Elephant News reporters Zhang Heng, Zhao Chaoyang, Feng Jingwen, Xu Zhaopeng, Zhang Yu, Feng Chong, Li Junfeng
The wind of micro-short dramas has already blown to Henan.
In the "vertical screen" short drama industry that has been self-examined and broadcast by online audio-visual platform institutions, Zhengzhou outperforms Hengdian, ranking second in the country, and has become an important city integrating content planning, filming and production.
At the moment when micro-short dramas are hot, "micro-short dramas + cultural tourism" is becoming a new outlet. Zhengzhou Airport Economic Comprehensive Experimental Zone (hereinafter referred to as Zhengzhou Airport Area) is preparing to build a short drama shooting base, striving to empower cultural tourism and create a "vertical store" comparable to Hengdian.
Short-Barreled Explosion
On the morning of April 22, at the New International Convention and Exhibition Center of Zhengzhou Airport Area, another short drama was launched here. The drama is produced by the Airport Branch of Zhengzhou Rixin Yueyi Culture Communication Co., Ltd., which is also the tenth micro-short drama produced by the company in the port area, and is planned to be filmed in the Guxiang block and cultural park in the port area.
The filming of another short drama "Marriage by Mistake" was selected in a closed section near the Zhengzhou Olympic Sports Center. Executive producer Chen Chao and other directors, actors, drama and other personnel began to work after they arrived, and this busy time was more than one o'clock at noon.
Chen Chao's company belongs to China Literature, which is a full-chain film and television culture company that shoots micro-short dramas, and many of the micro-short dramas produced by the company have also been filmed in the Zhengzhou Airport Area, and it is one of the earliest film and television production companies to enter the port area.
"Recently, I've been either on set or preparing for the next scene. At the filming site, Chen Chao told the Elephant News reporter that there are many groups that need to be watched, and each scene needs to be fully prepared, "mainly to discuss with the shooting team to determine the appropriate shooting venue, costume modeling, props, etc." ”
"So many people are filming TV series. When Chen Chao's crew was busy, many passers-by would stop and communicate softly, and some would come forward to chat with the actors waiting for the play.
According to senior practitioners of micro-short dramas, on the streets of Zhengzhou now, there are large and small crews selecting and filming almost every week.
Yan Hao has been engaged in the film and television industry in Zhengzhou for nearly 7 years, and is the starring role of the first generation of micro-short drama "Back to 1990" in the mouth of netizens.
"The group I am working with now only joined in mid-April, and I have been in the short crew in Zhengzhou before. He told the Elephant News reporter that he had recently received invitations from many film and television companies in Zhengzhou to perform. Due to schedule reasons, he can only participate in the performance after May.
Multi-way Entry
It is understood that among the more than 580 approved cultural media companies in Zhengzhou, nearly 300 are specialized in the production of online film and television dramas and the filming of mini program dramas.
"The rapid development of Zhengzhou's micro-short dramas, on the one hand, the production company has the consideration of reducing costs, and on the other hand, there are also factors such as the return of film and television talents from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Industry insiders who have been observing the development of micro-short dramas for a long time said that whether it is a northern drift or a deep drift, the number of film and television practitioners from Henan who have returned to their hometowns has gradually increased in recent years.
These film and television talents are adjusting their career development plans at different ages, and they want to use their overseas experience to return to their hometowns to continue to engage in the film and television industry. As soon as the short drama trend came, after they gathered, the number of works went up.
In the interview, the Elephant News reporter met the crew of different production companies, many of whom had experience in film and television outside the province. As a province with a large population, Zhengzhou has a very considerable number of employees in various industries, and the gathering and development of micro-short dramas in Zhengzhou can attract many local talents to return, and can also radiate many extended industries here. For example, actor training, props rental, employment of art college graduates, etc.
On the morning of April 8, the micro-short drama "Reliving a Life, I Take My Father to the Peak of Life" produced by Henan Radio and Television Elephant News was launched in Zhengzhou. This moving story about the relationship between father and daughter is planned to be completed and launched in mid-May.
At present, Elephant News has set up its own professional team, as an official media short drama platform, the team "Elephant Theater" will also actively explore in short dramas + cultural tourism, short dramas + brands, short dramas + accounts, and recreate the brand power of "Henan Radio and Television" in the film and television industry.
"Micro-short drama works with a government-led background will be more in line with the existing production standards for film and television works. The above-mentioned industry insiders said that this will be more conducive to the long-term and stable development of the industry.
Minato-ku "竖店"
On April 19, the Jumei Airport Vertical Screen Film Base in Zhengzhou Airport Area was building an indoor shooting scene.
According to the relevant person in charge of the base, the first phase is expected to be completed in mid-May, and some scenes can be used for short drama filming at that time.
