Keynote Forum of Internet Summit Discusses the New Mission of Internet Audiovisual Industry

On the afternoon of June 8, the keynote forum of the 2021 Shanghai International Film & Television Festival Internet Summit was held in Putuo District, Shanghai with theme of "Build the Dream of a Century and Compose a New Chapter Together-The New Mission of Internet Audiovisual Industry". This forum, through in-depth discussions, enhanced awareness of quality products, and consolidated industry consensus, aims to promote the high-quality development of the Internet audiovisual industry with big vision, a big pattern, and big data. 

Luo Jianhui, Vice President of China Netcasting Services Association, Zhu Yannan, Director of the Development Research Center of National Radio and Television Administration, Ji Hongwei, President of China Radio & Film Press, Xiao Dangrong, Deputy Director of National Radio and Television Administration, Wang Yayuan, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Deputy Director of Shanghai SASAC, Luo Yi, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism and Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Radio and Television, Hao Bingquan, Member of the Standing Committee and Director of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Putuo District Committee of the Communist Party of China, Wang Jue, Deputy Head of Shanghai Putuo District, Shanghai, Zhang Yong, Deputy Head of Putuo District, and other leaders and guests attended the event.

In addition to the release of authoritative reports such as "China's New Audiovisual Media Development Report (2021)", "2020 Online Original Program Development Analysis Report" and "China Online Quality Video Research Report (2021)", industry leaders from online platforms and film and television production sector and outstanding creators gathered for a "round table dialogue", where everyone analyzed the industry trend, shared creation experience, and provided a series of very constructive insights.

Internet audiovisual industry is promising,And Shanghai has its own characteristics

In his speech, Luo Jianhui, Vice President of China Netcasting Services Association, introduced the current rapid expansion of the Internet audiovisual industry in terms of scale, strength and influence, and affirmed Shanghai's Internet audiovisual industry's courage to innovate, present highlights, and demonstrate the characteristics of the city's spirit. It is hoped that through the discussion at this summit, the entire industry will further deepen its ideological understanding and bravely assume its historical mission.

Luo Yi, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism and Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Radio and Television, introduced Shanghai's active policies and achievements in stimulating the vitality of the Internet audiovisual industry in recent years. He mentioned that last year, Shanghai's Internet audiovisual industry as a whole showed the characteristics of strong leading enterprises in the vertical field, high output of high-quality film and television content, and an overall upward industry trend.

In his speech, Wang Yayuan, Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, and Deputy Director of Shanghai SASAC, encouraged the entire industry to strengthen the awareness of quality products and launch more high-quality, powerful, and warm popular works and hot products to make greater contributions to the Internet audiovisual prosperity and pay tribute to the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China with outstanding achievements.

"The boom of mainstream content"

Provides a great opportunity to improve the online content pattern

In the past year, from celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China to celebrating the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, from focusing on the nation’s fight against the epidemic to driving poverty alleviation, more and more online content has followed major historic moments and mainstream themes, while bringing about influential and reputed realistic masterpieces.

Zhang Lina, Vice President and Chief Editor of Youku, Alibaba Culture and Entertainment Group, mentioned that for such masterpieces as "THE AGE OF AWAKENING", "MEDAL OF THE REPUBLIC", "GLORY AND DREAMS", "REFINEMENT OF FAITH” and other masterpieces that pay tribute to the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the platforms can participate in the early stage and broadcast in the later stage, and can assume social responsibility, enhance social influence and achieve a lot. "For the platform, the excellent creative team used the time and energy invested to create good works, which has increased the confidence and determination of the entire market. We have invested in "THE AGE OF AWAKENING", and "MEDAL OF THE REPUBLIC", and also participated in production of the latter. And we have been well honed in this way. Another example is documentary. Youku went to the front line to shoot and produce the anti-epidemic documentary "SPRING WILL COME", which has won wide praise. Youku, originally purchasing copyright only, has also been involved in the early stage. Our team has grown along the way, and the sense of responsibility of the times has also been highlighted."

