On the afternoon of June 16, 2014, Wang Changtian (third from left), chairman of Sunlight Media, and Wu Zheng, chairman of Sunshine Seven Star Entertainment Media Group, signed a contract to establish Shanghai Mingxing Film Co., Ltd.
Unlike other Chinese cultural companies "going out", Guangming tries to control all the right to speak. "Take "Scorpion Network" as an example. From the story concept, outline to the script modification, every step is completed within our subsidiaries. "On October 9, Wang Changtian, chairman of Enlight Media, said in an interview with The Paper ( www.thepaper.cn ) that Enlight hopes to reflect "Chinese elements" as much as possible in international projects. "Is completely filmed for Americans. In our opinion, as long as the collaborators have the same concept, not only can conflicts in the production stage be reduced, but also cultural conflicts between the audience and the work during the broadcast can be avoided."
Recently, Columbia Television (USA) CBS) announced that it has renewed the 9 episodes of "Scorpion" (Scorpion). In this way, the first season of "Scorpion Network", which is currently broadcast on the CBS TV network every Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, will expand from 13 episodes to 22 episodes.
First broadcast defeated "The Voice of
America " On September 22, local time in the United States, "Scorpion Network" was launched. According to the statistics of the US ratings survey website zap2it.com, the first episode has a viewership of 13.83 million people in the United States, with a rating of 3.2, compared with CBS last year. Compared with the same period, the show has brought back 66% of the viewership of CBS and increased the viewership rate by 22%, which is the best result of the first broadcast on the station in 3 years.
In addition, the first episode of "Scorpion Network" defeated the simultaneous episode of "Drifthead Valley" broadcast on Fox Television (FOX) and "Undead Forensic" broadcast on ABC, and also defeated the same period of CW Television Network. The "American Supermodel Contest", and NBC's "Voice of America" and other large-scale talent shows, ranked first among the four major television networks in the United States at 9 p.m.
Behind these data, it is worth noting that this is the first time that a TV series planned and produced by a Chinese film and television company has entered the prime position of American television networks and won the ratings championship. "Scorpion Network" (also translated into "Scorpio", "Scorpion Project", etc. in China) is produced by Perfect Storm. The company's 50% shares are the production of the show and the first episode director Lin Hebin and his team All, the other 50% of the shares are in the hands of Sunlight Pictures and Sunshine Seven Star Entertainment Media in the Shanghai New Group Star Film Company in June this year.
"Scorpion Network" is a test of the light to enter the international film and television market. "We have a clear positioning of the star film industry, which is to let it be based in Shanghai and produce high-quality film and television works for the international market. In the future, the star will cooperate with light or invest in international projects separately, and also shoulder the management and decision-making of these international projects. Mission." Wang Changtian said.
The play is based on the growing experience of Walter O'Brien, who is known as the "computer genius", but many plots have been artistically processed. O'Brien is 39 years old, an Irishman, and received a green card from the United States in 2001. He created a "Scorpion Computer Services" (Scorpion Computer Services) that makes long- and short-term plans for companies, and an online butler website, ConciergeUp.com.
"Scorpion Network" is a suspenseful drama about O'Brien summoning a group of highly intelligent talents, under the name "Scorpion", to help the US government solve a number of difficult problems.
Judging from the 3 episodes that have been broadcast, although the ratings of the second and third episodes have dropped slightly, the viewership population has stabilized at more than 11 million, and it is in the upper middle and upper reaches of the drama ratings of major television networks in the United States at the same time. level. The show received 7.3 points (10 points) on the film and television website IMDB. U.S. audiences commented on the show and praised the show. Most of the negative reviews focused on the lines and plot of the show. Some thought the plot was too jumpy and unreasonable, and some thought that "a group of geeks was daunting." It’s a headache to read the terminology of "Scorpion"." Chinese viewers can see it on domestic video websites, which are updated every Tuesday. Judging from the number of hits, "Scorpion Network" is far inferior to another new drama "Gotham."
