170+ new dramas were released, and Tencent Video snapped its fingers with the industry
June 20, 2023 | Total Issue 3272
Although someone has already warmed up online in advance, Tencent Video's release of 170+ new dramas yesterday still brought quite a surprise.
"There are so many new dramas that some blockbuster dramas cannot be listed in the official announcement Weibo" and "there can even be a special poster design exhibition." Netizens sighed at Tencent Video's ample ammunition reserves and creative vitality, and were even more shocked that some dramas that they had never dared to imagine appeared in the film list.
The fiery mood continued until the venue of the 2023 Tencent Video Annual Release held in the afternoon.
"Do the hard and right thing." More than one Tencent person mentioned this sentence on stage, which is the value attitude that Tencent Video has always adhered to, and it also answers the audience's questions to some extent. The reason why people dare not think that a certain drama will be filmed is because it is difficult to operate, but Tencent Video has proved with practical actions that it has the courage and ability to dance in places that the audience does not expect.
For practitioners, the most obvious perception is that Tencent Video's platform aesthetics and temperament have changed greatly. Sun Zhonghuai, vice president of Tencent and CEO of Tencent Online Video, mentioned four keywords of good works in his speech: "Bacon casts soul", "emotional resonance", "aesthetic upgrade" and "story is king".
Sun Zhonghuai, Vice President of Tencent and CEO of Tencent Online Video
This means that Tencent Video is carrying out a high-standard aesthetic construction from the platform level, and under the guidance of the concept of good dramas, it is helping creators find the right direction, avoid detours and improve efficiency.
Seeking things is in people, specializing in the team is the guarantee of the work, good works are always inseparable from excellent creative teams and talents.
Just like the theme of this conference: co-creation, upward. The two complement each other, and what Tencent Video wants to do is give art space and give artists time.
Respecting talents and stimulating creative vitality was a major focus of the conference: Tencent Video's studio cluster was unveiled in a new way during the release stage of the film list.
Wang Juan, Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of Tencent Online Video
Throughout the conference, it is not difficult to find Tencent Video's goals and ambitions in the new situation: to extend its service reach based on content innovation; Take high-standard aesthetic construction as the main line to promote high-efficiency operations; With the professional team as the driving force, it will give birth to the masterpieces of the times; With the support of platform technology, it provides space and time for art; Take high-quality development as the direction to promote industry upgrading.
Intensive research on vertical tracks, innovative perspectives are amazing
At this annual release, Wang Juan, vice president and editor-in-chief of Tencent Online Video, said that in the future, in the drama business, she will continue to embrace diversity, respect art, pursue high-quality products, and insist on co-creation with industry colleagues to improve the quality of works and output more high-quality works. Fang Fang, Li Eryun, Huang Jie, Deputy General Manager of Tencent Online Video Film and Television Content Production Department, and Zhang Na, Senior Director of Tencent Online Video Film and Television Content Production Department, respectively deeply interpreted their respective content priorities, bringing considerable surprises.
Tianqian Studio Group is guarded by Xinghan, Xinghe, Xingchen, Xingyi and other arches, and has produced well-known works such as "Ghost Blowing Lantern Exquisite Ancient City", "Chen Qingling", "You Are My Glory", "Menghualu", "Xinghan Splendid, Moon Rising into the Sea" and other well-known works.
Fang Fang, the person in charge, said in his speech that the future development of the Tianpeng Studio Group will revolve around "deep", "refined" and "wide", not only to continue to cultivate in the field that the studio group is good at, but also to stably output explosive models; It is also necessary to continuously soar high in the vertical field and explore the ultimate ceiling; It is also necessary to continuously broaden the boundaries of the expression of the subject matter.
For example, the housekeeping skill of romantic dramas will not be lost, although it is difficult to innovate on a mature track, but Tencent Video has summarized a mature methodology and constantly innovated.
Consolidating its inherent advantages and adhering to pioneering and innovation is a manifestation of Tencent Video's pursuit of content upgrades, while the concept of "simpler and purer" is the consistent value of all studios.
Tianxuan Studio Group is a veteran team of Tencent Video, with Li Eryun as the leader, consisting of five teams, including train, light boat, aircraft, Chunjiao and Qinian.
Li Eryun said that the concept of Tianxuan Studio Group is to seriously do dramas, regardless of the budget, we must strive for high-quality products at that price.
The Tianxing Studio Group is headed by Huang Jie and consists of six teams, including S, Red Bean, Star Pupil, Star Map, Mars, and Yijia.
"Simplicity and doing what we do are our philosophy of action." As a platform producer, Huang Jie does not regard drama as a simple task, but has a certain pursuit of each project, "there is a market, there is aesthetics, and there is more valuable expression." ”
There are two dramas that best reflect the ambition of Tianxing Studio Group, one is "Yellow Card", adapted from Liang Xiaosheng's original book of the same name, which writes about China's social changes in half a century; The second is "Yan Food", adapted from Ge Liang's novel of the same name, which not only writes about Chinese food, but also explores food culture in depth, and writes about the change of times in the stove.
Two months ago, Tencent Video refreshed the audience's cognition of online dramas with a "Long Season". This drama has more than 750,000 Douban scores, which is the highest-rated domestic drama in the past five years. It stimulates the audience, inspires entrepreneurs, and even affects the future creative flow of domestic suspense dramas to some extent.
The Long Season was created by Nature Studios. As a well-deserved blockbuster drama in the first half of the year, its birth has also undergone a "long" process: whether it took two years to find the most suitable director Xin Shuang, or it took 11 months to revise the script, 107 days of shooting and more than a year of post-production, all adhering to the team's insistence on works and art, and behind this is Tencent Video's full support for the artist's creation.
