On June 24, Tencent’s annual drama launch conference was held during the Shanghai TV Festival.

For video platforms, this year is a year of recovery after the epidemic, and all kinds of large-scale investment dramas continue to advance; similarly, the audience's requirements are getting higher and higher. Compared with a few years ago, only the IP and traffic actors were considered. Whether the actors participated, quality has gradually become the only criterion for blockbusters. Under the impact of micro-short dramas and short videos, long video platforms are no longer in an era where they can sit back and relax with big IPs and copyrights. The audience has more and more entertainment options to choose from. In order to retain the hearts of the audience, long video platforms urgently need to readjust their views on the audience. Adjust the strategic layout, big IP + strong creative team + high-quality creation, all three are indispensable. Only in this way can it be possible to impress the audience, from "Fanghua" to "Celebrating Yu Nian 2" and "The Story of Roses".

“Good content is made, not bought”

At the press conference, Tencent Vice President Sun Zhonghuai admitted that changes in the audience and the industry have triggered changes and reforms within Tencent Video, which will have an important impact on Tencent's future long-video business.

First, Tencent has made adjustments to its understanding of the drama business. "How many dramas do we need to broadcast in a year? How do we set up a project? How do we evaluate the success of a work?" Sun Zhonghuai said that these three questions guided the team's self-examination. After working on long videos for so long, Tencent seems to have finally returned to the starting point and truly focused on the drama itself.

Sun Zhonghuai admitted that Tencent used to think that buying more and broadcasting more would satisfy current user needs, but in fact, what the audience wants is quality, so Tencent will subjectively reduce the number of dramas and improve the quality. Internally, Tencent used to evaluate projects mainly based on their economic benefits and whether they can make money, but now it has changed to a binary evaluation: "We no longer just look at the money, but also the artistic achievements of the work and the industry and audience reputation."

Secondly, how to set up a project is not only of concern to production companies, but also to the audience. He said, "In the past, we had a short discussion time for each project, and we could discuss more than ten or twenty projects in a three-hour meeting." But now, Tencent's internal project setting has changed significantly, with more discussions on the compatibility of scripts and main creators, and each project will be fully examined, and more project resources will be obtained than before. It can be seen that from project establishment to broadcast standards, Tencent is trying to pay more attention to the audience's feelings rather than internal self-entertainment.

In response to these changes in perception, Tencent has changed its producer system. Sun Zhonghuai introduced that Tencent will adopt a producer rotation system to stimulate vitality. At the same time, the income of producers will be determined by the quality of the works they are responsible for in the industry, rather than a one-time deal, which ensures the team's "hunger for good content."

In the transformation, it is worth noting the relationship with partners, that is, the major production companies. With the basic saturation of users, the long video model basically relies on the membership model and advertising to guarantee income. For production companies, selling the film to the platform was equivalent to "success". Sun Zhonghuai believes that this b2b model has problems, "It seems that after signing the contract, the risk is transferred", which also leads to the uneven quality of TV series, which depends entirely on conscience and luck.

Currently, Tencent has changed to face the audience together with the production company, and the total price of the project is determined by the broadcast effect. For the production company, this means sharing risks, and improving quality is related to its own interests. Sun Zhonghuai also said that the corresponding profit-sharing mechanism can allow truly excellent and professional production teams to make money, and unprofessional teams that do not respect the audience will be screened out.

In this change, Tencent has always maintained a confrontational cooperative relationship with production companies. "We will not be superstitious about the experience of a hit, or superstitious about any team. The final criterion is whether the series is liked by the audience."

He concluded that this is a change towards a 2C model, that is, the creative team changes from being responsible only to the platform to being responsible to the audience, which is utilized in the industry to "good money drives out bad money" and "excellent long-term contributors can also make the threshold for TV dramas higher."

Wang Juan, who is currently in charge of Tencent's online video business, said that in terms of the current trend of long-form video business, the top hits show a "goblet effect", and the concentration of dramas in the market in terms of reputation, popularity and commercial value is getting higher and higher. A big hit will absorb almost all the market's popularity, with a very strong head effect, and even benefit everything extended from the IP, such as the current consumer goods market and the joint name of popular dramas.

