This press conference allows people to see three aspects of the "film and television 2.0" era

At the Shanghai International Film Festival two years ago, Beijing released a series of plans for the whole industry for the first time.

Two years later, Beijing Wonderful, Oriental Beauty, and the low-key energy behind it, jointly released the latest film list during the Shanghai Film Festival, and elaborated on the brand's strategic planning and future layout.

"New universe, new power, new journey", this theme of the conference happens to be a summary of the three companies, and "new" is the key word that runs throughout. Zhang Miao, general manager, chief producer and distributor of Beijing Wonderful, and Wu Sheng, founder of Oriental Meizhi, are veterans of the film industry, and have embarked on the road of starting again at the time when the methodology of the film market needs to be iterated and reconstructed. The predecessor of Bainaqiancheng, "Hualu Baina", was once a leading company in the drama industry, but in the wave of Taiwan transfer network, talent reserves were gradually lost, and after Fang Gang's Infore Group entered, it returned to the card table.

After three years of the epidemic, the industry shuffle, "still at the card table" is not an easy task. In this process, we maintain strategic concentration, integrate with the production mode of the film and television industry based on the underlying standardized management and open mechanism, transform the film and television production process, and gradually expand the talent team, and establish the two major film labels of Beijing Wonderful and Oriental Beauty and its six drama labels.

The industry is still in the post-epidemic reshuffle period, consumer needs, and the technical base of entertainment are quietly changing, which is not only a challenge for film and television companies, but also an opportunity to give birth to the next generation of content companies. Seeking "new" is undoubtedly a prerequisite for exploring the path of the next generation of content companies.

This is the incision to observe the three companies. At this press conference, we not only saw projects full of possibilities, but also saw the possibility of systematic operation of the film and television industry in the future under the overall forward-looking framework, and also saw the responsibility of the times that new era film and television companies took the initiative to shoulder under the inspiration of establishing cultural self-confidence and telling Chinese stories well.

Beijing is wonderful: Learn to walk while running

At the end of 2020, after completing the production of "Me and My Hometown", a confused voice grew larger and bigger in Zhang Miao's heart, so big that it was impossible to ignore - how can we make the movie business healthier?

Since joining Beijing Culture in 2016, Zhang Miao has gradually built a set of whole industry chain integrating production and publicity, and on this basis, he has launched "Wolf Warrior 2", "The Wandering Earth", "Hello, Li Huanying" and other well-known hits, he called this system "film and television 1.0" stage.

Zhang Miao

But that's not enough, if movies are to be made a healthier deal, it needs to move towards the "film and television 2.0" stage of IP long-tail effect development.

Zhang Miao didn't mention his ideas to too many people, originally he just wanted to be a self-employed film with a new stage of exploration, and accidentally met fellow travelers - Fang Gang, chairman and president of Bainaqiancheng. Fang Gang and Zhang Miao's understanding of directionality is the same, but he comes from a traditional industry, which brings Zhang Miao a new analytical perspective, so that the cooperation between the two is both at the same frequency and complementary.

Half a year later, "Chinese Youth Universe" became the answer sheet handed over by the two about the specific form of "film and television 2.0". Now talking about "Chinese Youth Universe", compared with when it was first released two years ago, Zhang Miao believes that it "has not changed in essence, but has more thinking".

Thinking comes from a clearer and more assertive disassembly of concepts, starting with the "universe." In Zhang Miao's view, the birth of a "movie universe" must not be an accidental phenomenon, and you can't make some products first, and then find rules in these products and forcibly put them together. Instead, when planning, the context and texture of the universe are considered in advance, such as the content of different formats under the same IP, the relationship between products and products, the layout after entering the market, and so on.

The creation cycle of a movie is very long, and if you just choose a schedule to be released in the cinema for a period of time, the life cycle of the film is too short. Zhang Miao hopes that every wonderful film in Beijing has not existed in isolation since its birth, but has gathered together into a small universe. In this universe, works have a longer lifespan, originality and innovation can continue, the success of a film can be replicated, and IP can grow in interaction with more movies.

