Squirrel Pictures completes a 12 million angel round of financing and enters the TV production center

Squirrel Pictures was founded in November 2016. Founder Zhang Fan was first in charge of advertising and sales business in Sohu, and has worked in distribution, production and other fields for many years. Zhang Fan has participated in the planning and marketing of many films and TV dramas in the past. He is now a member of China Radio and Television Association, a member of Chinese TV series producers' association, a member of the Art Committee of Beijing Youth Film Festival, a judge of Beijing Youth Psychology and Law commonweal Film Festival, and a senior film and television investment producer.

the reporter learned that in the TV drama industry, the practice of traditional film and television companies is to be product-oriented, selecting excellent screenplays, screenwriters, directors, and then selecting actors, going through the process of booting and shooting, and then selling them to major satellite TV.

according to Zhang Fan, founder of Squirrel Pictures, there are about 200 TV dramas produced by film and television companies across the country every year, and finally only about 50 TV dramas are actually broadcast on satellite TV stations. In other words, 75% of films and TV dramas will be delayed or even unable to broadcast for various reasons, which leads to a much longer capital flow cycle for the entire industry (an average of about 24 months) and for film and television companies, the uncertainty of project broadcasting also means that the risk is uncontrollable.

at the same time, Zhang Fan said that after satellite TV implemented the separation of production and broadcasting (the functions of the production center and the review and broadcast department were separated), satellite TV's own production center could not steadily produce excellent works due to factors such as intensified market competition and unfamiliarity with capital operation, but the professional ability of the production center should not be underestimated.

Squirrel Pictures found this opportunity under this background. With years of experience and resources in the industry, Squirrel Pictures cut into the high-quality resources of satellite TV's internal production center, and constructed a complete set of commercial closed loop.

first of all, Squirrel Pictures cooperates with the film and television industry fund to raise a special fund. Subsequently, Squirrel Pictures will co-produce with satellite TV's internal production center, and once the script is officially started, the broadcast will be guaranteed.

at this time, Squirrel Pictures has completed its entire capital operation, and after the follow-up TV series are broadcast, Squirrel Pictures will get a certain percentage of share and commission.

throughout the process, Zhang Fan mentioned that Squirrel Pictures can not only help industrial funds eliminate uncertainty, but also shorten the overall investment return cycle. (between 12 and 18 months)

Squirrel Pictures currently realizes commercial value mainly in the following two aspects:

< strong > after finding an excellent target for the cooperative industrial fund and being adopted by Satellite TV, Squirrel Pictures will receive a certain percentage of commission. < / strong >

< strong > TV series co-produced enjoy a certain percentage of benefits after being broadcast by satellite TV and other media. < / strong >

Zhang Fan revealed that at present, the amount of film and TV dramas purchased by first-tier satellite TV is about 1 million per episode, and the number of each TV series is between 40,50 episodes. Generally speaking, the first round of procurement will be for two satellite TV stations, and then sell it to the online platform at a packaged price after the first broadcast. In addition, good works will also be purchased by other TV stations after gathering and broadcasting. (prices will be much lower)

We can conclude that Squirrel Pictures is not only involved in dealmaking and capital operations, but also deeply involved in the early stages of the project.

Squirrel Pictures currently has three dedicated lines of business within Squirrel Pictures:

< strong > internally select potential scripts, and complete the signing and copyright purchase. < / strong >

< strong > is responsible for raising film and television industry funds to understand the needs and preferences of funds. < / strong >

< strong > through data analysis and prediction of different satellite TV in the script taste and this year's theme wind direction. < / strong >

in the past, film companies operated in three single lines. The core competitiveness of Squirrel Pictures lies in the ability to combine the capabilities and resources of three different dimensions to complete the trading of capital and TV series.

Squirrel Pictures currently has 7 core members, which will be expanded to 20 by the end of 17 years. Founder Zhang Fan mentioned that Squirrel Pictures aims to complete the co-production of six TV series this year, with an estimated revenue of about tens of millions of yuan.

the reporter believes that Squirrel Pictures does not have a very high threshold in the innovative business model of satellite TV series. But not every player is easy to enter, in addition to the need to have the three core competencies mentioned above, because the film and TV drama itself has a long cycle from preparation to broadcast, this requires the team to rapidly expand the market of each satellite TV drama. in order to have the opportunity to form a certain window and occupy a large enough market share.

Edit: jessica