Wang Juan

It is worth mentioning that Wang Juan mentioned that in content creation, "it is better to take risks than to be boring." Despite the "goblet effect," the platform cannot only have super-head platforms. The middle space is becoming more and more crowded. "The audience watches the drama and social platforms for a few minutes, and if there is no discussion or enthusiasm, they seem to stop watching." This is indeed the current situation faced by many domestic dramas.

Wang Juan said that at the project evaluation meeting, they would ask the creative team, if it cannot become a hit, what is the uniqueness of this drama at least? If not, why should the audience spend their time to watch this drama? Even if the audience has watched the first few episodes, what is the reason to continue watching and spend money to watch it? These questions are very real for the current long video market and hit the pain points directly.

For this reason, Tencent also gave the idea of "one drama, one style". For example, the x theater, bench unit, and firefly unit are all mid-level solutions other than blockbuster movies. The two well-received works "Under the Bustling City" and "A Happy Affair in the Boudoir" come from them. Wang Juan revealed that compared with the layout of the traditional platform track, these theaters "prefer to have nothing rather than something bad". They have to watch all the dramas before deciding whether to enter, so there is no fixed production. It is reported that the restart of the x theater this year may have to wait until the end of the year.

Wang Juan concluded that the development cycles of several hits aired last year were very long at Tencent. "The Joy of Life series took 6 years to develop, The Three-Body Problem took 7 years, Blossom Land took more than 5 years, and The Legend of Phoenix took 6 years." She believes that this means that long-term investment will bring high returns. For high-quality dramas, Tencent will focus on investment to ensure capital investment and long-term development rhythm. In addition, she also pointed out that "good content is made, not bought", and Tencent will insist on giving creators more room to try, increase participation, and move towards a co-creation model.

Notable undefined short series

Wang Juan introduced that Tencent's drama layout in the next year will be divided into five chapters, namely about ordinary people's life, growth and emotions, suspenseful criminal investigation, ancient costumes, and undefined.

The "undefined" short drama section is the most worthy of attention. Although the subject matter is difficult to classify, the creative team is strong.

The official announcement of "The Beginning of Humanity" directed by Li Lu and written by Chen Yu was made on the spot. Starring Zhang Ruoyun, Ma Sichun and Wang Jingchun, the series tells the story of an orphan Gao Feng and a rich girl Wu Feifei who are obsessed with finding their biological parents. Through a car crash, they discovered the secret of their life experiences. The two went from confrontation to alliance, and finally brought justice that had been hidden for twenty years to fruition.

Poster of "The Beginning of Man"

Wang Baoqiang, who has been away from the TV drama circle for 12 years, starred in the TV series "The Chess Player", starring Wang Baoqiang, Chen Minghao, Li Naiwen, Li Meng and others. The play tells the story of an ordinary Go teacher Cui Ye who, under the pressure of life and reality, gradually uses his professional talent to embark on the road of crime and gradually loses control. He has a policeman brother Cui Wei. It is a black humor crime story of the two brothers drifting further and further away on the black and white roads.

Poster of "Chess Player"

"Sun and Stars", the first Chinese-language suspense drama to be broadcast simultaneously with Netflix in China, will soon meet the audience. The series stars William Chan and Liu Yase. The trailer is full of texture, as if returning to the golden age of Hong Kong films.

"The Mermaid", created by the "The Three-Body Problem" team, is also worth looking forward to. The series is adapted from Remy's novel of the same name. It revolves around a missing girl case and tells the good and evil, sorrow and joy of several families in the 1990s. The trailer shows shocking school bullying and explores realistic topics such as campus growth and family.

In addition, this part also includes "Twelve Letters" produced by Han Sanping, starring Zhou Yiran and Wang Yinglu, focusing on the stories of young people in small towns; the criminal investigation drama "The Endless End" supervised by the Supreme People's Procuratorate's Procuratorate Office, focusing on minors, starring Ren Suxi, Liu Lin, and Gao Weiguang, etc.

