Stephen Chow recently announced with a high profile that he will enter the micro-short drama market and open the "9527 Theater". The poster of the theater looks very "Stephen Chow" at first glance, which makes many Stephen Chow fans excited. It started from the reckless micro-short drama market and came to " regular army".
Micro-short dramas have developed rapidly in recent years and are very popular. According to iiMedia Consulting data, the domestic micro-short drama market size has reached 37.39 billion yuan in 2023.
Stephen Chow, who has already proven himself in the film market, can he dominate the short drama and micro-short drama market? As more film and television people and film and television companies get involved, what changes might happen to short dramas and micro-short dramas this year? Red Star News reporters had conversations with several industry insiders.
Stephen Chow's "descend to earth", whether it will be successful is hard to say
It is reported that the first comedy work of "9527 Theater" "Golden Pig and Jade Leaves" is produced by Stephen Chow, supervised by Yi Xiaoxing, and has A-list actresses participating. The first season is expected to be launched in May this year. The name of the theater is no stranger to audiences who like Stephen Chow's movies. "9527" was originally the lifelong codename given to Tang Bohu by the top martial artist in Stephen Chow's movie. After being interpreted and fermented in the Internet age, it has meaning that is nonsensical or funny.
Regarding Stephen Chow's high-profile announcement to enter micro-short dramas, industry insiders believe that Stephen Chow's attention is undoubtedly, but the effectiveness may depend on how deep Stephen Chow's involvement is.
Du Hongjun, deputy secretary-general of the China Film and Literature Society and founder of the Screenwriters Gang, believes that attracting Stephen Chow to the short video platform has the meaning of "platform". For example, in the first drama series announced so far, Stephen Chow only produces and the producer is Yi Xiaoxing.
film and television practitioner Muzi also believes that Stephen Chow's title is "initiator", which has rich meanings, but the possibility of starring or directing is unlikely. Even though Stephen Chow is deeply involved, the difference between movies and short plays is too big. These are two shooting modes and thinking, not the dimensionality reduction attack that many people say. Senior Internet observer Zhang Shule mentioned that although Stephen Chow's comedy style has the characteristics of short dramas, it remains to be seen whether the overly nonsensical performance can truly meet the aesthetic needs of the current user group.
Leading film and television actors have entered the game, and short dramas are moving towards high-quality products.
In addition, Stephen Chow is not the first wave of "regular troops" in the field of micro-short dramas. Previously, directors Wang Jing, Gao Yalin, etc. have already entered micro-short dramas. Film and television companies such as Ningmeng Film and Television, Huace Group, Perfect World, Bad Monkey, Changxin Media, and China Literature Group have also entered the industry. With the entry of more professional film and television companies, Stephen Chow's "9527 Theater" is already facing fierce competition. Li Tao, the founder of Xi'an Fengxing Culture, the producer of
's hit micro-short drama " Wushuang ", said that Stephen Chow's entry into micro-short dramas is "not surprising at all. In recent times, many big directors and producers have Entering the game and entering this track shows that micro-short dramas and short dramas are gaining mainstream recognition." Li Tao believes that the short video platform invites Stephen Chow to enter the short drama and micro-short drama track, which can see this market The trend of quality products.
Film critic Shi Shi told Red Star News that in fact, before Stephen Chow joined hands with Douyin, platforms including Tencent, iQiyi, Kuaishou and other platforms had their own short drama theaters, such as " provokes " and "Aunt", which have a revenue of over 20 million. The two short plays of "The World" are both produced by Tencent Video's "Shifen Theater". It's just that many people may have heard of these two dramas, but don't know the names of the theaters. This shows that the "theatrical" operation of the video platform is not successful enough.
Stone believes that after the explosive growth of both good and bad, this year's short drama and micro-short drama market will become more differentiated. Theater and branding are expected to be the keywords for short plays and micro-short plays to be upgraded this year. More vertical theaters will bring more high-quality content to replace the homogenized and routine inferior content. Watching dramas is also changing. The "passive selection" based on algorithm recommendations has been transformed into an "active selection" based on platforms and theaters. The platform creates different theaters based on different audience preferences, attracting more audiences while building its own short drama brand.
Red Star News reporter Qiu Junfeng intern Xiao Senyang editor Zeng Qi
