Best Video Production Companies in Shanghai (2026)

Introduction

Six Shanghai video production companies made this list for 2026, covering commercial production houses that represent international directors, full-service studios that shoot for fashion and luxury brands, and service companies that look after visiting crews.

Shanghai is mainland China’s advertising and production capital and the base for most global networks’ Greater China operations, so much of the country’s commercial and branded film work is produced here. Beauty, luxury, automotive and sportswear brands commission the bulk of it, and a single shoot is often cut into a TVC, a Douyin edit, a Xiaohongshu version and a livestream asset. The post side of the market moved in October 2025, when Sydney’s Heckler opened a Shanghai studio run by alumni of MPC, The Mill and Smoke & Mirrors Shanghai.

Every company here has a Shanghai office or studio in 2026, checked against its own site or a trade listing. We kept the list short rather than include firms whose Shanghai presence we could not confirm. It runs in no particular order.

The best video production companies in Shanghai

1. PIG China

Independent · Former French Concession · pigchina.com

PIG China (styled P.I.G.) describes itself as a creative multimedia house based in Shanghai, working on content for clients in China and abroad. It is the exclusive Chinese representative for a roster of international directors and lists partnerships with QUAD, Believe Media, the animation collective WIZZ and Fighting Fish. QUAD Group Asia works from the same lane on Xiangyang Road South and shares its website.

Its recent work leans towards luxury and beauty: Lancôme’s Year of the Horse film for Chinese New Year 2026, Balenciaga’s Lunar New Year 2026 campaign with artist John Yuyi, Shiseido’s 2026 Chinese New Year campaign, and Shell and Ferrari’s “Ever Changing Track” directed by Alessandro Pacciani. Earlier credits include SK-II, adidas, Range Rover and Coach’s “Life has many paths”, directed by Henry Scholfield.

2. Central Studios

Independent · Huangpu · centralstudios.cn

Central Studios was founded in 2009 and works under the line “Do Good Production”. It produces advertising and social content for fashion, luxury and consumer tech brands, shooting both stills and motion, and runs livestream shows for social and e-commerce platforms. It has its own office and shooting studio on Liyuan Road.

Production Paradise’s Asia showcase in July 2026 featured its Maison Margiela FW26 show and exhibition content, Levi’s campaign photography, an Under Armour Performance Tees film and Zara’s “My Wardrobe” films directed by Julien Ayrault. It also provides crew, locations and logistics for international agencies and foreign crews shooting across Greater China, including help with customs and carnets.

3. Shoot In China

Independent · Hongkou · geekshanghai.com

Shoot In China (SIC) has been headquartered in Shanghai since 2012 and reports more than 1,600 projects, from high-end TVCs and documentaries down to one-day shoots. It is the Chinese member of the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers.

The company covers commercials, corporate films, branded content and documentaries, plus drone and FPV filming, 360 and VR work, and livestreams. Visiting productions use it for permits, location scouting, crew, KOL and talent casting, and equipment and studio hire, with shoots arranged in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu as well as Shanghai. It also handles editing, motion graphics, colour and sound mixing in-house.

4. Studio Stare

Independent · Jing’an · studiostare.com

Studio Stare has made video content for brands and agencies since 2008, for both Chinese and global audiences. Its studio is on West Suzhou Road, on the Suzhou Creek side of the city.

The client list includes Nike, Converse, New Balance, Airbnb, Budweiser, eBay, Fiat, Lipton, Old Navy and Oreo. For international productions it supplies locations, permits, crew, talent and equipment, with bilingual producers, fixers and post-production staff, which makes it a practical partner for an overseas agency shooting in China for the first time.

5. Gung-Ho Films

Founder-led · Shanghai · gunghofilms.com

Michael McDermott, a Los Angeles-born UCLA graduate, founded Gung-Ho Films in Beijing in 2001. It now runs offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong and Macao, and produces commercials, feature films, television, documentaries, corporate films and photography in China for international clients.

Its film credits include the Shanghai unit on Spike Jonze’s Her and work on Oliver Stone’s Snowden, and it lists Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Rupert Sanders and Garth Davis among the directors it has worked with. Commercial credits include adidas “One in a Billion”, Nike “Just Do It” in China, Apple’s iPad Air, Gucci and Dior, alongside corporate films for Shanghai Disneyland. Agency partners include Wieden+Kennedy and 72andSunny.

