issued overseas, India may be a more realistic "teacher".
text/Zhang Yigua
From "Kung Fu Panda 3", to "Megatooth", and then to "Snowman", co-productions that played a pivotal role in the overseas distribution of Chinese films have gradually become better. In contrast to , the progress of overseas distribution of domestic films does not seem to be smooth. Regardless of the movie content itself, the "channel" has become the most difficult issue in the entire overseas distribution. 's "Snowman Romance", co-produced by Oriental DreamWorks, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese Culture Culture, and Dream Works of the United States, performed strongly in North America, topping the North American weekend box office list with a record of 20.85 million U.S. dollars within 3 days of drawing. As a Sino-US co-produced film, "The Snowman" in which the "Chinese Elements" penetrated into it was undoubtedly a success, and the content was recognized by the audience. But Universal Pictures, which is in charge of overseas distribution, has contributed a lot to its ability to gain a share in the overseas market. For a long time, Chinese films “going out” cannot be separated from foreign distribution companies with mature experience. However, as of today in 2019, we still have to leverage foreign distribution companies, even if "Snowman Romance" is dominated by Chinese culture with overseas distribution resources, it is still inseparable to seek to maximize the benefits when it is released overseas. Open an overseas issuing company. From this, we see the huge gap in strength between Chinese issuing companies and overseas issuing companies. The layout of overseas issuance is urgent.
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status quo
borrowing a boat to go to sea, fame and fortune are hard to find.
For Chinese films, "going out" is known by the world, which can be roughly divided into three stages: the ideological emphasis stage before the reform and opening up; after the reform and opening up to 2002, art films participated in film festivals overseas to "win glory for the country" Stage; and after 2003, the in-depth reform of the mainland film system, the intensified process of globalization, the stage of Chinese films seeking fame and profit overseas.
Of course, seeking a name is not easy, but seeking profit is even more difficult. If wants to "go out", it's not enough to go single-handedly, and co-productions take advantage of the situation. Chinese film and television companies rely on cooperation with foreign film companies to explore overseas markets and convey Chinese culture. We call this "borrowing a boat to go to sea". The first was the cooperation between Huayi Brothers and Columbia and Warner and other Hollywood film companies. In 2008, Huayi Brothers and Lionsgate jointly invested 70 million US dollars in "King Fu King". This is also China’s first film project to be operated closely with Hollywood. From funding preparation to project operation, all are in line with international standards. Brother Yi was responsible for the distribution of the entire Greater China region for the first time, providing an opportunity for its subsequent film and television projects to explore overseas markets. Since and up to now, many domestic films have cooperated with foreign film companies in this way. When they go to sea, they can easily get it with the help of overseas distribution companies, and "borrowing to sea" has become the norm. Many films of have indeed enjoyed the dividends of exporting overseas, increasing the box office and non-box office revenue, but overall, most of the income is still dominated by domestic box office contributions. The film and television works of "going out" sometimes do not mean that they "mix well". Let’s look at the data of the top ten domestic films in the box office of my country’s movie history:
, whether it’s the number one "Wolf Warrior 2" or the "Me and My Motherland" that has recently entered the rankings, the domestic box office is far higher. Due to its revenue from overseas releases, individual films such as "I'm Not the God of Medicine", the overseas box office results are not even worth mentioning. companies responsible for the overseas distribution of these films, such as Well Go USA, Sony, Columbia, etc., are mostly foreign distribution companies, and only CMC Chinese Culture and China Lion Movies are Chinese capital. Compared with The H Collective (hereinafter referred to as THC), Well Go USA and Warner Bros., has many years of experience in overseas distribution. It has mature standard methods for spot screening, trial screening, expansion, promotion, and award marketing. Established overseas issuing companies with resources all over the world, CMC and China Lion have weak foundations, have a short establishment time, are not rich in resources, and even have limited experience. However, it is time for China to "build ships to sea". If it wants to truly "go out" and "mix well", it cannot rely on "borrowing ships to go to sea". If Chinese films were seeking overseas markets before, the demand for “going out” for fame was greater than for profit,However, as my country's box office continues to grow and gradually slow down, it is inevitable to open up overseas markets. Although “borrowing a boat to go to sea” is convenient, it has limited benefits in the end and the right to speak is deprived. The ultimate goal of "going out" is nothing more than to fight for the right to speak in the world, to go overseas, and to gain master control, even if the good wind relies on its strength, it ultimately depends on itself.
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layout
"shipbuilding to sea" has just started.
The degree of reliance on overseas distribution companies for Chinese films "going out" can be seen from the table of "Top 10 Chinese Movies at the Box Office" above.
