| Sugar-fried hawthorn
"It's dirt and top, I'm a dirt dog and I love to watch it", "I've been really bewitched by Fang Tianyi recently"... The big drama market is still fighting fiercely, and the short drama "Girlfriend" But it captured the audience first. The show just ended yesterday, and a lot of speculation and calls about the second season have emerged in the market.
is more intuitive, whether it is 4 million accounts divided within 6 days of launch, Douyin topic has a total of 1.4 billion views, Maoyan , Yunhe and other platforms continue to dominate the short drama hot list, or "short drama made" The popularity of Dai Gaozheng, the actor at the level of "star", has confirmed the "explosive attributes" of "The Thousand Gold Maid".
The domestic drama has exploded again as a "sweet dog drama", but for producer Zhang Li, it is different.
On the one hand, she is satisfied with the achievements of "The Young Lady", but she also admits that she has "better expectations". This high expectation is mainly based on the sublimation of the ending: the female warden has a glimpse, which amazes the audience, elevates the idea of the story, and leaves the beginning of a new story. In short, believes that this is a TV series worth watching and savoring again and again, and it is also a series IP that can withstand continuous development.
On the other hand, regarding what netizens call "sweet dog dramas", she bluntly said that she did not think too much about these in her creation, but insisted on quality and extreme differentiation, as well as the human touch in her works. The audience loves this drama, and it can be regarded as the same goal. "When we first started, we repeatedly emphasized to the team that we only need to do it seriously and do our best in every scene." Hua, these nine words have also become high-frequency words in interviews, throughout.
Zhang Li rarely gives interviews. This time, she and the star of the Tang Dynasty behind her are one of the few standing in front of the media. And this is already a relatively mature film and television company that has been established for more than ten years. In the past, they have continued to launch " master thief ", " tomb fan lamp " and other head nets to the market, " girl on the Fang Jiewa , Dear Yiqi Jun , and Bride in the Flower Room also made great achievements. "The Young Lady" is their first attempt to make a short play, and it has also been highly recognized by the market.
has produced new products again and again. This company with some craftsmanship is still working hard to move forward. Taking this opportunity, the entertainment unicorn also had an in-depth dialogue with the general manager/producer Zhang Li, partner/well-known director Shen Jinfei , and director Lin Qing, and listened to the stories behind "The Thousand Gold Maid" and the Star of the Tang Dynasty.
Avenue to the simple "desire" as the core, the "subtractive creation" of the popular short drama
crossed the river by feeling the stones, Zhang Li described the company's attempt on the short drama "Girlfriend", and she also did not like to use it Very gorgeous rhetoric over-modifies the creative process, everything starts from the story and characters, and everything feels a bit natural.
is a short drama that is in the ascendant and still in the exploratory period. It is a new outlet targeted by many creators in the past two years. Zhang Li also has the idea of "trying". In 2022, with the background of the Republic of China and starting from women, Datang Star launched the "Two Wishes" series of short drama plans. Focus on the grievances and grievances of the nation.
Why did you choose the theme of the Republic of China? From the perspective of content creation in this era, it has unique dramatic conflict and character tension, which makes it easier for the audience to substitute. In addition, Zhang Li admitted that she has a little feeling of the Republic of China. "I saw a lot of works with the theme of the Republic of China, including some classic Qiong Yao dramas."
From the very beginning, Datang Star has been rushing to cultivate, whether it is a short drama or a theme of the Republic of China. Although
is the first to lead the creation of a short play, from script creation, actor selection toDuring the filming and broadcast, Zhang Li used "smooth" many times to describe the launch of "The Young Lady". Behind this kind of "lifting weights lightly" is the accumulation of Datang Stars in the film and television industry over the years, which also allows them to always reduce the complex and simplify and grasp the core.
Compared with long dramas, the creation and broadcast cycle of short dramas is much shorter, but Zhang Li also emphasizes that everything must run on a benign track. It is understood that the play took nearly a year from preparation to launch, and it took half a year to polish the original story: the screenwriter began to develop the script in October last year, and the crew started in April this year. Short plays and scripts are also the foundation of a play.
and the audience continue to be different in various theatrical elements such as "Domineering Warlord Forced Love", "The Revenge of the Fallen Girl", "The Female Warlord's Counterattack", etc. The story creation of "Daughter-in-law" actually focuses on "The Great Way". to simplicity".
