Author: Amy Wang, problem: Figure worm creativity.
“Aunt” was announced on the 29th of the year when the theater line was withdrawn, and then it was announced that it was sold to Toutiao for free Internet screening. Many media have written about this in detail, but I I want to express my personal opinion simply and directly, focusing on the long-term impact this event will have on the entire content industry.
Netflix has provoked Hollywood repeatedly, and their battle has always been on the table. It is worth noting that although the battle between streaming media and traditional theaters has been ebb and flow, it has been continuous. The core of the battle is the right to speak and distribute in the film content. Because streaming media and movie studios enjoy absolute leadership in their respective fields, no one will accept anyone in the short term and no one can do without it.
Conversely, the so-called “movie industry revolution” initiated by Happy Media and Byte Beat to take “Aunt” does not have any transformative significance. This is just a defection within a cinema movie, and a marketing strategy for the temporarily leading short video company.
Auntie is free on the Internet. Not only is it not a change, it is not even a declaration of war. Because Huanxi and Xu Zheng’s right to speak are not enough to reconcile with either side of the short video or the influence of the theater. The extreme disparity of power, of course, cannot be regarded as a declaration of war. The term “praying arm as a car” is used to describe this move.
This is just the commercial self-rescue of Huanxi Media, Xu Yan, Hengdian Film and Television under sudden force majeure. This decision can help these cinema filmmakers and companies avoid box office losses that are less than expected, avoid the uncertainty of re-ranking and marketing breaks, and avoid the pressure on cash flow caused by too long billing periods.
The recent results of the “Aunt” courtyard transfer can be seen. Judging from the current public opinion, Xu Yan, “Aunt” and the general public have been forgiven for trumps everything for free, and the headline has been praised for the gimmick “Ask people to watch movies for free”.
The good result is that the word-of-mouth of “Aunt” declined, but Huanxi Media retired and the stock price skyrocketed. After the release of the authorization cooperation of Huanxi and BYTE, Huanxi seized Hong Kong stocks in the last half of the 24th trading day. The stock price rose by 43.07%, and the market value rose rapidly by HK $ 1.86 billion.
Huanxi Media previously authorized the guaranteed distribution rights of “Aunt” to Hengdian Pictures for a total of 2.4 billion yuan at the box office. Through this transaction, Huanxi Media will obtain a guaranteed income of not less than 600 million yuan in advance. However, from the pre-sale situation, there is a big gap between “Aunt” and “Tang Tan 3”, and even “Gang Ziya” can not be done. The outside world is generally not optimistic that it can reach the initial estimated 2.4 billion guarantee. According to the Daily Economic News, the announcement issued by Huanxi Media stated that the production cost of “Aunt” was 217 million yuan. Even if one or two hundred million yuan was added to the publicity expenses, the cooperation with Byte Beat was stable pay.
In addition to copyright income, Xu Ye, as a shareholder of Happy Media, will also enjoy the huge benefits brought by the rising stock price, which may even exceed the copyright income itself. From the proportion of shareholders announced by Huanxi, it can be seen that Xu Yan personally holds the same number of shares as Dongxi Ping’s owner Dong Ping and is the main beneficiary.
Another benefit is that the withdrawal of Auntie from the theater also relieved the other six films in the Spring Festival. Because once the pneumonia situation improves, the movie theater reopens, these films miss the best schedule, and the schedule will become more severe. A major adversary transfers the network, just like the release of resources, and the cinema box office can be divided up. Of course, this is also a theoretical situation, and the total amount of movie viewing is not certain.
The short-term bad results are also obvious. The theater resisted and criticized on a large scale. Although Xu Yan won the favor of ordinary audiences, he became the “public enemy of the industry” with joy. In fact, the theater ’s opposition is well understood. Although for other films, it has reduced competitors, but the theater invested a lot of publicity resources, and ultimately lost a film that started at 1 billion box office. The film is likely not to exceed 10.
Second, the free business model hurts the vigor of paying. Cinema’s biggest enemy should have been long video streaming, but the case of Auntie brought the cinema and long video streaming to the same front. This time it was not only the movie theater, but also the long video streaming media represented by Aiyouteng. Many observers believe that Aiyouteng’s actions in this emergency are missing or delayed, and it is not necessary to be preempted by bytes.
For video websites, it is not new to spend a high amount of copyright on the solo rights of cinema movies. In 2017-2018, when the copyright costs were high, the video site bought the movie ’s solo rights at the box office. The fee is about 10%. The money spent on the copyright of new media throughout the year is not known how many times the byte beats this time. Only then has a single million-member market and payment habits been cultivated.
Byte Beat spends 630 million bindings to rejoice. In fact, it is to tell the industry that it has entered the long video field. In the future, it will need thousands or even tens of thousands of “aunts” to continue to occupy a place in the long video market. It’s easier said than done.
As for “Aunt” to be screened on the headline platform, Zeng Maojun, president of Wanda Films, the main prosecutor of “Chinatown Detective 3”, said that “Tang Detective 3” will land on the theater first. “Cinema movies are going to be on cinemas, unless they are big movies on the Internet.”
Fortunately, some people have not forgotten the big movies on the Internet. The To C model of single point of payment is the correct way to combine the Internet and movies. Aiyou Teng is not stupid. People have burned money for years to pick up the market that does not eat in the theater. Isn’t it a smooth transition? No one would choose a single hammer purchase order for a “Aunt”, destroying all To C’s paid business models and moviesHouse relationship.
The best place to watch movies on the Internet for a single point of payment must be long video sites, not vibrato and watermelons. The industry trend will not change due to “Aunt” in a special period. However, the free of “Aunt” made the habits of paying nationals shake again. It is simply a reversal of the industry. It is estimated that the three Aiyouteng scolded their mothers behind.
There are several issues to explore:
1. Word-of-mouth problems of “Aunt” under small screen playback
A cinema production with superior visual effects music, played on a small screen, is not only a reduction in the dimension of the team behind the scenes, but also a dimension of the film. I personally watched the premiere at Emperor IMAX, and I still had a good impression of “Aunt” under immersive viewing, but the first time I watched it on a TV screen, the viewing experience was greatly reduced, it was difficult to immerse in it, and I began to feel that the film lengthy.
If “Aunt Mom” is released on the theater, will the Douban score be higher or lower than 6 points? I believe this question is also what Xu Yan wants to know most.
2. The theater’s resistance should not be supported
My personal opinion is supportive. When people’s wealth is like killing parents, this principle has remained unchanged forever. The first choice of “Aunt” is the theater line, and a large amount of publicity resources are also spent on the theater line. Compared to the theater line’s own investment in publicity resources and box office losses, this matter indicates that the majesty of Chinese cinemas has already Falling into the altar symbolizes that in the future, as long as the Internet company has the money, it can be said that the solo broadcast will be the sole broadcast. Large chain theaters can not be afraid, but a large number of small and medium theaters will be like scared birds without sense of security.
3. The difference between free and nonprofit
Free is definitely not the same as doing public good. Byte Beat and Xu Yan intentionally confuse this concept in open channels. This was a multi-faceted good business practice. It had to be expressed by marketing such as “Inviting people to watch movies across the country,” which was a little bit stinky. Free is a commercial term, and it is not free behind it. Otherwise, why should the pre-roll advertisement of “Hai Lan House” be shown to the audience? Public welfare is a social concept, and the major content parties and copyright owners donate new media for dramas. Copyright, so that viewers can watch entertainment content for free during the quarantine period, which is a public welfare act.
4. This model is not sustainable
A case, not sustainable. The outbreak of the epidemic led to the disappearance of the Spring Festival stalls. This is the industry black swan incident.