6. LP Films

Founder-led · Shanghai · lpfilms.net

LP Films was founded in 2004 by three artists and has produced documentaries and commercial films since then. It works from the Reeb 1987 Creative Park on Yimei Road, with an in-house creative team that takes projects from idea development through to post-production, in English and Chinese.

Its documentary work includes The Six, which won several international awards and was distributed in China, Canada, Australia, Japan and the UK, as well as A Farewell Song and The Poseidon Project. Commercial clients include Apple, Disney, Porsche, Philips, Unilever and ExxonMobil. It also supports overseas broadcasters with crew, equipment and permit applications, which suits documentary-style brand films.

What to look for in a Shanghai video production company

Be clear about what kind of company you need. Some Shanghai firms, such as PIG China, are production houses that bring a director roster and creative input to a brief. Others are service companies that take an existing creative and director and make the shoot happen in China. Several do both, and it helps to ask which role they will play on your job.

Ask how the company handles permits, locations and crew outside Shanghai. Many brand shoots move between cities, and a producer with standing relationships in Beijing, Chengdu or Guangzhou will save days. If foreign crew or equipment is coming in, check who manages visas, customs and carnets.

Plan the deliverables before the shoot. A Shanghai production often needs a hero film plus vertical cuts for Douyin and Xiaohongshu, stills, and sometimes livestream content, all in Chinese and English versions. Agree the full list, aspect ratios and subtitle languages in the quote, so nothing is added at the last minute.

Finally, agree how footage and feedback will move between the production team, the agency and the client, who are often in different countries. Rushes, proxies, cut versions and comments spread across email, WeChat and transfer links are hard to track, so it helps to settle early on one place for the latest cut and one way of collecting notes.

How Fabric helps video production teams

Fabric gives a production company one workspace for footage, documents and client feedback, with AI search across all of it. The setup for commercial production teams suits the way Shanghai companies run shoots for agencies and brands in several countries at once.

Rushes and project files sit in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and editors can open heavy video files without a full download. Interviews and dailies can be transcribed, and search works by meaning across documents, images and transcripts, jumping straight to the right timestamp in a clip.

For review, share a cut with the client or agency as a commenter. Shared links work without sign-up, and commenters can leave timestamped comments on video, draw on a frame to point at a detail, and comment on stills and treatment PDFs. The production team marks each comment completed as it is addressed, so a round of notes works like a checklist. There is a short guide on getting client feedback on a video.

Final deliverables can be published as a web page, which is view-only with optional download, and protected with a password. Link analytics shows when each named recipient opened it. On Team plans, the AI knowledge base for clients keeps a page for each client covering decisions, deliverables and open items.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans, and the client knowledge base on Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best video production company in Shanghai?

It depends on the job. For a commercial with an international director, PIG China represents an international roster and produced campaigns for Lancôme, Balenciaga and Shiseido in 2026. For fashion and luxury content shot in a studio, Central Studios is a strong choice, and for service work on a visiting production, Shoot In China and Studio Stare both cover permits, crew and equipment.

Can an overseas agency shoot a commercial in Shanghai without a local partner?

Foreign productions usually hire a local production or service company to arrange permits, locations, crew and equipment. Gung-Ho Films, Shoot In China, Studio Stare and Central Studios all list this support for international crews.

Do Shanghai production companies also handle post-production?

Several do. Shoot In China offers editing, motion graphics, colour and sound mixing, and LP Films takes projects through to post with its own team. Larger commercial jobs often use a separate post house, such as Heckler, which opened a Shanghai studio in October 2025.

Which Shanghai video production companies work for luxury and beauty brands?

PIG China’s recent work includes Lancôme, Balenciaga, Shiseido, SK-II and Coach. Central Studios has shot for Maison Margiela, YSL and Zara, and Gung-Ho Films lists Gucci and Dior commercials.

Where can I find animation studios in Shanghai?

This list covers live-action production companies. For animated and motion design work, see the best animation studios in Shanghai.

Related lists

Video production in other cities: New York · London · Los Angeles · Singapore · Sydney

More in Shanghai: Creative agencies · Advertising agencies · Content studios · Animation · Photography studios

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for creative teams · Fabric for videographers · Best video review software for creative teams