Author: Chen Han speech
In the winter of 1981, a small and thin Song Xiaobao was born in an ordinary rural family in Huinan County, Tonghua City, Jilin Province. The following year, Wang Baoqiang fell to the ground in the village of Nanhe County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province.
A cute little girl is also waiting to be fed in a family of a chemical factory worker in Yicheng City, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province. She is Jia Ling.
For a long time, destiny did not intertwined Song Xiaobao, who dropped out of junior high school to work to subsidize his family, Wang Baoqiang, who was 6 years old to practice martial arts, and Jia Ling, who lost her mother when he was 19 years old. However, under their respective fate, in 2011, they His life began to shine: Song Xiaobao, who has become a disciple of Zhao Benshan, attracted widespread attention for his sketch "Blind Date"; Jia Ling, who graduated from college, once again appeared on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala stage and performed cross talk "Open Sesame", which made hundreds of millions of viewers remember this love laugh The female comedy actor; Wang Baoqiang, who became famous for "A World Without Thieves" and "Soldier Assault", starred in the movie "Hello!
"Mr. Tree" won the best actor at the 9th Vladivostok International Film Festival in Russia. He put an actor's cultivation on his "lucky" label: acting.
Ten years later, they were born in grassroots and brought their respective movies to meet in this Spring Festival stall. The three became the absolute protagonists of this year's Spring Festival stall.
With a box office of nearly 4 billion yuan, "Detective Chinatown 3" helped Wang Baoqiang become the fourth domestic actor with a box office of more than 15 billion yuan; "Hello, Li Huanying" directed and starring Jia Ling became a dark horse, with a box office exceeding 3 billion yuan. As a result, she has become the highest-grossing female director in China so far; "Fortune Diary" directed by Song Xiaobao, screenwriter, and starring, ranked first on the network in the online movies broadcast at the same time, setting an on-demand record.
The "collision" of the three during the Spring Festival is not only the "catching and fighting" of their respective film works in this regular peak season, it also shows the diversification of the domestic film industry: the online and offline dual choice of film release channels has matured , And more importantly, online platforms have completely got rid of the long-standing image of "waiting and going down", "being second", and "as a last resort".
Three major comedy stars "crash" the Spring Festival gear
"On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the director and his family were waiting for the live broadcast at 10 o'clock early." Li Jinhan, the producer of "Fa Cai Diary", told a reporter from China Business News that when he saw netizens’ on-demand data coming up, they were more worried. Excited, "Just like in "Journey to the West" from Dongtu to Lingshan, four years, from preparation to landing, the ups and downs are all in it, it is hard to say a word."
In 2017, Song Xiaobao posted a long article on Weibo describing his reasons for being a director: This is something he wants to take seriously, and he wants everyone to see a different Song Xiaobao.
This obsession stems from a chat between Song Xiaobao and a close friend of the producer.
In the context of reform and opening up, a poor boy’s dream of getting rich can be a successful entrepreneur or an excellent leader. Friends end up in kind, stubborn, and humorous little people: the "brothers" go south, facing setbacks and frustrations everywhere. Failure, bruised by life, but no regrets.
Song Xiaobao was "stimulated" by this story, isn't this him himself?
"When I entered the city, everything was fresh. Three hundred and sixty lines. As long as I can make money, I will do it. But because of my skinny, the first sentence when people say is, "Child labor?" The price is cut from 40 yuan to 30 yuan, and the pockets are often cleaner than the face."
Once, Song Xiaobao was so hungry that he was starving at Venus. He picked up a huge amount of 2 yuan on the flyover, bought half a roasted sweet potato, and ate all of it with the skin.
Song Xiaobao said that he couldn't finish talking about these memories for three days and three nights.
The comedy movie "Fortune Diary" was launched under this stubborn self-expression, and was completed at the end of 2019.
At that time, "Chinatown Detective 3" starring Wang Baoqiang has been set for the 2020 Spring Festival.
Just a few months before "Fortune Diary" was completed, the movie "Hello, Li Huanying" adapted from the eponymous sketch was launched.
This is also the "self-expression" of comedian Jia Ling, not directing to be a director, but to miss her mother and entrust herself to herself. She acts as a director and screenwriter in the film.
The main line of the story is not complicated. Actress Jia Xiaoling, after experiencing the grief of "children want to support but not waiting for relatives", travels back to the past through time and space, touching the story of young parents and their dreams.
If there is no new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020, the collision of the three comedians may be missed. However, under the epidemic situation, "Fortune Diary" did not announce the release plan. Last year’s Spring Festival pre-sales "Chinatown Detective 3" also announced its withdrawal. So these three films finally meet in the Spring Festival of Xin Chounian.
