Domestic animation goes to sea: focusing on the world's mainstream market, taking into account the third world market

at present, the sea forms of domestic animation are roughly divided into three types: overseas channel broadcasting, overseas brand authorization, and overseas agent distribution, which is more common in animated films. Most of the time, the sea forms of the same animation project overlap. According to the different launch, the relevant business logic and processes are also different.

original title: Chinese animation going out to sea: entering Asia and Africa at a young age, adults testing the waters of works in Japan

in recent years, animation works such as "Pleasant Goat and Grey Wolf", "Bear haunting" and "the return of Great Saints" have initially demonstrated the strength of China's animation industry.

although some achievements have been made, generally speaking, domestic sea animation is still young and has a high voice in these developing countries and regions such as Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In the Japanese, European and American markets, where all-age animation works are rich and diverse, Chinese sea animation still needs continuous efforts.

the gratifying thing is that with the improvement of the domestic animation industry in recent years, many domestic animation companies continue to create, but also pay more and more attention to quality polishing, starting from the early stage of the project to prepare for going out to sea.

in November 2015, the animated film return of the Great Saints has been sold in more than 60 countries, with overseas pre-sales reaching US $4 million.

since then, the light-chasing animation "Little door God" was released by Weinstein International Film Company in 2016; gorgeous culture "Mountain and Sea Baby" participated in the Las Vegas brand licensing exhibition; CEO, the left bag culture, said that the overseas pre-sales of "Amy & Gollum" produced by his company in 2017 reached nearly 10 million; the Force animation "Mommy Duck" set the highest overseas sales record at the Cannes Film Festival. Animations such as "Lingchi", "under one person" and "Fox Spirit Matchmaker" produced by painting Dream have successfully landed in Japan.

summing up these sea cases, the current forms of domestic animation going to sea are roughly divided into three types: overseas channel broadcasting, overseas brand authorization, and overseas agent distribution, which is more common in animated films. Most of the time, the sea forms of the same animation project overlap. According to the different launch, the relevant business logic and processes are also different.

< strong > Africa, Southeast Asia and other third world markets: very popular, but the selling price is low < / strong >

in the third World countries and regions where the cultural industry is not yet developed, Chinese animation seems to have an inborn ticket. Statistics show that 41% of Africa's 1.2 billion people are under the age of 15, so the market is hungry for animated content.

not long ago, there were media reports that Huaqiang Fang's "Bear haunted" is now very popular in Africa, and before that, "Happy year of Pleasant Goat and Grey Wolf Sheep" produced by Ofei was broadcast in 52 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region of the Disney Channel, including Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and other developing countries, and even broadcast in different dialects in India.

Yu Xin also mentioned that at present, Chinese sea animation is mainly based on younger content, and is concentrated in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and other third World countries and regions. However, as the purchasing power of cultural products in these countries and regions is obviously not on a par with that of other developed countries, many Chinese animation companies are actually reluctant to sell their works to these markets. Because "the selling price is low, it is very likely that the company will not be able to get its money back", so the usual way for companies to play is to "focus on the mainstream world market and take into account the third world market."

< strong > Europe, North America and other mainstream markets: the rate of return is high and the threshold is also high < / strong >

but the battle of the world mainstream market is not easy to fight.

relevant industry insiders say that Chinese animation has always been deeply influenced by Japanese animation, but what can really make the work onto the broader international stage may be that the public is more "popular" to the theme animation. Especially in the field of animated films with a high recovery rate, it is more intuitive, whether in the Disney animation series that dominate the global screen, or the recent hit "Little Yellow Man" series, as well as animated films produced by Marvel and DC, are typical family carnival films suitable for the whole family to watch together.

these works are not only popular in Europe, North America and other markets, but also very popular in other parts of the world, including Japan, a two-dimensional shrine. From creative routines to business models, popular masterpieces continue to emerge, so that the European and American animation market has gradually become a highly mature market, but also the mainstream market in the industry. Once invested and successful, it means a higher rate of return.

Industry insiders pointed out that without a world-class IP, China still cuts into European and American markets with low-age animation, which has a relatively low threshold for audiences. "after all, this kind of animation is easier to break through national and regional cultural differences." However, to have a place in it is not as simple as it seems.

Yu Xin said that Amy & Gollum, as a young animation, has appeared on 70 or 80 national television stations, large and small, including Europe, America, Africa and other regions, but the European and North American markets are still the top priority.

"at present, the market operation and capital recovery in Europe and North America are relatively good. In the early stage of the project, we actually spent quite a long time communicating and docking with overseas markets, because the limited standards for low-age animation in Western countries are too different from those in China. "

Yu Xin mentioned that at present, there is no strict grading system in China, and bringing the domestically recognized low-age animation to the international market is likely to be marked as not meeting the quality standards of children's content. For low-age content, Western countries often have quite strict content restrictions and protection systems, which is a barrier that Chinese animation has to study carefully and patiently break through.

