The summer season has entered the sprint period before its finale. As of 20:00 on August 19, the total box office of the 2024 summer season has reached 10.3 billion yuan. With the emergence of the movie-watching craze, while film capital is ushering in a recovery, it has also rev

The summer season has entered the sprint period before the finale. As of 20:00 on August 19, the total box office of the 2024 summer season has reached 10.3 billion yuan. With the emergence of the movie-watching boom, while film capital is ushering in a recovery, it has also revealed new trends. On the one hand, capital pays more attention to the exploration of subdivided fields when selecting film projects, and no longer blindly pursues large-scale production. On the other hand, capital also shows a strong interest in film technology companies with innovative capabilities. In addition, as cross-border capital's understanding of the film industry continues to deepen, cross-border investment is no longer limited to pure capital operations, but has extensively participated in the entire chain of the film industry, with more cautious and rational ideas, in cooperation with various industries. Through the collaborative cooperation of all parties, we will jointly build a new ecological pattern for the industry.

Change 1: Invest in "fine" rather than "big"

A reporter from Beijing Business Daily noticed that in recent times, the word "refinement" has become a keyword for listed film companies in the investment market. Among them, Wanda Film mentioned "refined management and innovative model" in its financial report, Bona Pictures also mentioned "refined operation" in its financial report, and China Film stated on the investor relations platform that "through refined management Promote cost reduction and efficiency improvement.”

"Compared with the past, the most obvious change in the film investment and financing market in 2024 lies in the diversification of capital structure and the refinement of investment strategies." Yuan Shuai, executive vice president of the Agricultural, Cultural and Tourism Industry Revitalization Research Institute of the China Urban Development Research Institute, said , specifically, the upgrading of audience demand has promoted the development of high-quality and diversified film content, which has in turn promoted investment and financing towards projects with innovative capabilities and content advantages.

According to Beacon Professional Edition data, there will be 52 films with a box office exceeding 100 million yuan in 2024, of which 21 films have more than 20 affiliated companies. The movie " Retrograde Life " has 46 affiliated companies. The movie " Twinkle Shine" There are 51 affiliated companies of "Xingxing".

Wei Pengju, dean of the Institute of Cultural Economics at the Central University of Finance and Economics, pointed out that the film industry has shown a new trend in which one party controls the production of multiple parties. Through multi-party production, resource integration can be effectively achieved, but it also shows from the side that capital is concerned about the uncertainty of investment returns in the industry, so it focuses on investment diversification and risk control.

"After gradually bidding farewell to large-scale growth, the film industry has moved towards a stock stage that focuses on connotative growth. When choosing film projects, capital pays more attention to the exploration of subdivided areas and no longer blindly pursues large-scale production. The changes in data confirm that the market Becoming more rational," said investment analyst Gao Jia.

Change 2: Favoring technology-based companies

Beijing Business Daily reporters found that among the seven investment and financing events in the film industry this year, two of them focused on film technology companies such as film and television special effects production.

Specifically, Mojing Tianhe Wuxi Digital Image Technology Co., Ltd. completed the A+ round of financing, and the investor was Beijing Dengfeng International Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., which is actually controlled by Wu Jing. The former was founded in 2007 and has participated in the visual effects production of films such as " Wandering Earth ", " Alone on the Moon ", " Chinatown Detective 3", etc., while Beijing Dengfeng International Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. has participated in the production of " Wandering Earth" "" He has served as the producer of more than 20 films including "Changjin Lake " and " Stop and Go ". Another investment came from cross-border capital. Guangzhou Yingdong Vision Technology Co., Ltd. completed angel round financing with a financing amount of tens of millions of yuan. The leading investor was Guangzhou Nansha Zhongying Star Venture Capital Fund Partnership.

Corresponding to the policy level, the National Film Administration's "14th Five-Year Plan for Chinese Film Development" pointed out that the strength of film technology should be enhanced and high-quality development should be followed. Wei Pengju pointed out that the integration of culture and technology has been the general direction of industrial development in recent years, so investment and financing in technology tracks has become a new addition in film investment and financing events, which is in line with the general trend.

In addition, Wei Pengju further said that compared with cross-border capital, investment in content-based products is relatively risky, while participation in technical products such as film and television special effects and film and television technology can often bring more intuitive effect improvements and cost Control, the development of technology is relatively stable and predictable. Compared with content creation, it is not easily affected by audience tastes and market trends.

Change three: from direct investment to deep cultivation

For cross-border capital that wants to realize the "movie dream", can it bear the high risks of the film and television industry? Can the film and television industry provide a market size that can accommodate the capital entering the industry? There are still many questions to be answered. The

movie " A Dream of Red Mansions: A Good Match " has sparked heated discussions in the film market. In addition to discussing the content of the movie, it has also brought the affiliated companies behind it into the public eye.

Beijing Business Daily reporters found out that among the eight producers of the film, cross-border capital appeared. In addition to Fujian Xinghe Equity Investment Limited Partnership, which is mainly engaged in business services, another cross-border producer is Guoan Culture Media (Beijing) Co., Ltd. According to Tianyancha, the company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Guoan Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CITIC Guoan"). CITIC Guoan's business covers the comprehensive development and utilization of non-ferrous metals and salt lake resources.

In addition, CITIC Guoan was established in 2023 and is held by China CITIC Group Co., Ltd. with 31.6658% of the shares. However, the reporter noticed that the other eight CITIC Guoan shareholders other than China CITIC Group Co., Ltd. all showed that their shares were frozen.

Cross-border capital has entered the game. The cross-border producers included in "A Dream of Red Mansions" are just a sample of the film investment and financing market.

Wei Pengju pointed out that film is an industry with a relatively independent industrial chain and unique rules and operating models. Director Zhao Xia also pointed out, "At that time, most cross-border capital intervened at the capital level and lacked an in-depth understanding of the essential characteristics and operating rules of the film industry. Today's capital understands movies more and more."

In Zhao Xia’s view, cross-border capital’s understanding of the film industry has been deepening, and it is no longer limited to pure capital operations, but has extensively participated in the entire chain of the film industry, covering creation, production, distribution, screening and even derivatives development and other aspects. This change has also promoted the collaborative cooperation of all parties to jointly build a new ecological pattern for the film industry.

"The film investment and financing market as a whole has become stable and rational. In recent years, the number of investment and financing events in the film industry has shown a trend of rising first and then declining, and the amount of investment and financing has also shown a fluctuating decline, showing the market's favor for leading projects, and also It reflects a cautious attitude towards film investment risks," said Bai Wenxi, Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance.

Beijing Business Daily reporter Han Xinyuan

Picture source: Screenshot of Lighthouse Professional Edition