Sino Silver Screen: Quarantine Short Film Fest, Historical Drama Disappoints, Bilibili Exceeds USD 10 Billion
This post comes courtesy of our content partners China Film Insider.
Art-house filmmakers create short movies about the lockdown experience
Greece's Thessaloniki International Film Festival recently commissioned eight Greek and 14 international directors to each produce a three-minute short movie about their individual lockdown experiences. Inspired by Georges Perec's book Species of Spaces, the project looked to capture the connected human experience through the mediums of art and film during the global pandemic. Chinese director Jia Zhangke contributed a black-and-white film titled Visit (pictured at top), which he created in one day on a cellphone. You can stream seven of the films, including Visit, here.
Read more on Mtime.
China's GDP contracted in Q1 2020. What does that mean for the film industry?
China’s economy shrank 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020, according to data released by the Chinese government on Apr 17. At the same time, IMF forecasted that the world’s output could shrink by approximately 3 percent this year, as the coronavirus continues to spread through the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world. Faced with such a momentous challenge ahead, WeChat account Yiqipaidianying posed several questions with regards to the Chinese film industry, such as, is it likely to bounce back in the remainder of 2020, and will we see more stimulus packages released later this year to help save the industry?
Read more on Yiqipaidianying.
Web film market experienced substantial growth during first business quarter
While China's film-making businesses have unequivocally suffered so far this year, online content providers experienced remarkable growth in the first business quarter on account of viewers turning to online streaming services during the coronavirus. According to data, the overall box office income grossed by all web films in Q1 amounted to over RMB 500 million. By comparison, the industry as a whole only grossed RMB 650 million throughout the entirety of 2018. Meanwhile, China’s three major streaming platforms – iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video – owned three of the top 10 highest-grossing web films.
Read more on Yulechanye.
Historical drama series "Serenade of Peaceful Joy" falls short of expectations
Following its hotly anticipated debut, the historical drama series Serenade of Peaceful Joy has received a veritable mixed-bag of reviews. Although the series features decent cinematography and set design, many derided the story’s slow tempo and lack of, well, drama. Historical drama series have largely disappeared from the market in recent years, but the genre is set to make a comeback in 2020, with a lot of new programming in the works. However, the mixed reception that Serenade of Peaceful Joy has been met with raises questions as to whether similar historical drama series will also fall short of expectations or if fans are simply just bored with what the genre has to offer.
Read more on Entertainment Capital.
How should the "Old Big Five" live-streaming platforms make a breakthrough?
Following the merger of ByteDance's short video app Huoshan with Douyin to counter the meteoric rise of rival Kuaishou, the traditional “big five” live streaming platforms – YY Stream, Douyu, Inke Live, Huya, and Momo Live – are now facing a fast-growing challenge posed by new players with strong financial backing. That threat seems doubly concerning when you consider that the growth rates of all of the "big five" are in decline, as outlined by each of their 2019 annual reports.
Read more Yiwanjia.
Why is Bilibili worth 10 billion dollars?
The video-sharing platform Bilibili, which is particularly popular with China's Generation Z, began as a small online station for young people to gather. As of Apr 17, however, Bilibili’s company value exceeded the USD 10 billion benchmark. So, what exactly are Bilibili’s strengths as compared with other Chinese online entertainment platforms, and does the company have what it takes to maintain its winning momentum? This report, compiled by Shunwei Capital, provides a comprehensive analysis of Bilibili’s business model and growth potentials.
Read more on Shunwei Capital.
READ: The Best Infectious Films and TV Shows for a Coronavirus Movie Marathon
Images courtesy of China Film Insider
