Tencent Pictures CEO Cheng Wu: For movies, the biggest investment is "patience"

Cheng Wu believes that Tencent Pictures 'direction in making films at this stage can be summarized in four keywords: young, unique, high-quality, and connected.

"What we are, what our movies will be." Cheng Wu, vice president of Tencent Group and CEO of Tencent Pictures, said at the 2016 Tencent Pictures annual press conference on September 17,"I often tell the team that Tencent Pictures does not seek a price-to-earnings ratio and does not lack necessary investment. Don't be too eager for success, don't have too much anxiety and distractions. To a large extent, movies are about art, emotion, and people's hearts. Only by keeping our original intention and polishing our works quietly and solidly can we establish our own attitude and confidence."

The theme of this conference is "New Exploration and Co-Growth". Cheng Wu said that for movies, the biggest investment is always "patience."

Cheng Wu believes that Tencent Pictures 'direction in making films at this stage can be summarized in four keywords: young, unique, high-quality, and connected.

First of all, it is young, hoping that the themes will be young, the style will be young, and it will fit young people's ideas and new trends of thought;

second, it is unique, hoping to be original and give people unexpected surprises. It must be brave, and it is best to go beyond existing perceptions;

third, it is high quality. No matter how large the investment scale is, it cannot be made in a rough way. It must have quality persistence and full sincerity;

fourth, connection. One is what Tencent Pictures has been saying: "not making movies in isolation"; the other is that it hopes to build IP value and make full pan-entertainment linkage with literature, animation, drama, games, derivatives and other businesses; and finally, when cooperating with internal and external partners, there can be more space and more possibilities for films.

"The creation, publicity and creation of every film, and the creation of every IP are much more difficult and full of unknowns." Cheng Wu said that Tencent Pictures hopes to realize all these ideas and explorations together with all like-minded partners. I hope that in the future, I can work with you to create more touching stories, explore more possibilities, and jointly build a collaborative ecosystem for healthy growth.

Cheng Wu, Vice President of Tencent Group and CEO of Tencent Pictures,

is the full text of his speech:

Special thanks to all new and old friends for making a special trip to attend Tencent Pictures 'annual press conference during the Mid-Autumn Festival! Today, we are one year old. Thank you for your care and support, thank you all!

What we are, our movies will be like

. In fact, in 2016, the film industry was very lively and there were many disputes. People and friends often asked me what I thought. But to be honest, we don't pay much attention to those anxious and noisy things. Because until today, a one-year-old child has nothing to complain about the world and nothing to be disappointed with. If you really want to ask me what I think, the answer is actually very simple, just two words-believe!

I believe these two words are actually the summary of 2016 by Teacher Huang, editor-in-chief of "Watch the Movie" magazine, in his new book. He felt that perhaps any industry in its golden age had a better starting point than people later said. It may be full of speculation, suspicion, imitation and even garbage, but it is precisely because of this that good things can become good things. In fact, I also tend to believe that China films, and even global films, are at a new starting point.

Therefore, I often tell the team of Tencent Pictures that we do not seek a P/E ratio, and we do not lack necessary investment. I hope everyone will not have too much anxiety and distractions, and not be eager for success. To a large extent, movies are about art, emotion, and people's hearts. Only by maintaining our original intention and polishing our works quietly and solidly can we establish our own attitude and confidence. We often think that what we are, what our movies might be like.

Cheng Wu, vice president of Tencent Group and CEO of Tencent Pictures,'

s biggest investment will always be "patience"

. So, what is Tencent Pictures 'attitude towards creating films?

We hope to create high-quality works that can represent Tencent Pictures, whether they are commercial blockbusters or some relatively niche but highly personalized genre films. Behind the high-quality products, there is often huge investment. The investment is not just money, but the investment is greater than money, but is actually the ingenuity and patience of artistic creation.

We have an Evolution Entertainment studio that is also making original animated films. At the previous press conference, Liu Fuyuan, the person in charge of the studio, kept telling me that my boss, I haven't made any big progress yet, so can we not release it yet? I said, polish the work with peace of mind first, and release it when it can be said. As a film company, what we are most willing to invest is patience. Today, I'm very happy that you will meet Liu Fuyuan in his later session. He is finally willing to bring his work and report to everyone on the progress of the project.

