Film and television entertainment: after labor pain is rebirth

In the first half of 2022, with the repeated epidemics in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, many industries were affected to varying degrees.

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other four departments jointly issued the "Notice on Expanding the Implementation Scope of the Periodic Deferred Payment of Social Insurance Premium Policy" to provide relief and burden relief to 22 particularly difficult industries such as catering, tourism, radio, television, film, and culture and art. .

How can these hard-hit industries get out of the predicament?

This edition launches a series of reports, focusing on the development of these industries.

In the film and entertainment industry, which has been deeply affected by the epidemic, how to accumulate strength and explore methods to promote the long-term healthy development of the industry deserves our attention and in-depth discussion.

Industry consolidation, quantity reduction, quality increase, refraction, film and television industry transformation

　　Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the film and television industry has been affected to a certain extent and has been working hard to recover.

Industry data in the past three years show that the overall output of domestic TV dramas has declined.

According to statistics released by relevant departments, in 2021, 194 TV series with 6,736 episodes will actually be produced, compared with 202, 7,476 episodes in 2020, and 254, 10,646 episodes in 2019.

　　The reporter learned from interviews that the trend of production reduction has both external reasons for the "difficulty in starting up" due to the epidemic in the past two years, and internal reasons for the transformation of the industry.

Several industry insiders said that long before the outbreak of the epidemic, the film and television industry began to adjust the pace under the guidance of policies: "salary limit order", "collection limit order", monitoring ratings (click rate) statistics, "clear" action, etc. A series of restrictions and regulatory policies have been implemented one after another, the chaos has been rectified, and the curtain of "reducing quantity and improving quality" has begun.

　　Li Jie (pseudonym), a producer of an online platform, said: "In the past two years, some film and television companies have closed down due to 'difficulty in opening'." But in essence, he believes that the most affected by the epidemic are a group of middle and downstream film and television companies. Companies, they came in during the "bulge" period of TV series in the past, and there was a lot of unprofessional power in it.

　　In fact, regardless of the epidemic factor, the call for "reducing quantity and improving quality" in the TV drama industry has continued for many years.

Director Zheng Xiaolong once deplored the huge waste of resources caused by overcapacity in TV dramas.

From 2010 to 2016, TV dramas maintained a "high yield" of about 15,000 episodes per year, but nearly half of them faced the fate of "pressing the bottom of the box".

Even if it drops to today's annual production, there are still experts who believe that "supply exceeds demand."

　　"There were a lot of chaos in the film and television industry before, such as sky-high remuneration, plot water injection, and fraudulent ratings, etc., which required some industry reshuffle. The epidemic has only accelerated the process of reshuffle." Li Jie believes that despite the impact of the epidemic, it is still possible to persevere. The companies that can stay are companies that attach great importance to content.

　　In recent years, due to the general environment of industry transformation and the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the consensus of "prudent investment and concentrated efforts to make high-quality products" has been reached among producers, platforms, and regulators.

After a series of major dramas such as "Shan Hai Qing", "Awakening Age" and "Sweeping Black Storm" became popular last year, audiences have more confidence and expectations in realistic themes, and the platform and producers are more active in the development of realistic themes.

It is foreseeable that the further integration of the main theme and commercial elements will become a trend in the high-quality development stage of TV dramas.

　　According to Hou Hongliang, Chairman of Noon Sunshine Film and Television Company, from the perspective of the grass-roots cadre group of "County Party Committee Team", the TV series "County Party Committee Courtyard", which tells the story of Guangming County's transformation from devastation to green mountains and waters, faced many challenges during filming, but in the Under the guidance of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the cooperation of many parties, the crew designed a closed-loop operation mode, and the cast and crew actively cooperated with the isolation to jointly ensure the normal shooting of the work.

　　The TV series "Big Exam", which took the 2020 college entrance examination under the epidemic as the entry point, encountered the epidemic as soon as it was launched. Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer of iQIYI, said: "During the filming period, due to the large number of problems in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Ningbo and other places Due to the epidemic, some actors and crew were unable to participate in the show, and the filming location was unable to film. The crew stopped filming several times, and the actors were temporarily replaced." It is also under the coordination of the relevant departments of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television that "The Big Exam" can continue to be filmed smoothly.

