Heyi Pictures Liu Kailuo: Creating the "Apple" in the Internet film industry

Regarding movies, he believes that although the external environment is constantly changing, the storytelling method is summarized and refined little by little by countless predecessors, starting from setting up stalls to talk about cross talk and acting in shifts. It is produced by the game between the creator and the audience, and has rules to follow.

Two years ago, when Youku Tudou founded Heyi Pictures and invested real money in the film market, many industry insiders regarded it as the "fifth evolution" of this video website. At that time, Liu Kailuo, as the president of Heyi Pictures, once said: "We hope to bring some Internet thinking to the film industry."

In early August in Beijing, the dazzling sun was roasting the streets, and a simple breathing movement would make people sweat profusely. In a small building covered in trees outside the East Fourth Ring Road, Liu Kailuo had just sent off guests who came to visit him. During these busy two years, he led Unity Pictures to deliver a shining achievement: produced and co-produced 38 theater films, with a cumulative box office of more than 9 billion yuan. Among them are star projects such as "Unexpectedly","Monster Hunt" and "Detective Chinatown", as well as "Master","North by Northeast","Girl Nezha" and "Heart Maze" that can be shortlisted at film festivals. Award-winning works have been nominated 56 times and won 24 awards in major film festivals.

Heyi Pictures, which is supported by the concept of "Internet", does have the speed of the Internet industry. Liu Kailuo is quite proud of this: "I am proud to say that compared with other Internet movie companies, we are indeed more than one step faster. It will take some effort to catch up with us."

Loving one thing is very simple

. Liu Kailuo still clearly remembers the teacher's opening remarks in the first class of the Directing Department of the Beijing Film Academy: "Regarding movies, I hope you will always maintain the hearts of the audience."

This sentence became the guideline for him to experience film works. Every time he watched a new movie, Liu Kailuo could maintain the freshness of an ordinary audience, rather than be disturbed by technical issues such as lighting and lenses. "Loving something is very simple, that is, letting yourself devote yourself to it without distracting thoughts."

He became famous for his film development and production of Pony Benteng, and was responsible for the TV series production business at Wanda. Before joining Heyi Pictures, Liu Kailuo was already a recognized elite in the film and television industry.

However, on Liu Kailuo's resume, his first alma mater is Beijing Institute of Technology, which has nothing to do with the look of movies.

Influenced by her family, Liu Kailuo has been influenced by her experiences and likes movies since she was a child. "Near graduation, CCTV bought a batch of non-linear post-editing equipment. They thought this was something science students should do, so they recruited a group of science students to intern. I was one of them, and later stayed to do the column."

This was the beginning of Liu Kailuo's entry into the film and television industry. The more he got into contact, the more he liked it. He simply entered the Nortel Directing Department to continue his studies and decided to devote himself to this industry completely. After graduation, he started as a director, worked as an assistant director and executive director, and became a director and producer step by step.

Liu Kailuo has experienced the worst period of time for China films. No one is willing to invest, and there are not enough platforms for the audience to see excellent works. Just over a decade later, with the rapid growth of the market, the film industry has also ushered in a spurt of development. Liu Kailuo described the difference between the past and the present as follows: "Now the salary of an actor is enough to make several movies in the past."

As an early "veteran" of the Pony Horse, Liu Kailuo has lived up to the rapid rise of the traditional film industry in the commercial era. He has made contributions to a number of works that have made the audience both applauded and popular, such as "The Golden Robbery","Sword Rain","Moonlight Treasure Box","Border Storm" and "No Man's Land".

After Wanda was in charge of the TV drama development business, Liu Kailuo understood that his long-term development goal was still movies, but he obviously lacked challenges in repeating his previous self. When he learned that Heyi Pictures would combine the Internet with movies, he was tempted: "Coming to Heyi, on the one hand, I want to engage in movies, and I like this industry. On the other hand, I want to embrace the changes in the industry, that is, to maintain the original intention of creation, and to welcome various new possibilities in the industry with an open mind."

Like most men in science and technology, Liu Kailuo speaks strictly and methodically. But when it comes to one of your favorite movies, you will find that Liu Kailuo's preferences are very literary.

