TORONTO, October 22, 2026 – Canadian production company Ballinran Entertainment and Phoenix Television recently signed a memorandum of understanding in Shanghai to co-produce a documentary titled Driven: Inside China’s Automotive Revolution. The film will explore the rapid transformation of China’s new energy vehicle industry in recent years, examining automotive manufacturing, technological innovation and changes in everyday life.
The agreement was signed on October 13 during a Canadian creative industries trade mission to China. Canada’s Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Marc Miller, attended the signing ceremony.
According to the plans announced so far, Driven will take viewers inside automotive factories, design studios and research and development facilities, while examining changes in electric vehicles, autonomous driving and car culture. The documentary aims not only to portray the development of China’s automotive industry but also to explore how these changes are affecting the global automotive market, consumers, workers and traditional automakers.
In recent years, China’s production and exports of new energy vehicles have continued to grow, while Chinese automakers have accelerated their expansion into overseas markets, including Europe, Asia and Latin America. At the same time, discussions surrounding tariffs, market access, industrial subsidies and supply chain competition have intensified. Against this backdrop, the documentary will also examine the opportunities and challenges Chinese automakers face as they expand internationally.
Craig Thompson, President and Executive Producer of Ballinran Entertainment, said the transformation of China’s automotive industry has become a development with global implications. He hopes the different perspectives of the Canadian and Hong Kong production teams will bring audiences into factories, design facilities and communities, showing how technological innovation is reshaping transportation and changing how people live and work.
The documentary’s executive production team also includes Paul Lewis, Justin Poy, and Phoenix Television representatives Miney Ye and Haibo Huang.
Ye said China’s automotive transformation extends beyond manufacturing to technology, everyday life and the global business landscape. She hopes the documentary will tell the stories behind the industry’s changes through personal experiences and real-life perspectives, making them accessible to international audiences.
For Ballinran Entertainment, this is not its first documentary exploring stories connected to Chinese Canadians and China.
The company previously produced Exclusion: Beyond the Silence, a documentary that examines Canada’s Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 and its lasting impact through the experiences of Chinese Canadian families. The film received the Canadian Screen Award for Best Photography in a Documentary or Factual program this year.
With Driven, the company is shifting its focus from history to contemporary industrial transformation, making China’s new energy vehicles, technological innovation and global market competition the subjects of its latest documentary.
The project is also among the film and television collaborations established during the Canadian creative industries delegation’s visit to China in October. As Canadian cultural and creative companies seek to expand into international markets, cooperation between Canada and China in film production, digital media and cultural content has become an important part of the trade mission.
The two companies have not yet announced an official filming start date, completion timeline or distribution platform for Driven. With the memorandum of understanding now signed, the project will move into its next stage of preparation.
（LJI by Yuanyuan）
