Alibaba Pictures Zhang Qiang: Being an international film company for three years, there are few but excellent productions at a time

Alibaba Pictures CEO Zhang Qiang said in an interview,"Youku Tudou is very important to us. Youtu is Alibaba Group's TV station." "Alibaba Pictures is different from others in terms of production. The number of our productions will not be large in the future, about three films a year."

In June last year, Alibaba acquired 59.32% of the shares with an investment of HK$6.244 billion, becoming the largest shareholder of Cultural China. Cultural China immediately changed its name to "Alibaba Pictures." After more than a year of operation, the original Cultural China's TV shopping advertisements and mobile value-added services have been suspended and sold. Taobao movies, entertainment treasures and other related businesses were included in Alibaba Pictures. Now, Alibaba Pictures has moved to a new office building in Liangmaqiao, Beijing. Alibaba Pictures CEO Zhang Qiang accepted an interview with reporters. He said: "From Cultural China to Alibaba Pictures, the company is a radical change."

From cross-border traditional industries to the Internet circle, Zhang Qiang, former director and deputy general manager of China Film Group, believes that his Internet transformation is "very lucky". "This has been a year of brainwashing me. I see the Internet penetrating various industries. I'm lucky to witness this." Zhang Qiang said: "China's films have made tremendous development this year. The Internet has made great contributions to the reduction of ticket prices and the improvement of film quality."

Recently, Alibaba has also taken frequent actions in culture and entertainment. Buy Youku Tudou and visit Mango TV. Alibaba Pictures also plays an important role in Alibaba's overall strategy. Zhang Qiang revealed that Jack Ma's hope for Alibaba Pictures is to become a different film company, and this difference lies in internationalization. Alibaba Pictures has made it clear that it wants to make big international films, using international talents and making international IP, and not necessarily just filming stories about China.

Faced with the situation that domestic high-quality IP is basically robbed, Zhang Qiang said that Alibaba Pictures 'response strategy is to buy IP around the world and make its own IP. He revealed that he currently has plans on some British and American IPs.

Regarding Ali's acquisition of Youku Tudou, Zhang Qiang told reporters that Youku Tudou is a particularly good incubation platform. "Youku Tudou is very important to us. Youtu is Alibaba Group's TV station." Through Youku Tudou's online drama, you can help create promising IP. Zhang Qiang also revealed: "We plan to open a comedy theater, where young directors will shoot online dramas on excellent soil and select outstanding ones to make movies through the survival of the fittest."

On the evening of the 4th of this month, Alibaba Group will inject two Taobao movies and entertainment treasure businesses into Alibaba Pictures, with a total transaction consideration of US$520 million. The above transaction will be completed upon approval by the Alibaba Pictures Independent Shareholders 'Meeting. For the injection of these two major assets, Zhang Qiang used the term "one head and one tail" to summarize it.

The first is Entertainment Treasure, which is a crowdfunding tool that is conducive to the combination of Alibaba Pictures 'production business and newcomer training business. The tail is a Taobao movie, which is a very important tool in movie distribution. It is very helpful for Alibaba Pictures to build a "platform-based" company.

At present, Alibaba Pictures has more than 400 employees, about 60 people in Entertainment Treasures, and more than 100 people in Taobao Movies.

Regarding future plans, Zhang Qiang said that the number will be kept very small in the future."There will be only 1-3 blockbusters with Alibaba Pictures logo next year. Our most basic production policy is to co-produce with foreign countries and learn from them. Through such cooperation, we will equip young China directors in key positions to let them learn. We want to cultivate new talents from China."

"Alibaba Pictures is different from others in terms of production. The number of our productions will not be large in the future, about three films a year," Alibaba Pictures CEO Zhang Qiang said in an interview. In his view, Alibaba Pictures will develop at a pace of three years in the future.

This strategy of Alibaba Pictures is different from the strategy of other film companies to release more than 20 films a year. Zhang Qiang believes that this was also the original intention of Jack Ma to become Alibaba Pictures. "President Ma voted for Huayi Brothers, and he was one of the earliest major shareholders. If it is still necessary to do traditional films, there is no need to do Alibaba Pictures, but to do Alibaba Pictures must be doing something that other film companies haven't done yet,"he said.

Zhang Qiang summarized Alibaba Pictures 'strategy as "less but more refined" and "one node in three years".

Alibaba Pictures 'production strategy is to produce about three films a year. Zhang Qiang explained that behind this is the strategy of making super IP. He said that although the number of Alibaba Pictures is small, they are all series of super IPs. Zhang Qiang believes that this strategy can reduce risks.

"Today, Hollywood's performance is supported by super IP series, such as" Spider-Man "," Transformers "," Reunion ", etc. Nowadays, IP is the main core competitiveness, and it does not even rely on the director. The audience can accept a different director, such as "Speed and Passion". We hope that blockbusters will achieve this level in the future, so that the company's basic profits in terms of production can be guaranteed,"Zhang Qiang said.

Under this strategy, Zhang Qiang said that the pace of Alibaba Pictures is a small step and a three-year node. He said that it takes at least three years for a big movie to go from planning, operation to final effect, so he believes that Alibaba Pictures will be a stage three years after its establishment.

In the first half of this year, Alibaba Pictures launched two projects with IP as the core: "Ferry Man" and "Three Life III Ten Miles Peach Blossom", and officially released the production plan for "Ancient Sword Qi Tan 2".

Editor: vian