Qishu Youyu is a content production agency that has been engaged in the mainstream online movies many times. From the first online movie "DONKEY ON THE TREE" about poverty alleviation presented in September 2019, to "CRAZY DADDY" focusing on rural education, and to "CHINESE FLYING MAN" telling the story of a young man’s struggle in Beijing, it grows steadily all the way. Dong Guanjie, Founder and CEO of Qishu Youyu, has a lot of feelings: "Beginning in 2019, a series of policies for the field of online movies have been issued, which has greatly promoted the quality of the entire industry and limited the volume. After exploring several plays, we believe that now the post-95s and post-00s young users are very fond of positive-energy themes that reflect the current real life. "Fortunately, the commercial rewards of high-quality online content are also remarkable. According to Dong Guanjie, "DONKEY ON THE TREE", which cost about 5 million yuan, has received a profit of about 15 million yuan; the "CHINESE FLYING MAN", which costs about 8 to 9 million yuan, currently has achieved nearly 30 million yuan in revenue.

At the forum, well-known directors, Vice Chairman of the TV Drama Director Committee of China Federation of Radio and Television Associations, Legal Person and General Manager of Pengrui Film, taking the recent work "GLORY AND DREAMS" as an example, further shared the experience of the creation of major theme works. Liu Jiang stated that under the premise of ensuring accuracy, the narrative should be based on the principle of the story, and the material that conforms to the law of the story should be selected in the vast ocean of history and reality. It is necessary to highlight "people, poems, details, and conflicts." "In this way can we ensure the richness and increase the reduction degree.

Chang Bin, Head of Tianji Studio, Tencent Online Video, Film and Television Content Production Department, believes: “Major time nodes are a great opportunity for online content to improve quality and increase supply. Now users are accepting and demanding content of this type of subject matter increasingly. This will also have a positive incentive effect on platforms. On the one hand, it will recognize the needs of the public and on the other hand, it will strengthen the cooperation with relevant content agencies."

When the ratio of watching dramas at 2x speed has doubled,

To make "exquisite" content is still the biggest challenge

In recent years, the forum frequency and market attention of the Internet Summit of the Shanghai International Film & Television Festival have increased, and the emerging Internet film and television industry regards it as an important annual event. The famous director and executive producer Mao Weining, who participated in the Internet Summit for the first time, is very optimistic about the future of online content. He believes: "Today the interactive relationship between viewers and creators is developing very rapidly, and the revolution brought by hardware far exceeds our previous experience. Now audiences have the ability and conditions to get the information they want instantly, and quickly interact with creators through screen message, and comments, and we are required to create richer and higher-quality content."

At the keynote forum, the guests reached a broad consensus on "Internet users have higher requirements for high-quality content". Chang Bin shared a set of data: "In the past year, the proportion of watching TV shows at 2x speed has increased by 100%. What does it mean? Is it because users are getting impatient? I think the most fundamental thing is that there are not enough good works. This is the biggest challenge."

Dong Guanjie made a supplementary explanation: "Different users have different needs for content. Young users born in the post-95s and post-00s era, who grew up in the Internet era, are more likely to be attracted by impressive high-concept, fast-paced, strong plot, and thick-concentrated content. At the same time, they are more independent, which will make more ideological, valuable and resonant realistic themes really leave a mark in their hearts. This requires new content companies to fully consider the needs of users at different levels, and creators must continue to improve the ability of storytelling to enhance both the attractiveness of the work and the mental influence.” He also mentioned such a change, the user’s aesthetic tendency is gradually shifting from the relatively suspended fantasy and magic themes to the realistic creation of emotional and social types.

Zhang Lina regards the user’s consumer behavior feedback as an empowerment to the platform: “The ‘AGE OF AWAKENING’ has been broadcast since the beginning of this year, and it has been almost half a year. It is also frequently searched. Hot search is the position of young users, who will express and spread in the way they like. Their recognition and praise of ‘THE ‘AGE OF AWAKENING’ is also an encouragement and an empowerment for us."

Han Qing, Editor-in-chief of Dragonfly FM, believes: "We must present all excellent content, whether it is idealistic or romantic. Especially realistic works, they have very strong vitality."

Over the years, the Internet audiovisual industry has stuck to its ideological position, boosted innovation and excellence, and transformed from rapid growth to high-quality development. On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the Internet audiovisual industry will further deepen its ideological understanding, unswervingly promote innovation and creation, and improve with better products and services the people's sense of happiness and fulfillment through the exchange effect of the keynote forum of the Internet Summit, making greater contributions to the prosperity and development of online audiovisual.