Thai Film Giant GMM Tai Hub Shutting Down, Dissolving Operations

In news that appears to have come as a shock even to industry watchers in Thailand, it was announced Friday that Thai production powerhouse GMM Tai Hub will dissolve and cease operations. The news comes as a surprise given that the company is not in any sort of financial trouble - quite the opposite, in fact, as they seem to be an unstoppable hit machine at home with an enviable track record of launching bright young talents - but due to an internal conflict amongst the company's partners.

Originally formed in 2004 as a merger of three companies - GMM Pictures, Tai Entertainment and Hub Ho Him - following the success of 2003 co-production Fan Chan, the company quickly built a reputation abroad as the producers of a string of hit horror films including Shutter, Alone, the 4bia anthology films, Dorm, and others while bolstering their business at home with a string of hugely successful comedies and romances.

The split comes after one of the three founding partners - Tai Entertainment - pressed to take the company public with an IPO on the stock market while another - Hub Ho Hin - balked at the plan fearing that the financial pressures of being a public company would adversely affect the quality of their work. The company assures that all projects currently in production will be completed and it appears that all three founding companies will continue individual operations following the split.