Among them, Hollywood's "Big Six" and its affiliates have the strongest strength. The films released are of various types, geographically all over the world, and the target audience is not limited to a certain group of people. The Chinese films that have achieved relatively good box office results abroad basically rely on companies such as Sony and Columbia. It can be said that without Miramax Films, there would be no box office myth created by "Hero" in North America; without Fox and Universal Pictures, there would also be no "Kung Fu Panda 3" and "Snowman Romance" released in many overseas countries issued. The in-depth cooperation between Hollywood and Chinese film companies has indeed allowed Chinese films to go further. Well Go USA, which started with DVD distribution, is much narrower than Hollywood companies in terms of type and audience positioning. Its distribution preference is mainly towards action films, such as "Ip Man 3", "Operation Red Sea", "Operation Mekong" and other overseas distribution of films, are all under the responsibility of Well Go USA. Although its distribution area and audience are not limited to Chinese, the audience is still relatively narrow. The film belongs to a niche, and overseas revenue is not large. This time, it is also responsible for the overseas distribution of this year's box office dark horse "Nezha: The Devil Boy". It is expected that the overseas box office is not optimistic. Compared with the above-mentioned overseas issuing companies, my country's overseas issuing companies appear to be weak and too young. , established in October 2010, China Lion, has participated in the distribution of 95 films so far, which is an important line of Chinese films going overseas. Although
has a mediocre box office performance, it is an independent distribution aimed at overseas Chinese. It can be released and released simultaneously with the domestic market, and it will share the box office with mainstream Western theaters, rather than buy out. Although the overseas distribution channels of the films that North America has established on its own, although not perfect, it is undoubtedly a good start for China's overseas distribution. At present, the business of China Lions has spread to Oceania and Europe, which is a good development momentum. The Chinese Film Industry, which is wholly-owned by Chinese Culture, entered the game at the latest, and was only established in 2016 with the support of the National Film Bureau. However, although the establishment time is relatively short, but the project responsible for overseas distribution is very heavy. "The Wandering Earth" and "My Motherland and Me" are among them.
Chinese film industry is currently in its infancy, and the target audience is the Chinese community. However, its "three-step" strategy shows its ambition: the first step of is to form stable and long-term screenings in overseas Chinese areas; the second step is to form overseas local audiences in the Chinese area to continue to pay attention to Chinese films. And the interest in watching movies; the third step is to form the entire global distribution channel and marketing network.
Perhaps in the near future, the status quo of Chinese films that rely on overseas distribution companies to "go global" will change. However, Chinese films that have embarked on a journey to open up overseas markets want to reach more audiences and have a greater impact. As the pioneers of "shipbuilding to sea", China Lions Pictures and Chinese Films still have a long way to go. .
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in the direction of
in overseas distribution, the first to catch up and then super beautiful.
Chinese film overseas distribution companies in their infancy need a benchmarking target. Hollywood’s “Big Six” are certainly the best goals, but the strengths of the two are too far apart. Perhaps the companies behind the Indian films that have been successful overseas in recent years can first look at it.
can be seen from the above table that the difference between and the company responsible for the Chinese film market is that the companies responsible for the overseas distribution of Indian films are basically Indian companies.
Among them, Eros International (hereinafter referred to as Eros), Yash Raj Films (hereinafter referred to as Yash Raj)And UTV Communications (hereinafter referred to as UTV) is the three major film companies in India. They were established in 1977, 1970s and 1990. (In 2011, UTV was acquired by Disney for US$297 million) So far, Eros has released a total of 217 films with a total box office of 140 million US dollars; Yash Raj has released 55 films with a box office total of 79.25 million US dollars; UTV has released 96 The film, the box office totaled 89.29 million US dollars. Compared with Chinese Lions and Chinese Films, both in terms of the number of releases and box office performance, they pale in comparison. According to relevant information, the reason why Indian overseas distribution companies are able to successfully distribute Indian films and continue to expand their influence is mainly due to the expansion of the number of local theaters by Indian overseas distribution companies. From the initial dozens of theaters playing Indian films, now shows Indian films in more than 200 or even more than 300 theaters, realizing the scale of Indian films in overseas markets. In contrast, currently has only a few dozens of theaters that Chinese overseas distribution companies cooperate with or owns overseas, which is far behind Indian overseas distribution companies, not to mention the resources of thousands of theaters behind Hollywood companies. In addition to 's advantage in the number of theaters, the in-depth cooperation between Indian overseas distribution companies and overseas new media platforms is also one of the reasons that help Indian films go overseas. In 2017, Yash Raj reached a partnership with YuppTV, the world's largest South Indian content OTT provider. YuppTV's movie-on-demand service YuppFlix can not only play movies made by Yash Raj, such as "Sudan", "Phantom Car: Devil's Passion", etc., but also can obtain additional income by subscribing to overseas video on demand. In 2018, Eros announced a partnership with iQiyi to provide Indian movies to the Chinese market. In September of this year, Eros and Microsoft reached a cooperation on a video platform.
Indian overseas distribution company helps Indian films "go global" and go further and further. Established distribution companies have contributed a lot. Like the rising star of GreatIndia Films that released "Baahubali 2: The End", the ability should not be underestimated.
This has reference significance for my country's overseas issuing companies, and it is also the direction of our future efforts. From "borrowing a ship to sea" to "building a ship to sea" at this stage, "going to sea to build a ship" may be the next topic. What we have to do is to make every step steadily.
