China's "hottest in history" summer season is coming to an end, with more than 140 new films competing this summer, and the charm of offline theaters has recovered. "Shanghai Film City SHO's box office in July and August this year was about 7.3 million yuan, which was achieved when some halls were not open. Compared with 4.7 million yuan in 2019, the box office growth reached 53%, which is exciting. Bao Yaopei, executive deputy general manager of Shanghai Film City SHO, introduced to the Jiefang Daily Shangguan News reporter that in addition to a series of high-quality film supply, the theater itself also has a "traffic password".
"Thousand people poured" scene
Since June, Shanghai Film City SHO's Internet celebrity theater "Thousand People Hall" has held an average of one "Slam Dunk" viewing event every week, known as "Thousand People Fill", which has been full for three months. The 13 "Thousand People Flood" brought more than 900,000 yuan to the theater, the number of moviegoers exceeded 10,000, and the number of hits on social platforms for related topics was nearly 10 million. This means that the charm of classic IP and offline cinema activities are still irreplaceable.
The "warm-up" activity did not expect to "burst"
There is no shortage of explosive models this summer, but how to transform film and television IP into the unique attraction of theaters is a very new "gameplay". In August, "Slam Dunk" will be released for 4 months, Maoyan Professional Edition data shows that the film is almost unscheduled, but in Shanghai Film City SHO, "Thousand People Dunk" must be full whenever it opens. According to statistics, on the day of each "Thousand People Irrigation", the merchant sales volume of Shanghai Film City SHO increased by at least 50% year-on-year, and these enthusiastic fans have strong consumption strength.
"Thousand people poured" scene
Ji Yin, a key customer marketing of Shanghai Film City SHO, recalled that "Thousand People Irrigation" was originally a "only once" movie viewing special event planned during the preparation and opening of Shanghai Film City SHO in mid-May, aiming to unveil the "warm-up" for the Thousand People Hall. Shanghai Cinema's Hall 1 has a total of 1,008 seats and has always been known as the "most beautiful premiere hall". He "shook" the first wave of "irrigation" in two days, but he did not expect that the response on the day of the screening was extremely enthusiastic, and it soon became popular on Xiaohongshu and Weibo.
Ji Yin said that at that time, the studio team felt that the audience participating in the "Thousand People Flood" was not only watching a movie, but also experiencing a sense of participation, atmosphere and ceremony. Therefore, they decided to plan "Thousand People Irrigation" into a series of special sessions, making full use of the unique space advantages of Shanghai Film City SHO to create a movie-watching experience that integrates emotional value and social interaction, which may become an unforgettable experience for many fans.
"Thousand people poured" scene
In Hall 0, the theater's iconic canopy regularly switches the huge image of "Slam Dunk"; Inside Hall 1, fans waved flags. After the movie, the venue of Hall 0 was transformed into a small "market", where the non-profit doujin duo creations brought by the same friends were exchanged, including posters, cards, key chains, dolls, pendants, etc., and roughly counted, there were more than 40 different types of a single scene.
According to statistics, many audiences come to Shanghai Film City SHO to watch more than one "thousand people pouring", of which about 30% to 40% are repeated movie-watching, and more audiences do not fall. "Many fans come from all over the world, and many come in advance with suitcases." Bao Yaopei introduced that in order to better serve fans, the studio team quickly formulated and improved a set of normative standards. The "Thousand People Fill" event reserves 2 to 3 hours of check-in time for audiences, allowing fans to have enough time to interact and check in before watching the movie.
"Thousand people poured" scene
"Although the content of the films screened is the same, the theme and interactive form of each 'Thousand People Flood' are different. The film has been extended three times, and some viewers have already 'poured' seven or eight times. Bao Yaopei still remembers the first time he walked into the "Thousand People Irrigation" scene, he was shocked by the warm atmosphere, "as if watching a real basketball game."
Cinemas and fans create cinema culture
Building classic IP into a large-scale and sustainable "Thousand People Irrigation" campaign is an unprecedented attempt for cinemas. Ji Yin believes that in addition to the film itself, the unique spatial design of the studio is a key factor in creating this phenomenon. Shanghai Cinema SHO has a spacious and transparent hall 0, 29 meters long and 6 meters wide, with glasses-free 3D effect and immersive stereo effect canopy to bring visual shock. These open space designs are an integral part of the entire "Thousand People Irrigation" activity.
"Thousand people poured" scene
"Thousand people poured" scene
It is worth mentioning that Hall 1 "Shanghai Dolby Theater" has top-notch technical facilities, and the viewing experience of the Dolby version of the film significantly exceeds the regular number of other theaters. Ji Yin believes that the spatial design of Shanghai Film City is original on a global scale, which is one of the important reasons why hundreds of thousands of viewers are fascinated by "Thousand People Flood".
"Thousand people poured" scene
Bao Yaopei introduced that the "Thousand People Irrigation" activity usually arranges scenes a day in advance, tests the videos played after the screening, etc., most of which are selected after the evening movie screening. "As far as I know, most of the organizers are post-80s and post-90s. They organize activities in order to pursue their youthful dreams, and sometimes they contribute and pay for their treasures, and they will take out their treasures for gift lotteries. ”
Shanghai Film City SHO set a record of more than 60 roadshows in two months this summer, and films such as "Disappearing Her", "The First Part of Fengsheng", "Desperate", "Xuedad" and other films all put the Shanghai premiere here. "Through the interaction of the roadshow, the fans and the main creator are brought closer." Bao Yaopei noticed that the way of communication in roadshows is also changing. Before 2019, the main creator was more in the "running hall", saying hello to the audience, accepting flowers, and leaving with a few simple words. Today's roadshows are often more than half an hour long, sometimes up to an hour. Creators can sit down and talk to the audience about the film and the behind-the-scenes story, which is like a small sharing session. "The premieres of recent films usually have to be done three or four times in theaters, and the main creators stay from 18 o'clock to 23 o'clock."
"Thousand people poured" scene
"The new box office high of this summer's file and the craze of 'Thousand People Flood' make us feel that fans are back, and the irreplaceability of offline roadshow activities." In Bao Yaopei's view, "Thousand People Dunk" began with "Slam Dunk", but it will not stop there, and its goal is to explore and incubate the IP-based operation of theaters. As the "source of artistic innovation", Shanghai Film City SHO will launch more "Thousand People Brand" in the Hall of 1000 People to build it into an IP flagship store.
The reporter learned from Shanghai Film Group that in the future, with Shanghai Film City as the center, the surrounding Crowne Plaza Shanghai Silver Star and the soon-to-be-built Shanghai Film CHAO Hotel will jointly constitute the Shanghai Film Art Center, creating an immersive film culture space with multi-format integration and multi-functional complex, and reshaping the Shanghai film culture coordinate system.
Editor-in-chief: Shi Chenlu Text editor: Shi Chenlu Title image source: Shanghai Film Group Image source: Shanghai Film Group
Source: Author: Zhong Han