Two production companies owned by film producer Zhang Weiping and director Zhang Yimou started a battle of words on Tuesday concerning the management of some artists.

Zhang Weiping's Beijing New Picture Film Co., Ltd., which is known for producing Zhang Yimou's blockbusters like "Hero," "House of Flying Daggers" and "The Flowers of War," issued a statement on Tuesday morning through a law firm to emphasize its absolute control of 12 actors and singers under contract.

According to the statement posted on the Internet, New Picture says it is the sole company to fully represent the 12 artists including Zhou Dongyu ("The Love of the Hawthorn Tree"), Ni Ni ("The Flowers of War"), and Shawn Dou. Because the actors are still under an eight-year contract with the company, any other individual or organization cannot act as an agent for the said artists in films and shows without explicit written permission from New Picture, the statement read.

New Picture also says that these artists cannot sign any contract with a third party for any films, TV shows or public shows without the advanced permission of the company, nor can they join in any films, TV shows or public shows arranged by a third party without its permission.

Later Pu Lun, an employee at Zhang Yimou Workshop challenged the claim. Pu's lawyer said, "All the legal documents concerning business negotiation, career management and contract signing show that Pu Lun has always been the actual agent of Zhou Dongyu and Ni Ni, among others. Anyone is not allowed to deny or dispute this established legal fact."

The same day, Zhang Weiping publicly denounced Zhang Yimou Workshop, claming it is "an illegal company and its agents are not qualified to manage the artists."

New Picture is one of the most successful privately-owned film production companies in China. It has funded and produced 11 films, all of them directed by Zhang Yimou since it was founded in 1997 with Zhang Weiping serving as CEO and Zhang Yimou as artistic director.

The company's 2002 blockbuster "Hero" starring Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi ushered China's modern film industry into a new era of big productions. However, its latest production "The Flowers of War" (2011) starring Hollywood actor Christian Bale did not make satisfactory box office returns. Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping broke their long-time collaboration soon thereafter.

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