The total national movie box office in 2023 will reach 54.915 billion yuan, recovering to 85% of the total box office in 2019. The overall market has obvious signs of recovery. But what cannot be ignored is that while top blockbusters are raking in billions in box office, many movie theaters may earn meager income from one-day tours, including many well-received films.
"The movie box office feels 'rejuvenated', but in fact it is more concentrated." On January 18, the second phase of the industry was disclosed at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival·Venture Capital Training Camp (hereinafter referred to as "siff next") Yesterday, when screenwriter Zhang Jialu responded to China Business News' question about the success rate of venture capital projects, he talked about the current status of the industry, "We used to talk about the '28 effect', where 20% of movies earned 80% of the box office, but now it's 10%." 90%."
Zhang Jialu said that under such circumstances, investors are becoming more and more conservative, focusing most of their resources and funds on a small number of top films, so young creators will have a particularly hard time in the past two years. “Because they have very few opportunities for investors to see and trust them and let them do projects.”
The emergence of new talents and new works can bring a steady stream of motivation, but young filmmakers need to overcome many hurdles to enter the market and reach the center of the industry.
In 2019, the Shanghai International Film Festival launched the new talent incubation unit siff next. Different from film project venture capital, this unit focuses on new creators in the project, supports new film talents with development potential, and helps these newcomers enter the film industry through event design. In the industry, it provides a platform for them to complete their first and second feature films.
In early November last year, siff next opened the call for feature film projects to previous shortlisted students, and a total of 21 project applications were received. After passing the screening by the review committee, six groups of creators brought their latest feature film projects and teams to the Shanghai Film Academy of Shanghai University to participate in project development workshops and industry training activities from January 16th to 19th. Director Liu Jiayin, screenwriter Mei Feng, producer Shen Yang, and screenwriter Zhang Jialu served as training camp instructors, providing suggestions on these embryonic projects from the perspective of senior filmmakers.
After comprehensive consideration of the creative team and project feasibility, "Their Obstetrics and Gynecology" and "Duck Hill" won the "Best Training Camp Project". However, regardless of whether they receive honors or not, opportunities are equal for this group of young filmmakers, and this is just the starting point of a long road to creation.
Rich types
On January 18, the six selected project teams of "Their Obstetrics and Gynecology", "Night Train", "Duck Hill", "Guangde House", "Under Fourteen" and "Shanghai Daughters" conducted interviews with the media and industry guests. This is also an important communication before the project enters the industry. Before the debut, in response to the suggestions put forward by the four mentors, the creative team adjusted and corrected the display content and script ideas to allow the audience to better understand the theme of the work.
These six projects cover family, suspense, comedy, fantasy, crime, history and other genres. It can be seen that half of the works start from the female perspective, or concern the intertwined issues of childbearing and childbirth, family and medical care, such as "Their Obstetrics and Gynecology"; or start from juvenile crime cases, such as "The Future" which discusses parent-child relationships. Turning Fourteen"; or adapted from a true story, such as "Shanghai Daughter", a narrative experiment derived from the creator's own experience and memory.
's other three works include "Night Train", a suspense comedy that uses a Rashomon-style narrative as a framework to discuss the dilemma of human nature; "Duck Hill", which uses a surreal approach to express people and events in the creator's hometown; "Guangde Tower", which takes the perspective of changes in Peking Opera and cares about people's hearts in the changing times, is also quite interesting. Judging from the background of these creators, most of them come from well-known film schools at home and abroad, and have experience in shooting short films or participating in the creation of drama series.
It can be seen from the project statement that each story and the expression method planned by the creator are innovative to a certain extent. The total project budget is between 1 million and 6 million yuan, and the funds in place at this stage range from 0 to 2 million yuan. Each project has different requirements, including script diagnosis, finding investors, co-production partners, etc.
"Their Obstetrics and Gynecology", which finally won the "Best Training Camp Project", is a drama film that tends to focus on social topics, and "Duck Hill" is an art film about local memories and hometown scenery. The two films have great differences in subject matter and style. There is a big difference. Mei Feng told China Business News that there were not many differences or arguments among the review instructors about the winning of the two projects, and the results came out quickly. At this stage, the consensus among the producers, screenwriters and directors in the team is the most important. The stability of the script and the maturity of the production ideas are the main reasons for the final victory of these two projects.