Ray-like "internationalization"
However, the action scenes of "Scorpion Network" have been praised by most media and audiences, especially the first episode of Chasing the Car Bridge, which is regarded as a classic work dedicated by director Lin Yibin on the TV screen.
In fact, Lin Yibin was the biggest gimmick of the show before the show started. In 2013, "Fast and Furious 6" directed by Chinese-American director Lin Yibin earned a total global box office of US$788 million, ranking third in the global movie box office that year. The "Scorpion Network" is its latest work after "Super 6", so it has attracted the attention of the American media during the production stage.
According to Wang Changtian, Chairman of the Enlightenment, Seven Star Entertainment under Wu Zheng and Yang Lan had been in contact with Lin Yibin for a long time. After Seven Star and Enlightenment jointly formed Star Pictures, Wu Zheng also introduced Lin Yibin’s personal connections to Lin Yibin. Light.
Lin Yibin has directed the world’s most successful racing film "Fast and Furious" (parts 3 to 6), and is one of Hollywood’s most commercially valuable directors. His "Fast and Furious" series set a total of 23 100 million US dollars of global box office performance.
The cooperation with Lin Yibin is actually in line with Wang Changtian's concept of "internationalization" of light, that is, "not centered on concepts and strategies, but centered on projects and talents." In Wang Changtian’s view, it’s meaningless to talk about an international strategy. “Film is done on projects one by one. We focus on projects and people, find people with the best performance and the best spirit of cooperation, and cooperate with them. "Obviously, Lin Yibin has the above conditions.
In Wang Changtian’s plan, the perfect storm company that produces "Scorpion Network" will have two major future directions: TV series and movies. In terms of movies, the star company will also co-produce "3D Shaolin Temple" and the sci-fi action film "3D Shaolin Temple" with Lin Yibin's team. "Hibernation", and in terms of TV series, we are producing "Forbidden City", "Scorpion Network" is commissioned by CBS, and we charge the production fee and all the proportions of the future broadcast of the show in the world. These revenues are already very high." "Scorpion Network" has been and will be broadcast in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries. Wang Changtian is expected to earn hundreds of millions of dollars from the show.
"But now, if we used our own production and then sold it to American TV networks or online platforms, the revenue might be higher than it is now." Wang Changtian introduced that "Forbidden City" adopted this method, this "Qing Palace Opera." During the filming, Wang Changtian's goal is still to sell it to American TV stations or paid network platforms, such as Netflix, which broadcasts "House of Cards".
And the "international card" in Guangguang's hand is not only Lin Yibin. During the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 16 this year, during the launch of Star Pictures Co., Ltd., the first batch of projects were announced, except for Lin Yibin. In addition to the cooperation projects, it also includes the third film series "Between the Sea and the Sky" directed by the documentary master Jacques Behan. Wang Changtian introduced that Star Pictures has planned and matured four projects with Avi Arad, the former chairman of Marvel. "At least three films will start shooting in the first half of next year." He said, as the registration procedures of Star Pictures have not yet been completed, "Currently, we are adopting a mixed investment model of Light, Seven Stars, and Stars. In the future, it will gradually transition to "Light + Stars". "Investment model."
Wang Changtian revealed that for production companies like Perfect Storm, Star Pictures will invest in the establishment of at least five more. "This model is different from the internationalization strategy of many Chinese film and television companies. They tend to acquire Hollywood companies. This may bring about high purchase prices, difficult future business operations and management, cultural conflicts within the acquisition company, and many regional conflicts. "Because the light is in the form of dominant investment management, it can better control the so-called "values" issues. "We have the final say on themes and the like. Another point is that we have avoided capital premiums. There are only operating costs."
"We are just using mature talent market resources in Europe and the United States." Wang Changtian said, "Of course, we hope that the work can reflect Chinese concepts and elements as much as possible, but we don't force it. For example, "Scorpion Network" does not have many Chinese elements. Because as long as the collaborators have the same ideas, the cultural conflicts after the cooperation and broadcast will be minimized." From The Paper.cn
View more about Scorpion reviews