Emotion and growth, those sequels are coming

In the mainstream narrative section, Wang Juan focused on the upcoming drama "Girls' School in the Mountains", which is adapted from Zhang Guimei's life story. In the trailer played on site, the original appearance of the heroine Song Jia is no longer recognizable. Director Fei Zhenxiang has devoted himself to this project for more than two years, visiting the school in the mountains again and again to communicate with teachers and classmates. Most of the female students in this drama are amateurs, and they join the group after a period of training. Wang Juan mentioned that when the producer of this drama, Li Xing, talked about his communication with Zhang Guimei and the original intention of making this drama, many people present had tears in their eyes.

Poster of "Girls' School in the Mountains"

In addition, the trailer of "Lychees in Chang'an" was also played on the spot. This drama is adapted from Ma Boyong's novel of the same name, starring Lei Jiayin and Yue Yunpeng, showing the scenery of Lingnan. It is also a major drama that has attracted much attention in the past two years. Wang Juan said that the drama will meet the audience in 2025.

Poster of "Lychees in Chang'an"

Still in preparation is "The Magnolia Blossoms, Come Back", based on the legendary life of Dong Zhujun, the founder of Shanghai Jinjiang Hotel. Currently, the play is confirmed to be directed by female director Yang Yang.

Directed by Zang Xichuan and directed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the anti-Japanese war drama "Return to the Team" was also officially announced.

In the emotional and growth chapter that Tencent is good at, the upcoming "Six Sisters" is worth paying attention to. The series is written by Yi Bei, who has written life dramas such as "Xiao Min's Home", "Mature Years" and "Little Days", and starred by Mei Ting, Lu Yi, Wu Junmei, Xi Meijuan, Wu Qian, Liu Jun and others.

Six Sisters poster

By the way, Yi Shu's story is coming again. Her novel "Single Woman" will be adapted, with Qin Wen as the screenwriter, Zhang Xiaobo as the director, and Tang Yan and Zhao Youting as the leading actors.

Poster of "A Single Woman"

The drama "When I Wake Up", adapted from Ding Mo's "When I Am Guilty", will also be broadcast soon, starring Jing Tian and Zhang Xincheng.

Another special one is the drama "On Stage Now", which is adapted from the variety show "The Heart-Stirring Offer" and is produced by Cheng Liang and starred by Hu Xianxu, Zhou Yiran and He Landou.

The trailer of "Worthy of Love" directed by Han Yan and starring Wang Anyu and Wang Yuwen was also played on the spot. The understanding and interpretation of emotions are quite different from previous idol dramas, with a strong sense of realism, and it may be a dark horse.

In addition, several sequels of popular dramas have been officially announced, which fans have been waiting for a long time. "The Hunting Crime 2" has started cooperation with Tencent, and the original team is creating it; "Longing 2" and "Douluo Dalu 2" are about to join the summer season battlefield; the second part of the high-scoring drama "Beginning" "Beginning" is being prepared by Noon Sunshine; "The Story of Minglan" sister series "Fragrant Story" and "Legend of the Magpie Sword Gate 2" starring Zhao Benshan have also been continued for audiences who love comedy.

"Long Sang Si 2" set to release

An interesting drama that takes an unusual approach

There are a few TV shows that look interesting, you might want to check them out.

"Her Way of Survival", starring Dou Jingtong and Wang Chuanjun, is known as an "atypical urban drama". It tells the story of retired boxer Liu Yan and decadent lawyer Lu Tianchi, and their counterattacks in the fields of "boxing" and "catering". A trailer for the series has been released.

The director of "The Annual Meeting Cannot Stop", Dong Runnian, created the first talk show TV series in China, "The Courage to Not Be Praised", starring Li Gengxi, Wei Daxun, and Wang Hao. From the trailer, we can not only see the migrant worker literature that Dong Runnian is good at, but also see many talk show acquaintances.

Poster of "Unwelcome Courage"

In addition, Tencent will work with Zhao Benshan's team to create the Republican comedy "Taking Office", starring Zhao Benshan and Wang Xiaoli. This is another Benshan-style film worth looking forward to after "The Legend of Que Dao Men".

Poster of "Taking Office"

There are too many dramas, so I won’t waste any more time. Here are the menus↓↓