CBO Erli believes that European and American markets not only have higher requirements for the quality of works, obvious Chinese cultural elements are also very necessary. For example," Mountain and Sea Baby "integrates oriental elements such as the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Nine sons of Dragons. "this will greatly enhance the cultural and commercial value of the work, and touch buyers at the communication level."

it can be seen that in order to enter the relatively mature European and North American markets, Chinese animation should not only cater to the tastes of the public in terms of content, themes and narrative techniques, but also pay attention to the expression of its traditional culture.

but in terms of sea-going forms, European and North American markets are relatively diversified.

Yu Xin said that in the early stage, Amy & Gollum, for example, promoted video content through a number of channels, including traditional TV channels, pay TV, and network broadcasting platforms, followed by the continuous release of books, picture books and other derivatives, and the related brand authorization business will also continue to advance.

Erli mentioned that the animation "Mountain and Sea Baby" mainly relies on overseas channels for broadcasting and brand licensing to make profits. In addition, the grafting of mature channels of "Mountain and Sea Baby" mobile games of the same name is also an important direction of development in overseas markets. "participating in authorized exhibitions may be one of the most direct ways to go to sea; the introduction of overseas creative production talents and international projects will also be more conducive to the overseas distribution of works."

< strong > Japanese market: the competition in TV stations is fierce, and it is urgent to explore the way to realize cash < / strong >

with the rise of domestic online animation, it is not difficult to find that the intersection of Chinese animation and Japanese market is also increasing in recent years. In addition to the "Fox Spirit Matchmaker" mentioned at the beginning, a series of domestic animations such as "Young Bee" and "Silver Tomb keeper" have landed in the Japanese market (of course, there is no lack of Japanese production team to upgrade the work, "once upon a time there was a Lingjian Mountain" and "time dominator". Here is mainly domestic animation).

in terms of subject matter, these animations are more diverse and freer, and most of them continue the adult style of late-night animation in the Japanese market.

from the recent Chinese animation in Japan, from the ancient style of fairy knight-errant to all kinds of demons and gods, funny daily life to fantasy world, many of them are wrapped with strong Chinese characteristics, which is undoubtedly a valuable taste for Japanese audiences who are used to watching serious homogenization and meat-selling animation. Jiang Zhiyi, CEO of drama painting Valley, once said: "when I was working in Japan, the Japanese around me saw that we were making 'Fengling Jade Show'. They were very curious and thought that it was an animated film that could represent Chinese characteristics, rather than imitating the style of Japanese and European and American styles, so they were very interested to see it."

but in the form of going out to sea, these animations are the same.

in recent years, the network credit distribution market has had a certain impact on the Japanese animation industry, but the user habit of watching animation on TV formed in the 1960s has not been shaken in a short time. This is also the reason why Chinese animation goes to sea in the Japanese market and is often broadcast first on Japanese television.

the person in charge of the Japanese operation of painting Dream said that now, on average, there are 50 to 60 new Japanese TV stations per season, while the famous animation TV stations are very limited. The well-known may be the Tokyo Metropolitan TV Station, Tokyo TV Station, and Fuji TV Station, so the competition for TV stations is very fierce. Take this' Fox Spirit Matchmaker'as an example. We booked the prime time broadcast on Tokyo Metropolitan Television at 21:00 every Saturday night as early as a year ago. The reservation of the TV station must be made first. "

after it is broadcast on Japanese television, then what? Many animations seem to have gone missing after their debut, and no one seems to be interested in brand licensing and follow-up development. An animation practitioner said that this has something to do with the long-term dependence of Japanese animation on the sale of attached CDs, and CD sales have long been regarded by the Japanese industry as an important standard to measure the popularity of animation.

in recent years, this way of realization has begun to show some limitations under the impact of the Internet, which seems to provide an excellent opportunity for Chinese animation to enter Japan. So Chinese animation companies aim at the emerging Japanese video websites to test the waters. The person in charge of the Japanese operation of painting Dream also mentioned that at present, the animation in Japan is usually in the form of "TV station + network matching letter". However, under the premise that the domestic animation industry has not yet formed a mature way of realization, the animation producer is unlikely to specialize in the production and production of optical disc products in order to adapt to the Japanese market.

unlike other markets, China has to pay more to enter the relatively closed Japanese market. In addition to buying television time, we should also take into account the audio-visual feelings of the Japanese audience and the publicity effect of the works, and invite some well-known Japanese vocal talents to carry out secondary creation. In fact, this is also a common practice in the industry at present.

generally speaking, how to make Chinese animation go further in the Japanese market is still a subject that needs to be explored for a long time.

to put it pertinently, whether it is adult-oriented or young-oriented animation, made in China still lags far behind Japan, Europe and the United States and other countries and regions in terms of storytelling ability, narrative methods, and overall quality performance.

Yu Xin said that the gap is not irreparable, which requires all practitioners to be patient and constantly polish their works. In addition, we should see clearly the market in which we have a foothold, whether it is aimed at the domestic or overseas markets, because the forms, requirements and regulations at home and abroad are completely different. "if you do have the idea of opening up the global market, creators and companies must spend a certain amount of time understanding how overseas markets operate and the criteria for content selection."

Edit: xiongwei