The second is about "juvenile". "Youth" is not a framed age group, but a spirit. For example, the lion dance master salted Yuqiang in "Lion Boy", in Zhang Miao's understanding, he is also a "teenager" in his heart. This spirit is not only an inspiration to the individual, but also the pulse of the times, "What does a five-thousand-year-old nation want to hear most when it comes to this day?" It's that he's still young. ”

Whether they can accurately grasp the pulse of the times is often the key to whether content companies can stand at the forefront of the tide. Just as Disney always tells stories about dreams and fairy tales, a successful content label needs to find its own unity temperament. And Zhang Miao found that the domestic film market focuses on young people, and even people's films are far from enough, but this is precisely an indispensable part of the film world.

So the "Chinese Youth Universe" came into being. It can be a group of teenagers in "Heroes of Dunhuang" who rushed to return to righteousness and glory in the crisis during the Tang Dynasty, or a group of teenagers who worked on aliens but were homesick in "Space Spring Festival", or even the first secretaries who made important contributions to the country and the nation in the news documentary "First Secretary". Beijing's wonderful works have a unified temperament, aimed at young audiences, telling the story of spirited teenagers, whether they are past teenagers, current teenagers, or future teenagers, all belong to this still young nation with a history of 5,000 years of civilization. The attention to these "youthful people" constitutes a wonderful brand tonality unique to Beijing.

"Heroes of Dunhuang"

This is not a simple job, Zhang Miao summarized the two standards that a company needs to meet to do the "movie universe" - one is copyright ownership ability, and the other is a perfect IP development mechanism. And Beijing, which completes both points, has the prerequisites for entering the "film and television 2.0" stage.

Past experience told Zhang Miao that the copyright ownership of many successful films in China is often decentralized, and Zhang Miao began to think about how to continue to use a successful film. Therefore, in the "Chinese Youth Universe", from the name of each character to the film music, etc., the copyright ownership is wonderful in Beijing, so as to fully plan every step of the IP expansion outward.

In the past, the business center in charge of IP licensing and development, which was permanently under the marketing center in the traditional film and television company, was splendid in Beijing. This is an important prerequisite for establishing a mature IP development mechanism from the level of team architecture.

But Beijing's exciting goals are not only to do a good job in the mainstream commercial film genre, and in the long list, there are some projects that challenge areas rarely involved in the domestic film and television industry. For example, in the song and dance film "Twinkle and Twinkle Crystal", before the project was launched, countless people told Zhang Miao that Chinese audiences could not accept song and dance narratives. But he always wondered, is it the audience that doesn't accept it, or is the previous attempt not good enough?

"Twinkle, Twinkle"

Of course, such a project has certain market risks, but in Zhang Miao's heart, "I think that the most lacking thing in the entire market now is not the most accurate business calculation, but the courage and determination to innovate." As an industrial format that has existed for more than a hundred years, if we do not work hard, will it become an intangible cultural heritage? ”

Forging ahead under the premise of ensuring commercial rationality is the most condensed summary of Beijing's wonderful establishment in the past three years. If you compare Beijing's wonderful development to the growth of a teenager, Zhang Miao believes that it is in the stage of "toddlers", "a child who has just learned to walk, you put him on the ground and he runs." Run and run, wrestle, then get up and keep running. ”

Children always learn to walk while running, and the same is true of Beijing.

Oriental Beauty: Tell Chinese stories that the whole world can understand

He met Fang Gang earlier, but he became a comrade-in-arms at a later time.

Talk about Wusheng

As early as 2018, after Infore Group held a hundred percent, Fang Gang and Zhuan Wusheng had a hasty meeting, although no further cooperation could be reached, Fang Gang's low-key and pragmatic style left a deep impression on Zhuan Wusheng. By 2020, the two re-established contact, and Fang Gang gradually penetrated into the industry from the initial industrial investor, and the two sides had more common topics to develop.

Until the end of last year, after learning that Wusheng had plans to enter the upstream of the industry, Fang Gang handed over an olive branch of cooperation. On the basis of the trust established over the years, the team assembly and brand building were quickly completed, and the future plan of Oriental Beauty was presented to the outside for the first time half a year later.

