Best Emerging Producer Tian: Focus on high-quality IP and good stories create high box office

As a pioneer representative of producers born in the 1980s, Tian Tian's precise and unique business vision and keen business sense have gone from being a producer for the first time to pioneering small and medium-invested films to recover costs before the release, to successfully operating high-box office films such as "My Early Watch Girlfriend","Pancake Man", and "Charlotte Worry". This young producer is known as the most investment potential, and we have to admire her courageous and keen business vision.

Recently, at the "2016 China Film Index Ceremony" hosted by Yi En in Shanghai, Tian Tian, a film producer from Xinli Media Co., Ltd., won the 2016 "Best Emerging Producer" award for her impressive performance of participating in the production in 2015 with a cumulative box office of 3.002 billion yuan and an average box office of 1.001 billion yuan. In 2015, films such as "Charlotte Worry" and "Pancake Man" co-produced by Tian Tian were not only well received, but the final box office of "Charlotte Worry" and "Pancake Man" entered the top 10 box office of domestic films in 2015.

From his first tenure as a producer, pioneering the way to recover costs for small and medium-sized investment films before release, to successfully operating high-box office films such as "My Morning Watch Girlfriend","Pancake Man", and "Charlotte Worries", this is known as the most The production career of young producers with investment potential seems to be going smoothly. While lamenting her achievements, we also have to admire her bold and keen business vision, and have to admit that the films she invested in are the most recognized content by most movie-watching groups.

When talking about how to successfully operate high-box office and high-reputation films such as "Charlotte Worry" and "Pancake Man", Tian Tian has always adhered to her own selection criteria: good stories that can move me!

Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers and won the copyright of "Twilight" without luck

Q: What kind of opportunity was there to enter the producer industry?

Tian Tian: I went to college in Xinjiang. During my college years, I interned in a newspaper and pioneered the entertainment page in Xinjiang at work. At that time, there were no entertainment events in Xinjiang. With the development of cultural and entertainment industries, many stars came to Xinjiang to shoot advertisements. I wrote a lot of interesting news, which happened to be seen by entertainment reporters from Hong Kong and Taiwan, so they asked me regularly for manuscripts. After working for two years, in order to participate more deeply in the cultural and entertainment industry, I chose to come to Beijing and enter a seminar at Communication University of China for further study.

While studying in Beijing, I did concerts, artist promotion, and later worked as an artist manager. Because the company's business development was exposed to TV dramas and movies, although the cultural environment at that time was not so good and many of the businesses I did not immediately receive huge rewards, the experience and resources accumulated at that time were particularly important to me.

Q: Getting the domestic copyright in China for the "Twilight" series is also a very successful experience for a producer. What kind of experience was that?

Tian Tian: That was a very strange experience. I saw that it was a youth film at that time. There were no youth films in China at that time. I was first attracted by this story and theme, so I came into contact with the film company through various channels. My assistant at that time was still my Wall Street English teacher. I had only met her for a week when I recruited her as an assistant. I took her to Cannes and negotiated with the overseas leaders of Peak Entertainment, the world's largest independent production company at that time, about the introduction of domestic copyright in China for the "Twilight" series. At that time, many China film and television companies also discussed it. We competed with these companies and finally won this project. It's really a newborn calf that is not afraid of tigers. Now that I think about it, I feel quite great.

A good project must first have a good story that attracts me

Q: "Charlotte Worry" and "Pancake Man" have both achieved win-win results at the box office and reputation. What criteria do you use for selecting projects?

Tian Tian: The biggest factor is whether I can attract myself. First of all, each of us is an ordinary audience. When you read a script yourself, whether the plot of the script attracts you is a very important factor. If the plot cannot attract you, you will not spend so much time and effort to do it well.

Q: What factors do you think a good project should have?

Tian Tian: It mainly depends on the story. It depends on whether the story is directed at the heart of the people, whether it can really mobilize the audience's emotions, and whether it has very strong appeal, thus triggering emotional resonance. Just like Charlotte Trouble, it has this quality, because it has a super story and emotional core, and after thousands of drama drills, it has been recognized by a large audience.

