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On March 22, the trailer for the Korean version of the phenomenon-level web drama "Beginning" produced by Dongyang Noonday Sun was released, and netizens said that "the cultural output of small beginnings is pinched to death!" "Go abroad and expect this story to infect more people." From April 1, overseas users can watch the show on the streaming platform Netflix (Netflix).
Screenshot of the Trailer for the Korean version of "Beginnings"
Not only Chinese TV dramas, but also Chinese games are highly sought after overseas.
"Qu Gao may not be unknown to everyone, he has his own zhiyin and clear words, red wisps hunt sword meteors, pointing directly at the angry tide to wash the sea and clear..." Gentle tunes, emotional sighs, actions that integrate opera and traditional martial arts, and lyrics with full cultural heritage... This is the Shanghai game company Mihayou specially created for the new role of the game "Original God" "Yunyan" (trailer promo) "Goddess Split View".
Up to now, "Goddess Split View" has been played more than 5 million times on YouTube, a large overseas video website. Foreign netizens did not hide their love for "Yunyan" and traditional Chinese culture, and said in the comment area: "This singing section is so beautiful", "It is really a harmonious fusion of traditional opera and modern music" and "The animation production is so outstanding!" ”
"Original God" game new character "Cloud Violet"
Film and television and games are becoming the two major grasps of Chinese cultural enterprises to "do business overseas". The Shanghai Securities News reporter found in the interview that the number of Chinese cultural enterprises that are not satisfied with the domestic market share and are determined to conquer overseas is increasing, and more and more capital has smelled the business opportunities behind the cultural sea.
The whole world is watching Chinese film and television dramas
Not long ago, the phenomenon-level web drama "Beginning", produced by Dongyang Noonday Sunshine Co., Ltd., announced on its official Weibo that "Beginning" will land on overseas streaming media platform Netflix (Netflix) from April 1. Previously, "Beginning" announced that its broadcast rights were bought by South Korea and will be broadcast in Asia N and A+ Drama in the form of original sound and subtitles.
Poster for the TV series "The Beginning"
This is not the first time Netflix has bought Chinese film and television drama works. In 2021, Netflix bought the overseas rights to the live-action movie "True Three Kingdoms" for an eight-figure price. After its launch, it ranked eighth in the global ranking of Netflix's trends for the month, with it occupying the top spot in Singapore, Vietnam and other regions.
In addition to streaming platforms such as Netflix, overseas TV stations are also competing to buy the rights to Chinese TV dramas. According to relevant statistics, in 2021, the copyright of Chinese TV dramas bought in South Korea alone will approach 100 in half a year, while only about 70 in 2017 were bought in a year. Every year, Great Aim Film and Television sends a large number of dramas to nearly 200 countries and regions around the world; Xinli Media distributes many works to more countries and regions through Disney's overseas distribution network; and "Fox Hunting" produced by Lemon Meng Film and Television is also popular in Malaysia, Vietnam and other countries.
In addition to being exported overseas, the domestic drama "Going to sea" has been remade to a certain scale. According to incomplete statistics, more than ten domestic dramas have been remade overseas, such as the Korean version of "Step by Step" and "Empress Zheren".
The overseas of domestic films has never stopped, from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero", which won the super high box office that year, to the multinational screening of "This Killer Is Not Calm" and "Chosin Lake" in this year's Spring Festival file. A film distributor believes that in recent years, the types of Chinese films have become more and more diverse, the expectations of overseas audiences have become more diverse, and films with excellent quality have brought a benign development trend to overseas distribution. The "14th Five-Year Plan" Chinese film development plan clearly puts forward that to achieve the goal of a film power by 2035, as an important carrier of international exchanges in the new era, films need to "improve quality and growth" in the process of going to sea.
The Shanghai Securities News reporter found that sophisticated production, excellent stories, and details full of Chinese cultural characteristics have become the favorites of overseas audiences. Overseas audiences' pursuit of Chinese film and television dramas is a recognition of the relevant teams and an encouragement to the IP of domestic film and television dramas, which means that domestic literary and art workers are effectively using media products to tell Chinese stories to the world.
The overseas revenue of Chinese mobile games exceeded 100 billion
Statistics show that in 2021, the overseas revenue of Chinese mobile games reached 103.8 billion yuan, and its share in the overseas mobile game market was 28.87%. Mihayou, Tencent (excluding Supercell, etc.), Lilith, NetEase, and 37 Interactive Entertainment ranked among the top five in Terms of Revenue from Chinese Mobile Games.
At the end of September 2020, "Original God" produced by Shanghai Mihayou Company was launched on the whole platform in 13 languages, and won the Google Play 2020 Best Game and Apple Store 2020 Game in December of that year, topping the best-seller list in 68 countries and regions; last December, it won the "TGA 2021 Best Mobile Game" award in the game industry.
On March 14, the February 2022 global revenue ranking of Chinese mobile game publishers released by the store intelligence platform Sensor Tower showed that Tencent, NetEase, and Mihayou ranked in the top three, followed by 37 Interactive Entertainment, Funplus, Lilith and Lingxi Interactive Entertainment.
