The original comedy competition variety show "Annual Comedy Competition", produced by iQiyi and co-produced by Miwei, was officially launched last Friday. The show gathers the "strongest comedy lineup" of Huang Bo, Li Shi, Ma Dong, Xu Zheng, Yu Hewei as the organizing committee, and uses various types of comedy forms such as sketch comedy, comic talent, and mime drama to make life-loving, optimistic and cheerful comedy works and comedy newcomers stand out and enter the public vision.
After the premiere of the program, many works that took into account laughter and social care quickly "broke the circle" on the Internet, such as "Internet Physical Examination" that satirized Internet advertisements, "Sanmao Defense War" that presented the hair loss crisis of workers, and "Strange Neighbors on the Bus" that absurdly showed the social fears of contemporary people. Some viewers predict that the "Annual Comedy Competition" will continue "Strange Story" and "Summer of the Band", so that the comedy industry will also warm up again. However, Ma Dong, founder and CEO of Miwei Media, always adhered to the attitude of expecting and waiting for the Beijing News in an exclusive interview with a reporter. He believes that Mi did not produce content, hoping to use variety shows as an "amplifier" to create positive emotional value, and in this way, let talented people in this industry be seen by the outside world.
The members of the program organizing committee are Ma Dong, Xu Zheng, Yu Hewei, Huang Bo and Li Shi from left to right.
Laughter is the most important criterion
When making the "Annual Comedy Competition", Ma Dong had two "firm beliefs": First, he firmly believed that comedy should fall solidly on ordinary people. Most of the comedians in the show are new faces, and the audience can put aside the cognitive interference with the stars and focus more on the performance, purely accepting the comedic effects brought by the characters. The second is to insist on co-creation. Comedy is not the achievement of an actor or screenwriter, and only when everyone gets together and persists in creating in the face of doubts and doubts, can we inspire better comedy creation.
But when it comes down to the results, the audience's "laughter" is still the most objective measure. It is reported that the "Annual Comedy Competition" ran for more than nine months, before the recording, the comedians and screenwriters have been stationed in Miwei's company, constantly creating and rehearsing; but more importantly, every once in a while, they will take the work to the temporary "small theater" downstairs, accept the inspection and voting of different audiences in advance, until hundreds of comedians are gradually eliminated to the current 25 comedy teams. In order to maximize the balance of different aesthetic laughs, the show also includes as many comedies as possible, including sketch comedies, comic talents, one-man shows, musicals, and mimes.
However, in today's society where information can be communicated quickly and fully, it is difficult for comedy to make the audience feel "reasonable and unexpected"; in addition, should comedy pursue value output, or laugh wildly? The contradiction between the two has not yet arrived at a definitive answer. In the first stage, Ma Dong's happiest work was "Taoyuan Three Knots of Righteousness", and the tears of Music came down; but some people thought that "Taoyuan Three Knots of Righteousness" was not as comedic and ironic as "Internet Physical Examination". "Don't care, just make it funny." This is Ma Dong's purest understanding of the "Annual Comedy Competition".
The "laughter" of the audience is the most objective measure.
Insist on happiness and transmit positive emotional values
In Ma Dong's cognition, the essence of variety shows is "funny" and "good crying"; when the two are taken into account, it is the best state. In essence, Mi has always insisted on doing "funny" programs since its inception. "'Strange Story' is also funny for a lot of people; 'Summer of the Band' is good music, but other parts are also funny." Ma Dong believes that whether it is debate or band, until now, the "Annual Comedy Competition" is only a "happy" means and grammar; what remains unchanged is that it makes the audience harvest happiness and then secrete a sense of happiness.
Ma Dong's vision for Miwei is to become a "company that creates positive emotional value and continues to grow.". The simple interpretation is, "Do not rely on blocking people and creating curiosity to pull traffic for yourself." This is also why it is difficult for the audience to find variety show contradictions or negative emotions in the "Annual Comedy Competition", but works such as "Sanmao Defense War" and "The Voice of Father and Son" can make people laugh purely while finding self-care and love for life.
"Negative emotions are not without value, but we choose to subtract everything below 'zero', leaving only the warmth, care, and release of kindness above 'zero'." Ma Dong knows that such a pursuit is slightly stubborn in the current variety market, but this is his choice.
As for whether the "Annual Comedy Competition" can promote the comedy industry to become a new hot spot, Ma Dong does not seem to take this as the main goal. He believes that the content produced by Mi Wei is more like an "amplifier", "We make everything produce positive emotional value through organic content production, and then release it with mass media, so that talented people in this industry can continue to be seen by the outside world, and then generate greater value." I think this is the most important synergy between media and content. ”
Beijing News reporter Zhang He
Edited by Tong Na Proofreader Wu Xingfa