From July 1st, Shanghai will gradually open museums, art galleries, libraries, cultural centers and other cultural and tourism venues; from July 8th, cinemas and performance venues will also gradually open.
However, there were still outbreaks of new coronary pneumonia in Shanghai in July, and cultural tourism venues such as KTV and Secret Room Script Killing have not yet been opened.
The closure and control measures have caused many business owners to feel tired from "just starting and braking suddenly".
Many cultural and creative small and micro business owners also face difficulties such as insufficient cash flow, financing difficulties, and employee turnover.
A reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily learned from the Shanghai Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Cultural Promotion Association") that although many cultural and creative enterprises were "injured" in the epidemic, they did not "lie down".
Some enterprises are saving themselves through business transformation, technological innovation, and seeking cooperation.
Relevant government departments and platforms such as the Cultural Promotion Association have also been carrying out anti-epidemic assistance work since March.
Cross-border catering, transformation after "dormant"
"Offline consumer industries such as performances, movies, and tourism have been greatly affected by the epidemic, but the more the crisis is, the more companies need to innovate and find new opportunities." Since 2020, the culture of offline performances as its main business Qi Qi, the founder of the communication company "Drama Leader", has been thinking about how to transform and upgrade the company.
Qi Qi introduced that the "Drama Horse Leader" who entered the cultural industry in 2015 was the first to do a musical project on a foreign stage. In 2018, the immersive drama "Alice's Adventures", which is suitable for audiences of all ages, landed in Jing'an District, Shanghai. Later, it coincides with the popularity of the domestic immersive experience market.
During the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020, the "Drama Horse Leading" team did not stop working, but "dormant practice". In the summer of 2021, the immersive food interactive drama "Playful Explorer" will be launched.
In the early winter of 2021, the company cooperated with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra under the "coupling" of the Cultural Promotion Association to develop a musical afternoon tea of "Playing with Temperament", which was performed in shopping malls and was very popular.
At the beginning of this year, the team cooperated with Xingkong Huawen again to launch the immersive food interactive drama "Playing Theater" with the theme of classic movie elements.
"Next, the 'dining show' featuring interactive performances will be our main focus." Qi Qi said.
Why combine immersive theatre with dining?
Qi Qi believes that compared with the performance industry, the catering industry has a relatively high ability to fight against and recover from the epidemic, and cooperation with the catering industry can diversify risks.
According to the "2021 National Performance Market Annual Report" released by the China Performance Industry Association, the overall economic scale of the national performance market in 2021 will be 33.585 billion yuan, returning to 59% of that in 2019.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in January this year, from January to December 2021, the national catering revenue was 4,689.5 billion yuan, which has returned to the level of 2019.
What gives Qi Qi confidence is the strong cultural consumption demand of young people and the importance attached by the Shanghai Municipal Government to the cultural tourism industry.
He believes that the number of cultural and creative enterprises in Shanghai and the audience base are among the best in the world, and watching various types of performances in Shanghai has become the daily consumption habit of citizens and tourists.
In December 2021, Shanghai has released a total of 100 "New Spaces for Performing Arts", including shopping malls, cultural and creative parks, bookstores, Live Houses, hotels, restaurants, cafes, cruise ships and other places.
Qi Qi said: "Compared with traditional theaters, the new performing arts space is smaller and more flexible, and encourages innovation in business formats, and many original projects have emerged. This is a very fresh and attractive experience for young consumers in Shanghai. cultural consumption place.”
"Move" business and roadshows online
Chenzi Culture is a cultural company under a state-owned enterprise. Its main businesses include art parks, exhibition halls, public education, art fairs, and cultural and art foundations.
General Manager Xu Ying told China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that during the epidemic this year, the company's public welfare business and profit-making business have been impacted to varying degrees.
Xu Ying said that because the offline business was forced to suspend, the company quickly tried to "move" its business online. Although the results were minimal, it was a new beginning, "We have long cooperated with the China Maritime Museum to sell cultural and creative products, and we cannot If you sell offline, you will be transferred to third-party platforms such as Douyin. The company obtained the auction license last year, and during the epidemic, the offline auction was changed to online. The public welfare course for citizens night school jointly launched by the company and the Shanghai Mass Art Museum is also temporarily Go online."
During the epidemic this year, the company found a partner through the Cultural Promotion Association, and prepared the new media art exhibition "Cosmic Cube", inviting more than ten cross-disciplinary artists at home and abroad to exhibit visual images, interactive installations, plus art and other forms. work.
On July 8, this "futuristic" exhibition was held at Lingang Museum of Contemporary Art.
Xu Ying noticed that although Shanghai has entered a hot day, as long as there are art venues open, a large number of young people will be attracted.
Ren Yibiao, secretary-general of the Council for the Promotion of Culture, told reporters that during the epidemic, nearly 400 member companies conducted micro-roadshows and dialogues online through the platform of the Council for the Promotion of Culture. Some companies found partners in the WeChat group and opened up new businesses.