He likes "The Story of the Wind" by Dutch director Juris Ivens-a film that many people have never heard of, combining fantasy fiction with documentary-like realism. In addition to these films that may only be paid attention to by young people with strong literary and artistic backgrounds, Liu Kailuo also likes the "Ghost Street" series. He believes that this film tells everyone one thing: the real danger and what can touch us are often the thoughts in our hearts.

Renhe Pictures, which is at the forefront of public demand

, has been a company with its own Internet genes since its establishment. As a science student in cross-border films, Liu Kailuo quickly adapted to the Internet trend: "I did feel very strongly at first. In the traditional film industry, big fish eat small fish, and the Internet pursues fast fish eat slow fish."

Liu Kailuo has a long view of the possibility of the Internet "changing" movies. In his view, the quantitative change in product technology will eventually bring about disruptive changes in the industry. "The basic logic of movies is montage, which relies on the connection between shots to form narrative logic. Nowadays, VR technology has subverted the audio-visual logic based on the lens. Everyone can choose the viewing angle and complete the narrative yourself. Future movies may also bring creators and audiences closer together infinitely. By then, will we watch them in a dark room like now, or will we watch them with VR glasses and each holding a terminal? Or is it like watching a game, drinking wine and chatting, playing on several big screens? It's all possible."

Another hint of "change" appears in the industrial chain. Develop-produce-promote-publish, so the traditional linear logic has changed. Liu Kailuo cited the divine song "Little Apple" as an example. The promotional material and a "cost item" of "Old Boy" grew up on its own and became a brand with independent development value. "From point A to point B, the straight line is no longer the same as before."

Faced with this change, Liu Kailuo and Heyi Film Group took respecting the laws of film creation as the "first rule" of their work, discovering excellent original content as early as possible, and giving sufficient time to polish it carefully. In addition, the Heyi Film team led by Liu Kailuo has taken a unique approach to achieve precise marketing through big data, and used film derivatives and business development to change the traditional film industry's dependence on box office revenue.

As a result, the big movie "Unexpectedly" became a hit.

As the first test of Heyi Pictures 'own IP creation, although there are some disputes, the work has achieved great commercial success. According to the figures given by Liu Kailuo, the film cost 50 to 60 million yuan, and the final box office exceeded 320 million yuan, and the return on investment exceeded 300%.

But what is even more rare is that the box office revenue of movies only accounts for 40% of the final total revenue. Income from other derivatives, business development and other income have become the bulk of film revenue. This healthier and more reasonable income model shows that online students 'content is incubated. The advantage of becoming a big movie in the theater also gives Liu Kailuo and Heyi Pictures more confidence in taking the path of brand incubation.

"We have the marketing ability to operate brand content successfully, and" Wan Wan "is not an isolated example." Liu Kailuo said. Heyi Group's creation of "Old Boy","Little Apple" and "The King Called Me to Patrol the Mountain" are also achieved through social and precise marketing. This was completely unimaginable a few years ago. Liu Kailuo used the word "health" to describe this income ratio. At the same time, he also believed that this would be the general direction of China's film industry.

In Liu Kailuo's view, the Internet has given Heyi Pictures the best channel to understand the audience and a platform to influence the audience. Through background data, team members can easily understand which sections of a movie have the highest playback rate, which sections are played repeatedly, and which are frequently skipped by the audience. In the subsequent content production process, these data will have a more or less impact.

Liu Kailuo believes that the Internet has given the public more diversified channels for viewing movies, and also gives creators more means to understand the audience and new storytelling methods, allowing creators to find more ways to resonate emotionally with the audience. In this regard, Liu Kailuo's positioning for himself and Heyi Pictures is very clear-people at the forefront of public demand.

Although he is backed by the big tree of Heyi Group, Liu Kailuo still emphasizes Heyi Pictures 'identity as a "startup company". From accumulating experience with investment and resource cooperation in the early days, to using the Internet to expand its business landscape, and now leading the investment of a blockbuster with a top production team, Heyi Pictures has been growing rapidly and firmly: choosing the best partners in the industry, choose the best content resources at the moment, and choose the most scientific and efficient business chain. This series of correct choices has laid a solid foundation for Heyi Pictures to become a "fast fish" in the Internet film industry.

