Zhang Jingwei: The top priority is to reduce the dependence of film and television on stars and eliminate the pursuit capital

Whether it is sky-high stars or fake ratings, it is ultimately due to the willfulness of capital or the greed of capital.

Original title: Zhang Jingwei: "Film and television drama governance" must prevent capital from being willful.

Nowadays, film and television dramas have evolved into an era of looking for looks and seeking traffic, and capital has willfully suffered from star dependence. Once this disease is delayed and untreated, it will cause the film and television market to fall into a deformed state.

On September 9, five ministries and commissions including the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly issued the "Notice on Several Policies to Support the Prosperity and Development of TV Dramas", prescribing prescriptions for the phenomenon of "sky-high pay". The document not only stops at curbing the "sky-high pay" of stars, but also includes making the main theme of film and television dramas the "main theme" of film and television dramas, while increasing efforts to curb false ratings fraud.

As popular cultural products, there is nothing wrong with film and television dramas following market rules. It is normal for some stars to be more valuable, but movies and television dramas rely too much on stars and give them sky-high remuneration. With limited investment, the expenses for other actors and post-production will be pitifully small. This is unfair to other actors and crew, and it is impossible to produce high-quality film and television products.

How are inappropriate sky-high prices formed? There is both the dominance of capital and the distribution mechanism of film and television dramas, and of course it is also caused by the irrational pursuit of the audience.

The causal relationship here is not clear. Let's first take a look at the distribution mechanism of film and television dramas. Most current TV dramas implement a pre-sale mechanism. Television stations that purchase TV dramas pursue ratings, and only with ratings can they have sponsored advertisements. Therefore, in pre-ordering TV dramas, in order to ensure ratings, TV stations will naturally choose a more appropriate method, that is,"big name + famous director + famous editor" TV dramas. Of course, such TV dramas are also expensive.

Due to the demands of the demand side, photographers and investors have also spared no effort to build a team of "big names + famous directors + famous editors". In order to build this team, investors will inevitably spare no effort. Of course, don't think that investors 'star dependence is irrational capital willfulness. This kind of effort can be rewarded. In addition to TV dramas being successfully distributed and earning revenue, movies can also win box office and earn considerable revenue.

The willfulness of capital and star dependence seem to be the result of win-win results from investors, producers, broadcasters and the public. However, the actual effect is that star-dependent and capital-willful film and television drama creation may be recognized by the audience, especially young audiences, and can also benefit investors, photographers and TV stations. However, it will not benefit the long-term development of film and television drama creation in China.

In this regard, as early as September last year, an article stated that in many film and television dramas, the expenses on actor compensation accounted for more than half of the entire project cost, while post-production, special effects and other links that should be spent most money can only "dance in shackles" within a limited budget.

Stars who receive sky-high salaries may not be "worth the person". Some sky-high stars are so hot that they are being sought after by capital that they do not want to improve their acting skills, increase their life concentration, and enhance their artistic perception. Instead, they linger on various reality TV programs to earn public attention and make a lot of money, and even hype topics in the media. However, some creations made in this capital hype and market context have also lost their due quality and significance of literary and artistic works.

Therefore, it is a top priority to reduce the star dependence of film and television dramas and eliminate the willfulness of capital pursuit. It is worth mentioning that the sky-high price phenomenon of stars seems to be a market behavior, but it is the result of the actions of investors, producers, and broadcasters. To reduce dependence on stars, all parties should also work hard to reduce the value of stars.

In addition to the sky-high prices of stars, the fraud of ratings in the era of big data has also caused a decline in the quality of video programs and has become a cancer that restricts the healthy development of the film and television industry. According to media surveys, the current price for purchasing ratings has climbed to 300,000 to 500,000 yuan per episode. Based on the fact that the top 20 satellite TV channels in the country broadcast 13000 episodes of TV dramas every year, more than 4 billion yuan was illegally stolen by this force throughout the year.

Whether it is sky-high stars or fake ratings, it is ultimately due to the willfulness of capital or the greed of capital. The documents of the five ministries and commissions have hit the "focus" of the film, television and drama market. Perhaps false ratings can no longer cause trouble in the market, and the game of capital swiping data has come to an end. As for the sky-high price of stars, it is inevitable to drop, but to what extent it will fall, it still depends on the real market.

Film and television dramas highlight the "main theme", not because of the willfulness of political ideology, but because of the nature of film and television dramas. As a mass cultural product, there is no shortage of entertainment functions, market effects and propaganda. When the film and television drama market has excessive entertainment, willful capital, and lack of propaganda and education functions, policy guidance is inevitable. Therefore, don't misread the governance of film and television dramas. Highlight the "main theme" is an understandable correction.

The film and television drama market should also be "well-behaved"-not only abide by the legal bottom line, but also abide by market rules, and also comply with common sense. Reducing star dependence and de-capital willfulness, and maintaining a balance between entertainment, marketization and propaganda are the core essence of the film and television drama governance of the five ministries and commissions.

(The author is a visiting researcher at the Chongyang Institute of Finance, Renmin University of China)

Editor: Mary