Tencent Pictures announces 43 projects at its annual press conference

As part of Tencent's pan-entertainment culture ecosystem, Tencent Pictures was established on September 17^th, 2015 and has been holding its annual conference on its birthday ever since.

"The film and television business has played an important role in Tencent's strategy for the cultural and creative sectors," said Mr. Ren Yuxin, the COO of the Tencent Group and Chairman of Tencent Pictures, during the opening speech. "Tencent will make long term and systematic investments in film and television businesses."

"Tencent Pictures is a culture ecosystem based on a pan-entertainment strategy. It is an open content platform that's focused on high quality film and television production," said Edward Cheng, VP of Tencent Group and CEO of Tencent Pictures, at the annualpress conference.

Mr. Tang Yibin, VP of Tencent Group and Director of the Tencent Pictures, also expressed Tencent's intention to cultivate young talent. He said Tencent aims to patiently identify and develop new blood in the industry.

Tencent Pictures is the main movie production body of the Tencent Group. While movie production is at its core, its business goes beyond that. The 43 projects announced at the annual press conference cover movies, TV series and online series, as well as pan-entertainment projects based on IP collaboration. Building valuable IP is critical to the pan-entertainment culture ecosystem, and so Tencent Pictures closely cooperates with its publishing and comic and animation businesses as well as other partners and players in the pan-entertainment fields.

Tencent is committed to developing multiple projects in order to further develop IP. For example, while the movie and TV series IP of Qin Yu Nian is owned by Tencent Pictures, it chose to work with New Classics Media to develop the TV series. For Shanghai Fortress, written by the famous writer Jiang Nan, Tencent Pictures chose to develop the TV series as well as the movie together with Jiang Nan. After announcing itself as the lead producer of the TV series for the legendary IP The Tibet Code, Tencent Pictures announced the co-production of the movie with the same IP. As for the highly popular cartoon series Xi Xing Ji (which means West Bound Legend), Tencent Pictures is exploring the development of the IP in multiple spheres with Tencent Games and Haina Pictures.

Famous celebrities were gathered to witness the event. They included famous actors and actresses such as Ge You, Zhang Guoli, Wu Gang, Huang Lei, Xia Yu, Chen He, Zhang Ruoyun, Wang Qian, Song Yang, Wu Gang, and Huo Siyan, famous directors and screen writers such as Huang Jianxin, You Xiaogang, Er Dongsheng, Lu Chuan, Niu Chengze, Gao Xixi, Su Zhaobin, Gu Xiaobai, David S. Goyer, celebrities such as Wang Zhonglie, Yu Dong, Cao Huayi, You jianming, Tao Kun, Wang Xiaohui, Su Mang, Hu Haiquan, Li Na, Jiang San, and writer Jiang Nan.

Mr. Ren Yuxin: film and television are the most vivid platforms for cultural presentation, Tencent will make more systematic and long term investments

Ren Yuxin said in the opening speech: "Two years ago, we all witnessed the birth of Tencent Pictures. After two years of exploration and implementation, and in cooperation with Tencent Video and Penguin Pictures, Tencent recognized that film and television are the most vivid platforms for cultural presentation, and will play an important role in Tencent's culture and creative strategy. Tencent will make more systematic and long term investments in film and television businesses."

"Tencent, as a technology and culture company with deep roots in Internet, will not only leverage technology to connect people and improve their quality of living, but also tell a good story about China and bring life to Chinese traditions and culture through developing our culture and creative presence."

Five years ago, Tencent Internet Entertainment pioneered in the industry to raise the concept of pan-entertainment. Mr. Ren said, based on its pan-entertainment strategy, Tencent has made in-depth and systematic investments in the culture and creative businesses. "We have built our leadership positions in games, literature, comics and animation, and E-Sports, and have developed our own systematic approaches to interpret culture to our audience, that is, all business under our pan-entertainment strategy will create more synergies and co-existence based on IP development. "

"Among the movie and TV series produced by Tencent Pictures, 60% are based on IP in literature, comics and animation, and this is just the start of the co-existence relationship", said Mr. Ren Yuxin.

Ren believes that the popular culture content like movies and TV series will play an important role if China wants to have its say in the global culture and creative market.

Tencent will always be open minded in its in-depth and long term collaborations with all partners. Movies and TV series will bring us a brighter future in the culture and creative space if we all work hand in hand.

Edward Cheng: Building an open content platform that is focused on high quality film and television production based on the Pan Entertainment Culture Ecosystem

Over the past two years, "Tencent Pictures has been reviewing its mission and vision: what kind of company do we want to be, and what unique values can we bring to the industry?"

Edward believes, only by providing systematic attention and satisfaction to the emotional needs of our consumers can Tencent Pictures find its resonating position among sub-culture, niche culture, mass culture and popular culture, integrate different content formats, and build the value chain and make changes to the industry.

Edward believes that, in order to systematically meet the emotional needs of the users, Tencent Pictures must first have systematic content production capabilities. In this way, Tencent Pictures is not a traditional production house, but an open content platform that is focused on producing high quality film and television products based on the pan-entertainment culture ecosystem.