Some found the intentional enterprises that Guochao IP cooperated with to develop co-branded products, some found suitable advertising companies to plan brand promotion, some found design companies that helped their products increase the popularity, and some found products to be sold in Dahongqiao. Market channels, and some have found collaborators who practice the development of digital collections.
In the member group of the Association for the Promotion of Cultural Affairs, everyone has built a platform for mutual assistance and docking, and actively participated in the fight against the epidemic.
For example, the Donghao Lansheng team urgently needed a large number of mask auxiliary belts in the process of building the shelter, which could be solved through the online matchmaking solution; Lingang shelter volunteers urgently needed more than 300 sets of replacement equipment for work, and Chenzi Culture and Dongfang International were connected to solve the problem; Guangyin Exhibition urgently needs to solve the printing problem of 7,000 badge slings, which needs to be solved by connecting with Huanggong Printing Company of the Printing Association; Sanlian Bookstore urgently needs to solve the procurement and distribution of anti-epidemic materials such as fog mist machines and electric sprayers, and Dayin Bookstore is connected to solve it, etc. Wait.
Enterprises look forward to resuming offline business
At present, what are the biggest difficulties faced by Shanghai cultural and creative enterprises, especially small and micro enterprises?
A reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily interviewed Yang Zhengying, assistant to the president of Shanghai Jingwen Investment Co., Ltd. and head of the "Wen Jinhui" working group.
Yang Zhengying told reporters that after contacting 400 or 500 cultural and creative enterprises in Shanghai, he felt that the common problems faced by everyone are reflected in three aspects: "First, operations are affected, market expansion is difficult, some enterprises cannot complete contracts on time, upstream and downstream Cooperation is facing a crisis; secondly, while operating income is reduced, expenditure is still relatively large. Although state-owned enterprises provide rent reduction and exemption for half a year, most enterprises renting houses are not necessarily state-owned enterprise landlords. They must pay employee salaries, loan repayments, interest repayments, and cash flow. The reserves are not enough; thirdly, due to the above two reasons, small and micro enterprises with light assets and weak financing ability have difficulty in obtaining financing from banks and financial institutions, resulting in a vicious circle."
According to reports, the "Wen Jinhui" working group was established in 2020 under the guidance of the Propaganda Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and was established by Shanghai Jingwen Investment Co., Ltd. in conjunction with its subsidiaries. In response to the above situation, it specifically provides services for cultural and creative companies, especially small and micro enterprises.
At present, more than 300 enterprises have solved their problems through consultation; they have also provided "one-stop" financial services for enterprises. So far, dozens of enterprises have completed financing with an amount of more than 100 million yuan.
With the help of "Wen Jinhui", some companies have survived the most difficult stage.
For example, Yang Zhengying gave an example of a film company engaged in production and distribution. Since its establishment in 2005, it has continued to make excellent works and performed well. In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, it was unable to complete the return of funds. This year, work was suspended for three months due to the epidemic, and a huge loan was about to expire. , unable to self-raise funds to repay, and does not meet the bank's financing requirements, and is about to fall into desperation.
At this time, the guarantee company of Jingwen Investment Company guaranteed the company. "Wen Jinhui" contacted Bank of Beijing Shanghai Branch and jointly designed a new financing plan, which not only successfully issued the loan, but also gave the company preferential treatment. Guaranteed rates and interest rates, eliminating bridge fees and reducing financing costs.
Yang Zhengying believes that financing services can solve the urgent problems of enterprises in the short term, but in order for enterprises to operate more stably under the epidemic, the government also needs to introduce macro support policies, including phased exemptions from corporate value-added tax and surcharges, reducing Enterprise value-added tax rate, payment of job stabilization subsidies, etc.
He also hopes that relevant government departments can urge large enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises, to fulfill their contractual payment obligations as agreed, so as to reduce the pressure on small enterprises to advance funds as soon as possible, and to reserve more "fire seeds" for the great development of cultural and creative enterprises in the future.
Xu Ying is optimistic about the prospects of Shanghai's cultural industry.
She said: "During the epidemic, many artists created meditation and accumulated a lot of works. The cultural market demand in Shanghai has always been relatively strong, especially the new generation of young people have a higher level of appreciation of literature and art, and are more enthusiastic about exhibitions and performances. The cultural and art market There is a lot to do, but the company is facing difficulties such as brain drain, and I hope the government will support it, especially the preferential rent reduction and exemption for cultural and creative enterprises that rent non-state-owned office buildings. As long as the talents can be retained, there will be good products.”
In addition to preferential policies, cultural and creative enterprises are looking forward to restoring offline business as soon as possible.
Qi Qi said that if the performance company "opens today and closes tomorrow", it will increase business risks, and it is expected that the policy of "recovering fireworks" will be resolutely implemented.
The owner of a chain of escape rooms said: "The store has been suspended for more than 3 months. There is no income, and employees have to be paid. We look forward to the early opening of offline stores."
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Wei Qimeng Source: China Youth Daily