According to real-time data from the Beacon Professional Edition, as of 22:00 on February 17, the total box office for the Spring Festival in 2021 has exceeded 7.8 billion yuan, with a total of 160 million film viewers and a cumulative total of 2.858 million shows, creating a record of Chinese film history for the Spring Festival. new record.
Among them, the top three at the box office during the period were 3.55 billion yuan for "Tang Detective 3", 2.72 billion yuan for "Hello, Li Huanying" and 540 million yuan for "Assassination of Novelists".
A box office forecast of several films in the Spring Festival file obtained by a reporter from China Business News shows that the investment cost of "Detective Chinatown 3" is about 1 billion yuan. As of 19:00 on February 18, the box office has exceeded 3.7 billion yuan.
According to forecasts, if the box office reaches 4 billion yuan, the producer's income will be around 700 million yuan; if the box office reaches 5 billion yuan, the producer's income will be around 1.1 billion yuan.
And the biggest winner of this year’s Spring Festival stall may be "Hello, Li Huanying". The investment cost is about 380 million yuan. If the box office reaches 3 billion yuan, the producer's revenue will be about 800 million yuan; if the box office reaches 4 billion yuan, the producer's profit will be Around 1.3 billion yuan.
On the other hand, after 6 days of launching, "Fa Cai Diary" has exceeded 80 million yuan in album playback on Tencent Video, and it has been leading the way from the real-time popularity of iQiyi and Youku.
At the beginning of 2021, Tencent Video alone has produced five online movies with an account of 10 million yuan, so how much can "Fa Cai Diary" share?
A reporter from China Business News learned that, unlike ordinary online movies, "Fa Cai Diary" received the highest-level single-point payment on the three major platforms, with a membership fee of 6 yuan.
In addition, the film will also obtain platform joint marketing qualifications and theatrical-level film publicity resources.
As for the revenue, related parties expressed that it is inconvenient to disclose, but said that "Fortune Diary" is the most successful work on demand and paid to date.
"Cost has never been our first consideration. In my understanding, there is no specific amount to define large, medium, and small levels of investment, only one's own 100% investment." Li Jinhan's optimism and determination, one is I firmly believe that excellent movies will be recognized by the audience and the market. The second is that the overall environment of online movies is changing.
The change of "hospital transfer network"
During the Spring Festival in 2020, "囧Mo" was released for free on online platforms, allowing people to see the possibility of online becoming a platform for the Spring Festival, which also caused widespread controversy.
At that time, more people regarded this as a last resort, but as the epidemic continued, the film industry environment has undergone radical changes this year, and the industry's attitude towards online platforms has also changed.
The sudden epidemic has hit the film industry hard, but online movies have been stimulated by the "home economy" to usher in traffic growth, which has also increased the number of "hospital-to-network" producers.
Statistics show that in 2020, there will be 78 online movies with a box office of over 10 million, with an overall scale of over 1.3 billion yuan.
Only the three mainstream video sites of Youku, iQiyi, and Tencent Video launched a total of 756 online movies throughout the year, which is similar to the results of 789 online movies in 2019.
The online movie "Qi Men Dunjia", launched on the dual platforms of iQiyi and Tencent Video, set a new record for the share box office of online movies with a box office of 56.41 million yuan.
At the same time, among online movies dominated by fantasy and magic works, online movies in 2020 have grown in realism themes, themes, and even the layout of other niche genres, such as those based on realism. "Once Upon a Time in the Northeast: My Name is Liu Haizhu", "My New Year from Beijing", "Crazy Daddy" and other works, all received scores of over 10 million box office.
It is worth noting that the production costs and production quality of online movies have also been greatly improved.
Zhu Yuqing, secretary-general of the Film Committee of the Beijing Cultural Industry Investment and Financing Association, believes that no matter which platform you choose to release, the quality of the film is the most important.
He believes that the rigid demand formed by the rising demand for home viewing has caused the continuous emergence of online movies. At the same time, in response to the audience's demand for high-quality content, the layout of online movies by video websites continues to increase, driving the gradual shift of online movies to boutique production, thus Driven a significant increase in film quality and investment volume.
An online film director told the CBN reporter that the cost of a single film has doubled. In the past, the cost of a single film was five or six million yuan, but now it has basically increased to 10 million yuan or more.
In May last year, a remake of "A Chinese Ghost Story: Love in the World" from the 1987 version of "A Chinese Ghost Story" was broadcast. The producer once revealed that the production cost of the film was 23 million yuan, plus the marketing cost reached 38 million yuan, setting a record for online movies. The highest cost is regarded as opening the "blockbuster era" of online movies, and the final share of the film exceeded 50 million yuan.