As for the content platform, Edward said it is made up of three layers. First, the diversification of the types of the film and television production. As the major vehicle for Tencent's movie business, Tencent Pictures attaches great importance to movie production, but it goes beyond movies. Secondly, in the synergism of the pan-entertainment system, Tencent Pictures is a very important chain in building the IP values and it will maintain close collaboration with animation, literature and games businesses. Thirdly, it will provide extensive, open collaboration with industry partners.

To systematically meet the emotional need of the users, besides the systematic content production, Edward believes Tencent Pictures will also need to inject creativity and freshness, while cultivating young talent in the long term and exploring new types of content.

Lastly, we must also produce our films and television products with the highest level of professionalism and attention to quality.

"We found that, among all the high quality movies, they always achieve perfection in at least at one dimension, there is always a something in the final product that reflects the dedication of the production team. This is what we refer to as the "geek" mentality in the technology industry."

"In fact, there is a greater need for this geek mentality in the film and television industry, because movies and TV series need to have a feeling of freshness. We are all in pursuit of new angles, new stimulation. Only by having this geek mentality at its extreme, can we help to exceed the expectation of the users at least in one more perspective."

"So I said in last year's Sept 17, for film and television industry, the biggest investment is patience. This is the attitude we have been sticking to."

To systematically meet the emotional needs, what Tencent Pictures needs is not only business thinking, but also culture exploration. Tencent Pictures wishes to join hands with all likeminded partners around the world in this new wave of culture consumption evolution, to make the best use of Chinese culture in the production of high quality film and television products, cultivate the outstanding culture IP, and allow Chinese stories and culture to tell touching stories to the world and brighten the future."

13 movie projects announced, including international collaboration projects, i.e. Tuski, Zombie Brothers, Twenty Thousand Miles Project, Genre Films liking Hanson and the Beast, the Dark side of the Moon and Path Finder, Animations liking Snow Kid, The king's avatar, Classic IP Projects liking New Visitors On The Icy Mountain, Back to Stir Up Things and The Tibet Code.

10 Star IP projects announced, including The Tibet Code, Mystery of Antiques, The Golden Eyes, The Prince of Tennis.

Mr. Chen Yingjie, the deputy GM of the Tencent Pictures and the GM of BlackBody Studio, announced 10 projects based on popular IP, including The Tibet Code, the Mystery of the Antiques, The Golden Eyes, Food supplier, The Prince of Tennis, etc.

Chen Yingjie said, the team wants to produce the TV series into a high quality product, and make it attractive not only to Chinese viewers, but also to overseas audiences, and give them the opportunity to understand the beautiful landscape and thousands years of culture heritage of China.

Over the past 12 months, the Tibet Code has built up a Sino-US joint team, including Mr. Wen Haojie, who was named as the best screen writer by White Lily Award, as chief screenwriter, Mr. Yang Zhe's screen writer team for "the Forensic experts", Mr. Ademan, the chief screen writer and chief producer of Heros 2, and Mr. Tom Jaboson, the Production President of 20^th Century FOX. Mr. Wen said that this joint Sino-US team will be a first for him as well as for Chinese television. The script for first season will be ready by the end of this year.

Pan-entertainment partnership:

Tencent Pictures x China Literature cooperate in the production of 11 works, including "Ever Night" and "Fights Break Sphere."

'Good stories have been an inseparable part of good platforms. China Literature is not only our closest partner, but is also an abundant source of good stories. At the press conference, Li Ming and Wu Wenhui (CEO of China Literature) together announced 11 cooperation projects, such as "Qing Yu Nian", "Golden Eyes", "Gourmet Suppliers", "Fights Break Sphere", "Ever Night", "New Fighter of the Destiny", " I Was A Big Star", "The Best Soldier", "The Dead Man's Mind", " Light of Champion", and "Zhui Xu".

Wu Wenhui said, "Projects from our cooperation with Tencent Pictures cover fantasy, history, sports, martial arts and others genres. Each work deserves to be called the representative work of each category, and most of them have already stepped into development progress. We hope to construct pan-entertainment cultural ecology together with Tencent Pictures."

Pan-entertainment partnership:

Tencent Pictures x Tencent Animation, 5 projects and the "M Universe Program".

Besides literature, animation has become another important source of content for the pan-entertainment culture ecological chain. At the press conference, Zou Zhengyu, manager of Tencent Interactive Entertainment's animation business, shared the progress of 5 animation adaptation projects with Tencent Pictures.

Tang Yibin:  Announcing the NEXT IDEA Talent Program. Developing young talent for the film and TV industry with the ultimate "patience".

According to Tang Yibin, "Tencent Pictures always attaches great importance to the cultivation of young talent. We not only support young talent through projects, but also hope to build talent incubator platforms, and develop young talent for the film and television industry with the ultimate patience."

At the press conference, Tang Yibin reviewed previous achievements of the "NEXT IDEA" young talent program. Meanwhile, he also announced that the 2017 "NEXT IDEA" young actor competition was officially launched, with young actor Zhang Ruoyun as the "Dream Building Ambassador".

