In 2021, Facebook announced that it will change its name to "Meta" (from the "Metaverse" Metaverse), and will take the development of the Metaverse as the company's future development focus. This move has propelled "metaverse" into one of the buzzwords since 2021.
The pace of the industry's expansion of the universe is becoming more and more urgent, and the film and television industry, which has always been closely integrated with technology, is naturally not far behind. Although Mango Super Media, Aofei Entertainment, etc. have already joined, considering that Metaverse is still in a market with insufficient competition, there is still a chance to get the upper hand by joining at this time.
Starting from the innovative exploration of content, Huayi Brothers began the layout of the metaverse. On May 23, Huayi Brothers reached a strategic cooperation with Huasheng Tiancheng, a digital integration service provider that provides one-stop innovative integration.
The two parties will jointly explore the creation of the first brand in the development and operation of the domestic film and television virtual world (cloud content), and apply this technology in public utilities. This cooperation also marks the first landing exploration of the integration of "culture + technology" at the level of domestic listed companies.
beachhead metaverse
It has become a consensus to build a digital China and develop the cultural industry. As one of the main manifestations of cultural change, film and television works have always been born in the form of media and changed with technological innovation . Now it is the turn of the film and television companies behind the film and television works to adapt to the changes brought about by the metaverse.
"Metaverse" can be regarded as a virtual reality system, which covers the network, hardware terminals and users, and can provide massive digital resources for virtual creation activities. This requires Huayi Brothers and other film and television companies to produce "good articles" on digital resources to link user needs.
Previously, film and television companies measured works based on "box office" and the income generated by the work IP itself, such as advertisements, copyrights, and derivatives. Behind these indicators is a struggle for the user's consumption time. If the content of the film and television work itself is of high quality, it is easy to attract users to pay.
Entering the metaverse era, in addition to the quality of the work itself, film and television companies have to change the creative mode of film and television works. Some professionals believe that the Metaverse environment, which is characterized by immersive interfaces, interactive behaviors, and self-organizing social structures, is more like a genetic transplant for games or social interaction.
Film and television works should also incorporate game or social genes into the content. In this way, users can use avatars to entertain and socialize in the Metaverse space, and even co-produce film and television dramas.
In the past, film and television works were the director's art and the director's self-centered expression, and the audience was only responsible for watching. Users can also participate in the film and television works integrated into the Metaverse as creators. Only in this way can film and television works have a way out in the future.
The strategic cooperation between Huayi Brothers and Huasheng Tiancheng this time is based on this.
According to the cooperation plan, the cooperation period is 5 years. On the one hand, the two parties will jointly build a digital virtual world and meet the needs of people in various scenarios corresponding to the real world.
For example, jointly develop IP content creation and digital derivative output that can be applied to AR/VR equipment terminals, create classic IP digital world linkage, classic IP secondary creation, and provide services such as e-commerce, social entertainment, and real estate in the digital world. and other assets and functions that can correspond to the real world.
In view of the fact that the new IP of the digital image is conducive to empowering other digital twin projects, it can provide customers with new publicity, marketing, business transactions, asset allocation and other scenarios, which has become the focus of future joint exploration by both parties.
On the other hand, digital technology will also be applied to Huayi Brothers' existing businesses such as film and television production, real-scene cultural tourism projects, etc., in order to innovate the front-end technology of content creation and reduce costs. The scenario-based experience of the travel project enriches the purpose of product types.
It is worth noting that the two parties will also focus on the development of public security and the upgrading of various industries, such as applying AR/VR technology to security center venues, interactive transformation of cultural and tourism projects, and historical blocks of enterprises to achieve digital interactive applications. The effect of the upgrade.
The confidence of Huayi Brothers The Metaverse has opened up new development space for film and television companies, but as Wang Ran of Yikai Capital said, users’ willingness and impulse to go to the Metaverse must first come from the content, not the medium.
Therefore, the layout of the film and television company in the metaverse is actually an innovative exploration around content, which can not only find new business growth points, but also facilitate the upgrading of the content industry.
And the content is exactly what Huayi Brothers, a veteran film and television company, is good at.
Huayi Brothers, as one of the first batch of private professional film and television companies, has participated in and witnessed the development of China's film and television industry since film was included in the concept of "cultural industry". In addition to creating film and television works such as "Tangshan Earthquake", "A World Without Thieves" and "Assembly", Huayi Brothers also played a key role in many important moments.
Huayi Brothers invested in and released "Party A and Party B" at the end of 1997 to create the concept of "Lunar New Year film" . Before that, there had never been a film shot for a specific period.
The film has been fully operated in accordance with the business model from the beginning of investment, and even Feng Xiaogang, the director, has adopted the method of participating in the remuneration. This risk-sharing model makes the commercial elements of the film more intense.
