Viewpoint At 8:00 pm on February 20, Shanghai Cinema, located at the intersection of Panyu Road, Xinhua Road, Changning District, was extraordinarily quiet compared to the past. Occasionally passers-by stood in the square in front of the studio and took a group photo against the bone-chilling wind.
Walking into the studio, the electronic screen in front of the ticket office no longer had the film arrangement, and the original film position was marked with the slogan “See you in the future”.
However, in the theater is another scene.
The thousand-person screening hall was almost full, and the last movie “Our Winter Olympics” was shown on the big screen.
The movie ended at 9 pm, and half an hour later, Shanghai Studios officially turned off the lights and closed.
From February 21st, this studio, which has accompanied Shanghai citizens through 31 years of spring and autumn, will be updated and upgraded.
Studio Memory
According to Viewpoint New Media, in the 1980s, in order to promote the international exchange of Chinese films and revitalize the film industry, the Shanghai International Film Festival came into being under the initiative of the older generation of film artists such as Wu Yigong, Xie Jin and Zhang Ruifang.
As the first five-star cinema in China, the construction plan of Shanghai Cinema was also put on the agenda.
According to Wang Jiayan, former deputy general manager of Shanghai Cinema, “Shanghai Cinema was the theater with the best conditions in all aspects in the first few years of its opening. Therefore, after receiving a visit from the relevant personnel of the International Film Producers Association at that time, the other party saw The high-quality facilities of the Shanghai Film City recognize that Shanghai does have the conditions to hold an international film festival, and then the Shanghai International Film Festival will follow.”
With the successful holding of the Shanghai International Film Festival in October 1993, Shanghai Cinema has become the main venue of the previous Shanghai International Film Festival. Every June, movie fans from all over the country come here for a “movie pilgrimage”, and the works and names of a group of Chinese filmmakers also start here and become known to the world.
In the past 31 years, Shanghai Cinema has received nearly one million Chinese and foreign guests, and has held nearly a thousand meetings and press conferences such as the Golden Goblet Award, the Asia New Award, the Documentary Award, the Animation Award, and the Media Award. a “cultural business card”.
According to Viewpoint New Media, the Shanghai Cinema has a construction area of 14,000 square meters and a total of 9 movie theaters with different styles. Among the above-mentioned 9 screening halls, the most famous is the No. 1 screening hall, that is, the thousand-person screening hall.
Previously, in 2014, Shanghai Studios renovated Hall 1. The upgraded Hall 1 has a huge building space of more than 11,000 cubic meters and can accommodate 1,058 seats. The theater was not only equipped with a Dolby Atmos system, but also used a three-color laser projector (the only two commercial laser projectors in the world at that time), which once became the most advanced theater in Asia at that time.
In 2016, “Billy Lynn’s Midfield War” directed by Ang Lee was released in China. At that time, there were only 5 theaters in the world that supported 4K + 3D + 120 frames, and the top version of the movie was reflected, and there was Hall No. 1. The Shanghai Cinema is one of them.
Given its size and good viewing experience, Hall 1 is often the first choice for the premiere of Chinese and foreign blockbusters. For example, “Changjin Lake”, which is currently the No. 1 box office in Chinese film history, held its Shanghai premiere in the Thousand People’s Hall.
Refresh and upgrade
With the lights out of Shanghai Studios, some people sighed that “the lights are out, the first act is over”, and some people are looking forward to “the second act is on, the lights are on again”.
From February 21st, Shanghai Studios will start updating and upgrading. According to the refurbishment plan of Shanghai Cinema, the Thousand People Cinema will not only be retained in the future, but will also aim to create the “most beautiful premiere hall”.
In addition, adhering to the design concept of “borderless” communication with movie fans, the rest area in front of the cinema will become an “urban meeting room” full of movie cultural elements, which will be integrated with the natural scenery lined with phoenix trees on Xinhua Road. The square steps with a large height difference will be optimized into a gentle open-air space after renovation, attracting more people to come here to have a dialogue with film art.
It is understood that the renovation project of Shanghai Film City mainly stems from a survey conducted by Wang Jianer, chairman of the parent company Shanghai Film Group, in 2019.
According to Wang Jianer, the investigation was conducted at an ancient Japanese cinema. The cinema introduced a small aquarium, which greatly reduced the cost of water circulation through high technology. Although the aquarium was not large, it attracted many parents and children. Will spend a few hours in the theater, which will greatly increase the “non-ticket” revenue of the theater.
This made him realize that the next step in the transformation of Shanghai Cinema should be a subversive innovation, that is, to propose a cinema + model in the direction of traffic realization, to add a variety of formats to the cinema, and to build it into an offline entertainment consumption entrance and a city dweller living. third space.
It is reported that the 61 self-operated theaters under the Shanghai Film Group received 19 million moviegoers in 2019. In addition to the box office revenue, the revenue per customer was about 4 yuan. If the customer single consumption increases by 1 yuan per person, it means an increase of 20 million yuan in income.
Since then, after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, the half-year shutdown period has made him more aware of the importance of innovation in the theater format.
In June 2020, Shanghai Film Group released the “14th Five-Year” Development Strategic Planning Outline, aiming at content innovation and industrial innovation. Wang Jianer said that the launch of the new strategy is to take the initiative to break through and fight an “active battle” in the next five years.
Therefore, in this rejuvenation project, in addition to the overall improvement of the viewing experience, the rejuvenated cinema will be characterized by film art elements, making efforts to premiere, premiere, and premiere, linking with the neighborhood to explore high-quality, The open urban film culture space has launched the “Shanghai Culture” brand. At the same time, it will also explore the “cinema +” diversified business integration and innovative operation mode.
According to the semi-annual report of Shanghai Film, a listed platform under Shanghai Film Group, in the first half of 2021, the company will continue to try to implement the “cinema +” model, introduce innovative operation models for theaters, increase consumption scenarios and formats, and will try talk shows and script killing in the future. The integration of business formats and theater space, continue to explore the scene-based operation mode of multi-format integration of theater space.
In the follow-up, Shanghai Film will continue to do a good job in the community operation of moviegoers, continue to promote new products through movie viewing activities and other forms, and combine the product category innovation and original cultural and creative products and other product online platforms to further promote the company’s line of business. Innovative practice of online and offline integration development.
Business Journal | Tradition is being changed, the history of business development in change and integration.