　　The emergence of excellent works is inseparable from the diligent pursuit of quality by practitioners and the support and services of the government.

Recently, in order to help the film and television industry get out of trouble and recover, many places have introduced support measures.

For example, Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Radio, Film and Television has introduced ten measures to stabilize the economy in the fields of radio, television and online audio-visual, and proposed to optimize the service management of TV dramas, shorten the review period of key online film and television dramas to an average of less than 40 days, and deal with delays in creation and production due to epidemic prevention and control. The key audio-visual projects should increase their cultivation and support.

Xiamen has also released the 2022 Xiamen City Film and Television Industry Development Special Fund Application Guidelines to support film and television companies and professionals in Xiamen, and support film and television crews shooting in Xiamen.

Variety market "cooling" policy support to promote high-quality content production

　　In the past two years, the variety show market has experienced an all-round "cooling down".

According to the "2022 Q1 Variety Show Sponsorship Market Research" released by Yien Data, the Q1 variety show market in 2022 will be cold, and the total number of broadcasts will only be 77, a decrease of 10 compared with the same period last year.

Among them, TV variety shows declined more significantly, with a decrease of 19, while online variety shows increased year-on-year; in terms of broadcast popularity, online variety shows are higher than TV variety shows, but the overall decline is compared with the same period last year.

　　The low quality of content, the cliff-like decline in attention, and the difficulty of finding sponsorships have become the "triple challenges" in the variety show market, especially in the overall "low tide" of the development of the Internet industry, the cost reduction and efficiency improvement of short video platforms, and the "double reduction" of Internet education brands. ” and other backgrounds, the important customers who used to attract investment in variety shows have dropped significantly, and “lack of money” and “no sponsorship” have become the personal feelings of practitioners.

According to the "White Paper on 2021 Variety Show Implantation" released by ZK Insights, 744 brands will withdraw from variety shows in 2021, and only 483 new brands will be added. The cooperation between brands and variety shows has been greatly reduced.

　　In 2022, the number of sponsors of many popular "N-generation" variety shows will decline, and many variety shows "naked broadcast" will even be launched.

"Listen to Friends" had 9 sponsors in the first season, and dropped to 2 in the second season; "Star Detective" had 7 sponsors in the sixth season, and dropped to 3 in the seventh season; Tencent Video's top spot in the first quarter The variety show "Half-familiar Lover" did not receive any brand sponsorship from the beginning to the end; the annual variety show "Mao Xuewang" with Mao Buyi and Li Xueqin as the main stars had 0 sponsorships for the 13 episodes; Youku "Old Guo You Xin Fan" scored 0 on Douban It reached 8.6, but it did not get sponsorship after 49 episodes.

　　The variety show market is bleak as a whole, but cultural programs have achieved both word-of-mouth and popularity.

Judging from the "2021 Annual Insight Report on Chinese Variety Shows" released by Yien Data, nearly 40 cultural variety shows will be launched in 2021, a significant increase from the previous two years.

Programs such as Luoyang, Thousand Years of Dance, and China in Classics have received good reviews on Douban.

　　In response to the phenomenon of the overall cold wave of variety shows and cultural programs "playing hot", some industry insiders analyzed that the current predicament of online variety shows is the "pain" that must be experienced during the transition period of the industry, and the epidemic is just a cover for variety shows "more and more boring" The "fig leaf".

Under the circumstance of tight funds, brands and platforms dare not "bet" a show will be popular, and it is impossible for producers to "lie down" to make money.

In terms of model innovation, content innovation, and taking a high-quality route, cultural programs such as "Tang Palace Night Banquet", "The Most Beautiful Central Axis", "Walking Alone for Thousands of Miles" and "Shangxin·Forbidden City" can "go out of the circle" s reason.

　　At the same time, some experts believe that the concentrated emergence of cultural programs is closely related to the concept of "cultural going overseas" advocated by the state in recent years and a series of supporting policies.

In recent years, the measures of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to support in advance and reward after the event have greatly stimulated the industry's enthusiasm for the creation of cultural programs.

Such as the support of various special funds such as innovation and excellence, Chinese culture, classic folk stories, etc.; establish a normalized evaluation and reward mechanism, increase the inclination of literary and art awards; guide platforms and media to increase the promotion of excellent works, etc., all of which are cultural The program creation and broadcast created favorable conditions.

