his new film service company Bison Entertainment Media Group, industry insiders like Bona's CEO Yu Dong were joking that they would all be working for high-tech firms down the road. With typical Internet speed, Gao has since left Bison to strike out on his own.

Gao has moved from the technology side to the content side, and film is the proverbial dragonhead that produces premium content and provides benefits throughout the chain of entertainment products, from online stories in the upstream to mobile viewing downstream.

Call it luck. Gao is blessed with it. He was among the first Chinese students to get an advanced education in the United States in the wake of China's opening up and the first to return－as representatives of corporate America.