This period happened to be the period when the film industry system started a comprehensive reform and fully transitioned to the market economy. The final box office of "Party A and Party B" exceeded 36 million yuan, ranking ninth in the mainland box office that year. The business model created by the film also played a role in boosting the commercialization of Chinese films.
Huayi Brothers is the first film company listed in the A-share market, and is known as "China's first film and television entertainment stock" . On October 30, 2009, the first day of listing, the stock price rose by 148%.
At that time, the cultural industry had been elevated to the level of national strategy, and since the film industry was a capital-intensive industry, the most direct and effective way to promote its further development was to go public. Huayi Brothers used various investment and financing methods to allocate resources for listing, and it has also been used for reference by other film and television companies.
It can be said that the successful listing of Huayi Brothers has become a benchmark for securitization in the industry. After Huayi Brothers, Huace Film and Television and Guangguang Media have learned from each other and embarked on the road to listing one after another.
In addition, Huayi Brothers is also the first film and television company to explore international film cooperation. Since 1999, it has tried to make the Chinese film industry go international. "And many other films.
In the process, Huayi Brothers saw the charm of the film industry system and tried to acquire Hollywood companies. In addition, Huayi Brothers also aimed at copyright, and cooperated with some Hollywood film companies through a subsidiary established in the United States to carry out multiple film cooperation, insisting on "going overseas".
In live entertainment, Huayi Brothers is a staunch supporter. It is self-evident that live-action entertainment is important for film and television companies to realize the dream of "Chinese Disney".
As a person who has been deeply involved in the film and television industry, Huayi Brothers has explored a lot of innovations in content and form. With hundreds of proven and mature film and television IPs accumulated over the past 20 years and the ability to sustainably produce content, Huayi Brothers has the opportunity to become a leading content architect in the metaverse era.
And the innovation and exploration ability cultivated in the reform and change along the way will allow it to enter the new track and continue.
Digital Business Future In essence, Huayi Brothers' entry into the metaverse is a technological innovation exploration around content , and with the resources of dual-listed companies, the innovation height and economic benefits that "culture + technology" can achieve are worth looking forward to.
First of all, this cooperation is a breakthrough for Huayi Brothers' own innovative development and business logic.
According to data, Huayi Brothers' revenue at this stage includes Internet entertainment, brand licensing, live-action entertainment, and film and television entertainment. According to the 2021 annual report, film and television entertainment is still its main source of income, accounting for 88% of its revenue.
Film and television entertainment refers to film revenue, TV drama revenue, artist brokerage and related service revenue, movie theater screening revenue, etc. It is also the most traditional source of income for most domestic film and television companies. In other words, the revenue and stock price of film and television companies generally depend on whether the film and television works are "popular". This is also a "common problem" in the entire industry. The film and television industry is still in the "Matthew Effect" stage of top works and relies on explosive products.
Entering the metaverse may be an opportunity to change this extremely risky business model. Huayi Brothers' existing IP assets and future IP will have the opportunity to simultaneously supply the needs of viewing movies in the real world and the needs of digital assets in the digital world, and correspondingly obtain the diversified product benefits brought by digital technology.
Secondly, Metaverse is ultimately an exploration of technology, which means that in the future, not only Huayi Brothers' film and television IP will enter the digital redevelopment chain, but digital technology and cloud computing will also be integrated into the film and television production process. While improving production efficiency, prepare for the subsequent extension of digital development.
In other words, the Metaverse can bring down the cost of filming and diversify the income structure .
In addition, in recent years, the necessity of developing public safety undertakings has become increasingly prominent, which means that the market prospect of the public safety industry is broad. The cooperation between the two parties in this field has also opened up a growth point for the performance of listed companies.
In recent years, film and television companies have been struggling to survive. Obviously, this cooperation provides a direction for Chinese private professional film and television companies to save themselves and seek a breakthrough in adversity.
According to data from Huaxin Securities, the market size of Metaverse is expected to increase fromUS$87.9 billion in 2020 to US$6.39 trillion in 2030 (a compound growth rate of 55%) . Technology giants such as Meta, Tencent , and ByteDance, as well as film and television giants such as Disney have also joined the ranks of the Metaverse.
The future of the metaverse is inevitable, but it is still in the early stages of exploration. It is precisely because of this that in an insufficiently competitive market, the person who takes the lead is more likely to become the rule maker while earning profits.
References:
The Era of the Metaverse: Opportunities and Hesitation of the Film and Television Industry, including
Research on the capitalization process of China's film industry, Zhou Zijun
Author丨Yang Limin
Editor丨Liu Xiaoying
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