You should not ask what IP can bring, but what you can contribute to IP

. After a while, our three film studios released their own works, and many of them involved IP. This year, there are also many IP-adapted films released in the film industry and TV drama industry. The discussion about IP is very lively and doubts are endless. Many people ask if IP does not bring about the expected effects. In fact, I think the starting point of this question is wrong. We are not just asking what IP can bring to us, but what a creative team like us can contribute to IP. If everyone simply uses IP as a tool to lower the cognitive threshold and increase the number of users, and only considers IP monetization capabilities, it is actually consuming fans 'enthusiasm. But in fact, behind the IP are living people, all of whom are emotional sustenance. Only by doing everything possible to respect and care for this IP, and using high-quality film and television content to add bricks and mortar to this IP, will fans feel that their emotions are taken seriously and will they buy it.

Some time ago, I was very happy to be able to visit the crew of "Chosen Heaven"."Chosen Heaven" has done very detailed research on many details of the architecture, scenery and props, even if it is a scene that does not have many scenes. I feel particularly happy and gratified. In fact, the most important thing and what a good film and television work needs most is sincerity.

In my opinion, in the past, in China and abroad, all the films and filmmakers who have always stayed in our hearts in the film industry have two characteristics: one is sincerity and the other is courage. Without exception, they all took a brave step outside the "circle" of our established understanding. Therefore, I believe that exploration is to provide ideas and opportunities for those outside the "circle".

Therefore, in terms of theme and style, you can see that as a new film company, on the one hand, we are trying youth crime films like "Teenagers", and on the other hand, we are also trying science fiction works like "Star Builder" that are different from Hollywood science fiction masterpieces. Although we have just started, we hope to attach importance to the exploration of new themes and new styles from the beginning.

In terms of talents, we attach importance to cooperation and learning from predecessors and masters in the industry, but we also cherish the efforts and talents of every young person. After a while, all the guests will see a film called "Enchanted". This film is a team composed of a young man Ma Kai and several young people. They are called "horizontal drift" by us in daily life. The film cost 70,000 yuan to shoot, and 20,000 to 30,000 yuan was the medical expenses of the male protagonist's fall. Can such a movie really be called a movie? What I want to say is, why not? This is just a small interlude. In fact, we have been trying to continuously select and assist directors, screenwriters and actors through the NEXT IDEA Youth Innovation Award and the Green Green Plan to help them grow.

In terms of pan-entertainment linkage, we are trying to link movies and TV series based on the literary IP "Chance of Heaven". At the same time, we also explore development paths such as "I am Bai Xiaofei", from anime to stage drama to film. The linkage and integration of businesses may seem easy to say, but it is not easy to do. However, we are willing to respect the emotions of works, authors and fans. We hope to do more pan-entertainment explorations to provide valuable and potential IP provides greater growth opportunities.

In terms of publicity, we also hope to make full use of Tencent's powerful social platform, diverse pan-entertainment content platforms, including literature, animation, games, etc., as well as big data capabilities, to build a publicity system that better demonstrates Tencent's characteristics., do more exploration in terms of accuracy and interactivity.

The direction of making films: young, unique, high-quality, and connected

. Therefore, Tencent Pictures hopes to create film and television works with the following characteristics:

First, it is young, hoping that the themes are young, the style is young, and it fits the ideas and new trends of thought of young people;

Second, it is unique, hoping to be original and give people unexpected surprises. Be brave, and it is best to surpass existing perceptions;

Third, it is high-quality. No matter how big the investment scale is, we all hope to be able to use sincerity and quality persistence, and not to make shoddy products;

Fourth, connection. Tencent has put forward a slogan, hoping to connect everything. In terms of film and television, on the one hand, we hope that we will not make movies in isolation, and on the other hand, we hope to build around IP value and make full pan-entertainment linkage with literature, animation, drama, and games, so that our works have greater space and possibilities.

I hope that the films led by Tencent Pictures can try their best to achieve these points. Focusing on this direction, Dameng Film Studio will explore more new themes and new types of films, Blackbody Studio will try more film development models between TV series and movies, and Evolution Entertainment Studio will be committed to creating original animated films. In the next 90-minute release session, you will see many projects, and we will explore different directions and paths.

Cheng Wu, Vice President of Tencent Group and CEO of Tencent Pictures,

what we love will eventually lead us to meet the people we should meet

. Standing on this day in 2016, I hope to share with you. Compared with holding a press conference, the creation and publicity of every film, and the creation of every IP are much more difficult and full of unknowns. Tencent Pictures hopes to realize all these ideas and explorations together with like-minded partners. I hope that in the future, I can work with you to create more touching stories, explore more possibilities, and jointly build a collaborative ecosystem for healthy growth.

I personally have always believed that what we love will eventually lead us to meet the people we deserve to meet. Thank you again for coming here and gathering with Tencent Pictures during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. Next, I am very happy to invite you to follow Tencent Pictures 'new title opening to open the door to the future we jointly created. Thank you all!

Editor: yvonne