＂Rabbit Violence＂ has attracted attention. What happened to director China’s collective promotion of new people
Special feature of 1905 film network After four days of release, the box office exceeded 20 million, and the real-time prediction of related platforms is expected to reach 40 million, which is the achievement achieved so far from the young director support program of the China Film Directors Association called the "Green Project".
Among the 25 young directors selected in the past five sessions of the Onion Project, 15 films have been made, and 5 films including "Rabbit Violence" have been presented to the audience. It can be said that it is one of the most efficient new director plans in China at present.
But at the same time, we will also have a question. At present, Rabbit Violence, which has the highest box office, has 20 million, while Over the Spring, which has a high reputation, has a total box office of only 10 million. And there have been several billion new directors in the market. Under such circumstances, why do we need these new director support programs?
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When talking about what kind of directors Shallot is planning to find for China films, Sun Yang, the producer of Under the Sun, said, "I don’t think so. You can’t say that the talents you must ask Shallot to find are, must be, and. In fact, the person was the last person to look at. For example, at that time, the person who signed up for the green project could not be so good — — It is more important to see the potential of a future. "
Liang Ming, the director who filmed "Under the Sun", was selected as one of the top five directors of the Third Green Project in 2018 with this project. After the film was completed, it was shown in several international film festivals and was released in China in November 2020. It took two years from selection to release.
Compared with other venture capital activities in the mainland, the speed of the Green Onion Program to support young directors is quite fast, and compared with the previous two sessions, it seems to the outside world that young directors have completed their own projects more smoothly.
The chairman of the Green Onion Project believes that this is an inevitable trend from market development to brand building. At the beginning of the Green Onion Project, the industry still held a wait-and-see attitude towards young directors.
Since the first green onion plan launched in 2015, the market has indeed experienced a change from indifference to new directors to venture capital and new director plans. And the shallot project, which has entered the sixth session, has always held a good hand — — This plan initiated by China Film Directors Association is equivalent to gathering the collective strength of directors in China to tap new talents for the industry.
Jia Zhangke,,, and other directors have all held the post of chairman, and the evaluation instructors include directors and producers of,,,,, and so on. It is the best industry resource to help the new director complete his feature film debut.
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Most of the young directors selected for the Green Onion Project have relevant film and television education background and certain professional experience, and this phenomenon has become more and more obvious in recent years. However, unlike other venture capitalists, after five years’ development, the Shallot Project pays more attention to training, and the selected directors will go through several months’ mentor training before choosing the final five.
We are also very curious, why do these young directors with certain experience need training?
"All of our training courses are facing actual combat." Chairman Wang Hongwei explained, "Facing the front line of creation, facing the current environment and market. Maybe college education can’t keep up with the market and the environment so fast. Then our training as this industry must not be divorced from the market and the environment. "
Many reports have also talked about the training mode of the Shallot Project, which is a series of training from creation to distribution. But what is more important is obviously the further support for their creation after the selection of the top five directors. Sun Yang, the producer, told us that the reward mode of the Onion Project now is to put the bonus into the crew account after the crew is established, so as to ensure that the funds can be used as film investment, and at the same time, the funds for the director’s reward have become the director’s share in the film.
However, only 1 million funds are not enough to support the operation of a crew. The project selected for the Green Onion Project may not be the more commercial theme favored by the market, so Xiaodong Hou, the chief producer of the Green Onion Project, is also helping the project with financing. For example, negotiate with companies such as Ali and Wanda, give these companies priority investment rights and jointly support young directors.
An industry veteran revealed that every year, Xiaodong Hou would go to major companies to introduce projects related to the Green Onion Project, hoping to promote cooperation and jointly launch a new director.
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However, when the project is filmed and put on the market, it will have the commodity attribute. The market is more looking forward to the commercial performance of these films. Wang Hongwei has been thinking about the arrival rate of these films. He mentioned that the Sixth Shallot Plan, which has already started, is working hard to improve the arrival rate and the influence on the audience and the market in terms of selecting projects and training directors.
In Sun Yang’s view, the success of the Shallot Project is to make directors recognized in the industry. "This goal may be different from that of the Pure Art Film Festival. We still have to consolidate the market, consolidate the team of young directors, and update the market, genre and film awareness. "
"Rabbit Violence may be expected to reach more than 40 million, which is a good state. I think the box office is really not the first important thing for these young directors. "
"Including our" Under the Sun ",although from the market point of view, it didn’t get a very explosive harvest, but the director Liang Ming actually gained more because he was recognized in the industry and won some related awards. I think these are enough things."
Sun Yang’s remarks have indeed been confirmed by other directors. For example, Liang Ming, Bai Xue and other directors’ next works are already in preparation. Chen Shizhong, who was selected as one of the top five directors of the 5th Green Project, has not started shooting his own selected project, The Wild Romance, but he has been recognized by the industry. His new film, Finding Her, is invested by Wanda and Dongshen, starring in it, which is also a very good opportunity for the new director.
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Compared with other domestic venture capital and new director support programs, the biggest feature of the Green Onion Program is that there is no related film festival to form a closed-loop system. But in Wang Hongwei’s view, this just gives directors more freedom.
Wang Hongwei said that once the support plan has formed a closed loop, it may not be a healthy phenomenon, and it may be the best choice for the director to complete the final inspection of the works more openly facing the market. "Our annual plan will last for about four months, which is actually beyond the span of any film festival. And if it is based on a certain film festival, then it feels like it has become a relatively closed system. "
When the works are handed over to the market, they are faced with the consideration of real money and silver. When "Over Spring" was released, the producer and director of the film once asked whether the Shallot Project could continue to travel with the film for a period of time in the film’s announcement stage.
However, Wang Hongwei also admitted that the strength of China Film Directors Association is not enough to cover the stage of publicity and development, and the industry association is not a publicity and development company, and more can only rely on the strength of the big coffee industry to complete the follow-up work.
"The box office is not ideal. There are reasons why the content of the film itself is relatively small, and some of them are really unable to keep up with the announcement of these low-cost films. Then, in the current market environment, Xuanfa has become a thing that needs real money to do, so it will be relatively difficult. This is also a new director. If it is said that after shooting a film that is actually professionally qualified or even better, then the problem faced at the export end. "
For example, "Rabbit Violence", which was produced by the producer, cooperated with Cat’s Eye in the release stage, and became the best-selling film in the box office. "Over Spring" has been escorted by Wanda. Looking at the film of the current green onion project, the one who is photographed is likely to become a little dark horse.
This film, which was selected for the 4th Green Project, starred by Yao Chen,, and so on, can be called the best combination of personal expression and commercialization pursued by the current Green Project, and it has been finished. And, as a producer, was selected for the fifth shallot program, which was officially launched in July this year.
Talking about the future development direction of the Green Onion Project, Wang Hongwei said that even if the reaction in the market is weak, I hope that the industry can see the ideas, concepts and the ability to shoot feature films of this group of young directors: "Our goal is not only to push a film, but more importantly, a group of directors can become such a generation that can take over in the future China films, especially in the mainstream film market."