On March 11, the Hong Kong International Film and Television Exhibition kicked off, and the exhibition lasted for four days. The "Chinese Content International Communication Forum" hosted by the International Cooperation Department of the State Administration of Radio and Television has been upgraded since its first launch last year at Asia's premier film and television event. It will continue to help enhance the international communication influence of Chinese content as an international audiovisual exchange platform. Chen Fei, CEO and co-founder of Ningmeng Film and Television, was invited to attend this year's forum and gave a special speech on "Taking Chinese Dramas Overseas: Diversified Content Export Models" to share the new models and achievements made by Ningmeng Film and Television in the process of going overseas.
During this exhibition, Ningmeng Film and Television organized two important international forums, and Ningmeng’s experience in localized production and distribution of overseas content was fully displayed. In the "Breaking Boundaries | Ningmeng International Explores the Local Market for Thai Content" forum, the Thai version of " Only Thirty " ("Thirty Only·Bangkok Chapter") was first exposed, and the main creative teams of the Chinese version and the Thai version came together At the scene, Miss Thinat Sombatsiri, Permanent Assistant Secretary-General of the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, Luo Yi, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau and Shanghai Radio and Television Bureau and other relevant leaders were also present to conduct cultural exchanges and warm up for the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand. At the Chinese Drama Trend Research Forum, Ningmeng Film and Television announced the 2024 overseas market drama list, including 8 new dramas in the three major themes of costume dramas, urban romance, and suspense and fantasy, and 3 series derived from super IP. A large number of high-quality contents continue to help culture go overseas.
The first trailer for the Thai version of "Thirty Only" was revealed. The overseas model of Chinese dramas has been upgraded.
At the theme forum of "Breaking Boundaries | Ningmeng International Explores the Local Market for Thai Content", the trailer for "Thirty Only·Bangkok" was released for the first time, continuing the core of the original version. , in the film, the atmosphere of three Thai women bravely facing life and living a wonderful life under multiple pressures such as age, workplace, and family is exciting. The screenwriter of the Chinese version of "Only Thirty" Zhang Yingji, chief producers Chen Fei and Xu Xiaoou had a live conversation with the three female leads of "Only Thirty Bangkok" and talked about the cross-cultural expression of female power from Shanghai to Bangkok. As a remake of the copyright of Ning Meng, invested, produced and distributed by Ning Meng, this drama is more in line with the local "discourse system" and "expression style", and strives to localize excellent stories from China and gain Thai drama audiences. of empathy. The whole drama uses a local all-star cast in Thailand. A total of 8 Thai first-line stars participated in the filming, including the famous Thai actresses Margie, Mint, Mookda, and the Thai version of "Full House " heroine Li Haina (aom) who is very familiar to Chinese audiences. ) and "Tui Ge" push, as well as Thailand's Golden Swan Best Actor Ananda and Pea joined the cast to give this Chinese story a more authentic interpretation and expression.
"Thirty Only" allows women to put aside their age anxiety and live out their true self-expression of value, which has aroused strong resonance among audiences at home and abroad. Different from the visual and production-level popularity and advantages brought by Chinese costume dramas, the drama has inspired re-creations in overseas markets by virtue of its pioneering expression of female values and enhanced the overseas influence of Chinese urban dramas. The two seasons of "Only Thirty Bangkok" coincide with the important period of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand in 2025. The emotional link between "China and Thailand are one family" has become even closer with the drama as a link. During this exhibition, Thailand’s Princess Ubolratana and the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand also attended as important guests to witness the continuation of friendship and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand.
"Super Content" as the core multi-dimensional link to the world audience
Since the establishment of Ningmeng Film and Television, it has accumulated nearly 20,000 hours of Chinese content distributed to more than 190 countries and regions around the world. In 2023, the urban emotional drama " Only Love", the modern medical drama " Asking the Heart", and the costume legendary drama "One Thought Guanshan" will go abroad one after another. Among them, "It's Just Love" ranked among the top 10 dramas in Taiwan and Hong Kong on Netflix, and the audience rating of imdb, a mainstream overseas film and television evaluation website, was as high as 9.3/10. After "One Thought Guanshan" was simultaneously launched on multiple platforms at home and abroad, it set new historical records for several consecutive days, ranking first on the hot charts of iqiyi North America and Taiwan, China.At the 2023-2024 Asian Television Awards, "Cowards" won the Best Online Drama Award and was nominated for the Best Online Drama Series and Best Director Awards. "Just Love" was shortlisted for the Best Original Screenplay. "Chinese Story" gained popularity from and word-of-mouth to demonstrate overseas influence.
Based on the overseas distribution of Chinese dramas, the overseas localized production of self-developed IP and the production and distribution of overseas original content are the further needs and goals of Ningmeng Film and Television. When sharing the creative process of "Thirty Only·Bangkok" at the Chinese Content International Communication Forum, Ningmeng Film and Television co-founder and CEO Chen Fei mentioned, "Lingmeng relies on the existing high-quality original IP overseas remakes and uses Chinese The narrative core and production methodology use artistic expression that is more in line with local acceptance habits to ensure the high-quality localization of Chinese stories and allow local audiences to truly empathize with the content." Currently, the Indonesian and Japanese versions of "Thirty Only" are In preparation for production; " crime hunting guide " for the Thai market is expected to start production in 2024, and local original dramas such as urban emotional comedy "the fairest lady" and youth suspense drama "boy house" have also entered the script development stage. In addition, Ningmeng Film and Television has also joined hands with Hong Kong Diversified Entertainment Production Company to activate the entire Hong Kong creative team to create the urban suspense mystery drama "Netizen: Hate Coin" adapted from Chen Haoji's suspense novel of the same name, further strengthening China's Hong Kong and the Mainland collaborate in film and television content production to provide audiences in both places with high-quality content that meets aesthetic expectations.
In the future, Ningmeng Film and Television will continue to promote high-quality Chinese dramas to enter international first-line platforms such as Netflix and Disney+, keep up with the market diversification trend, explore emerging markets, and promote new businesses such as overseas short dramas, in terms of quality, influence, and diversification. and other aspects go hand in hand to ingrain Chinese cultural stories into the hearts of international audiences in an international way.