The "Apple" content in the Internet movie industry

determines reputation, and the market determines box office. If Liu Kailuo was given the choice, his answer was categorical: "Content."

In his view, producing high-quality content products is the fundamental manifestation of the company's value. It is precisely because of the importance it attaches to content that Heyi Pictures has positioned its main content production business into three segments: its own IP incubation, cross-border IP copyright cooperation, and original film and television products. Liu Kailuo believes that there is no real IP product in China, because existing IP products rely too much on a certain actor, a certain director, and a certain form.

Heyi Pictures '"one step ahead" has attracted countless imitators. From 2015 to 2016, in just one year, Internet film and television companies have undergone earth-shaking changes. LeTV, Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent have successively established the film company, the original Internet-born film company has added many new recruits since last year. In early January this year, Xiaomi co-founder Li Wanqiang, who had been in retreat for more than a year, announced his return on Sina Weibo as CEO of Xiaomi Pictures. Jumei Premium, 58 Tongcheng and Giant Network also entered the game.

However, Liu Kailuo is more willing to emphasize the differences in tone between Heyi Pictures and these companies: "The film industry of companies such as BAT is aimed at platform development for the film industry, so a more accurate positioning should be a 'platform company'. On the other hand, Unity Pictures is a 'content company' for creative content. In fact, both directions can make very successful companies. For content-based companies, it's more about how to do content well."

When Liu Kailuo shares internally in the company, he will describe the future of Heyi Pictures as the "Apple" of the film and television industry."Apple's core is product design and marketing, and all production processes are to find the best manufacturers in the world to help it. It is done, and the core part of the product must be done by itself."

"007, Superman, Marvel, these series of works have little dependence on people and the company. The protagonists can be changed, the directors can be changed, and even the main and secondary lines of the story can be switched. Only then can this kind of work be called IP. It has strong vitality in itself, rather than tying success or failure to a certain person or a certain form." Liu Kailuo said,"In other words, the work has become a brand. No matter who manages it, as long as it does not deviate from the brand's tone, it can achieve good results."

The more the industry and market changes, the more it is necessary for the stewardship of the company to have their own opinions. At the Shanghai Film Festival in June this year, Heyi Pictures released its 2016 - 2017 film list and announced six main control films in one go: "Blood of the Machine","Report to the Boss","Genius J","The Journey of Men","That Star, That Sea", and "The Best Domestic Servants". These films clearly demonstrate to the outside world the direction Liu Kailuo and Heyi Pictures want to go in the future.

Among them,"The Sky and the Sea" is adapted from the fantasy love novel of the same name by the extremely popular Chinese writer Tong Hua, and Tong Hua himself wrote the script."The Best Housekeeper" is an online novel with 33 million clicks and is praised by fans and readers as "After the Housekeeper, there is no more best";"Report to the Boss","Genius J" and "Companion" are Youku Tudou's own brands. The five works cover the most popular themes on the market such as comedy, documentary, and suspense stories.

But what Liu Kailuo values most is the "original brand""Blood of the Machine". As a project that has been prepared since the establishment of the company,"Blood of the Machine" has undergone many adjustments in content and film elements. From the initial action comedy, science fiction elements have been gradually added to the conception of derivative dramas, and then to the conception and planning of derivative dramas, the Heyi Pictures team has fully adjusted the content of the film based on the market. The series has also expanded from the original one to three possible future ones, which laid a solid foundation for the emergence of native games and other derivatives in the later period. This is also the direction that Unity Pictures pursues in the next development.

At a time when IP and capital are becoming the most important levers to leverage the film and television industry, the success of a "film and television product" often depends on whether it has enough ammunition support. Liu Kailuo found sufficient funds and an international team for "Blood of the Machine". Jackie Chan is not only the leading star of "Blood of the Machine", but also the producer of the film. While inviting Jackie Chan to form the main creative team of the film,"Blood of the Machine" also invited actors such as Luo Zhixiang and Ouyang Nana, who are widely loved by young people.

"I hope more young audiences will pay attention to this play." Liu Kailuo said very directly. "I believe that no matter what theme, a movie that can resonate deeply in people's hearts will definitely be an excellent movie."

Editor: vian