Interview with Cheng Qingsong: In the twelfth year of the Golden Broom Awards, what happened to the film market?

On March 28, the results of the 12th China Golden Broom Awards were announced, and the most disappointing films were: "Xibao", "Buckwheat Crazy Long", "Half of the Moon Alice"; the most disappointing director: Guo Jingming's "Qingya Collection" and "Cold-Blooded Feast"; the most disappointing screenwriters: Wang Danyang, Liang Lulu's "Xibao"; the most disappointing actors: Li Xian, Huang Jingyu; the most disappointing actress: Guo Caijie.

The Golden Broom Award for Chinese Cinema (golden broom award) is the first award in the history of Chinese films to present the worst film of the year, sponsored by the Youth Film Handbook. The initiator is Cheng Qingsong, who is currently the editor-in-chief of the Youth Film Handbook.

From 2009 to 2021, the Golden Broom Awards have reached their twelfth year. As the initiator, Cheng Qingsong has witnessed the "most disappointing films" from "Three Guns Shooting Surprise", "Thorn Ling", "Nanjing! nanking! "Xibao", "Buckwheat Crazy Long", "Half Moon Alice", feel the audience's taste and the changes in investment and production behind the film works. On March 31, Cheng Qingsong was interviewed by a reporter from the Economic Observer Network and had a dialogue on the significance of the Golden Broom Award and the changes in the film market.

Economic Observer Network: What is your biggest feeling about this Golden Broom Award?

Cheng Qingsong: I feel that the overall number of films is not much. The two awards of "Worst Film" (Golden Broom Award) and "Top Ten Chinese" were not selected more films than before. Compared with before, there are not many large-scale commercial films, most of which are medium-sized and small-investment films. The film selected this time has a relatively large investment in "Qingya Collection".

Economic Observer Network: What happened to the judges this year?

Cheng Qingsong: Before the film critics and media people accounted for a little more, this year added directors and actors, especially several actors, such as Tao Hong, Tian Hairong. The director added Liu Miaomiao, who was the director of the Best Small and Medium Budget Feature Film at last year's Golden Rooster Awards. In the 12 years since its inception, this year has had 31 judges, which is the largest. I hope that it will increase to 40 or 50 in the future, and I hope that more professionals will participate in the future, and the composition of the judges will be richer.

Economic Observer Network: How are the works selected?

Cheng Qingsong: The first round of voting is by netizens voting on the films of the past year on Douban, and after the nomination list is produced, the winners are selected by the professional jury. Two rounds of voting, in fact, is to hope that it can represent both the voice of the public and professionalism.

Every year, when it comes to judging awards, we will show all the movies to the professional judges in advance during the Spring Festival. The judges watch movies all year round, so I'll give them a long time, maybe a month, to vote. When voting, the judges do not discuss and vote independently. In the end, all the judges' votes will be announced on Weibo and the official public account of the "Youth Film Handbook", and the real-name system will be announced.

Economic Observer Network: Are the selected works in line with expectations?

Cheng Qingsong: All in line. This year, the "most disappointing streaming film" was added: "Sun Wukong vs Pansi Cave", which is really bad and disrespectful to consumers.

We have a slogan: streaming media cannot become a distribution center for bad films. Some films can't go to the cinema and run to the Internet to get it, saying: The audience likes to watch bad movies. This is not the case. These bad films are only publicized, and under the sign of big directors and big stars, the audience will be attracted to the so-called lineup. This kind of irresponsible film, in the final analysis, is just to make money. In the past, we used to say why there are so many fake and shoddy products on the market, because they can save costs, these films and they are of the same nature.

The audience spends money to consume, and if you prevaricate with bad films, it is a manifestation of extreme disrespect for people. If the audience is fed with unqualified products for a long time, the audience will be disgusted, and they will not pay for Chinese films in the future, and this market will be ceded to other films with better productions or better stories.

This is actually of special significance. Director Jia Zhangke once said a sentence: Future films are only divided into pre-epidemic and post-epidemic films. Because due to the epidemic, there are not many films imported abroad, and foreign-produced films will definitely reduce production in the short term. This is an opportunity for domestic films. If we come up with good films, this will have a great improvement on Chinese films, and audiences will support domestic films in the future.

Economic Observer Network: What do you think of current streaming movies?

Cheng Qingsong: Bad movies are very common. It is characterized by the shortest time and the least amount of capital. Due to the relatively small investment in online movies, coupled with the fact that everyone is accustomed to watching movies on mobile phones and the Internet, it is still relatively popular with investors. But if it takes one night or a week to write a script, how to ensure its quality? Streaming movies also need to be of high quality.

Creators should come up with good movies, which are about professional skills and work ethics. Everyone knows that film is a commodity, but it is also art, and there are rules of creation. Not just to make money, but a spiritual product, which contains a certain value orientation.

For example, how do American commercial blockbusters do? Sometimes they buy a script, a copyright, and it takes five or even ten years to put it on the screen, instead of buying an IP, and the movie comes out the next year. Current streaming films have basically not gone through the stage of investigating things and polishing the script.

Some people think that bad movies have attracted attention, and it is enough to make money. But the end result is that the market is destroyed. Streaming movies, whether it is effect or revenue, are actually greatly reduced.

All along, I didn't think streaming was a movie. Only those that are shown in the cinema are called movies. Movies you watch on your phone are called videos. Because the movie needs a big screen, you need to see the subtle expressions of the actors, the eyes, and the depth of the scene, such as the sound of the wind, the sound of water, the sound of running water, the sound of walking, the lights in the night, if you put it on the mobile phone, the aesthetics of the movie will not exist at all.

Economic Observer Network: In your opinion, what are the current progress and shortcomings of the film industry?

Cheng Qingsong: In the past two years, the number of bad films appearing in cinemas has decreased. The reason is that on the one hand, the requirements of everyone in the industry have increased, on the other hand, some people have run to streaming movies. But when the waves are sandy, good things will definitely be scooped out. The last thing you want to happen is: bad money eliminates good money.

Economic Observer Network: What do you think is the significance of the existence of the Golden Broom Award?

Cheng Qingsong: Conveying the voice of the film audience, I think this is the most important. Because they are spending money to see, are real consumers.

This year is already the twelfth year of the Golden Broom Awards, and many well-known directors have won awards along the way. Others will ask me, are you not afraid of offending others? To be honest, I'm afraid. But only a narrow-minded person can be angry because of the "award", why should he be angry? He made bad films, earned all the money, could not refund the ticket, and he will continue to make bad films in the future.

For example, my good friend Wang Baoqiang has also been "awarded" and will notify him to receive the award. This year, director Zhang Yimou won the best picture for "One Second" to receive the award. The outside world will discuss whether he will not come to receive the golden broom award this time. But he finally came, and he still had the style of a big artist.

There was also a small episode this time, originally invited to be the "most anticipated film of 2021" "Love You" award guest Qiang Ge, vice chairman of Huarui Pictures, when it came to unveiling the "most disappointing director", suddenly spontaneously took the stage to receive the award, and said that his company invested in "Buckwheat Madness". Qiang Ge said on the stage: "Sorry to everyone, at that time, it was directed at Ma Sichun, Zhong Chuxi, and Huang Jingyu, and I was also full of hope for this film." I'm pretty much the bravest investor and the unluckiest. ”