Barbara Robinson

At Sony, she was responsible for Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, winner of four Oscars that set records in the United States and around the world with US $230 million in global box office receipts. Robinson was also a driving force behind Stephen Chow’s very successful Kung Fu Hustle.

In recognition of Robinson's creative, production, and team-building skills, she was presented with the Sony Corporation CEO Award for Excellence and was also given a Visionary Lifetime Achievement award at the 2006 CineAsia Expo in Beijing.

Earlier in her career, Robinson partnered with Zhang Yimou on his films Raise the Red Lantern (Silver Lion, Venice 1991; Best Foreign Film, BAFTA 1992) and To Live (Grand Jury Prize, Cannes 1994; Best Foreign Film, BAFTA 1995). In 2006 at a CineAsiA ceremony honoring Barbara Robinson, Zhang Yimou said, "[Robinson] played a fundamental role in popularizing Chinese cinema worldwide." Her other Columbia Pictures Film Production credits with Zhang Yimou include: Not One Less (Golden Lion, Venice 1999) and The Road Home (Silver Bear, Berlin 2000).

In 1988, Barbara Robinson pioneered the creation of the first China-based production unit of an American studio when she joined the Columbia Tristar Motion Picture Group (a Sony Pictures Entertainment company) as Managing Director to establish its local-language film production division, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, based in Hong Kong.

Barbara Robinson (born June 4, 1960) is an American film producer and studio executive who has worked her entire career in greater China. Over the course of three decades, Robinson has collaborated with many of the most prominent directors from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan — and played a critical role in the production of Ang Lee’s breakthrough martial arts title, Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon.