｜Tiger Sniffing Commercial Consumer Group
Author｜Zhao Xi
Editor｜Miao Zhengqing
Title Image｜Visual China
Qingdao at four in the morning, the actors who just finished recording the first phase of "Talk Show Conference 5" are tired to collapse. The carnivore's Huang Huang could no longer sit still and collapsed on the seat. Many actors collapsed in the lounge, fell asleep, and when they were called to do post-match interviews, they just made up and recorded.
A few steps away, the lounge of the local talk show club owners is a completely different scene: a table full of barbecues and drinks, the bosses are frantically eating, talking loudly, and the sky is full of boiling, like a late-night barbecue restaurant on the street. , as festive as the New Year's morning market. shared their surprise, excitement, and inspiration, discussed the pros and cons of actors' performance, the state inspired by program recording, and the difference and impact between online recording and offline performance.
The time went forward ten hours. When he first arrived at the recording site, Sun Yu of Nanjing's unknown comedy knew that the show team had set up a separate seating area for the bosses, not just sitting in the audience and making noises. The camera swept over them from time to time, and Sun Yu enjoyed watching the show, but he wasn't quite used to the feeling of being surrounded by the camera.
bosses are not familiar with the camera, they are the epitome of countless offline actors. Among the bosses, there are enthusiasts who have participated in the audition for many times but were eliminated, and there are behind-the-scenes gardeners who have sent many contestants to the show but have never been there. Zhang Zhangyan of the Chongqing cableway comedy was so excited that he couldn't contain himself. After the recording, instead of going back to the hotel to rest, he went to the beach to watch the sunrise.
At 4:50 in the morning, the bus carrying the bosses drove out of the park in the morning fog. On the way, Nao Nao, a comedy who opened a meal in Wuhan, looked out of the car window, feeling lost: "It's like a dream."
This is the first time that " Talk Show Conference " has invited local club owners to participate in the recording. In the past, Xiaoguo had a sense of "isolation" from local clubs, which was the gap between online and offline, the gap between "grand businessmen" and ordinary people (Tiger Sniff Note: Dan Liren Club founder Shi The boss once joked that in terms of Xiaoguo's size, it can't be said to be a friend businessman, but a master businessman). This arrangement of shows the subtle attitude of both parties, implying a kind of co-optation, a kind of temptation, a kind of submission, and a kind of mutual need. The
talk show industry thrives on one thing and one loses on the other. The first half of the sentence has been confirmed in the prosperity of Xiaoguo online and offline, and the hidden crisis in the second half of the sentence may have begun to appear.
's "Talk Show Conference" this season's Douban score is particularly low. When
was asked about this, an insider at the heart of the show’s production responded awkwardly: “Does it have to be so sharp?”
In fact, in terms of communication, this season’s talk show was undoubtedly a success. "In order to break the circle, the show has introduced actors from different circles. It is no longer a simple talk show, which is bound to offend some existing audiences and attract a large number of new audiences." Kan told me, "The low rating on Douban may just mean that the show has a wider audience and more critics."
Xiaoguo has become more and more aware of how to handle the show, but it may have deviated from the talk show itself. Cheng Lu 's joke "all new people, no old people" has become an excellent footnote this season. On social media, the "crusade" against the laughing staff is rampant, and on the stage, more and more veteran actors decide to turn away. After
Kid was eliminated, he moved out of Shanghai and planned to immerse himself in the opening of Mai for a few months. He said in a seemingly playful tone: "I may not be on the show next year." After
Liang Haiyuan was eliminated, he announced that he would no longer participate in the show and returned offline. In Weibo, he wrote: "I don't want everyone to take offline performances as a last resort. It is our original intention when we entered this industry. My ideal living state in this industry is to write special performances, perform special performances and record special performances. Talk shows are not just about talk shows, there are also stars and seas ahead. "
Liang Haiyuan bowed slightly, and Xu Zhisheng cried. The
talk show actors seem to finally be sensing the kind of consumption that audiences keep reminding them of. they gradually found themselvesDeviating from the original intention of entering this industry, the brilliance on the screen made them fall into the double bottleneck of perception of life and creation. The "Talk Show Conference" is a show that has brought fire to the entire industry, and finally buried the space and ability of old actors to perceive life.