In February, Tencent's PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile ranked second and sixth, 37 Interactive Entertainment's Puzzles & Survival successfully entered the top five, and Song of the Cloud Rose rose to 16th. On the download list, Tencent's PUBG Mobile maintains its dominance in downloads.
Why are Chinese game products so popular? According to industry analysts, the "soft power" of traditional culture and the "hard power" of scientific and technological innovation are the keys to the success of Chinese game companies.
"The reason why we reviewed the "Original God" can achieve such good results is because a large number of traditional Chinese cultural elements have been added in the creation and promotion process, and a fresh way has been used to show the charm of traditional Chinese culture to global players." Liu Wei, president of Mihayou, said.
The characters in the game "Original God" insist on using Chinese names instead of English names on multinational platforms, and overseas players have also risen up in the use of Chinese pinyin to pronounce character names. In the scene, through cooperation with Zhangjiajie, Huanglong, Guilin and other 5A-level scenic spots, we create digital beauty based on China's natural landscapes, so that foreign players can indulge in the charm of Chinese landscapes. More importantly, the core strength of technological innovation, the cartoon rendering technology of "Original God" has always been the leading level in the industry, and the beautiful picture quality and dynamic effects can be more successful circle fans.
Miha Tour Shanghai Office
Coincidentally, another head game company, 37 Interactive Entertainment, also actively pays attention to the cultural core of the game, and tries to implant China's excellent traditional culture from the aspects of game themes, content gameplay, and promotion materials, so as to achieve two-way empowerment of traditional culture and games.
Taking the ancient Chinese simulated business mobile game "Call Me a Big Treasurer" released globally as an example, 37 Interactive Entertainment integrates historical and cultural elements in an innovative form, and adds elements of Chinese history and culture such as the Maritime Silk Road, dragon boat racing, and shadow puppetry to the game version for different countries and regions, so as to stimulate the interest of users around the world to feel and explore traditional Chinese culture from the product.
37 Interactive Entertainment Guangzhou Headquarters Office Building
The cold thinking behind the hilarity
"We are promoting traditional Chinese culture to the whole world!" During the interview, the reporter found that many cultural enterprises that want to do business overseas are "shouting" similar slogans, looking forward to obtaining policy support from the regulatory authorities.
But in fact, Chinese film and television dramas and games going to sea are not simple cultural output, and overseas users will not pay for Chinese culture without brains, but are only willing to pay for high-quality products. If cultural enterprises want to do a good job in this business, they need not slogans, but skills.
In terms of film and television dramas going to sea, the relatively low copyright fees of domestic dramas have become a problem that practitioners have to think about. Huace Film and Television said that its 2021 costume drama "Long Song Line" achieved a major result of more than 150,000 US dollars per episode, breaking the existing single episode sales record of Chinese film and television dramas. However, as early as 2010, the popular American dramas such as "Lost" and "The Big Bang Theory" were popular among netizens, and the online copyright fee for one season was as high as 6 million US dollars, equivalent to 150,000 US dollars per episode.
In addition, at present, the main position of domestic film and television dramas going to sea is still Asia, as Hou Hongliang, chairman of Noonday Sunshine Pictures, said, "Going out can only start from the surrounding countries in Asia, slowly let them have a demand for your culture, and then slowly expand in the world." ”
The development of the domestic film and television industry is not only how to tell the Chinese story well, but also how to "applaud and applaud", so that the Chinese story can really "go out of the circle" and achieve a win-win situation. Hou Hongliang said that going global "requires a comprehensive improvement of the overall production level and storytelling ability to drive the better promotion and development of Chinese TV dramas overseas."
Liu Wei, president of Mihayou, said that in the field of games, in terms of the number and variety of products, user scale and market size, Chinese companies are already in a leading position in the field of mobile games, but in the creation of "3A games" (games with high development costs, long development cycles and high resource consumption), Chinese companies are still catching up.
CICC pointed out that the operation and research capabilities of Chinese game industry companies and overseas adaptability need to be enhanced. On the one hand, the proportion of head products is relatively low, and the characteristics of the overseas market are different, and the degree of refinement of issuance needs to be enhanced. On the other hand, the level of infrastructure and institutions in various regions of the world is different, and the objective environment brings uncertainty to the sea. Therefore, head game companies with integrated research and operation and fine and appropriate localized playing methods are expected to seize the opportunity in the overseas competition.
It is understood that when the products of 37 Interactive Entertainment are released for different regions, they pay attention to the strategy of "adapting to local conditions", which will make users in different regions feel their favorite cultural background, and reflect it through marketing strategies and changes in in-game design. For example, when "Puzzles & Survival" is promoted in Japan, the cherry blossom elements that Japanese users are most familiar with are added to the game and creatives.
Film and television + games, this is the current Chinese cultural industry to go to sea two sharp weapons, how to make the cake bigger, win the hearts of more overseas users, occupy a larger market share, truly achieve "qugao may not be unknown", but also need all practitioners to think more and work hard.
Editor: Zhu Shaoyong Proofreader: Sun Jiehua
Photo Editor: Zhang Dawei Producer: Ji Yuliang
Editor-in-charge: Shao Ziyi Producer: Pu Hongyi
Issued: Pan Linqing