The rise of online mini-series "savage growth" turns to type breakthrough

　　In August 2020, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television added the category of "Online Micro Dramas" in the background of key online film and television dramas, and defined them as "Internet dramas with a single episode of no more than 10 minutes", thus officially incorporating micro-short dramas into video dramas Set track.

This move is regarded by the industry as a sign that the micro-drama has officially been brought into regulation and is on the right track of creation.

At present, the platforms of domestic mini-series are mainly divided into three categories: short video platforms represented by Douyin and Kuaishou, long video platforms represented by iQiyi, Youku, Tencent Video and Mango TV, and bilibili, Zhizhi Huurry, hurry up and other diversified entrants.

　　After the outbreak of the epidemic, many professional film and television teams have joined the online short drama track.

According to public information, in 2022, the number of micro-short dramas filed in a single month will exceed the number of TV dramas produced in the whole year in recent years; in May 2022, there will be a total of 421 online micro-short drama titles that have obtained planning record numbers in the filing system of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television 9888 The number of episodes in April was 322 with 7374 episodes, and the number in March was 266 with 6224 episodes.

　　People in the industry generally believe that the time curve of the popularity of micro-short dramas coincides with the time line affected by the epidemic in China.

Due to the different development and control measures of the epidemic in different places, the output of long episodes that used to rely on the clustered production model has been affected.

Most of the long-form episodes that went online after the outbreak were "stocks" produced before the epidemic, and the number of newly released long-form videos was relatively reduced, while the younger generation, who were accustomed to relying on new media during their stay at home, showed an upward trend in demand for cultural and entertainment products.

In this context, the booming mini-series naturally attracted the attention of the audience.

In addition, the cost of mini-series is low and the cycle is short. From script, project approval to shooting, production, and launch, it can be completed in one or two months or even ten days. The minimum investment is only a few hundred thousand yuan, and more than one million yuan can be produced. More sophisticated production, so it has become an opportunity for small and medium-sized film and television companies to revitalize their projects.

　　However, the impression left by the mini-drama to the audience is not positive.

Simple and rude plots, fast-food-style productions that focus on traffic and light content - some comments call the micro-drama "electronic pickles" and "industrial saccharin".

In order to attract users with a stronger sense of stimulation, a large number of mini-series have resorted to the theme of supernatural and curious, which makes the audience feel fatigued.

　　According to the analysis of industry insiders, the development path of short dramas is similar to that of previous big online movies.

Around 2014, online big movies also entered the film and television industry with a low threshold and low cost, from "wild" creators leading to "regular" endings, from shoddy production to high-quality products, the path taken by micro-short dramas How similar it is.

The difference is that it took only one or two years for short dramas to complete the seven or eight years of online big movies.

　　With the entry of professional film and television companies, the optimization of the structure of genre themes, and the efforts of filmmakers in marketing, the mini-series market since 2021 seems to be expected to usher in the development of high-quality products in a slow motion.

The micro-shorts gradually released the signal of focusing on quality and production standards, and moving towards "breaking the circle" with high-quality products.

Some people in the industry believe that the form of short dramas to attract more audiences may not depend on the duration, cost, production team, etc. In the final analysis, it is still necessary to start from the content side, and "good stories" are the last word.

And this is also the basis for the differentiated competition of major platforms in the micro-short drama track in the future.

　　On June 1, 2022, the State Administration of Radio and Television officially issued administrative licenses to online dramas. When domestic key online dramas with various contents such as online dramas, online mini-series, online movies, and online cartoons are broadcast online, A unified "screenmark" will be used.

Zhou Kui, an associate professor at Communication University of China, believes: "The emergence of 'net mark' means that the production of online film and television content has reached a new level on the road to quality and production. The establishment of the 'net mark' system is a requirement for content creation. Self-improvement."

　　After being brought into regulation, the mini-drama will come out of the era of "barbaric growth".

Having experienced the vicious cycle of capital-driven and traffic-driven, investors and producers can only make steady progress in a healthier and more rational way only by paying more attention to the content of the works themselves, taking breaking the stereotypes and high-quality breakthroughs as the best strategy, and continuing to move closer to the direction of high-quality products. new cycle of development.

(Reporter Niu Mengdi Tang Yige)