Sun Yanjun, CEO of Cultural Media: Using Internet accumulation to influence the late box office

2016 is considered by many industry insiders to be a very critical year for big online movies. It is conservatively estimated that the number of big online movies in 2016 will exceed 2000. As netizens 'movie-viewing levels continue to improve, film producers are also pursuing well-produced online movies and proposed a series of corresponding new concepts, among which "integration of movies and networks" is one.

According to statistics, the output of big online movies in 2015 has reached about 700, and the vast majority of them have been criticized by the audience because of their rough quality, and even left the audience with a bad impression that big online movies are "copycat and purely gimmicks." Data from iQiyi also shows that clustering of the same themes has become a major obstacle to the rapid development of big online movies. Data shows that in 2014 and 2015, zombie themes alone accounted for more than 60% of iQiyi's major online movies, while themes such as suspense, science fiction, and comedy that were deeply loved by the audience accounted for less than 30%. Among them, there are very few with excellent quality and reputation.

2016 is considered by many industry insiders to be a very critical year for big online movies. It is conservatively estimated that the number of big online movies in 2016 will exceed 2000. Not only has the entry of a large amount of capital stimulated the vitality of the industry, but also with the continuous improvement of netizens 'movie-viewing level, the requirements for film quality have also increased accordingly. Film producers are also pursuing big online movies that are well-made and can win good reputation from netizens, and have proposed a series of corresponding new concepts."Shadow-Internet Integration" is one of them.

The one who used the Internet to accumulate users and then later formed the box office

was Sun Yanjun, the founder of Zhongguan Cultural Media, who proposed the concept of "integration of movies and websites". He had just participated in the promotion of "Goodbye and Never See You Again", whether it was in the selection of movie projects or large online movie projects. Sun Yanjun has always had his own ideas."" Goodbye and Never See You ", a film with an Internet elite platform and publicity and communication channels, is in line with the tone of our company's promotion, both in terms of opportunity and content."

In his view,"film-and-Internet integration" is colloquially speaking,"big online movies + theater movies"."In the early stage, make big online movies first, and then do the final ending of the story later. Accumulate user viewing groups through the Internet, and finally Form a viewing audience base and form a box office." In fact, some big online movies have tried similar practices before. For example,"Psychological Crime","Heartless Master" and "Detective Archives", online movies or TV series were first introduced before theater works were gradually available. However, Sun Yanjun believes that these works have not achieved perfect integration in the true sense in terms of content and form.

In his view, to form a "big online movie + theater movie" model, the IP itself must meet certain requirements. A good IP must first have operability, productization, commercialization and other attributes. "Productization means having functionality and being able to solve the needs, feelings, experiences, etc. of theater audiences and online audiences. This is the basic principle of a good IP; commercialization means that it must be transformed into commercial entertainment, because many literary works are literary. Very strong and not film-oriented. For example, many stories, characters, dramatic conflicts, etc. cannot be transformed. It is just sensory literary works that can serve products and businesses is the benign state of a company's incubation, production, release, and final derivative productization."Sun Yanjun said.

In the era when the concept of IP was rampant, many film and television companies were collecting a large number of IP to produce film and television, but at the same time, some people in the industry warned that IP had been over-developed.

In this regard, Sun Yanjun believes that the current IP, at least the IP of movie hits, cannot be called over-developed."In terms of volume, China's film market is in a state of vigorous development, with 5 to 10 years of market opportunities and market atmosphere. China has 30,000 movie screens and 7,000 theaters. In terms of size, it can carry the same number of movies as the Hollywood market or the North American market. Our rising box office shows that good works can be recognized by the audience, and everyone is willing to consume this cultural form. Only with good IP and good production can we produce movies that are truly appropriate to the audience."

In Sun Yanjun's eyes, audiences actually have high expectations for adaptations and variations, so they should make Super IP with fan base a hit and make it a classic. In this regard, cultural media hopes to start from small to medium scale, starting from the sophistication and sincerity of the Internet, and gradually create their own IP incubation plan and future model."Each company has a limited annual size, and our company is still in the initial stage. Some Super IPs will be obtained by other film and television companies. Therefore, at this stage, we hope to focus on works that truly believe that IP is of high value. Not only the original IP, but some agent IPs will also work with other film and television companies to create cooperative fermentation."

