IP Localization Model Promises New Opportunities for Chinese Producers
"Importing IP allows our teams to learn from the experience and production processes of other countries," said Zhou Yanou.
The trend of bringing in well-established overseas IPs to produce a localized Chinese version is still one of the main content production models in the Chinese market.
A panel of industry experts discussed this rapidly growing film and TV content model in China at the Magnolia TV Forum during the 2016 Shanghai International Film and TV Festival on June 8.
Zhou Yanou, director of international business at Croton Media, explained the company looks at two aspects when introducing overseas IP for localization.
"The first thing we look at is whether the original and creative story is in line with Chinese values. It also must have had high ratings and good reviews in multiple countries," he told the forum.
"The next is whether the IP has a \'bible\' and if the original production team can provide an all-around consultation service for the entire Chinese production and marketing of the TV series,” Zhou said.
Hou Li, deputy secretary of China Association of Social, Economic and Cultural Exchange, emphasized the most important aspect when working on overseas productions is to prioritize the Chinese market.
Zeng Gang, vice-president of SynaCast Media, said that as Chinese companies know the market better,“what we need is for the IP project to become more suitable for the Chinese market after a certain time."
With the current scripted format model, there are new opportunities for exporting Chinese productions and series.
"Importing IP allows our teams to learn from the experience and production processes of other countries. They can then tell the good Chinese stories to the world," Zhou said.
Exporting Chinese TV series poses certain difficulties linked to production values and the levels of recognition of Chinese actors, but the scripted format and its \'bible\' is providing a potential new channel, Zhou added.
"The first step to exporting Chinese IP is to have the production values and stories that strike a chord with viewers in other markets," said Zeng.