Rational, pragmatic and pursuing, behind the output of high-quality projects, Tencent Video has built a number of capable and efficient talent teams, formed a unique working atmosphere, and injected the platform's content values into the blood of each team.
It is precisely because such a team is the driving force that it is possible to ensure the quality of the work and complete the content upgrade. From crossing the river by feeling the stones to forming an efficient and unique content creation methodology, Tencent Video's team has made a leap forward together with the platform's dramas.
Do the hard and right thing, choose the best and right people
From the blockbuster at the beginning of "The Three-Body Problem" to the sensation caused by "The Long Season", what secrets are hidden behind Tencent Video's blockbuster dramas?
Complementarity between internal and external teams should be a top priority. When "The Three-Body Problem" made more than a dozen versions of the adaptation direction and the entire creative team was at a loss, Sun Zhonghuai hammered the final word at the creation meeting: just shoot according to the original work. When director Xin Shuang insisted on using self-expression to turn "Winter Blade" into "The Long Season", Tencent Video trusted and supported the young artist's judgment.
To some extent, the platform's mature value aesthetics and broad resources can help creators avoid detours and improve efficiency; Conversely, the whimsy of some creators can also help the platform achieve category innovation through works.
Sun Zhonghuai said in his speech, "Respect for artists is not a quantifiable ruler, more like a belief. Faith guides action and plays with the calculations of the moment. For faith to be established, it needs to be accepted from the boss and carried through to the grassroots, it needs to be repeated over and over again, and it needs to be proven by real examples. Under the art-driven strategy, the culture of respecting art and creation has taken root on Tencent Video. ”
A series of word-of-mouth dramas such as "The Three-Body Problem" and "The Long Season" continue to prove that Tencent Video not only does the difficult and right thing, but also always selects the best and right people. "The Three-Body Problem" director Yang Lei uses realistic techniques to shoot science fiction; Xin Shuang subverts people's stereotypes of the cold northeast with warm and bright autumn days, and this so-called platform and the artist go in both directions.
At this press conference, Xu Kang, founder of Liubai Film and Television and chief producer of "Litchi in Chang'an", appeared with the original author Ma Boyong and director Cao Dun, the well-known director Zhang Qiyu and Xinli jointly created the male frequency blockbuster IP "Sword Come" officially announced, the serious theme adaptation drama "Yellow Card" jointly developed by Tencent Video and Wanda Pictures first appeared, the original production team of "Three-Body Problem" and Linghe Culture once again operated "Three-Body Problem II: Dark Forest", Yaoke Culture, Tengjing Sports and director Zhang Yimou brought the e-sports drama "League of Legends", Chen Sicheng's team and Tencent Video cooperated to develop the sci-fi IP "Stars"...
Based on the concept of mutual respect and win-win cooperation, Tencent Video makes full use of the complete internal and external cooperation mechanism to escort the project, and strives to promote a win-win situation for the platform, producers and artists.
Give space to art, give artists time
If we say that respecting artists is Tencent Video's culture and belief, improving aesthetic taste and judgment is the platform's consistent pursuit, and encouraging innovation is its content production philosophy. Then, the platform's strong resource coordination ability, technical reserve and exploration spirit are undoubtedly its winning weapon in the fierce long-form video competition.
The resource synergy ability and technical reserves of the platform need not be repeated. The motion capture technology of the game part comes from the motion capture technology that has been used since "Full-time Master" and is constantly upgraded, which is the best interpretation of "providing space for art and time for artists".
Let's focus on Tencent Video's spirit of exploration. At present, Tencent Video's exploration and innovation can probably be summarized as not giving up one city and one pool. Theme innovation should be done, technical exploration should be there, form innovation should be indispensable, theatrical operation should be distinctive, and multiple levels should go hand in hand, so as to lead the iterative upgrading of the entire industry.
When promoting "X Theater", Wang Juan said, "This theater is different from any theater on the market, it must achieve one drama and one style, and realize a two-way rush with the audience and creators in visual expression, artistic creation, immersive plot, and emotional resonance." "The X theater of the first season will next launch "Huan Yan" directed by Xu Bing, "Under the Bustling City" directed by Wang Zheng, and "Black Earth Without Words" directed by Zang Xichuan.
The three-character creation concept of "deep and exquisite" proposed by Fang Fang of Tianpeng Studio Group actually highlights the ambition and determination of Tianpeng Studio Group in the development of fields, vertical fields and diversified themes.
The big move that Li Eryun of Tianxuan Studio Group wants to engage in is to "use a new perspective to do works that the audience has not seen", which is a step further on the basis of the popular direction.
The new expression of Huang Jie of Tianxing Studio Group is to explore new ideas in the familiar ground that creators and audiences fully understand, and provide unique values.
Zhang Na of Natural Studio said that the biggest difference between being a producer on the platform and being a producer in a film and television company is that there can be more opportunities to encourage creators, support artists, tap potential newcomers, and inject fresh blood into the industry.
Or back to the question at the beginning, why can the release of 170+ new dramas attract the amazement of the whole network? Because there are so many seemingly impossible projects in the film list. However, Tencent Video relies on a complete internal and external cooperation mechanism, a talent team that dares to "do the difficult but right thing", and a spirit of exploration that does not let go of a city and a pool, exploring "long-termism" for the industry and depicting a wonderful artistic landscape for the audience.
【Text/Xu Xinqiang】