Covering an area of nearly 17,000 square meters, this shooting base has 22 scenes such as fashionable restaurants, bars, suites, modern villas, and simple industrial lofts. In addition, Zhengzhou Airport Area also makes use of scene resources such as airports, high-speed rail stations, tertiary hospitals, colleges and universities, etc., to build a global micro-short drama shooting base, and strive to create a "vertical store" comparable to Hengdian in the port area.
At present, the operation team of Jumei Airport Vertical Screen Film Base has also completed the docking and survey of 29 filming locations in the port area, and the actors' union is also actively preparing. Outdoor filming locations suitable for micro-short drama filming in the Garden Expo Park, Yuanling Ancient City, Shuanghe Lake Park and other areas are also optimizing and upgrading the existing scene facilities according to the suggestions of the film and television companies in the filming base.
Since the end of last year, in the daily work of the Zhengzhou Airport Area Creative Cultural Tourism Industry Headquarters, there has been a new content - coordinating a number of services such as filming venues, accommodation, company registration, taxation, and actor resources for the crews in the Zhengzhou Airport District, so as to ensure the strong development of the short drama industry in the airport area in an all-round way.
Up to now, a total of 9 short drama-related enterprises have been registered and operated in the airport area, and more than 20 short dramas have been filmed.
Empowering cultural tourism
The low-cost, fast-paced micro-short drama not only attracted a large number of netizens to watch, but also increased the audience's on-site visit and experience of the filming location.
At the moment when micro-short dramas are hot, Henan has launched the creation plan of "following micro-short dramas to travel", deeply implementing the strategy of integrating culture, tourism, culture and creativity, and shaping the "Walking in Henan · Understand the "China" brand, and create a new trend of following the micro-short drama to "check in" in various parts of Henan Province.
"Short dramas can not only fill the gap in the film and television short drama industry in the airport area, bring new opportunities for the development of the film and television industry in the airport area, but also drive regional tourism, catering, accommodation and other related industries by attracting domestic and foreign actors and crews to work and live, create a young fashion consumption place, lead the agglomeration of young fashion creative industries, and help the development of new regional productivity. On April 17, the relevant person in charge of the creative cultural tourism industry headquarters told the elephant news reporter that the airport area is further extending the short drama industry value chain, empowering the innovative development of the creative cultural tourism industry with the high-quality development of the short drama industry, and constantly creating symbols and labels with the characteristics of the airport area.
"The film and television shooting location is very rich in resources, which is very suitable for the development of the micro-short drama industry. The relevant person in charge of the film and television industry department of Zhengzhou Airport District said that there is not only an international city style, ancient town style, beautiful rivers and lakes, but also the enthusiasm of the whole region to help the micro-short drama industry.
At present, the first phase of construction has been completed for the filming site of the all-area micro-short drama in the airport area, and the "vertical store" in the port area will gradually take shape with the completion of the follow-up construction.
Expert observations
In 2024, industry reports show that the market size of short dramas will reach 37.39 billion in 2023. According to statistics, at present, in the "vertical screen" short drama industry that has been self-examined and broadcast through online audio-visual platform institutions, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and Hengdian rank among the top three in the country.
"The reason for the popularity of short dramas largely stems from the background that short videos have become a basic tool for national applications. Zhang Tengzhi, Secretary-General of the Micro Video Short Film Committee of the China Canton Federation, said in an interview with Elephant News that with the continuous upgrading of netizens' content consumption, they are no longer satisfied with simple information, homogeneous performances and the content supply of a single dramatic bridge.
At present, most of the short dramas are presented as "cool dramas", will this model last long?
Zhang Tengzhi said that in order to capture the hearts of netizens for a long time, it is necessary to continue to launch high-quality short dramas with stable quality, including but not limited to a cast with large traffic, create brand IP characters, and create a serialized, highly recognizable, and super screenwriting story core, which can provide family empathy, identity, aesthetic interest and value orientation to a wider group of netizens.
How should Zhengzhou seize the outlet?
"I hope that Zhengzhou will take advantage of the radio and television "Chinese Festival" and "Wonderful Tour" series to carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture, based on the Central Plains, grasp the pulse of the times, tell the story of Henan and even China in the new era, and create more realistic works that go deep into life and take root in the people, and create Zhengzhou's short drama masterpieces. Zhang Tengzhi put forward two suggestions, one is to integrate the main body of the Zhengzhou short drama market, give full play to the regulatory role of the provincial and municipal radio and television bureaus, take the entry of radio and television institutions as an opportunity to lead the trend of short drama creation, grasp the risk and quality control, carry out thematic creation and industry alliances, drive the development of the industry to a healthy and standardized, and work together to form a good short drama ecology; The development of customized dramas for enterprise products empowers the economy and allows culture to cultivate short dramas.