"We are using the mentality of making products to do IP, refined operation, slow simmering." The IP we choose may not be the most popular direction, but we must choose an excellent work step by step to do the development that suits it. In the face of the current situation of rough adaptation of popular IP in China, Fan Shaoqing, head of NetEase Cloud Reading, has a clear understanding.
"With NetEase's existing resources, once the source resource of online literature is held, the development of IP derivative industries will form a natural foundation for development." Fan Shaoqing said that film and television is only the starting point, and NetEase Cloud Reading will bring updated standards to authors, readers and the industry.
As a digital reading platform, NetEase Cloud Reading, founded in 2012, focused on news information and e-books in the early days. Until around 2015, NetEase Cloud Reading began to adjust its products and gradually transformed into an original IP incubation platform, positioning all-round digital reading.
It can be said that it is the forerunner of the development of the IP industry chain, but after more than a year of entering the game, NetEase Cloud Reading transformed the original IP incubation platform, and the number of registered users has exceeded 100 million so far. At present, the platform has more than 600,000 high-quality e-books, with 60% of original IP works, more than 5,000 exclusive signed works and more than 3,000 original signed authors, of which dozens of works have been successfully developed in film and television.
So what are the high-energy features of netease cloud reading's IP industry incubation model? A few days ago, the petty official went to Wufeng Autonomous County in Yichang City to explore the web drama "Notes of the WitchEs." The drama is adapted from the horror suspense novel "Notes on Witchcraft" by NetEase Cloud Reading writer Chai Te'er, which is the first suspense thriller network drama in China with the theme of witchcraft. Perhaps from this drama, the concept and strategy of NetEase Cloud Reading for the development of online literature IP can be seen.
Power "Notes on witchcraft"
Whether NetEase Cloud Reading can become an IP breakout
In May 2015, the NetEase Cloud Reading Team unearthed the potential author Chai Teer, an exclusive newcomer signed on the platform. Analyzing the direction of the derivative possibilities of the work, the original suspense novel "Notes of the Witch" is comprehensively developed from multiple angles such as content, packaging, publicity, sound and comics. The comic of the same name was also created by the well-known domestic cartoonist Luo Sheng, and was officially released in March this year. The audiobook of the same name has also been subscribed to nearly 20,000 on the NetEase cloud music platform.
At the same time, the author Chai Te'er herself is focused on packaging after the 90s and the two major characteristics of high appearance, making her a topical and bright spot in the industry, "post-90s beauty writer" and "face value of the online literary industry".
In less than half a year since its launch, "Notes on Witchcraft" has become a suspenseful superstard work with more than 100 million hits on all platforms, and the Baidu index has soared. With its novel themes, compact plots, and good popularity, it has become a fragrant feast in the eyes of many third-party research institutions such as Analysys International, and has become one of the key recommended IP works in 2015.
The reason why "Notes on witchcraft" was chosen as the first film and television development project of NetEase Cloud Reading? Fan Shaoqing said, "Not too much pursuit of popular IP is the consistent purpose of NetEase Cloud Reading." Indeed, compared with the works on the market that are full of "tomb robbery, fantasy, and youth", the theme of witchcraft is relatively niche for the public. "The theme of witchcraft is a combination of traditional Chinese culture, or quite innovative." Novels are very popular on our platform, so we are very confident about the development of film and television. ”
In August 2016, "Notes on witchcraft" was signed by Beijing Shougong Film Media for millions of yuan to develop a super web drama, and NetEase Cloud Reading was also a co-producer of the drama. The web drama has been launched on September 28, directed by Li Kai, a young up-and-coming director who has served as the executive director of "Jing Ke Thorn Qin King", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Full of Golden Armor", "Chibi", "Crazy Stone" and other films, and the starring lineup includes Chen Yiru, Yu Qingbin and Lan Yan.
