Rao Shuguang: Is the current slowdown in the growth of China films an inflection point in the development of China films?

Recently, Rao Shuguang, Secretary-General of China Film Association and President of China Film Critics Society, was at the 3rd Zhejiang Youth Film Festival. At the New Film Forum, a speech was delivered on the theme of "Turning Point" and "Great Changes" in China films, and analyzed the changes and influence of the Internet on China films from the perspectives of capital, creation, audience, and film aesthetics.

Editor's note: Recently, Rao Shuguang, Secretary-General of China Film Association and President of China Film Critics Society, was at the 3rd Zhejiang Youth Film Festival. At the New Film Forum, a speech was delivered on the theme of "Turning Point" and "Great Changes" in China films, and analyzed the changes and influence of the Internet on China films from the perspectives of capital, creation, audience, and film aesthetics.

Today, I also give you a title party topic: "Turning Point" and the "Great Changes" in China Films. As we all know, the inflection point theory is now one of the most controversial hot spots in China films today. In Changchun, at the China Film New Power Forum, from management leaders to film industry leaders, they did not believe that the current slowdown in the growth of China films was not an inflection point in the development of China films. They emphasized that the film industry should not have strategic misjudgments, which may have serious consequences. However, many people, especially those from the media, have different opinions and opinions, emphasizing that the turning point is the turning point and not based on the will of the official. So, is the current slowdown in the growth of China films an inflection point in the development of China films?

My personal view is very clear, and I insist that it is not the turning point in the development of China films, but the turning point in the growth mode and development model of China films. That is to say, the extensive and quantitative growth model and development model have become unsustainable, and many structural crises and contradictions have emerged. Therefore, China films must develop in the direction of quality and connotation as a whole. I personally have always believed that slowing down or even declining growth is not something that is troublesome for people in the film industry and professionals. What is entangled is capital, which is very anxious because they have just entered such a field with great development space to carry out this kind of capital operation and project operation. Using movies as projects and tools to generate its new financial products and carry out a series of capital operations that dazzle us. People in the film industry and professionals may not understand this capital operation and its mystery. People in the film industry, including myself, are still a little worried, but they are not as anxious as capital.

I wonder if you have noticed that when the box office of China films did not reach 30 billion yuan in 2014, I once proposed to appropriately reduce the development speed of China films, at a timely and appropriate time, to create a buffer opportunity for China films, especially creations, and strive to improve the quality of film creation and production. In August 2015, after the lively and prosperous summer holidays, I suggested that China films have really reached a certain turning point. Think about it, the growth rate of 48.5% in 2015 and the growth rate of 50% in the first quarter of 2016 have far exceeded the support capacity of China films. This has consumed the effective resources of China films to a certain extent. It is difficult to maintain such a high growth sustainably. Strong maintenance may not be worth the gain. We cannot use such a high growth rate as a basic evaluation basis for evaluating and measuring the development of China's films. Therefore, when relevant leaders came to our China Film Association for research, I clearly proposed to reduce the development speed of China films in real time. I didn't agree with much at first, but now it has become more accepted by everyone. Unfortunately, we have actually largely lost the opportunity to proactively reduce the speed of development. At present, due to the superposition of various structural contradictions in China films, there has been an inevitable slowdown or even decline in growth. Therefore, if there is an inflection point in China films, it should be an inflection point in the development model and growth mode. We really need to have a clear strategic judgment on this.

I personally believe that as long as we work hard to face our structural contradictions, make effective structural adjustments, promote structural optimization, and make China's film ecology more optimized and more sustainable, then the development of China's film will likely transform from the golden decade of China's film industry to the golden decade of China's film creation, creating more works with classic humanistic and aesthetic qualities. In the development of China films, new landscapes, new forms, and new formats of the golden age of China films may emerge.

Today, our theme is mainly to discuss the Internet, online generation and the new power of China films. In fact, there are two frames of reference, or dimensions that we cannot leave for a moment when discussing China films: one is the various changes in the Internet and in the context of the Internet, and many changes have not been encountered in the past and require us to use new thinking, new concepts, new means, new methods and new measures to effectively respond. Because the Internet has changed China films far more than American films. The reason is that American films had formed a relatively complete industrial system in the 1920s; by the 1980s and 1990s, its industrial system had been very complete, the industrial chain was very complete, and the industrial structure had matured. When you think about it, the development of China films, especially China film industry, has only taken more than ten years. Well, its plasticity and variability are very large.

The young people here may have more and deeper feelings than I do about the changes and influence of the Internet on China films. Every link and every level of China's film industry has been constantly impacted and changed by the Internet. Survival of the fittest, effectively connecting and matching the Internet, Internet thinking and everything related to the Internet, will also change the China film system and change the destiny and development of every filmmaker and every film company.