As a platform company, it is different from creative companies in that Oriental Beauty hopes to take creators as friends and industry as teachers, and establish a window for communication between Dongfang Chengcheng and all creators in the industry in the future.

In the project list released by Oriental Beauty, there are some young creators. Wusheng believes that in the past, the film market always said to "support newcomers", but for a platform-based film and television company, such an idea is a bit far-fetched, "We have extremely strict requirements for new directors, mainly because he must have a corresponding foundation in the original script and project team, so that newcomers can become the object of our real cooperation, not only the so-called directing ability." ”

For example, "The Story of X" in the film list is the debut novel of Cai Jun, the head domestic suspense novel writer. Another example is "Swing", which has previously won many award-winning projects in domestic venture capital, and director Wang Huan is the first graduate of the Film Directing Department of the New York School of Visual Arts. Only newcomers who have an excellent script foundation, are fully prepared, and "ready to be released" can become the cooperation object recognized by Oriental Beauty.

Behind the high standard is the implementation of the label's core concept of "high quality and strong type", and the 9 new works released this time, although they are different types, are all works with very distinct genre elements. Speaking Wusheng said that 80%-90% of Oriental Beauty's energy will be concentrated on genre films, because this is the narrative method that is most in line with the current media environment and audience consumption habits.

In the understanding of Wusheng, for a new label, it is necessary to "do addition first and then subtraction", and first do a good job of standardized and mature genre films, which is the conclusion after addition and subtraction. "The current domestic genre film creation ability, not to mention compared with Hollywood, and Japan and South Korea are still far behind. Therefore, before talking about genre innovation, we should be more humble and pragmatic to supplement the standardized and mature type narrative ability. ”

On another level, doing a good job of standardized and mature genre narratives is also a way to help Chinese films truly tell Chinese stories to the outside world.

Not long ago, Shuan Wusheng just brought the project of Oriental Beauty to the Cannes Film Festival, showed it to international counterparts, and received good feedback. In essence, Wusheng believes that although these films have many oriental elements, the stories inside are told according to traditional logic, so there is no cross-cultural acceptance threshold.

The reason why the brand was named Oriental Meizhi also carries a strong desire to "tell Chinese stories to the world", "This is not only the ambition of a company, but also the mission of the entire Chinese film industry." ”

Staying "strategic" in the midst of trends

In the past, Bai Na Qiancheng (formerly: Hualu Bai Na), who was more known by practitioners as a drama company, now after the official release of the two film labels of Beijing Wonderful and Oriental Beauty, further demonstrates the trust in the long-term value of the film and television industry and the confidence and determination to achieve a broader layout.

After expansion and integration, the drama business was divided into six major labels. At the press conference, Bai Na Qiancheng used the three parts of "Song of the Times", "Justice Echo" and "Dream Concerto" to show the core content of the drama focusing on "truth, goodness and beauty" and nine works to be broadcast from six major labels, from traditional genres such as realistic themes and suspense crimes, to innovative genres such as science fiction and male frequency immortal cultivation.

In Fang Gang's view, the content layout ideas of mainstream video platforms today are very worthy of reference, that is, "there are plateaus and peaks". By penetrating the fixed type of track, build a "plateau" to precipitate existing users as the basis for revenue, and then strive for the "peak", attract incremental users with high-reputation and high-popularity circle-breaking works to drive consumption growth.

Fang Gang

This also requires that different labels need to have different divisions of labor, deepen their own advantageous tracks, and focus on the creation of typed, serialized and head-oriented works.

The high division of labor is precisely the obvious industrialization feature, which is also Zhang Miao and Wusheng agreed that a group company with the industrial background of Infore Group behind Bai Na Qiancheng can bring a huge increase to the film and television industry. For example, Wu Sheng mentioned that there is a strong information gene in Bai Na Qiancheng, "It can be said that no other company in the film industry has such a large and complete OA system." ”

In the context of the epidemic, choosing to take a step outward and make efforts to lay out the film field is undoubtedly the embodiment of corporate courage. In Fang Gang's understanding, any industry will always encounter fluctuations and downward ranges, during this period, many companies will be eliminated, but excellent talents and teams still exist, and this is the best time to meet talent and industrial opportunities.

