As dramas like "News Queen" continue to "break through the circle" in mainland China with their unique "Hong Kong flavor," the once-silent film and television industry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China has also been welcoming investment opportunities one after another.
The latest investment totals billions. Through a strategy called the Hong Kong Arts Revival Plan, Alibaba's Big Entertainment announced that it will engage in in-depth cooperation with the Hong Kong cultural and entertainment industry over the next five years, investing no less than 5 billion yuan (Hong Kong dollars, same below) in four areas: TV series, movies, performances, and the cultivation of young talent.
In contrast to the decline of the local film and television industry in recent years, this move has become a much-anticipated highlight at the recently opened 19th "Hong Kong Film and Entertainment Expo." "Developing new cooperation models and exploring business areas, nurturing outstanding film and television talents, enriching the content of Hong Kong's film and television industry, and producing more diverse excellent works," said Yang Runxiong, the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, as the guest of honor at the related press conference, highlighting the significance of this initiative.
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Many industry insiders generally believe that after more than a decade of exploring the "co-production drama" model, this cooperation can also be seen as the beginning of a new exploration of cooperation between the two regions. With more funds flowing into Hong Kong and exploring in-depth participation in the industry, it will not only be conducive to producing new popular TV series but also help Hong Kong play a more important role in international cultural exchanges.
From "co-production dramas" to "new Hong Kong dramas"
Watching TV for film and television programs used to be the most "affordable and good-looking" way to spread Hong Kong-style stories. For example, the spirit of "under the Lion Rock," which is often on the lips of Hong Kong people, and daily expressions such as "the most important thing for a family is to be together" and "the most important thing in life is to be happy," often originate from the story fragments depicted by film and television programs.
The origin of this phenomenon can actually be traced back to the 1970s: the local cultural industry was just emerging, and the assembly line had not yet taken shape. Driven by various reasons, the slightly "younger" film and television industry encouraged creators to experiment, resulting in a large number of popular works. Some of these have been popular in mainland China to this day, becoming the initial impression of Hong Kong-style culture for the post-80s and post-90s generations.
As a core driving force in this wave of Hong Kong film and television, TVB (Television Broadcasts Limited), which started broadcasting in 1967, once cultivated a large number of well-known film and television stars through models such as "artist training classes" and "Miss Hong Kong," such as Chow Yun-fat, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Andy Lau.
Entering the 1980s, the Hong Kong film and television industry ushered in its golden age. Seventy percent of the population in Hong Kong would sit in front of the TV every night. A series of beloved TV dramas by the people of Hong Kong, in addition to the plot and actors, also influenced the audience sitting on the sofa with their gender equality consciousness and values of good and evil.
On this basis, with the continuous advancement of industrialization, the local film and television industry in Hong Kong has also continuously selected well-known producers, directors, and screenwriters and other behind-the-scenes staff. Under the flourishing of a hundred flowers, Hong Kong's cultural soft power has gradually spread to Southeast Asia and even Japan and South Korea, forming a unique cultural wave.More importantly, the cultivation of the industrialization model of Hong Kong dramas and the way of spreading values are still the core selling points and competitive advantages when exploring "co-production dramas" with mainland capital. For example, many of the models and methods of the mainland film and television production industry in its early stages were introduced from Hong Kong. However, after entering the 21st century, in addition to British and American dramas, the film and television industry in mainland China has also gradually grown. In contrast, the Hong Kong film and television industry, which has developed for decades, has begun to enter a slightly quiet period. Constrained by a series of factors such as self-containedness, a small market and lack of competition, the industry lacks stamina, and a large number of stereotyped and monotonous works have been produced for many years, gradually making the audience lose interest. Under the constraints of the "one-sided dominance" of the local market in Hong Kong, in addition to the slightly outdated content model mentioned above, the shooting of related film and television dramas also mostly adopts the studio model, and the costumes and props are reused, so that "familiar people and familiar faces, constantly wearing the same clothes". The huge audience market in the mainland has allowed TVB, which hopes to get out of the predicament, to gradually explore new possibilities. This cooperation was initially carried out in the form of co-production with mainland TV stations, such as "Years of Wind and Cloud" and "Star Journey" on the tenth anniversary of the return of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. However, these works are sporadic and the response is relatively poor. The gradual rise of video websites has allowed TVB to find a new breakthrough. In 2013, Youku and TVB reached a strategic cooperation and exclusively obtained all the genuine copyrights of the latter. On this basis, starting from 2014 and 2015, "With TVB and mainland video websites co-producing dramas, equipment has been updated, the picture has been improved, and many viewers have regained their old love." An analyst in the Hong Kong film and television industry once pointed out. In his view: After decades of development of related industries in Hong Kong, some film and television dramas have been created in a factory-like way. Gradually, they only focus on efficiency and speed and ignore content and quality (called "quality" in the mainland). On the contrary, the shooting of co-production dramas adopts a "film-like" method, with pursuit on the picture and changed production process. As the cooperation model continues to deepen, the "mainland funds, Hong Kong production" approach has gradually become popular, and shooting co-production dramas has become a new trend in Hong Kong film and television dramas. Relevant actors also like to develop in the north and explore the huge market opportunities in the mainland. The co-production model has also enabled related industries in Hong Kong to explore new models. In 2022, the concept of "New Hong Kong Drama" was proposed; in March 2023, Youku and TVB signed a relevant customized drama cooperation framework agreement, which clearly stated that both parties will give full play to their respective advantages and seek synergy. According to the agreement, during the contract period, TVB will provide Youku platform with a number of purchased dramas, simultaneous broadcast dramas and inventory dramas. Taking the popular drama "News Queen" as an example, from the early planning stage, the video platform has been helping the production team to conduct user portraits, aiming to improve the accuracy of its shooting. Avoid the dilemma that audiences in both places did not buy it in the past. Its success has also strengthened the confidence of the relevant cooperation team, so that the cooperation has entered a new stage. "Youku has cooperated with Hong Kong film and television production companies since 2013. Hong Kong dramas have an efficient and standard production process, professional and pragmatic screenwriters, directors, and actors, and can accurately understand the changes in the aesthetic tastes of young audiences today," said Xie Ying, vice president of Youku.Taking "The News Queen" as an example, according to Xie Ying's analysis: Youku's Hong Kong drama theater covers users from the post-1960s to the post-2000s, with post-1990s and post-2000s accounting for more than 60%. After the broadcast of "The News Queen," the female user base increased by 10 percentage points, and the post-2000s user base increased by 12 percentage points, "which means that Hong Kong dramas can actually break through to a new generation."
