Vice President
Youku, Alibaba Entertainment Group
Gan Chao is one of the leading Chinese documentary filmmakers and industry organizers. He obtained his BA degree in Chinese literature of Fudan University, China and MA degree from Department of Drama, University of Bristol, UK. Ever since his graduation he has been working in the documentary related area for 20 years.
As a documentary film director, his works include Last House Standing, the Red Race, Survivor Games, etc., which have won him over 50 international awards including a Peabody award, and best film at Docupolis, Zagreb Film Festival, Beijing International Film Festival, etc.
As producer/presenter of titles include Time Machine, Cotton, Yugo’s Summer, etc., these films earned more than 30 international awards, including awards at Sundance, golden horse film festival, Pusan Film Festival.
Gan Chao served as general manager of Documentary Channel, Shanghai Media Group during 2014 to 2018. SMG Documentary Channel is the first national channel specialized in documentary and is one of the most influential documentary TV platforms in China.
Since 2018, he has served as Vice President of Youku, Alibaba Entertainment Group. He has launched the best Chinese digital platform for documentary. In the meantime, he focused on establishing the first theatrical documentary chains in China.
Gan Chao’s achievement in documentary filmmaking and industry is widely recognized in China. He was awarded International Documentary Trailblazers Award at MIPTV, Person of the Year 2017 at China Documentary Academy Award, Person of the Year 2018 Award by China Film and Television Magazine, China’s Most Influential Documentary Filmmaker Award by Guangming Daily and DocuChina, Top Talent Award by Shanghai Municipal Government, etc.