Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd Thursday?set up a joint venture with Hunan TV to stamp its footprint in the film making industry.

Shengshi Picture, with a registered capital of 600 million yuan (US$87.85 million), will leverage on Shanda's online game resources and turn them into films.

The cooperation with Hunan TV will help us to diversify our current resources, said Chen Tianqiao, chairman of the board and CEO of Shanda Interactive.

Ouyang Changlin, director of Hunan TV, said the new company ''will help us expand more channels for our TV shows."

Shanda now operates an integrated service platform for dozens of online games as well as Shanda Literature, a distributor of Chinese novels.

Under the strategic cooperation, Shanda and Hunan TV will invest in film making and publishing, and Shanda Literature will provide original plays that will be made into TV series, films and other derivative products.

The Legend of Immortal, based on one of the hit novels originally published on Shanda's Website, is one of the films the two partners will produce.

The new joint venture is likely to go public, considering its huge potential after combining traditional media resources and new media channels, Ouyang said at a press conference yesterday.

Shanda spun off the online game division and listed it on Nasdaq in September.