"The starting point of this drama is very simple, it is 'desire', and everything revolves around this word. We have to make a very pure point of view, and then make it extreme" , director Lin Qing explained. In order to ensure strong content density and extremeness, they also drastically cut the short drama originally scheduled for 36 episodes to 30 episodes. It is also true to stick to the original intention of the content. After all, as an account-sharing online drama, the importance of the number of episodes is self-evident.
As for the choice of actors, Zhang Li used a rather metaphysical word: destiny. "Whether it's Chen Fangtong or Dai Gaozheng, it is determined after the second meeting." In her opinion, the selection of actors is mainly based on the degree of fit, including the actor's own image, the role of the role. Understanding, etc., everything starts from the script. But behind this, the mutual fulfillment of actors and roles is also a lot of thought. Lin Qing, director of
, talked about the elements that Dai Gaozheng repeatedly emphasized during the filming: "handsome without knowing it", the purpose is to enrich the characters in a way that increases the sense of youth and make Fang Tianyi more likable. The attributes of "Han Han" in real life are also highly compatible with this, giving the character a youthful air. With the popularity of the short drama, Fang Tianyi's sense of contrast has also made countless audiences feel that he was "gutted", and Dai Gaozheng is even more popular with the drama.
Another important thing is 's "Su sense" excavating characters. The overbearing warlord's unique "cute" when facing the heroine is also a powerful tool to capture female audiences. For example, he unconsciously pursed his lips when the heroine bandaged her wounds, and bluntly said a little grievance when the two confessed, all of which caused a large number of viewers on the barrage to express "being tricked" and "too poked". The market popularity of
's "Daughter of the Golden Maiden" has proved that all the intentions will be seen. With the play as the anchor, director/producer Shen Jinfei also summed up a set of short play creation rules for Datang Star: First, respect the logic of the story, and cannot jump to the line, "The logic of plot advancement and the audience's pursuit of drama. The mood should be coherent"; Second, keep doing subtraction , the carrying capacity of short dramas is limited, so it is more necessary to understand the core appeal, and then strive to achieve the ultimate.
publishes new products again and again, and explains the creative principles of Datang Star in detail.
"As a content provider, our goal is to do a good job in content, and do a good job in every content." On the short drama track that is still staking the ground, Datang Star made a precise attack, but Zhang Li and Shen Jinfei always maintained a sober attitude and the purity of content practitioners: kept trying new fields, no matter what it was The content form must be innovative, refined and differentiated.
After 2016, Datang Star, which has been established for 8 years, began to plan for a transformation, from market distribution to production. "I was doing the distribution before, and Director Shen was doing the content. If there is a market and content, it would be a hit and miss," Zhang Li said bluntly, but the works she handed over were significant enough.
Beginning in 2017, many works such as "Master Thief", "The Legend of the Demon Fox", and "The Lantern of the Tomb" have been launched one after another. At that time, the big online market has just begun to move from shoddy to high-quality products, and opportunities and challenges coexist. Let's review the works of Datang Star again. "Master Thief" won the Best Production Team Award in the Network Works Unit of the Beijing International Film Festival.In 2018, "Tomb Fan Lamp" achieved a score of over 10 million yuan, ranking among the top.
In 2018, their creative field joined the online drama, and quickly gained a place in the market. "Little Girl Goes to the House and Reveals the Tile" won the iQiyi account-sharing drama annual IP adaptation award; "Dear Yi Qijun" also won the "Most Popular TV Drama Award" at the annual excellent radio and film resources and project recommendation ceremony in the radio and film industry. honor.
This year, they once again have a name in the skit market. The territory of continues to expand, but high-quality products and popular models are the only standards. faced the question of "why can the entertainment unicorn continue to create high-quality products in different fields of long dramas and short dramas", Shen Jinfei said with a smile: "Maybe we are not satisfied with the status quo, and we are not satisfied with the current work standards. "
In his opinion, the reason why Datang Star's works can receive such high attention in the market is the innovation of 's content. "If we continue to innovate according to the same standards, or maintain the original ideas, we will be eliminated by the market sooner or later. The psychology of young audiences for chasing dramas is increasingly updated, which requires us to continue to innovate and not go back. Find a sense of value in yourself in the industry," he explained.
As for the types of themes, star effects, and track areas that are commonly defined in the market, they are not trapped. Datang Star created a diversified layout of "love +", which made the audience shine through the superposition of elements.
