The Value of Asia and Financing the Future
Have you heard of Gold House?
Simply put, it is a family of companies that focuses on ecosystem building: a virtuous cycle of community, creation, distribution and curative power.
At least this is how its CEO, the jet-setting Bing Chen describes it.
“Specifically, our partnerships with governmental institutions like the Singapore Economic Development Board as well as major family offices and companies create a bedrock for continuous, sincere, and productive exchanges throughout the year between Asia and the West.
“Second, we’ve invested in the new age of creativity from IP aggregators like Kasagi Labo of Japan, to technology platforms across Southeast Asia that are generating new economies, to JVs with Asia-based brands to ensure successful expansions in the West,” explained Bing, who noted his particular excitement in Asia, as traditional development and production methodologies are being leapfrogged with advances in AI, global cosmopolitan creators, more cost-efficient audience engagement strategies, and more.
Gold House is also focused on redefining and reasserting who gets to ascertain creative excellence.
Bing Chen
CEO
Gold House
From the Shadows
“Said crassly, currently, a minority of the world determines global cultural and creative aspiration. From partnering with Sundance Film Festival Asia for knowledge-sharing, to ensuring the commercial and critical success of films like Parasite in the West, we are both partnering with established systems to ensure present-day success, while re-imagining who is entitled to yield taste,” Bing expounded.
The perennial question on the path to improvement always gives way to pondering on the size of this monster, and whether the village will collaborate to affect change.
“Within the arts, we must remember that new creative franchises, industries, and more are not born from obscurity, but from sources that stood in the shadows, unprioritized by incumbents,” observed Bing. “For instance, while a foregone conclusion now, when I first started at YouTube, no one prioritized creators. But as a child of the internet, I watched them as my generation craved greater authenticity and artistic ingenuity, even if they were shut out by traditional TV and film.
“Fast-forward a decade, our creator economy is the largest creative industry since the advent of cable television and YouTube is the dominant entertainment platform worldwide. Gold House is particularly keen to uncover these hidden diamonds that have amassed a shadowed audience. As my mother used to say: we all have gifts—the question is who will find them.”
Bing believes in the need to identify how we can widen the aperture of who gets to tell stories, how, and where they can be distributed. “The more we can collaborate across industries, geographies, and more, the further we will arrive,” Bing stated.
The Value of Asia
Film, TV, music, sports, and consumer IP aren’t “emerging” from Asia—they’ve been here, shaping global taste, traffic, and transactions. But, Bing expounded, the funding and value ecosystem remains stuck in seed-stage thinking: undervaluing rights, under-leveraging monetizable extensions like merchandising, and underbuilding global distribution.
For instance, in 2024, Asia accounted for nearly half of global box office revenue, but Asian studios still capture a fraction of Hollywood’s multiples—and much of the creative has not proven its ability to traverse globally.
K-pop’s global value chain surpassed US$10 billion, yet Korean music companies trade at discounts compared to US labels, though there are meaningful exceptions, like the great HYBE.
The Indian Premier League is already the second most valuable sports league in the world by media rights—yet Asian sports IP is still valued as local rather than universal.
“There remain several windfalls that we’re excited by,” said Bing. “Several major Asian governments are investing in culture and creativity; while many approach this as ‘building the new Hollywood’, I’d encourage them to, 1) lean into their endemic strengths and make themselves a critical player in the creativity chain rather than trying to recreate an ecosystem that may not fit or be outdated; and 2) identify how cultural investments can generate an economic flywheel to other national priorities—whether in cultivating a healthy and active populace or driving commerce,” Bing explained, noting that AI will catalyse this, as will the incredible family businesses and multinational platforms like YouTube and Netflix that persist across the continent, yielding even greater efficiencies.
Finally, Bing is particularly excited by Asia’s relatively young demographic consumers who value culture, can more rapidly shape creative opportunities, and are already cross-pollinating art and traffic across the continent.
“For instance, K-pop and Indian music share the concentric sensibilities of heavy melodies, danceability, and visually ornate styles; to no surprise, they also share audiences,” Bing observed.
Gold House continues to be excited by original IP/franchises that generate audiences more cost-efficiently and can more rapidly produce monetizable extensions (toys, experiences, etc.).
Bing reminds us that Asia has long led here: Pokémon continues to be the leading creative franchise worldwide; Labubu’s lore is now well-known. “We are particularly bullish on long-time proven IP like anime and manga; games and toys; and heritage,” Bing concluded.
###
Catch Bing at the Leaders Dialogue on Dec 2, 2025—exclusively at ATF.