Q: Having produced so many successful films, what do you think is the most important trait of a successful filmmaker?

Tian Tian: First of all, the most important trait is to have strong communication skills. Secondly, there must be a spirit of perseverance. Of course, personal qualities, accumulation of experience, and the ability to integrate resources are also important.

Select only the most suitable actors, not the biggest names

Q: The producer's work runs through the entire film. What do you think is the most difficult part?

Tian Tian: We hope that the most difficult part is creation, but now the most difficult part is finding actors. Because the industry is developing rapidly and there are many opportunities, for actors, his considerations are not entirely from the creative perspective, but there are many other ideas. As the market matures, it will definitely move towards a rational way of operation. The most difficult thing is the creation, the content of the work itself.

Q: Have you encountered any difficulties in the past project operation and how were they solved?

Tian Tian: Every project will have difficulties, and every play will have different difficulties, so persistence is very important. When we first started doing "Charlotte Worry", we also thought about finding famous actors for individual roles, but because we are a brand new team, no big names are willing to play. In the end, we strengthened our belief in finding the most suitable actor, and the process was also very painful.

There is also a particularly practical problem. We were not famous directors and celebrities in the film industry at that time, so the distributor was actually very pessimistic about its box office, thinking that the box office was only in the order of tens of millions. This process was indeed very realistic and cruel. But we did not give up and firmly believed that this was a good work. So it took eight months to re-edit, color, and score music. Until the month before the release, we were still making up shots. It wasn't until the last minute when we couldn't modify it that we put all our energy into marketing.

We take every project we do very seriously, because when the film can't go on, people's hearts will be a little scattered. The producer's job is to cheer up the hearts of everyone who falls and get them to stand up again. So the producer must be this person who is on the chicken button.

Q: As a producer, we have to control costs and ensure creative space. How to weigh this relationship?

Tian Tian: First of all, producers should use empirical judgment to support creation and do their best to ensure that the creator creates perfect works during the creation stage. Because our movies are not allowed to score points in any link, and each link must achieve 100 points within our own ability. After the creation barrier is passed, the production barrier will be adjusted to ensure additional points during the publicity stage.

When a literary and artistic film is filmed into a literary and artistic commercial film, it will not blindly shoot popular IPs

Q: Most of the projects you run are comedy themes. Are you more inclined to judge the market or do you personally have a preference for this type?

Tian Tian: Actually, it's not my personal preference. No matter what type it goes to, as long as it looks good, attracts me, and is a very excellent work, I will consider it.

Q: Will you try to invest in some niche art films? What type attracts you?

Tian Tian: Currently, there are many good-looking commercial films with a literary flavor on the film market, such as "We Will Never Later". Even if I make a movie with a literary flavor, I will commercialize it and use the packaging method of commercial films to make it into a literary commercial film. Nowadays, in this market, the packaging of movie genres is very high. As long as you can directly target people's hearts and infect the audience, both artistic and commercial films will be successful.

Q: The IP market is currently booming. Have you ever thought about developing some IP works?

Tian Tian: Regarding IP, I will still consider its core first and will not be attracted by its data and well-known authors. If it is an IP with a high-quality kernel, we will invest in developing it. Second, I want to see whether you have the ability to develop it. Because many aspects determine whether an IP project can be done well.

Q: What do you want to say to new producers?

Tian Tian: Heaven rewards hard work! As I said before, I have worked as a reporter, performer, and agent. Every job is not judged based on size and size. I do it very seriously. It is precisely because I have done everything solidly that I have accumulated everyone's goodwill and trust in me, which has helped me achieve my current success step by step. Not that everything you do will allow you to see immediate results, but as long as you persist in doing every step in front of you seriously, success will wait for you not far away.

As a pioneer representative of producers born in the 1980s, Tian Tian's precise and unique commercial vision and keen commercial sense will undoubtedly bring a strong impact and a new atmosphere to the China film market. We believe that more high-quality works will be presented to everyone soon. She also said that no matter how big or small it is, she will take every project seriously, and will continue to work hard on the road of production.