Owl Club founder Shi Yan said that the market is "ripening" actors, so actors grow very fast, but they are also drained very fast. "Many actors in may have been popular in two years, but later they did not have more achievements and value in talk shows, so they went to record more variety shows. " Before
made stars, it was Xiaoguo who built talents Barrier efforts. Viewers who have watched the first season of "Talk Show" may still remember Shi Yan. As a veteran employee of Xiaoguo, he was in charge of the communication between Xiaoguo and local clubs, the Xiaoguo training camp and other projects. He told me that Xiaoguo began to build talent barriers and signed contracts many years ago. Pang Bo, , Yan Yi, Yan Yue, Wang Mian, and other late-stage popular players have been recruited by Xiaoguo in the 2017 rookie training camp. The advantage of
's approach is that Xiaoguo has used its keen foresight and low cost to firmly circle the potential stocks and circle the industry's five-year . But the other side of the story is that a large number of actors are submerged in the Xiaoguo system, unable to contact the outside world, and can only wait for an opportunity to appear on the show, and it is difficult for the outside world to reach this batch of talent resources.
Shi Yan told me that in one of the projects he was in contact with, he was told that Xiaoguo refused to allow his actors to share the stage with talk show actors from other companies. In other words, if you want to cooperate with Xiaoguo, you must choose to join the game dominated by Xiaoguo, accept the rules of Xiaoguo, and sign a contract with Xiaoguo. This fulfills what Li Dan said in 2017: " we like this market only us. Don't have second place, don't have competition. "
However, under the premise that the industry is not yet mature, premature monopoly There are consequences. After the fourth season of the
talk show was broadcast, Feng Zilong, the founder of hardcore comedy, made a conclusion within the company: After the fifth season, the industry will enter the next ecology. The previous ecology of is: "Talk Show Conference" is getting better year by year, and the market is getting bigger year by year. But now, that trend has come to an end. Let one show carry the weight of the entire industry, and problems arise.
By this season, Xiaoguo has exhausted the accumulation and talents of the old actors, and has been forced to face the reality of the industry: nationwide, talk show talents are already running out.
"Blood Transfusion"
Many of the most popular newcomers to the talk show of the past two years are from local clubs.
The 58-year-old Aunt Huang is from Changsha Xiaoma Comedy; the veteran edamame who braised large intestines in the Somali waters of the Gulf of Aden is from Dalian Hui Xiao Comedy; Xiaojia and Mancai, who suffer from neurological diseases, are both from Xiamen come crazy comedy. This is a "blood transfusion" for Xiaoguo by the convincing local clubs.
What's more, many club founders have joined Xiaoguo, either as contracted actors or as full-time employees. This is the case with Mr. Wei, the founder of Changsha Xiaoma Comedy. He is now responsible for the communication with local clubs in Xiaoguo. He told me that local clubs are the "nerve endings and capillaries" of the talk show industry. Sensitive to changes in the market" . Therefore, they are also more suitable for digging out newcomers and cross-border actors with outstanding characteristics.
Peng Kan told me that in many European and American countries, comedy has a solid folk foundation. The club provides a large number of performance venues and performance opportunities, and has become an important incubation place for comedy talents. For example, many actors and screenwriters in " Saturday Night Live " came from the two clubs of The Second City and The Groundlings in the United States.
But in China, the living environment of local clubs is not optimistic. Almost every club on
talked to me about their frustration with the chaos of "show dealers". In the industry, clubs that advertise their comedy ideals focus on content creation and talent training. They often look down on performers who have not signed actors, and only frequently hold performances and cut the audience's leeks. The commerce word, that is, selling, is only related to money and has nothing to do with ideals. z2The z
performers have greatly squeezed the living space of the clubs. In many cities, performers don’t care about the quality of the performances. They can sell tickets as long as they gather a few actors and hang up the sign of the talk show. "Every day, four shows a day, even starting from 1:30 in the afternoon, crazy cheap tickets, to seize the market."
In the Beijing talk show circle, there is a legendary figure with a wide range of experience, who is a typical show businessman. Let's call it Laojiang. Lao Jiang held performances in scenic spots, specializing in cutting leeks for tour groups, a theater with 200 people, selling 400 tickets, and betting that people would not come. When the audience came, they would stand if they couldn't sit down. If they couldn't stand, they would apologize and then refund the ticket. According to
, every time a good actor with a good reputation goes to Lao Jiang to perform, he will be quietly recorded by the camera. In a few days, Lao Jiang will train a new actor who looks similar to a good actor, and will specialize in the jokes of a good actor. What
Lao Jiang did, every one of them violated the creative ethics and market rules of talk show . But Lao Jiang has already bought a villa in the suburbs of Beijing. His annual income, according to industry speculation, is less than three million. Master Cai, the boss of
Chengdu Overloaded Comedy, told me that the existence of performers will also destroy the actor's growth system . Many talented young actors have just written a five-minute good joke, but they can't stand the temptation of money given by the performer, so they just fill the joke to fifteen minutes and put on a commercial performance. After hurting my vitality, I can't go back to serious creation.
sent good actors to Xiaoguo to participate in the show, to fight for "orthodoxy" and fame, as if it was the only way for local clubs to fight against the vicious competition in the market. But even if the actor became popular, after the contract with Xiaoguo, the club would get very little benefit.