Opportunities and challenges coexist and priority is given to ensuring quality

."Experience on the Edge of Nine Dimensions", co-produced by Jingdian Bowei and Zhongguan Media, Baichuang Culture, and Ningbo Jueshi, and has just been exposed as a pilot poster, is an attempt to this model. According to reports, this film is a suspense series of games in the middle and plays within plays, building a huge "drama" composed of nine suspense and horror stories that cannot be violated by taboos. Each story reveals a sinister human nature. It is a work with a drama in the play and a very full plot.

In Sun Yanjun's view, the three basic attributes of the "Nine Dimensions of Space" series are very important."First of all, from the perspective of the original novel, there is a certain fan base. The author Chi Die Feifei also has a certain fan base. When he first came into contact with the work, We found that this IP has an advantage in terms of compatibility and matching between theaters and the Internet, and is a type of work with a high degree of suspense and thriller values; The second is that in addition to the fan base, current genre films must also take into account the viewing habits of young people and online users. The "Nine Dimensions of Space" series itself contains fashion elements and can provide some freshness to audiences who like suspense blockbusters; Third, the protagonist in each online movie in this series will have a story connection with the final theater movie."

"Nine Dimensions of Space" is a popular series of suspense novels with millions of readers, and "Nine Dimensions of Space: Near-death Experience" is the opening work of this series of films. In order to meet the expectations of fans of the original book, Sun Yanjun admitted that he encountered a lot of difficulties during the filming and production."The biggest difficulty is the production budget, because the production of many online movies is rough and has low aesthetics, which will give the audience a sense of dancing or a weak sense of substitution, affecting the visual experience. And we know that it takes a lot of time, energy, and a high degree of investment in financial and material resources to meet the cinema-level standards. Therefore, we have a production budget of 2 million yuan, and the actual investment is also 2 million yuan. There are more than 20 actors alone, and we strive to present scenes with exquisite special effects and high picture restoration to the audience to achieve excellence."

Unlike many IP blockbusters, which invite popular stars to perform, the "Nine Dimensions of Space" series selects a cast mainly of newcomers. Sun Yanjun revealed that in order to ensure the film's restoration of the original work, priority will be given when selecting actors. Consider whether the actor's own image and temperament are suitable for the role,"it is all selected based on the character attributes." But he also admitted that he and director Li Ke are willing to try to get newcomers to have new acting changes."Newcomer actors actually have a lot of room to play and image-building skills. In the state of flat Internet replays, they can also use their works to let the audience get familiar with actors faster and build a fan base. I also hope that our company can become a good platform for shaping newcomers."

Perhaps it was because he tried the relevant model for the first time, Sun Yanjun also believed that there were some regrets."Due to the lack of relevant experience, the entire shooting cycle and production cycle were relatively tense. There were originally some plans in a better state, but there were no better presentations, so we could only strive to achieve the best results." However, Sun Yanjun is still full of confidence in the entire project."This is also the first time we have tried this new business model. It is something that others have never touched and tried before. It is also full of novelty for me, an opportunity and challenge. The team, actors, and production levels we have chosen are all excellent teams with theater standards, so we are confident and confident of winning this battle."

Future expansion platform continues to create high-quality products.

Before becoming a producer, Sun Yanjun served as head of Baidu's entertainment business department and director of iQiyi's content department, and accumulated considerable relevant experience. Later, the establishment of Long-term Cultural Media adheres to the principle of "quality is the core of the work" and continues to create high-quality products that are both artistic and commercial. Its core concept is a vertical platform for film and television incubation, production, promotion, and online distribution. It strives to incubate and invest in production from film IP. Marketing promotion has been extended to online distribution to form a series of vertical industrial chains, achieving cross-border interactive effects. He has previously participated in projects such as "Love Call Transfer","Three Guns Splash Surprise","Painted Skin","Detective Archives","Goodbye and No See You". Marketing promotion.

When talking about the future of cultural media, Sun Yanjun said that he would adhere to the form of "cinematography and network integration"."Later, we also approached the development and incubation of some original IPs, and would get high-quality full-network resources for theater development., and also make medium-sized theater works such as 30 million to 50 million." Sun Yanjun hopes that their works will be closer to the Internet, life-oriented, and communication, and will be loved by younger users and audiences."In the second half of the year, there will be types involved such as urban love, suspense reasoning, etc., as well as action films. Ideas, such as the concept of modern martial arts, are also key plans for our company in the second half of the year."

Editor: vian