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Vivienne Chow

The online Asian edition of US entertainment publication Variety has been discontinued indefinitely, a victim of the financial crisis, raising concerns its demise could limit the international exposure of Hong Kong and mainland  films.
The publication's newsletter for the region has also been suspended.
In a statement released yesterday, Variety blamed the 'financial crisis afflicting the US media sector' for its decision to shut the 21/2-year-old Variety Asia website.
It had laid off 30 employees, including the only two full-time editorial staff members in its Hong Kong office, Asia editor Patrick Frater  and Hong Kong correspondent and web editor Marcus Lim, it said.
'Sadly, due to tight times in global news media, Variety has chosen to make redundant its permanent editorial staff in this region,' Frater and Lim wrote in a letter published on the website.
'That effectively halts the publication of Variety Asia,' they said.
Industry insiders said the shutdown of the publication  came as a shock but they recognised that Variety, as a business,   could not escape the economic downturn.
Of the other 28 positions  that had been axed, three were in London and the rest were at the magazine's Los Angeles headquarters.
Variety, which was founded in 1905 and is one of several leading entertainment trade publications in the US, had relied on a number of freelancers based  across Asia.
With the departure of its two key Hong Kong-based editorial staff, there were fears that news from  the city and the rest of Asia would not be adequately covered.
Crucindo Hung Cho-sing,  the chairman of the Hong Kong, Kowloon and New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association,   said the edition's  closure was sad because it had helped raise the profile  of  the Chinese film industry.
'Having no coverage on Hong Kong could affect the international exposure of Hong Kong cinema,' Mr Hung said.
Shaw Soo-wei,  executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society,  said the closure of Variety Asia was unfortunate as it  was one of the festival's media partners, along with two other international trade publications, The Hollywood Reporter and Screen International.
But she was not too worried about a lack of coverage.
'I don't know what [Variety's] plans are but I would be surprised if a global publication like Variety does not cover the Asian entertainment market, because it  is the fastest-growing market in the world,' she said.



Final curtain for Variety Asia as magazine lays off 30 worldwide