Four years after they first arrived at Mipcom with a catalog of South African films, the duo behind AAA Entertainment found themselves landing their biggest sale to date with an unexpected buyer: the Chinese.

The Johannesburg-based sales and distribution company signed an agreement with Huace Group to bring five South African features into the Chinese market, signaling a potential shift from their traditional focus on North American sales.

“China will probably surpass [the U.S.],” says head of sales Mayenzeke Baza, noting that deep-pocketed buyers are both acquiring blocks of content and paying well. “It’s an exploration for them. But they’re putting money on the table.”

For a growing company that’s established a niche among American urban entertainment networks and acquires Nigerian titles for Netflix, the sale was the first sign that a vast, untapped market for their African catalog might lie to the east.

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