Celestial Pictures and GammaRay Jointly Present Shaw Brothers' Kung Fu Movie Marathon Exclusively on Twitch

44 Full-Length Classic Kung Fu Features Make their Twitch Debut to Global Interactive Audience

HONG KONG, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Celestial Pictures and GammaRay today proudly announced to stream a Shaw Brothers movie marathon on  Twitch (twitch.tv/gammaray_tv) from February 4 to February 8, 2019 in celebration of Chinese New Year. The marathon will include 44 full-length features from Celestial Pictures' Shaw Brothers extensive library of kung fu titles, including iconic films such as King Boxer, Crippled Avengers, and Five Deadly Venoms. This viewing event will be streamed globally and exclusively on Twitch, the leading service and community for multiplayer entertainment, and marks the first time Twitch has featured kung fu films.

King Boxer

The Five Venoms

Celestial Pictures is the owner of the Shaw Brothers library of over 760 digitally remastered classics. The custodian of the Shaw Brothers legacy, Celestial Pictures continues to keep the love for peak kung fu cinema alive by presenting it to loyal enthusiasts and new-found audience across the globe.

GammaRay, a video creation and curation platform presented by Skybound Entertainment, focuses on genre and pop culture content. The Shaw Brothers kung fu movie marathon is the first time GammaRay will stream full length films on Twitch. After the marathon airs from February 4-8, there will be double feature movie nights on Thursdays and Fridays at 5:00 pm PT for four weeks.

"We're thrilled to bring the quintessential Shaw Brothers films to a new generation of fans through this collaboration with GammaRay," said Agnes Cheung, Executive Vice President of Celestial Pictures. "Interactive streaming will open up a new horizon for the passionate fandom of kung fu cinema. The marathon will allow the audience to be immersed without interruption in the everlasting Shaw Brothers magic."

"We're excited to introduce cult classic movies from the 70s and 80s to our fans on Twitch for the first time," said GammaRay COO Do Duong. "Kung fu has influenced filmmaking, hip hop music, and pop culture, and we're thankful to Celestial Pictures for access to their Shaw Brothers action titles, and to Twitch for using their platform to introduce a larger audience to the phenomenon of kung fu."

"The Twitch community has lots of interests, with martial arts and film-based marathons among them," said Jane Weedon, Director of Business Development at Twitch. "We've seen it in the games they play, their cosplay outfits, and the programming they watch, with the Shaw Brothers' kung fu films being the perfect pop culture combo of these fandoms. Thanks to Celestial Pictures and GammaRay, we get to livestream over forty of the Shaw Brothers' seminal movies with an interactive global audience."

44 Titles will be featured during the Twitch livestream including the following kung fu classics:  

• King Boxer (1972): A student (Lieh Lo) of kung fu meets resistance on his way to a major Chinese tournament.
• Crippled Avengers (1978): After the death of his wife, warlord Dao Tian-du (Kuan Tai Chen) turns evil and holds a town in thrall to his reign of fear with the help of his sadistic son. Four of the villain's victims -- a blind man, an amputee, a deaf-mute, and an insane fighter -- seek the help of a wise kung fu master as they train to eliminate the tyrant for good.
• Five Deadly Venoms (1978): A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung fu.

Twitch streamers will also be able to co-stream the marathon. Co-streaming is a feature unique to Twitch which allows a streamer to share another channel's video feed, but with their own commentary and community. The result is a more personalized, social experience.

For more information including the full marathon schedule and movie times, visit GammaRay's Twitch channel page and follow them on Twitter. 

About Celestial Pictures

Celestial Pictures Limited (Celestial Pictures) is a diversified entertainment company bringing the best in Asian entertainment to the world. The company focuses on film and television content origination, aggregation and worldwide distribution. 

Celestial Pictures owns the Celestial Shaw Library, the world's largest Chinese film collection, with 760 Chinese-language feature films originally released over a fifty year period. The library has inspired countless filmmakers with its vast pool of classics including THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS, HEX, THE 36^TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN, KING BOXER and THE FLYING GUILLOTINE. These award-winning films have been digitally restored frame-by-frame for global distribution. The company has also been active in developing new content based on the Celestial Shaw Library intellectual property.

Celestial Pictures has a substantial investment in Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), a venture with Saban Capital Group and Lionsgate.  It operates branded pay television channels and produces and distributes content for Asian audiences.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Celestial Pictures is owned by Astro Overseas Limited, a leading investment holding company that operates in media and entertainment businesses across India, mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

About GammaRay

GammaRay is a video creation and curation platform focused on genre content and pop culture, presented by Skybound Entertainment. The fandom site is backed by partners Skydance, Third Wave Ventures, and C Ventures, and led by CEO David Alpert and COO Do Duong.

The first original short form series out of GammaRay include The Fighting Show!, exploring the stunts seen in film and television; Popcraft, celebrating artwork done by pop culture's favorite artists and their favorite fandoms; and The List Show, ranking the greatest work in the world of genre.

GammaRay can be found on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

About Twitch 

Launched in 2011, Twitch is a global community that comes together each day to create multiplayer entertainment: unique, live, unpredictable experiences created by the interactions of millions. It brings the joy of co-op to everything, from casual gaming and world-class esports to anime marathons, music, and art streams. Twitch also hosts TwitchCon, the biggest community event of the year, where tens of thousands of people come together to celebrate and connect with others who share their interests and passions. We're always live at Twitch. Stay up to date on all things Twitch on Twitter and on our Blog.

Media Enquiries:
Celestial Pictures Limited
pr@celestialpictures.com

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