Zhang Ziyi, a Chinese actress in popular Chinese reality show I Am the Actor. (Photo/Courtesy of Zhejiang Television)
The popular Chinese reality show I Am the Actor is coming to English-speaking markets as an international version of the hit TV program will be produced by a U.S. company next year.
Zhejiang Television, the Chinese producer and broadcaster of the talent show, signed an agreement with U.S.-based firm Is or Isn't Entertainment (IOI) on Sunday to produce the international version of the hit program, the Beijing Times reported on Tuesday.
I Am the Actoris a popular Chinese talent show that gathers both well-known and novice actors to perform a short part of a film or TV series in front of a live audience.
They are ranked by a panel of judges, including Zhang Ziyi, a Chinese actress made famous by the Oscar-awarding winning film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,and Chen Kaige, a director known for the film, Farewell My Concubine, a film nominated for two Academy Awards in the 1990s.
Celebrities participating in the talent show include Wang Junkai of boy band TFBoys and Zhang Xinyu, a Chinese actress who gained wide attention for her marriage to an officer in the Chinese People's Armed Police Force.
The program is scheduled to be produced in 2019 and Zhejiang Television will provide Chinese actors and actresses proficient in English.
Under the agreement, IOI and its partner, the U.S.-based firm HMP, will produce the program in English-speaking areas, including the U.S., the UK and Canada.
The deal marks the first time that a Chinese reality show will be brought to the overseas market.
IOI is a television and film company founded in 2003 by Emmy Award winners Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky. The company's first series was HBO's Emmy-nominated "The Comeback," which premiered in 2005.