In Shen Yang's view, the project is currently only being tested in stages. The scripts of some of the projects are very good, but the team does not have a unified understanding of the aesthetic direction and type of the project. How to proceed requires further thinking. . "If the core value of a company is the recognition of cultural values, then the core value of a film project is often the unity of aesthetic concepts, values, and worldview." The two works of
that won the "Best Training Camp Project" this year need to be completed this year Each will complete a short film related to the project in the first half of the year to qualify for the next Shanghai International Film Festival·Film Project Venture Capital. Happy Twist, D Plan, Tiangong Yicai, Yiyi Heguang and Qinglu Law Firm will provide two short films with 90,000 yuan in cash, shooting equipment, post-production sound production, film color correction and legal consulting services to help them complete the short films. Shoot.
"Duck Hill" director and screenwriter Miao Jina told China Business News that in the past two days, she and her team have been intensively involved in the short film production process, and have been negotiating with suitable creators such as producers, photographers, editors, etc., and plan to shoot in April , will be completed in May. Since the film has a three-part structure, they are considering using the money to shoot part of the feature film. "We want to make more attempts and explorations in the visual aspect of this project. If we can bring visual freshness through a short film, If you do it, it will be more helpful for finding investment in the future.”
Keep filming, live on
It is understood that the 2024 siff next will open student applications in February, and will openly solicit applications from three directions: young producers, directors, and screenwriters from Chinese-speaking regions, and select 20 people to participate in the Shanghai Film Festival. A series of activities. So far, siff next has recommended 80 young filmmakers to the industry and incubated 31 projects, 12 of which were shortlisted for venture capital investment in various film festivals, 5 have been completed, 3 have been shortlisted for international film festivals, and 1 is already in theaters Screened online.
In Mei Feng's view, mechanisms such as venture capital training camps or film project venture capital are very important for young creators. There have been films in the film market such as " over spring ", "under the sun" and " Excellent films such as "Spring River Plumbing" all come from project venture capital: "I first appeared alone in the form of a script. On such a platform, I slowly found my own team. With low cost and low budget, I found partners with common aesthetics. Based on my love for movies Consensus, mutual trust is established, and communication costs are low. This way of working must be efficient."
Liu Jiayin reminded young filmmakers to cherish the practical opportunities at school: "The cost of trial and error is low now, but you can use others later. If you try and make mistakes with your money, I’m afraid it’s a bit inappropriate. Venture capital is full of young people, and they are all rushing to create. It’s especially easy to find like-minded people.” Being a young filmmaker’s first film After their work is recognized and seen, they have the opportunity to create a new space in their career, which is exactly the path many new directors are taking today.
However, making movies has always been a challenging task. There are still only a few projects that can actually reach the end and be put into the market. Many projects are unsustainable due to external environment or their own reasons during the incubation process and die midway. "Not just for venture capital, but also for film companies, 30:1 (project success probability) is considered high." Zhang Jialu told China Business News, "If you can continue to do it, and finally make a film that can be released, and the sales are pretty good, then It’s really one in a hundred, or even one in a million."
How can a good project reach the end? Four senior filmmakers mentioned persistence, willpower and belief. At the same time, they did not deny the element of luck. "Effort is the basic need, and with a little luck, Also be in good health. "Zhang Jialu's advice to young filmmakers can be summed up in six words: keep shooting and live. "Do your best to keep shooting, and at the same time live. Don't make your (body) worse as you shoot, or your body will get worse. Disaster. "
Regarding this group of young filmmakers who are still in their infancy, Shen Yang talked from the perspective of a rational producer: "From now on, you have to start a long-lasting 'love' with the project. This process is very painful. , and it doesn’t mean that you have to walk all the way to the dark side, sometimes you have to be able to take it and let it go. "In the past two days, her biggest emotion is: "Movies are not your only thing, life is the most important. Your materials also come from life. Without life, there would be no real creative energy. ”
(image provided by Shanghai International Film Festival)
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