news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

The full text has 2116 words and takes about 5 minutes to read.

"Compared with the past, the most obvious change in the film investment and financing market in 2024 is the diversification of capital structure and the refinement of investment strategy."

Beijing Business Daily reporter丨Han Xinyuan

The summer season has entered the sprint period before the finale. As of 10:00 on August 19, the total box office of the 2024 summer season reached 10.2 billion yuan. As the movie-watching craze emerges, film capital is warming up while also showing new trends of change. On the one hand, capital pays more attention to the exploration of niche areas in the selection of film projects and no longer blindly pursues large-scale production. On the other hand, capital also shows a strong interest in film technology companies with innovative capabilities.

In addition, as cross-border capital's understanding of the film industry continues to deepen, cross-border investment is no longer limited to simple capital operations, but is widely involved in the entire chain of the film industry, using a more cautious and rational approach to jointly build a new ecological pattern for the industry through collaborative cooperation with all parties.

Change 1: Invest in “small” rather than “big”

Beijing Business Daily reporters have noticed that the word "fineness" has become a keyword for listed film companies in the investment market in recent times. Wanda Film mentioned "fine management and innovative models" in its financial report, Bona Film Group also mentioned "fine operation" in its financial report, and China Film said on its investor relations platform that "fine management will be used to promote cost reduction and efficiency improvement."

"Compared with the past, the most obvious change in the film investment and financing market in 2024 is the diversification of capital structure and the refinement of investment strategy." Yuan Shuai, executive vice president of the Agricultural, Cultural and Tourism Industry Revitalization Research Institute of the China Academy of Urban Development, said that specifically, the upgrading of audience demand has prompted the development of film content towards high quality and diversification, which in turn has promoted investment and financing to projects with innovative capabilities and content advantages.

According to the data from Lighthouse Professional Edition, there will be 52 films with box office revenue exceeding 100 million yuan in 2024, of which 21 films have more than 20 affiliated companies, the movie "Reverse Life" has 46 affiliated companies, and the movie "Twinkle, Twinkle Star" has 51 affiliated companies.

Wei Pengju, dean of the Institute of Cultural Economics at the Central University of Finance and Economics, pointed out that the film industry is showing a new trend of one party controlling multiple productions. Through the multi-party production approach, resources can be effectively integrated, but it also shows from the side that capital is concerned about the uncertainty of investment returns in the industry, so it focuses on investment diversification and risk control.

"After gradually bidding farewell to rapid growth, the film industry has entered a stock stage that focuses on internal growth. Capital is more focused on exploring niche areas when choosing film projects, and is no longer blindly pursuing large-scale production. Changes in data confirm that the market is becoming more rational," said investment analyst Gao Jia.

Change 2: Favoring technology-based enterprises

A Beijing Business Daily reporter found that among the seven investment and financing events in the film industry this year, two events focused on film technology companies such as film and television special effects production.

Specifically, Mojing Tianhe Wuxi Digital Image Technology Co., Ltd. completed its A+ round of financing, and the investor was Beijing Dengfeng International Cultural Communication Co., Ltd., which is actually controlled by Wu Jing. The former was established in 2007 and has participated in the visual effects production of films such as "The Wandering Earth", "The Lone Moon", and "Detective Chinatown 3", while Beijing Dengfeng International Cultural Communication Co., Ltd. served as the producer of more than 20 films such as "The Wandering Earth", "Changjin Lake", and "Stop and Go". Another investment came from cross-border capital. Guangzhou Yingdong Vision Technology Co., Ltd. completed its angel round of financing with a financing amount of tens of millions of yuan, led by Guangzhou Nansha Zhongying Xingchen Venture Capital Fund Partnership.

Correspondingly, at the policy level, the National Film Administration's "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Chinese Films" points out that it is necessary to enhance the film's technological strength and take the path of high-quality development. Wei Pengju pointed out that the integration of culture and technology has been the general direction of industrial development in recent years, so it is in line with the general trend that investment and financing in technology tracks has become a new addition to film investment and financing events.

In addition, Wei Pengju further mentioned that compared with cross-border capital, the investment risk of content products is relatively high, while participation in technical products such as film and television special effects and film and television technology can often bring more intuitive effect improvement and cost control. The development of technology is relatively stable and predictable, and compared with content creation, it is not easily affected by audience tastes and market trends.

Change 3: Cross-border capital tends to be rational

For cross-border capital that wants to realize its "movie dream", can it bear the high risks of the film and television industry? Can the film and television industry provide a market volume that can accommodate the capital entering the market? There are still many questions to be answered.

The movie "A Dream of Red Mansions Part Two" has sparked heated discussions in the film market. In addition to discussions about the content of the movie, it has also brought the affiliated companies behind it into the public eye.

Beijing Business Daily reporters found that among the eight producers of the film, there was a cross-border capital figure. In addition to Fujian Xinghe Equity Investment Limited Partnership, which is mainly engaged in business services, another cross-border producer is Guoan Culture Media (Beijing) Co., Ltd. According to Tianyancha, the company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Guoan Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CITIC Guoan"), and CITIC Guoan's business covers the comprehensive development and utilization of non-ferrous metals and salt lake resources.

In addition, CITIC Guoan was established in 2023 and is held by China CITIC Group Corporation Limited with a shareholding of 31.6658%. However, the reporter noticed that the other eight CITIC Guoan shareholders besides China CITIC Group Corporation Limited all showed equity freezing.

With the entry of cross-border capital, the cross-border producers included in "A Dream of Red Mansions: Part One" are just a sample of the film investment and financing market.

Wei Pengju pointed out that the film industry is a relatively independent industry with unique rules and operating models. Director Zhao Xia also pointed out that "at that time, cross-border capital mostly intervened at the capital level and lacked in-depth understanding of the essential characteristics and operating rules of the film industry. Now capital understands movies more and more."

In Zhao Xia's view, cross-border capital has a deeper understanding of the film industry and is no longer limited to simple capital operations, but has widely participated in the entire chain of the film industry, covering creation, production, distribution, screening and even derivative product development. This change has also promoted the collaboration of all parties to jointly build a new ecological pattern for the film industry.

"The overall film investment and financing market has become more stable and rational. In recent years, the number of investment and financing events in the film industry has shown a trend of first rising and then falling, and the amount of investment and financing has also fluctuated downward, showing the market's favor for leading projects, while also reflecting a cautious attitude towards film investment risks." said Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance.

Editor: Wang Naixin

Images丨Lighthouse Professional Edition screenshots, Sina Weibo screenshots, Tianyancha screenshots, Yitu.com, Visual China