In the increasingly narrow living space, how long can the "blood transfusion" behavior of local clubs be maintained?
Precipitation
One night in March, Feng Zilong received a meaningful call from a certain platform, implying cooperation: "Do you think there is a possibility that we can make another laughing fruit in the talk show industry? There are so many clubs in the country, then With more actors, can’t we make something new?”
Feng Zilong replied simply: “No.”
He and I complained: “ This is like, Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature in that year , the secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee went directly to Gaomi County to ask, can we copy 100 Mo Yan? "
hardcore comedy is a senior talk show company. Last season, it emerged in the "Talk Show Conference", and later participated in the love circle fans Nobita comes from this company. Before the epidemic, hard-core comedies were performed nationwide, and the weekly ticket volume was around 4,000, more than Xiaoguo. They have also undertaken many comedy projects and screenwriting business for comedy variety shows.
"If anyone in the industry can become the second Xiaoguo, it would be us." Feng Zilong said to me, "But Xiaoguo's core competence is not in the actors or even the screenwriters, but in a general planner who understands the content very well. , Li Dan, and a producer who understands both program production and talk shows, Ye Feng (Tiger Sniff Note: Li Dan used to be the chief planner, and now he does not hold the function). The Chinese TV circle must find out such a The combination of general planning and producers is very unlikely." This is the real talent gap in the industry.
but the market doesn't seem to understand this. Many platforms and producers have found talk show companies other than Xiaoguo, and come up with all kinds of strange solutions, " is like everything, but it's not like talk show ". The capital environment of
also does not support the birth of the next Xiaoguo. Even after a few years and the general environment is good, it will be difficult to throw money at the next talk show giant. "In the end, the productivity of this industry is not even people, but creative ability ." Shi Yan said. Xiaoguo gathered a group of people who had the longest talk show time and the deepest accumulation in China back then. To recreate Xiaoguo, it would definitely take another 5-10 years of cultivation cycle.
"Who will watch the talk show at the end? When the industry develops to a certain stage, the actors will be differentiated, some like simple, pure and funny, and some in-depth texts, but they will not only stop at dazzling characters." Feng Zilong Say. Many practitioners of
are doing such a thing: they are looking for people who want to express themselves from the amateurs, and they are trained in texts and performances, and they are also taught to be able to tolerate loneliness. Feng Zilong's advice to actors is that If you think you are talented enough, go to Xiaoguo; if you are not famous, you will live with the mentality of a text creator, and deliver a solid special to the market every year to ensure that you will continue to create.
The new actors continue to enter the stage, be more patient; the old actors return to the offline, and have more original intentions. There seems to be no other way out of the talent woes of the talk show industry.
Postscript
The time is pushed back one year. On a summer night in Shanghai, I had a table fight with a few young Xiaoguo actors I met by chance. One is fat, one is thin, and one is handsome. The fater
is talented and won the first place in the newcomer training camp. He was signed by Xiaoguo as a screenwriter within a few days. It is said that Li Dan likes it very much. That night, he talked a few jokes about religion and culture. The text was quite advanced, and it had the flavor of a foreign special. When he spoke, he was obviously very proud of himself, and the thinner actors also looked envious. I can clearly see that at the moment of , he envied not only an opportunity to become famous, but also the talent and energy that burst out of creativity. The handsome guy
never spoke. At the end of the dinner, I sincerely told him that your face is very suitable for the show. He smiled and returned to me, everyone said so. The three actors,
, are full of enthusiasm, longing, and vigor, the expectation that they will "become famous all over the world" in just a moment. Looking back at Beijing, even the talk show actors in their twenties mostly laugh at themselves and eat their food, showing a sense of resignation as a laborer. An independent actor who has millions of fans and sold out tickets for a national tour in an instant, also has anxiety about the future written in his eyes. On the night of
, I sighed that the biggest difference between the Shanghai and Beijing talk show markets may be this longing and enthusiasm.
Xiaoguo once brought great hope to this industry, and now, the time for precipitation has come.
is changing and those who want to change the world are all in Tiger Sniff APP