I have a saying about Hollywood: all Hollywood is not a paper tiger. In 2012, we signed a new Sino-US film agreement with the United States, and 2017 is a time window. The openness of our film market needs to be further increased. In the face of further strong entry from Hollywood, can China films successfully face further challenges from Hollywood films through strengthening their bodies and gain more and greater initiative through effective games? It is undoubtedly a huge problem and a huge challenge that we face. Therefore, in the Internet age and as Hollywood continues to form strong pressure, China films must undergo structural adjustments. This kind of structural adjustment has in fact occurred quietly since last year, but we ourselves are a little blindly optimistic and not sensitive to it.

From a capital perspective, although the growth rate of China films is slowing down or even declining, and some funds have withdrawn, most capital is still unwilling to withdraw because compared with other industries, China films still have greater room for development and making money than other industries. However, the era when China films could make money while lying down is probably a thing of the past. From the company level, all are making strategic adjustments. Huayi, Light, Bona, and Alibaba Pictures are all making strategic adjustments and changes. For example, the reduction of light personnel and transfer this group of personnel to new technologies such as VR and AR, because new technologies such as VR and AR have a great impact on China films.

In the next three to five years, I think that China films will undergo tremendous structural changes, and there will also be a major change at the film company level. It can even be said to be a major change: those companies with strong capital support, Internet thinking, matching the Internet development model, and having strong content productivity and a complete communication system will stand out and become a supporting force for the sustainable development of China films.

From a creative perspective, we see today that various new forces of film, even "new and new forces", that are constantly emerging and updated, are constantly changing our horizons and our thinking. I have been making movies myself for more than 30 years, and I think I am a professional movie audience and watch more than 300 movies every year. However, the creators of many films are really people I wasn't familiar with before. These new film forces are indeed changing the ecology and pattern of China films. In particular, the many cross-border areas are undoubtedly an increase in the original basic pattern or basics of China films. Why is it that in the context of structural adjustment in China, cross-border forces, as an increment, can promote the formation of a new pattern in China's films-this is also a variable in the current structural adjustment of China's film industry.

From the audience level, audiences born in the 1990s are gradually replacing those born in the 1980s and becoming mainstream audiences in the mainstream film market in China. Post-00s audiences are also rising-my daughter was born in 2001. She often tells me that the post-80s and post-90s are the older generation and now it is the world of us post-00s. Audiences born in the 1990s and 2000s have new growth backgrounds, new cultural concepts, and new cultural consumption needs. They are very familiar with Japanese anime culture and American science fiction culture, which has penetrated into their thinking genes. One of the reasons why the growth rate of films in China is slowing down or even declining is that our current film creation cannot keep up with the changes in movie audiences. For example, many youth films still continue the past model and have no new expansion, so younger viewers born in the 1990s and 2000s do not buy it. If we don't pay attention to new changes, we are likely to lose dialogue with the largest audience. Facing such a new audience group, what kind of creations can we use to effectively communicate, dialogue and form positive interactions with them? For China films, the most essential and intrinsic strength is the emotional closeness between China films and our local audiences, especially young audiences, as well as effective communication and positive interaction based on closeness. No matter how powerful Hollywood film technology is, it cannot build emotional closeness and interaction with local audiences in China, especially young audiences.

The same is true for film aesthetics. The core issue of film aesthetics is the relationship between the film and the audience. This is a view repeatedly emphasized by Mr. Zhong Dianhao, a master of film theory. Including the establishment of our Art Film Screening Alliance, I think it also came at the right time, and success may be achieved at the right time. Because we have been calling for the establishment of art theaters for more than 20 years, but due to the limited number of overall screens and limited industrial space, we have always stayed at the level of appeal. Now there has finally been substantial progress and substantial results, although the Art Film Screening Alliance is not yet an art theater in the full sense. However, after all, we have such a platform for artistic films, such a channel and outlet. The next key question is whether we can cultivate enough audience groups who can go to cinemas to watch art films at their own expense. If young audiences really spend money to buy tickets to go to the cinema to watch art films as they usually say, even once a year will be enough. If there is not enough audience support, the National Art Film Alliance will still encounter many difficulties. We should have a full estimate and a clear understanding of this. Art theaters cannot be established and operated healthily overnight in China. It may take two to three years.

In short, China films do face many difficulties, including the inflection point theory and its controversy. We really need to fully and soberly realize the arduous, complex and contradictory nature of the structural adjustment of China films, and there may even be some twists and turns and repetitions. Everyone here, including us, must make our own adjustments to adapt to such a new structure and change. Our film high-tech, the improvement of film industrialization level and the improvement of film industrialization system, including our film research and film theoretical criticism, must also adapt to and comply with such a change in order to gain more and greater voice. In short, in such an Internet era and Internet generation era, in such a structural adjustment of China films, no one can become a bystander, and no one can become a spectator. Only by adapting to this era, or according to the words of the Internet, and only by matching the development of such an era can we find our own foothold and find our own development space. This is true for individuals, as well as for the entire China film.

Editor: yvette