Sohu Entertainment Zhuangao (Hamai / Text) Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet.
In the industry forums of major film festivals, what the film company executives and industry experts said, whether they are optimistic or pessimistic about the present and the future, can basically reflect the real situation of the industry.
For the ongoing Beijing Film Festival, the organizing committee has invited almost all the bigwigs who can represent the industry.
Yu Dong, Chairman of Bona Films, Wang Changtian, President of Enlight Media, Wang Zhonglei, CEO of Huayi Brothers, Gong Yu, CEO of iQIYI, and Fu Ruoqing, Chairman of China Film… There are both private enterprises and state-owned enterprises, including film companies, distribution companies, and theater companies. , there are also video platforms.
The biggest difference between the speeches of the bosses this time and the previous sessions is that everyone no longer just talks about difficulties and problems, but also starts to shout slogans and build confidence. It seems that the inflection point of the film industry is really coming.
In the same way, “money” is still an unavoidable topic. The film industry as a whole is short of money. Every company is short of money, and they all hope that capital will return for blood transfusion.
Special hardship industry
Zeng Yingxue, the director of Perfect World Film and Television, said that the film and television industry has been classified as a very poor industry.
This is not a joke, look at how difficult it is to raise funds in the film industry in recent years.
“Lone on the Moon”, which is currently being shown in theaters, won 2.5 billion at the box office and saved the summer season, but such a top sci-fi comedy film encountered financial difficulties in the process of making it.
Liu Hongtao, chairman of Happy Twist Films, said that before, Happy Twist has always focused on comedy, the audience likes it, and investors are willing to invest, and he has never worried about funds.
“Walking on the Moon” gave Happy Twist the first taste of sadness.
The project encountered difficulties at the start-up stage. The previous film used up the company’s deposits seven to eighty-eight. The investment in “Lone on the Moon” was also huge. Around 2020, I went to find investment. At that time, everyone was very uncertain about the future. Unwilling to take risks.
Unable to find money, Liu Hongtao was so anxious that he couldn’t sleep. He went to the bank, but it didn’t work. Later, I went to some friends in the industry. Finally, China Film and Ali joined in at the most difficult time, and finally made this film.
Bona Films, a first film company that seems to have won many battles, has also faced financial pressure.
After finishing “China’s Pride Trilogy”, “Captain of China”, “Heroes of Fire” and “Decisive Moment”, Bona is planning to film “China’s Victory Trilogy”, “Chinese Doctor”, “Changjin Lake” and “No Name”.
During this period, the epidemic hit, the film industry was strongly impacted, and risk factors increased sharply. In order to promote the project, Bona put all his money out of the box, even mortgaged the house, raised 2 billion funds, and finally completed these major projects. It was a “big gamble”. Fortunately, the end result was good.
capital aversion
This is the situation faced by leading companies and leading projects.
When the entire industry is short of money, it is even more difficult for some small and medium-sized companies and small and medium-sized films to finance, which may be one of the reasons why the film market has become more and more polarized in recent years.
Li Tingwei, general manager of Poly Films, has many years of experience in investment and financing. He analyzed that the overall shortage of funds in the film industry is now, and the flow of stock funds has produced a head effect, that is, funds flock to some head projects, and the concentration is getting higher and higher.
Capital is risk averse and pursues certainty, and the film industry is precisely an industry that is extremely lacking in certainty. The certainty of non-head films is even lower, which is the biggest contradiction between funding and projects.
Liu Hongtao calls this phenomenon a “dilemma”. On the one hand, the cycle of a movie can be as short as two or three years, or as long as four or five years. From a financial point of view, such a payback cycle is too long. On the other hand, the recycling of Chinese films is too dependent on the box office. Apart from selling copyrights to video sites, few other sources of income can share the risk.
In Liu Hongtao’s view, what really needs to be supported are non-explosive projects, which are the basis for the film industry to maintain scale and cultivate talents, but non-explosive projects have to make money, and they cannot support them without making money.
Huang Qunfei, executive deputy general manager of Huaxia Film, also hopes that capital can invest in small and medium-sized films. Only by diversification can prosperity and the Chinese film market have a future.
However, Huang Qunfei also said that it is necessary for capital to see dividends and certainty. “There are so many uncertain factors now, how can capital dare to enter? It is difficult to set up and record projects, film, put on the market, and everything is difficult.”
regain confidence
Although there are many difficulties, when it comes to the future, the bosses generally express confidence rather than worry.
When the new crown epidemic hit, theaters closed, and many blockbusters turned to streaming. At that time, many people were worried that the epidemic changed their way of life. Will audiences not need movie theaters in the future?
And now it has been three years since the epidemic, most theaters are operating normally, and audiences are watching movies as usual. This year’s summer box office surpassed last year’s, and the box office of movies such as “Life Events”, “Hidden in the Dust” and “Lone on the Moon” have reached or exceeded the market. expected. This gives filmmakers confidence.
Huang Qunfei, who has worked in the industry for 35 years, feels that this year is the most difficult year in the film industry, but it is worth optimistic that the fundamentals of the film market are still there. “Our stock audience and stock market are still there. In 2020, we are generally worried that the cinema is over and all of them are going to streaming media. Now it seems that this kind of worry is unnecessary. I am full of confidence in the future of Chinese films, but we need a Time, everyone must hold a group to warm up, unite as one, and jointly meet the next climax of Chinese film.”
Liu Hongtao’s confidence comes from the fact that his judgment on film and television entertainment is different from others. Some people may think that film and television entertainment is just needed, but Liu Hongtao believes that it is just needed. He feels that human nature needs entertainment, and what filmmakers need to do is to see hope in difficulties, practice internal skills, and provide content to consumers.
Ye Ning, who used to hold important positions in Wanda Films and Huayi Films and is now a film business partner of Zhewen Films, is also not pessimistic about the future, but he feels that filmmakers need to reflect, “Are we not doing well enough? ? If we do better, do it more maturely, make every small link more thorough, and form a system, the capital will come back to us.”
“There is such a group of people who love Chinese movies, this is our dividend.” Ye Ning said that what Chinese movies urgently need now is to have some method and mechanism that can help young creators create excellent Chinese stories, “This It’s the best business model.”
For Zhenledao of Xu Zheng Holdings, now is the best time. Liu Ruifang, general manager of the company, feels that the three years of the epidemic is a process of accelerating de-bubbling, and most of the people who remain are professional, mature and worthy of investment. However, many investors have not thought so, they are still in a wait-and-see state, wondering if they should wait a little longer.
The heads of the three companies, Bona, Guangguang, and Huayi, also shouted slogans of confidence in Chinese films.
Wang Zhonglei, CEO of Huayi Brothers, said: “Many people say that this is an era of laying flat, and I will express my position here. All these film companies here are companies with more than 20 years of history. We will not lay flat, and neither will Chinese films. Lie flat.”
Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Films, firmly believes that the epidemic will eventually pass. If filmmakers are there, there will be good movies, and if there are good movies, the audience will come back.
Wang Changtian, president of Enlight Media, optimistically predicts that in the next ten years, Enlight will release 150 films, with an average box office of more than 500 million per film. He hopes that the epidemic will pass quickly, so that filmmakers can stay away from the unbearable and welcome the next outbreak.
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