"Little Girl Reveals the House" is the "love + career" of the Republic of China; "Dear Yi Qijun" focuses on "love + fantasy"; "Bride Between Flowers" is the setting of "love + food"; dramas to be broadcast " Hua Qingge " is costume love + suspense.
talked about the star effect that cannot be ignored in the drama market. Director Shen Jinfei emphasized: "The star effect does exist, but it is worth thinking about whether the entire industry will revolve around the star effect as a guarantee in the future." , compared to It is sustainable to pay close attention to content and innovation, and to focus more funds and attention on the quality of the works. After all, the audience is watching the story. Of course, he also hopes to cooperate with more powerful actors in the future.
"Whether it is a long drama, a short drama or a movie, solid content is the most basic. As long as the content is good, the audience does not say which genre, star or category must watch," Shen Jinfei concluded. The reason is very simple, but there is not much that can be seen through and really achieved, and this is precisely the winning rule of Datang Star.
Star of Datang: In the future, we will wait and see
"The cultural industry must flourish, and it is not good for the output of the cultural industry to flourish." Well-received dramas have different reasons for winning, which is a good phenomenon. People won't get together in a certain content, which means that the content that audiences will see in the future will not be the same."
some kind To a certain extent, this is consistent with the original intention of the name "Datang Star". Zhang Li can't remember the details of the original inspiration, but she is deeply impressed by the cultural prosperity unique to the prosperous Tang Dynasty that she felt in Xi'an. This name carries a sense of mission of practitioners: the mission of carrying forward Chinese culture.
The blossoming of a hundred flowers in the content industry also gave them great encouragement and confidence. "This is consistent with the development direction of our company. We are also constantly innovating and looking for new core points of cultural output," said Shen Jinfei. When it comes to the company's development plan, he also said: Whether it is a short play, a long play, a small but beautiful or a big production, we will do it and do our best.
To be more specific, in addition to the short drama "Hundred Days Bride" to be broadcast, the second season of 's "Daughter Girl" will also be a long drama.form on the agenda. "On the one hand, it is to respond to the audience's love and voice, and on the other hand, we have left a hole and prepared the groundwork for the sequel." As for the question of whether Dai Gaozheng will appear in the market, he said that he still looks forward to the original cast and accepts variables from the perspective of following the fit of the actors.
Datang Star's layout of long dramas includes modern dramas, costume dramas, and big productions. In terms of modern dramas of , although no works have been released yet, they have also prepared 5-6 dramas, focusing on the content that is down-to-earth and life-like, with strong core explosiveness and can resonate with the audience. In his opinion, Datang Star has mature experience in production; Zhang Li has many years of distribution experience and sensitivity to realistic themes, which means that they can accurately control the market trend and production level, and insist on outputting high-quality content .
is different from the first two tracks, the costume drama is the mature track of Datang Star. According to Shen Jinfei, at present, the company has reserved a series of IP, some of which have entered the development stage. In the future, the company will continue to launch more innovative and solid costume dramas. The to-be-broadcast drama "Hua Qingge" also has high expectations. On the
drama reserve, according to Zhang Li, the company has started to develop a project related to Chinese culture since 2017, which lasted for more than 5 years, and the script is still being polished. "It has always been in reserve, that is, it must be high-quality when it is made. When it is not perfect, we will not take it out."
's diverse themes burst out and go hand in hand, which is closely related to the company's own temperament and talent pool. Director Shen Jinfei said, "Our entire team is very active, and our talents have a wide range of specificity and direction. We have the ability to continuously innovate and output, which also determines that our content will not be limited to a certain theme or type." At present, Datang Star has also set up a special long-play team and a short-play team.
Of course, this is also a story of deep cultivation and love. The concept of Datang Star is to create with joy. What impressed Zhang Li deeply was the laughter that the company often heard late at night. Creation is tormented, and without a loving heart, it cannot persist.
set out because of love, with the sense of value and mission of content creators, and adhering to the craftsmanship of "essential ingenuity", Datang Star is anchoring each piece of high-quality content, becoming a forerunner in the film and television industry. As for the future, Shen Jinfei has a clear and optimistic goal: "We want to become a very good content output company, and I hope to hear from the market that every work we do is influential and excellent in the future."
We have reason to believe that in the future, there will be more high-quality works marked with the Star of Datang to amaze the market.
