Director Feng Xiaogang will be the general director of China Central Television (CCTV)'s 2014 Spring Festival Gala, CCTV announced on Friday.

Although Feng is mostly known for producing comedy films, he has explored more serious subjects in recent years, such as the deadly 1976 earthquake that rocked north China's city of Tangshan and the great famine that struck central China's Henan Province in 1942.

Zhao Benshan, a well-known comedian, will be deputy general director in charge of the gala's comedy programming, according to CCTV.