Starting with 5 billion
Based on more than ten years of cooperation between Youku and TVB, Alibaba's latest "Hong Kong Art Revival Plan" outlines a more macro framework for related cooperation models. For instance, in terms of partners, it includes seasoned Hong Kong production companies such as TVB, Shaw Brothers, Media Asia, Roadshow Entertainment, and One Cool Film Production.
"This plan hopes to create new industrial growth points by strengthening exchanges between the two regions, leveraging the advantages of Hong Kong's cultural and entertainment industry. It aims to provide a stage for newcomers, produce 'good scripts', build 'good teams', and cultivate 'good talents,'" said Fan Lu Yuan, Chairman and CEO of Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group.
Regarding the most concerned issue of how the 5 billion yuan will be specifically invested, Li Jie, President of Alibaba Pictures, said: "It will be based on the specific cooperation plans with partners, but mainly it will be invested in copyright purchases, drama acquisitions, film investments, performance investments, venue construction, and talent training. 'What the Hong Kong cultural and entertainment industry needs most is confidence. We will not only fulfill our commitments, but more importantly, we believe that the Hong Kong cultural and entertainment industry will definitely be revitalized.'"
A person from Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group also responded to a journalist from Caijing magazine, saying: "The total amount of funds was summarized from the bottom up, 'Originally, we hoped to cooperate more with all aspects of the Hong Kong film and television industry, and after calculating, the actual needs for funds in various places are real. Subsequently, they will be implemented one after another.'"
For the Hong Kong local market, which is limited by its small market size, the role of the relevant market-oriented capital injection still needs to be observed, but all parties' reactions are positive.
"Alibaba's investment plan this time is purely a corporate action, not driven by the government, reflecting that mainland enterprises are optimistic about Hong Kong's unique position. Compared with the mainland, Hong Kong has always had a higher degree of freedom in creation, which is an advantage of Hong Kong," a person from the relevant industry in Hong Kong pointed out.
"The Hong Kong Art Revival Plan can bring more funds and market development opportunities to the local cultural and entertainment industry; for the mainland, Hong Kong dramas and films still have unique advantages in terms of brand and integration with the overseas market. If used well, it will help the mainland industry 'go global'. Hong Kong's integration into national development, the Hong Kong Art Revival Plan is an attempt at deep cooperation between the two regions' industries, and it is also an opportunity for Hong Kong to revitalize its popular culture's soft power," a Hong Kong newspaper analyzed in its editorial.
In practice, with the development and advancement of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the clearer role positioning of Hong Kong by the country, Hong Kong has also been actively expanding its cooperation with the mainland in recent years. For example, the "Creative Hong Kong" project under the jurisdiction of relevant departments has had close exchanges with Alibaba's Digital Media and Entertainment Group, actively promoting cooperation space. "As a deep cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland's cultural and entertainment industries, the Hong Kong Art Revival Plan can also be considered within this framework.""Hong Kong's film and television industry has experienced a period of decline, mainly due to the small market size; even if everyone buys a ticket, there are only 7 million people. With fewer resources, creativity and scriptwriting will be affected. With this new (5 billion) investment, the entire industry can do more, encourage young people to participate, and make companies willing to produce films. This should be a reason for everyone to move forward further," said Zhong Shujia, the executive producer of "News Queen."
Yang Runxiong also expressed in the aforementioned speech, "We eagerly look forward to Alibaba Group's collaboration with the Hong Kong film and television industry to develop new cooperation models and explore business areas, to cultivate outstanding talents together, enrich the content of Hong Kong's film and television industry, produce more diverse excellent works, and make Hong Kong's film and entertainment industry reach new heights on the international stage."