During this period, the original author Cheeter and the screenwriter had a deep run-in communication, and almost a character and plot details have undergone many polishing, and the script alone took more than half a year. Cheter once told the media, "In addition to writing novels, I usually do screenwriting myself, this is my first novel work to be filmed into a web drama, I hope it can be as perfect as possible." NetEase Cloud Reading gave me a lot of room to play and professional support during the whole process. ”
It can be said that "Notes on Witchcraft" is the first IP full copyright ecological project read by NetEase Cloud. Fan Shaoqing told Xiao guan, "We will carry out full copyright IP derivative development around the novel, including physical publishing, audio novels, drama development, film and television drama development, etc. will be gradually expanded." At present, the comic of the same name has been launched on "NetEase Comics", with more than 20 million readers, and the cinema movies are already in contact.
IP adaptations have had a mixed reputation
How to break the netease cloud reading?
With ips such as "Flowers and Bones", "Notes from the Tomb Robber", "Qingyunzhi" being scrambled to be put on the big screen and small screens, the adaptation of online literature has once again triggered a boom, although many readers who love the original book are crazy to spit on the adaptation, but it does not affect the enthusiasm of the adaptors. The hottest "hoarding IP tide" at present also directly points to online literature.
This shows that the reputation and market effect of popular IP adaptations of film and television dramas are not necessarily proportional, and sometimes the opposite is true. Needless to say that a large number of readers who love the original work complain, the criticism of the quality of the adapted works and even the online literary works themselves has never been interrupted.
The IP boom has intensified the content copyright battle. But on the one hand, the IP fever has benefited people who have struggled to write, and on the other hand, it has also poured a heavy bubble on the originally impetuous literary industry. There is no doubt that THE IP adaptation fever is a double-edged sword.
In the face of the so-called popular IP rushing up the adaptation, the author of "Notes on witchcraft" Chai Teer previously said in an interview with the chief entertainment officer: "Regarding the content of the IP blue ocean, everyone may now feel that IP is a very impetuous thing, in fact, the producer feels impetuous, and the author himself feels more anxious." ”
It can be said that the author of "Notes on witchcraft" Is an example of NetEase Cloud Reading's star packaging for native writers, allowing them to deeply participate in the derivative development scheme of the work. Fan Shaoqing said that in NetEase's view, the original author of IP is the core of the entire IP ecology and industry, and is the creative source of the work, netEase will focus on building a benign IP author development system, including the introduction of contracted writers externally, and the incubation of new authors internally.
Fan Shaoqing introduced that NetEase Cloud Reading attaches great importance to new high-quality IP with deep market potential, in addition to signing online writers and forming strong cooperation, NetEase also insists on encouraging the cultivation of new original writers and tapping potential new writers.
In the view of NetEase Cloud Reading, the original author of IP is the core of the entire IP ecology and industry, and is the creative source of the work, and NetEase will focus on building a benign IP author development system.
Previously, the well-known network writer Zhang Junbao's new work "Young Fist Saint" novel and comic chose to be released simultaneously in NetEase Cloud Reading, for cooperation with NetEase, Zhang Junbao said, "NetEase Cloud Reading's open cooperation attitude and model is a huge cultivation for native writers. "The trust in the development and operation strength of NetEase's whole industry chain system, NetEase's rich group resources and market experience in many fields such as games, digital content and e-commerce, etc., have more possibilities for the IP development of "Young Fist Saint" to obtain more extensions."
Indeed, NetEase's advantages as an all-media platform provide a complete and smooth channel and resource for NetEase Cloud Reading to incubate the whole industry chain around IP. "We have NetEase News, NetEase Comics, NetEase Cloud Reading, including our own film and television studios, games, our own platforms are leaders in various vertical fields, so we will give priority to forming a joint with our own platforms and doing our own IP ecosystem." Fan Shaoqing introduced.
Through its own platforms and channels, the matrix effect is formed, and NetEase Cloud Reading actively expands its cooperation with major film and television drama production companies, and unites internally and externally to create a full copyright ecological strategy of film and television, animation, and games with literary IP as the source.
NetEase Cloud Reading has announced on many public occasions that it will operate the generation, promotion and development of IP through the platform's own work evaluation system and the judgment of the future film and television market, with new media dramas, that is, online dramas or online movies as a breakthrough in the march, and through the iron triangle formed by the editor + author + market, to operate the generation, promotion and development of IP, and incubate the original IP.