The NEXT IDEA actor competition will be upgraded this year. First, in schedule design, the preliminary contest will be through a first initial audition in a live format, and the intermediary heat will be in a variety show format, which is a more vivid means of showing each young actor's talent. Second, in resource investment, Tencent Pictures will open film and TV IP, including The Prince of Tennis, Pink Lady, Zhang Gong Case, Assassin Road, and others to choose young talent.

Tang Yibin, Zhang Ruoyun, Hu Haiquan (cofounder of Poodoo) and Tao Kun (the General Manager of CKF Pictures), Gu Xiaobai (scriptwriter), and Lei Yin (Chairman of the Beijing Caviar Culture Communication Company) have jointly participated at the launching ceremony.

Enhance cooperation with internet platforms such as the Tencent Video and iQIYI. Kick-starting the second season of the "Flying together" new movie project

Li La, The General Manager of Copyright Authorization of the Tencent Internet Entertainment Division and Tencent Film-Internet Cooperation Division, said that Tencent Pictures, as an ecosystem platform with a focus on content, wishes to cooperate more extensively with internet as well as TV stations. As for this Internet-TV station cooperation, Tencent Pictures has established cooperation with Hunan TV, Beijing TV, Zhejiang TV, Oriental TV, Tencent video, iQIYI, Mango TV and other platforms. At the press conference, Li La and Han Zhijie, the VP of the Tencent Penguin Pictures, jointly launched a new cooperation. Tencent Pictures will offer 2 important projects- the Best Soldier and The Magic Blade to work together with Tencent Video to explore new ways for interaction between TV series and games.

Tencent Pictures and iQIYI also announced the launch of the second season of the new movie project "Flying Together", as well as a new online series project also titled "Flying Together". Edward Cheng, Li La, iQIYI Chief Content Officer Wang Xiaohui, and Director of iQIYI Online Movie Development Center Dou Lili all took part in the launch ceremony. The "Flying Together" new online series project will select appropriate products from excellent works in the "Flying Together" new project or IP owned by Tencent, and develop at least one super online series each year.

During the previously mentioned part of the ceremony focused on talent, Chen Hongwei also showcased the achievement of the first season of the new "Flying Together" movie project. 10 big internet movies have also all been produced, and will be scheduled for publication step by step. Young directors from the first season project were also invited on the stage at the ceremony.

Strategically cooperating with NCM (New Classics Media), CKF Pictures and Haina Pictures to jointly explore new content

Tencent Pictures joined hands with NCM, CKF Pictures and Haina Pictures to launch new projects based on their strategic cooperation. Edward Cheng and Cao Huayi, the CEO of NCM, declared that, together, they will explore three influential IPs Qing Yu Nian, Ao Xu and I Was a Big Star. The Qing Yu Nian project is particularly eye-catching and highly anticipated. Both Edward Cheng and Cao Huayi are fascinated with this novel. On that day, the full cast of Qing Yu Nian attended the press conference, including Zhang Ruoyun, the hero of the series. The TV series script writer and Director, Wang Juan and Sun Hao, also made an appearance.

Tencent Pictures and CKF Pictures agreed to their strategic cooperation in April this year. After enjoying great success with Hanson and the Beast, they will continue to produce film and television products such as The Law Case of Zhang Gong, Assassination 1905 and Devil Dolls. These represent the comprehensive, broader cooperation between Tencent interactive entertainment and CKF Pictures. On site, Edward Cheng, and Tao Kun, the GM of CKF Pictures, Chang Ben, the CEO of Xian Gongfu Pictures, Luo Nan, the CEO of XIAOXI Pictures, Mao Ni Zhao Ma, the CEO of MANTRA Pictures, Wang Zixuan, the founder of Yi Quan Pictures, and Li Yang, the Director of Assassin Road got together at the launch event.

Meanwhile, Tencent Pictures and Haina Pictures also announced their strategic cooperation at the launch event. Before that, they had already enjoyed great collaboration with projects like Red Star Over China, Guardian of Night, Lection of the Dead, Glory of the Champion and The New Story of a Noble Family, and have sharing many other similar ideas as well. You Jianming, the CEO of CHS Media, You Yi, the President of Haina Pictures, Bai Xiaodong, the CEO of Haina Pictures, Zhang Guoli, Chinese famous actor, and You Xiaogang, the President of China Television and Drama Production Industry Association (CTPIA) and Industrial Consultant of Haina Pictures, launched the cooperation together.

The Shanghai Fortress project became the bonus surprise at the launch. Edward Cheng announced that Tencent Pictures has been exploiting the full copyright for the TV series of Shanghai Fortress together with Jiang Nan, the author of Shanghai Fortress and famous writer in China. Aside from the TV series, Tencent Pictures will co-produce the film adaptation for Shanghai Fortress, which will feature a cast comprised of the likes of Shu Qi (F) and Lu Han (M). (Both are well-known actors in China.)

The launch event lasted for three hours with more than 600 attendants joining the celebration, including partners, practitioners, celebrities and media outlets.

SOURCE Tencent