However, film and television production companies have some other views on the case of "boosting by small". "Now 10 million yuan worth of online movies is relatively high. If it exceeds 30 million yuan, how much on-demand volume must be required to recover the cost? The degree of difficulty is the same as the gambling status of movies of the same size in theaters." In other words, it is difficult to make a profit on the on-demand rate, but it is not easy to get a box office of hundreds of millions in theaters.
At the beginning of January this year, the Spring Festival stall was marked with a question mark, and the "online Spring Festival stall" also quietly became active.
According to incomplete statistics, more than 20 movies have been selected to be shown online this year, including Song Xiaobao's "Fortune Diary" and Wang Baoqiang's "The Legend of Shaolin Temple".
If it is placed on the theater line, how much space is there for "Fortune Diary" to counterattack?
Some analysts believe that even in the face of a strong enemy, the "Tang Detective 3" formed by the IP series and the emotional and tearful "Hello, Li Huanying" reflect the "Fortune Diary" that reflects the life of a worker who has nothing to achieve. There is a possibility of becoming a "dark horse".
"Film is still a perceptual art that focuses on personal expression. It is difficult to determine by algorithms or rules, and it cannot be customized like a product in a factory assembly line." Li Jinhan believes that, like comedy creation, it is not necessarily funny and funny. Instead, it takes life's light comedy as its shell, and the true feelings of the world as its core. Although the background color is stained with a little sadness, it is full of human touch, and it will be extra warm and moving.
This is confirmed by both "Thailand", which has brought 400 million yuan in revenue to Guangming Media, or "Charlotte Trouble", which has a box office of 1.4 billion yuan, and the richest man in Xihong City, which has a box office of 2.5 billion yuan. The possibility of a small person counterattack.
"This year's Spring Festival file still has its particularity. The demand for watching movies has been met to the greatest extent, and a social topic has been formed. It seems that the sound of online movies this year is a bit low, and the well-performing "Fortune Diary" has been overwhelmed." Zhu Yuqing said. .
Find the right position, a virtuous circle
Last year, the reason why the free broadcast of "囧Mom" caused the theater's boycott was mainly because this model touched the most important "window period" of the theater.
According to data, the window period of cinema movies in 2013 was 119 days, and it was rapidly shortened to 50 days in 2015.
The window period of "The Four Heavenly Kings of Di Renjie" released in the summer of 2018 was further shortened to one month. As a high-grossing film in the summer of that year, the film was released on the video website in a very short time. The industry believes that this symbol The game enters a new stage with the movie window period.
However, the free model of "囧Mom" did not continue this year. Online movies based on "guarantee + account sharing" have become the main mode of exploration by major platforms, and this exploration is more advertised as a further refined online movie.
As for the split ratio, not many producers are willing to elaborate.
At present, the best choice for high-cost, high-quality movies is theaters, while small and medium-cost movies can walk on two legs. Under the same risk, either online or theaters.
Under the same opportunity, if more high-quality small and medium-cost movies are concentrated from theaters to online broadcasting, the platform needs to adjust the accounting mechanism and increase the profit margin.
Rao Shuguang, president of the Film Critics Society, believes that this change of mentality has something to do with the continuous development of cinema movies and the increasing integration of platform companies and traditional film companies.
On the other hand, platform-based institutions have become new players in all major stages.
For example, this year’s Spring Festival stalls, platform-based organizations such as Taopiao, Zipiao.com, Maoyan, Douyin Culture, and Bilibili Films all participated in the production.
Of the 7 films in the Spring Festival file, Maoyan participated in 5 films, and Alibaba Pictures and its Taopiao, Youku films participated in 4 films including "New God List: Nezha Rebirth" and "Assassination of Novelists". The byte behind Tik Tok Three different companies under Beating participated in the three films. Bilibili Films is the fourth largest producer and co-publisher of "New God List: Nezha Rebirth", and Netease Pictures is the second largest of "Samurai God". Producer.
Benefiting from the good performance of the Spring Festival stalls, on February 16, the first day of the Hong Kong stock market opening, the film and television entertainment sector opened higher across the board, Maoyan Entertainment opened up 22% all the way, and Ali Pictures soared 37%.
More importantly, the box office of the Spring Festival stalls is nearly 8 billion yuan, which allows people to see signs of recovery in the cinema film market.
In other words, platform-based institutions also walk on two legs, and can produce cinema movies or customize online movies.
"Of course, the premise is that the filmmakers must maintain their creative sincerity and ensure the quality of the film. No matter which platform they choose, they will be recognized by the audience." Rao Shuguang believes that the best state forms a whole, forming a cycle of interaction and virtuous, whether online , Or offline, you can find your exact location.