It is not only talents, but also the reserve of funds and resources, as well as the optimization of production mechanisms, waiting for the right time to immediately promote the operation of specific projects. Fang Gang summed them up as "strategic concentration".

The formation of this "strategic determination" depends on the past experience and exploration of Fang Gang and the team in the industrial field, Fang Gang mentioned that enterprises in any industry must look at three key points to achieve something: one looks at the trend, the other looks at the timing, and the third looks at the rhythm.

This is also the principle that Hundred Thousand Cheng, Beijing Wonderful, and Oriental Beauty follow in promoting the development of IP long-tail effect. In fact, upgrading film revenue from a single box office revenue to multiple revenues around IP has been a long-term issue in the film industry for too many years. Countless Chinese film companies have become "Chinese Disney" as their ultimate goal, but some are still persevering on the road of exploration, and more have failed.

In Fang Gang's concept, this reflects the correctness of the industry in the trend, but the timing and rhythm of the grasp are still to be discussed, "To put it bluntly, most of the content in our country now, it is not called IP, it is just a good content or a blockbuster." Therefore, we must at least make good content into strong IP, and then talk about whether IP can be combined with industry to produce empowerment. I think this process cannot be forced, but can only be followed. ”

Therefore, in the process of building IP by the three companies, a major commonality is that the priority is not the development of so-called "derivatives" in the traditional film and television industry, but the development of "derivative content". Expand the product line with content attributes first, and then gradually expand to the consumer goods field. What kind of derivative content is developed depends on their "kinship" with the IP story itself.

For example, the comic comedy "Giantess Also Falls in Love" launched by Oriental Beauty may be derived in the direction of stage comedy in the future, and the fantasy blockbuster "The Gate of the Sand Sea" may be derived into a VR short drama; Beijing's wonderful "Lion Boy" hopes to explore high-quality multi-format content in a multi-genre expression, and its derivative super short drama "Beyond! Ajuan" is in preparation, in addition to choosing to cooperate with the Guangzhou Opera House, which is located in Guangdong, where the story takes place, will soon stage the musical "Lion Boy" this year.

On the basis of having a sufficiently mature IP, film and television content has the further possibility of combining with industry. In April this year, Yongxingfang and "Chang'an 12 Hours" theme blocks were jointly invested and operated in Xi'an's famous cultural tourism scenic spots, creating a benchmark example for the further extension and development of the IP cultural tourism industry.

"Respect for professionalism and win-win cooperation" is the strategic principle that Fang Gang has repeatedly mentioned. On the one hand, Fang Gang and Bai Na Qiancheng are trying to innovate the film and television industry with a more systematic operation and management model, but on the other hand, Fang Gang has also shown respect for content creators and appointed talents who truly understand content to be responsible for content development, so as to complement each other.

For the film and television industry, which still has no shortage of workshop-style production thinking, learning from the development experience of other industries is an important way to improve strategic planning and management capabilities, and improve production standardization and industrialization. More realistically, with the intervention of industrial background enterprises, film and television companies can also be more relaxed in the support of cash flow, and do not have to make the work come out in an imperfect state due to the pressure of cost recovery in the downward range.

In the future, Baina Qiancheng also reserves the possibility of further cooperation with talents in the film and television industry, "according to the established idea to find different people, this month may not be found, then continue to look next month, be a friend of time." ”

Taking "New Journey" as the theme of this conference, this is not only a new journey for the company's own development path, but also a "new journey" for the country and society to stand at a new historical starting point and further develop cultural self-confidence. In Fang Gang's view, China's 5,000-year-old cultural heritage, supported by China's comprehensive national strength and international influence, has ushered in the best opportunity for external communication.

Standing at the new intersection of the times, the new forces of the "film and television 2.0" era are embarking on a new journey.