Preface
At the end of the year and the beginning of 2024, let me write a small essay to review the three films released in the past two years, look at myself, and provide "Film and Television Monologues" with a subjective perspective from the production company to feel the changes in the audience and the market.
I'm a quicker person than my brain, and I like to think and make corrections at the same time. was assigned such a final summary, but it was also a happy response, and it was written in a rambling manner.
Li Yaping
Find the certainty of creation in an uncertain world
From the beginning of 2022 to the beginning of 2024, our team completed three films together: "Desperate Househusband", "It Doesn't Seem to Be So Enthusiastic" and "Sneaking", and thankfully, we were able to meet the audience smoothly. The box office is 313 million, 175 million, and 376 million respectively (as of January 30, 2024).
We are a content production company with two labels, Aimei and Dumb Kid, with a total of 30 people. I think the output of three films in two years is benign, but the box office results are not as good as expected. In the past two years, we have resisted fluctuations, uncertainties, and force majeure in the industry. But there's a huge amount of room for improvement when it comes to connecting with the audience.
After ten years in the industry, I firmly believe that in a benign, fair and mature market, a movie that does not sell well must be a problem with the content of the movie, not a problem with the sales process. Sales can be amplifiers, but they don't change lives. Of course, this only refers to movies with the first goal of maximizing the box office. We have also filmed "Spring Tide", participated in the investment of "Drifting Life" and "Lone Starman", these three films are author's films, and their value lies in the film's thinking about people and the world, not in this logic.
"Desperate Househusband" was released on December 31, 2022. 28% of the films are scheduled on the first day, and the highest schedule during the release period is 28%, and the first day of the Lunar New Year in 2023 will be January 22. From December 31 to January 21, "Desperate Househusband" actually ran for 22 days, and the box office on January 21 was 3.3123 million, which was less than 10,000 yuan on January 22. Of course, because of this, there are no other new films in the same schedule, and we have avoided competition. The final box office was 313 million.
"It Doesn't Seem to Be So Bloody" will be released on September 29, 2023. 3% of the films were scheduled on the first day, and the highest film schedule during the release period was 6.6%, with a final box office of 175 million.
"Stealth" was released on December 29, 2023, and the key was extended to February 28, 2024. The film schedule on the first day was 18.4%, the highest film schedule during the release period was 18.4%, and the final box office is expected to be about 400 million.
In terms of content, these three films all have their own strengths, but they are all regrettable. Aimei's past experience and future positioning will take "Comedy +" as a main genre. Personally, I love comedy and have always wanted to do stand-up comedy. The stupid kid is still exploring, and action, suspense, and sci-fi are all in the reserve list for the future.
Whether it is comedy or other genre films, in the post-epidemic market, they are under pressure to innovate and iterate. Theoretically, all audiences, including the creators themselves, like the new and hate the old, and innovation has always been a sword hanging over their heads.
No one can be respected by the market without innovation. The threshold for making a movie seems to be very low, but in fact, it is difficult to even copy, and originality and innovation are very scarce. The social and psychological changes after the epidemic, the popularity of short videos, and the update of audiences have amplified the technical difficulty of film topic selection and production.
In every low ebb period in the past, all the things that brought audiences back to the cinema and investors back to the negotiating table were a certain very innovative film, and these films were difficult to predict the box office landing point before their release, and some were not even favored. For example, "Thai Embarrassment" in December 2012, "Charlotte's Troubles" in 2015, and "All or Nothing" and "Disappearing Her" last year.
Really good content, new content, gives the biggest grip on publicity. And the audience, as a consumer, has a natural sensitivity to what can only be done with money. How does an average viewer avoid lightning and give a movie ticket that maybe once a year to this movie instead of that one? This is what all production and distribution companies want to know, and it is also the biggest opportunity for the film business.
In the past few years, the environment for publicity and distribution has also changed greatly, and the competent authorities are also trying their best to optimize the market order and launch measures such as sub-line issuance. My biggest personal feeling is that compared with the traditional distribution model before 2018, the current publicity and distribution system is more mature and closed-loop, and the division of labor between production and distribution is becoming more and more clear.
If the issuing company can play the role of the sole investor at the same time as the issuance, and achieve equal rights and obligations, then the division of labor between production and distribution will be clearer. It takes time and focus to build professional barriers. Development and production is a long process that requires unwarranted belief and unreserved love, while distribution requires systems, data, calculations, and quick responses. It's not the same personality.
Just like the pursuit of content innovation, the current thinking of publicity and distribution is constantly being updated, and it is also in the fierce collision between the old and the new. Many methods, instruments and tools are challenged to embrace change.
Especially in the era of short videos and fragmented information, once you enter the publicity and marketing links, due to the different roles and positions they play, creators and publicity teams often have fierce conflicts.
For example, can feature film clips be released in the promotion? Does the second creation of short videos change the theme and character setting of the film? Is the roadshow cost-effective for attracting audiences?
Once this kind of self-doubt is opened, there is no lower limit. One day, after I swiped the video account for an hour, I couldn't help but ask myself, in the era of short videos, will long videos disappear?
Movies are not financial products, not tools for capital profit, but an important part of the spiritual products of the masses.
Now there is a phenomenon in the whole industry, all the advantageous resources are concentrated on the "blockbuster", resulting in congestion of large schedules, deformation of distribution actions, and desertion of daily schedules. This phenomenon will create a hit in a short period of time, but it will have a destructive effect on the long-term and sustainability of the film industry.
Movies can not only make money, but also reflect current life and promote traditional culture. Diversified creation, diverse expression, and the emergence of new talents are the real prosperity. And allowing the audience to establish daily movie-watching habits and take watching movies as a part of daily life is the premise on which the category of movies depends.
How to face the mountains? Our team has a few "nos", not entangled, non-stop, not lucky, not negative. The best way to combat uncertainty is to increase certainty as much as possible and seize certainty.
"Drifting Life"
I'm sure I love movies and I love the business. Work is an important part of my life. In particular, I object to people saying that movies are his life, and I shy away from such people. Life is open and abundant, not just one thing.
At the same time, I'm sure it's better to do more than one. Complete execution is the best way to test the wrong. In order to keep it fresh forever, we attach great importance to discovering and supporting new directors. In the next three years, there will be a number of new directors and new works to meet the audience.
In 2024, our upcoming projects include costume history, contemporary suspense, and comedy. Each story has gone through a lengthy development process.
Comedy films have even been deliberately adapted into stage plays, in a more convenient and intuitive way to touch with the audience, and feel the audience's reaction face-to-face. The story of the historical theme of ancient costumes is more than 1,000 years away from today, but it is very contemporary.
What all three stories have in common is that we can see the "supreme good" in the fate and choices of the protagonist. From ancient times to the present, there are almost no people who can truly control their own destiny, but no matter what situation you are in, you can choose to be a kind person.
Lone Star Man
At the beginning of the new year, the most I say to directors is that it is a happy thing to be able to make movies today, and to enjoy the pure joy of creation. That's the easiest thing for us to be sure.
[Text/Li Yaping]