2020-07-26

SHFTC Bails the Industry Out with Trump Cards

This afternoon, as one of the official activities of the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival, the Shanghai Hi-tech Films and Televisions City (SHFTC) Press Conference and Summit Forum was held in Songjiang District. At the conference, the 2.0 version of the "16 Policies of Songjiang " supportive policies and a batch of benchmark projects to be created were released, with the launch of exclusive financial products and quantitative analysis tools. With the implementation of a series of projects and initiatives, the construction and development of SHFTC are stepping from planning into reality.

2.0 Version of New Policies Bailing the Industry Out

SHFTC Press Conference Site

Hit by the COVID-19 epidemic, the domestic film and television industry chain has entered a period of profound adjustment. In this context, Songjiang District has made every effort to safeguard and boost the construction of SHFTC, by reinforcing the service for film and television enterprises, speeding up the introduction and landing of projects, and optimizing the business environment. In the first half of this year, 549 new films and television enterprises were introduced in Songjiang District, with a year-on-year growth of 124.08%.

During the Shanghai International Film Festival in June last year, Songjiang District issued the Overall Concept Plan of SHFTC and Several Policies of Songjiang District on Accelerating the Development of Film and Television Industry in SHFTC (hereinafter referred to as "Songjiang 16 Policies"), which received great concern from the industry. This year, Songjiang District has introduced the 2.0 version of the new supportive policies, further expanding the support range, relaxing the subsidy requirements and encouraging scientific and technological empowerment, such as augmenting the subsidy amount for major projects with gross investment of more than 20 million yuan from 5 million to 12 million yuan, and adding subsidies for intelligent film and television cloud platform and cutting-edge cloud services for film and television. The implementation of the new policies will also further assist the film and television enterprises settled in Songjiang District to live through the hard time, to boost industry\'s confidence in development.

Design Sketch of SHFTC

With the increasing influence of SHFTC, a batch of "one billion" or even "ten billion" projects have been started successively, such as Shanghai Film Park Phase II, Haopu Film and Television Base, and Huace Yangtze River Delta International Film and Television Center. At the press conference, another batch of benchmark projects with remarkable industry influence and prospective science and technology were collectively signed, such as STAR Variety Films and Televisions Research and Development Base and Tencent Yunqi Intelligent Films and Televisions Industry Base, which are all platform-level projects that have drawn much attention from the industry.

The inherent high risks and uncertainties of film and television products are key factors hindering the industrialization of the industry. In Hollywood, the industry provides protection for investors and producers by establishing a "film completion guarantee" model with professional film and television insurance companies as the core, including producers, distributors and banks. As an international financial center city, Shanghai shall make a difference in financial support for the film and television industry. At the press conference, Songjiang District Party Committee Publicity Department has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Pacific Insurance Shanghai Branch, to explore and establish an innovative business model for film completion guarantee, and to wield financial means to transfer the compensation risks caused by delay and over-budget in film production.

Scientific Quantification to Improve Decision-making Level

Construction Plan of SHFTC

Currently, the total amount of various film and television bases in Chian has exceeded a thousand, with different operating modes. The "key points" and "difficulties" that demand prompt solutions are how to objectively evaluate the development level of the film and television base, and to improve the industrialization, technicalization and modernization level of the film.

Therefore, Xinhua News Agency\'s China Economic Information Service has launched the Interim Report on the Competitiveness Index of China\'s Film Capital and the Research Report on the Benchmark Construction of SHFTC. The research group has investigated ten major film and television bases at home and abroad, aiming at establishing a multi-dimensional monitoring system for the regional film and television industry, which could present the all-round current development situation from the perspective of a third party, and provide decision-making reference for film and television industry managers and practitioners. The "Competitiveness Index of China\'s Film Capital" is released annually, the first phase of which is tentatively to be released in September 2020. After that, the prospective Index is planned to be released during the Shanghai International Film Festival every year.