SIFFORUM｜Film Cooperation in Yangtze River Delta: Seek Coordinated Development and Foster Respective Strength

The Yangtze River Delta region has abundant cultural resources of film and television and is also one of the main base of China's film and television industry. In 2019, the Yangtze River Delta Film Distribution and Screening Alliance was launched and successfully established a comprehensive cooperation framework for Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. This year's Belt and Road Film Week entered the Yangtze River Delta for the first time, allowing more audiences to feel the charm of film art of the Shanghai International Film Festival at their doorsteps. In the past two years, there have been numerous results of similar cooperation. At the Yangtze River Delta Film Cooperation Forum held this afternoon, representatives of film and television companies from the Yangtze River Delta region exchanged experiences, visioned to the future, and provided suggestions for the in-depth coaction of films in the Yangtze River Delta.

Great waves sweeping away sand, and seize the post-epidemic opportunities

Last year, under the influence of the epidemic, cinemas across the country were closed for six months, which brought unprecedented challenges and tests to the domestic film market. In the face of difficulties, cinemas in the Yangtze River Delta region actively carried out self-rescue. In 2020, the Yangtze River Delta’s cumulative movie box office reached 5.2 billion yuan, accounting for a quarter of the country’s box office, and it has become one of the regional markets where China’s film industry is recovering strongly.

Speaking of this unforgettable experience, Fu Haifang, the general manager of Zhejiang Xingguang Film and Television Co., Ltd., the general manager of Zhejiang Xingguang Cinema Co., Ltd., and the vice chairman and secretary-general of the Zhejiang Film Screening Association believe that the rapid recovery of the Yangtze River Delta market is first attributed to Chinese filmmakers who were united and determined, positive and optimistic. "At that time, the online and offline atmosphere were very lively. Everyone cheered each other and gave us a lot of confidence." In addition, the timely implementation of prevention and control measures, the policy support of government departments, and the theaters’ proactive self-rescue was also indispensable, and it also prompted "the audience to enter the familiar theaters safely." He especially extended thanks to those film parties who were willing to have their films screened during the special period.

Huang Bin, deputy general manager of Omnijoi Film and Television Culture Group and general manager of Jiangsu Omnijoi Cinema Development Co., Ltd., said that the "crisis" brought about by the epidemic has strengthened everyone's long-term confidence in the film market. He revealed that despite the impact of the epidemic, some cinemas in Jiangsu Province did close their doors, but at the same time, the total number of cinemas in Jiangsu Province has maintained a growth trend in 2020. “There were probably more than 930 cinemas before the epidemic in 2019. By the end of 2020, this number has exceeded 1,000. Everyone is optimistic about the entire market in a long-term perspective, and the development of the film market is also a positive trend."

Wang Huan, CEO of Vista China and Vice President of Shanghai Film Distribution and Exhibition Association, described the changes brought about by the epidemic to the entire industry as " Great waves sweeping away sand". Nonstandard operators have poured in, when there was a high demand for investment years ago, and when the demands slows down, those who stand by are all heroic.” Wang Huan said that in the post-epidemic era, they will focus more on investment in the Chinese film market. "We said that three or four years ago, when capital flocked in, the 10 yuan we invested was equivalent to 1 yuan now, and our current investment may be 10 times as effective as before. I believe these heroes and long-termism participants will be able to make this industry more prosperous."

Zheng Kaiyan, secretary of the Party committee, chairman and general manager of Ningbo Film Co., Ltd., said that the epidemic has made filmmakers in the Yangtze River Delta understand and cherish unity, and has accelerated the in-depth cooperation in the film industry in the Yangtze River Delta. "In responding to this crisis, Shanghai has played a leading role, actively sharing experience and information, which has benefited us a lot."

Unified mechanism to tap market diversity

From the joint fight against the impact of the epidemic to the Belt and Road Film Week screening cooperation, the film cooperation in Yangtze River Delta has explored some successful experiences and models, but in terms of unified mechanism and market segmentation, there is still a lot of space and potential to be tapped. In this regard, Xia Chunren, director of the China Film Distribution and Screening Association, put forward two suggestions: first, establish a coordination mechanism as soon as possible, especially in the face of major public events, to exchange information, share experience, and make unified decisions in a timely manner; second, to build the Yangtze River Delta region film resource sharing platform to form an integrated industry cluster. He said that the three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta each have unique film and television resources and industrial advantages, and these differences and diversity should be fully utilized.

Zhang Jianglin, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors and Executive Chairman of Suzhou Motion Picture Association, also agreed with his idea. For example, the Shanghai Opera film "The Special Heaver" has won a good box office performance in the Yangtze River Delta. "For similar opera movies, animated movies, children's movies, to promote in theaters by industry and category are of great potential and market. The next step we have to discuss is how to integrate resources, allocate them rationally, and promote better."

Zheng Kaiyan expressed her vision for film cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta with "cherish one's own strength; and also appreciate the strength of others for common prosperity." She said that Ningbo is a city with a profound film culture and unique features. "Ningbo, facing the mountains and the sea, the scenery is very beautiful. The modern city and the traditional streets echo each other. These have brought a lot of scene options to the film and television crew. You only need to take the script and provide your needs, and we will serve you in an all-round manner."

Huang Bin mentioned that Jiangsu's geographical and demographic advantages provide huge market space for cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta. He said that Jiangsu has a large population base, “won the national box office champion successively in early years”, and the proportion of young people with a high degree of education is also quite high. “They are energetic and willing to consume, and they are the main force in the film market.” With the acceleration of urbanization, Jiangsu is also vigorously promoting township theaters. “At present, there are over 1,000 theaters in the province, and more than 30% are in towns, and almost all townships like Suzhou have theaters, and some townships have even higher box office than cities."

Wang Huan said that the Yangtze River Delta has the best quality movie-watching soil and the most enthusiastic movie-watchers, and it should make a breakthrough in the differentiation of theater operations. He said that many international theaters no longer treat movie screening as a single business model. "They discuss more about selling products, such as how to engage in catering services, sales of derivatives, and other diversified operations. "

Looking to the future to build a talent training system

Fu Haifang said that after years of rapid development in the film industry in the Yangtze River Delta, there is still a shortage of professional and systematic talents. He believes that professional talents are capable of "doing what at hand well and fine", "this is the same as producing watches, if the parts cannot be made, it is still in vain." And the training of systemic talents needs a broader perspective. "If we just absorb Western experience blindly, there will be unaccustomedness. We need comprehensive and systematic talents to clarify in-depth the theory of how Chinese films become bigger and stronger." He also mentioned that the training of systematic talents must include project development, marketing, innovative models, and high-tech, etc.

Zhang Jianglin also shared Suzhou's experience in talent training in the animation industry. He called on the film and television industry in the Yangtze River Delta to establish a unified standard as soon as possible to encourage the rational flow of talents and prevent unfair and vicious competition.

Zheng Kaiyan said that in the current film talent training system, the training of professional market management talents is still weak. "Now with the Internet, there is no need for so-called marketing promotion. Everyone only pays attention to the scores on platforms. Actually, I don’t think this is good. I think the Internet is just a channel and a platform, not a substitute to other marketing promotion." She said that future market management talents must have innovative vision and ability.

Wang Huan enlarged his perspective to the broader international market. He said that with the persistence and deepening of reform and opening up, more and more overseas film and television companies are opening offices in China and we should seize this opportunity. "I think this is a very good opportunity. The stable domestic policy soil and the developed cultural economy in the Yangtze River Delta region are still very attractive to international talents."