Zhu Huirong: Koo The future of the film to him

Zhu Huirong 2006 joined Youku and is responsible for the overall operation of the film company of Youku. By the end of 2014, the unity of the Shadow has produced a joint "storm", "eavesdropping on the 3", "White Haired Witch Biography", "after the" and other 13 films, the box office more than 3.3 billion yuan.

Despite the past more than 10 years, Zhu Huirong, the CEO of Oneness Pictures, remembers the first time he dined alone with Koo.

It was a May 2002 day, and the two men agreed to meet again after an accidental conversation. Koo as Sohu President, in his view, broadband network will be popular in the future, which has a lot of opportunities, so promising. This makes the Great Wall Broadband general manager, for many internet companies to provide broadband access services Zhu Huirong feel at the same time, again appointment also for the inevitable.

When Koo near Zhu Huirong office, he called and said, "I'll be right there." Zhu immediately went downstairs to greet, and then saw the ancient from the taxi came down, this let him extremely surprised. "I thought there would be a limousine, after all Victor (Koo) is a returnee, and as Sohu president." "Zhu Huirong to global entrepreneur," recalls.

Then they decided to have some pizza. Zhu thought ancient came back from abroad, should be accustomed to make knives and forks. But not Chengxiang Koo unexpectedly said, pizza is good to eat to have meaning. Zhu was convinced that sitting in the opposite is undoubtedly a true temperament of the man. The two people then chatted about broadband business opportunities, and inadvertently talked about sports events. Because Zhu Huirong is a sports enthusiast, such conversations also make him feel comfortable and secretly daydream about whether there is a chance to work with the ancient.

Thanks to each other's trust and appreciation, Zhu Huirong in 2006 as a matter of course joined the Koo's entrepreneurial team. The start of his Cross-border film was in November 2010-a deal with Warner Bros., the Hollywood film studios, that signed the "Inception" for the exclusive online pay-for-watch rights of Youku, the first in the Internet industry.

For a long time, Chinese internet users have been accustomed to free viewing, and Zhu Huirong and their team are facing the great challenge of changing the model. Interestingly, Zhu will then set a pay film to watch the price of 5 yuan, because the price of a pirated CD in China is also 5 yuan.

After that, Zhu Huirong was more enthusiastic about the film, and Koo ignited it more vigorously. 2011, the ancient led the company's senior team to visit the United States. Every night after 10 o'clock, Zhu Huirong will run to the Universal Studios (Universal UBM) to watch the movie. "Every hall is strung up, and the movie is all over again, and it's 2 o'clock the night before it goes back to the hotel." Zhu said with a smile. "The quality of the American film is obvious, such as a horror film that has been shooting zombies from beginning to end." ”

Shortly after returning home, Koo told Zhu Huirong: "We have always said that with the likes of people do like things, you like movies, just do it." So Zhu Huirong became the head of Youku's film Center.

However, it is clear that passion alone cannot be familiar with the film, which is the perfect combination of aesthetics and industry. The way Zhu Huirong thought was to compel himself to watch a movie every night. "Without looking at enough things, you have no say. "he said. Even after the establishment of the Unity Film company, Zhu will read the original novel or script every day.

Three years later, Zhu Huirong surrendered to let Koo satisfied with the answer. Excellent cool potatoes Not only pioneered the Internet joint production of large film model, but also in 2014 before the launch of the "Storm", "eavesdropping 3", "White Hair Witch Girl biography", "after the" and other 13 films, the box office more than 3.3 billion yuan. Over the past two years, Youku has participated in a total of 88 films at home and abroad through homemade programs, film marketing and joint production, at a box-office of 28 billion yuan. 2014 China Box office TOP10, the Oneness shadow already accounted for 3 seats.

But for Zhu Huirong, it was just the beginning of his "new filmmaker".

The Spear and The Shield

Participating in movie marketing is an important step in the field of Youku Potato Group's foray into the film industry. In the U.S. market, for example, a film's marketing costs can even exceed the cost of production at the highest level. In contrast, the Chinese film industry is generally not interested in marketing, although the investment in the past two years has increased, but generally not more than 30%. If the marketing investment is too few, the movie box office nature also cannot guarantee.

What you want to do with your cool potato platform is to help a movie get more accurate marketing. Zhu Huirong, for example, said Han's film, "The later period" and Guo's "small time" release only a week. Initially, the "after-Will-go" film Party only intends to focus on two to three cities to do publicity. But Youku potatoes through the analysis of "small Time" and "after the life" of the fan group found that in the first-line city of Han fans far more than Guo, but in some of the two or three-tier cities, Guo's influence is clearly greater.

Affected by this, "after the" film party immediately began to launch a propaganda offensive in the two or three-line city. "It should be said that in this year's off-season, Han Han's film is a victory over the small era." So, the advent of the Internet and smartphones can help a movie get a bigger hit at the box office and save marketing Resources. Zhu Huirong to global entrepreneur.

One reason why Youku can achieve "precision marketing" is that the same changes have taken place in the past few years between the Chinese film industry and the internet industry, where the user groups have been in the three or four-line cities. In these areas, the Internet has become a more accurate advertising channel. Users may not be able to see the traditional film advertising media such as bus stops, but they are bound to watch a video show with a smartphone.

Not only that, the film after the offline follow-up pay window, but also youku potatoes want to preempt the mountain. For now, the domestic film almost 90% of the income from the cinema, the United States is very different, the box office income is only one-third of the total film revenue. In addition, the film peripheral derivatives, pay window period, as well as pay TV and so on have gained a lot of revenue.

But to Zhu Huirong's delight, after several years of development, the Chinese film internet pay market has been the beginning of the scale. "The market will grow to 3 billion to 5 billion yuan in the next three years." Ten years later, pay movies will occupy One-third of the Chinese film market, which I believe is 20 billion to 30 billion of the plate. In this respect, Zhu Huirong appears to be full of confidence.

However, Youku's involvement in a film is more than that, and they plan to reinvent the advertising implant business. Zhu Huirong Analysis said that the current domestic pure film implanted advertising company a year's income is only about 300 million yuan, which with Youku potato Advertising annual income of more than 4 billion is obviously not the same.

Because of the emergence of the Unity film, Zhu Huirong is trying to make early in the production of advertisers need to combine with the movie, and this combination will greatly reduce the implantation of advertising "blunt feeling." "What good does it do?" is to allow investors to get most of the return before the movie is released, without worrying about whether they can go back. Zhu Huirong also said he wanted the company's employees to play the role of "producer", that is, to participate in the early creation of a film.

In Zhu Huirong's vision, the future film model will present a scenario in which many films have a trailer before they start filming, and the Union can use it to find fans, collect comments, listen to ideas and help make the company perfect for film creation. "It's a big change, but it's not easy to achieve," he said. Because at home, most filmmakers still think of internet companies as just a channel, not a partner. ”

Koo's judgment on the future of the film industry has also benefited Zhu Huirong. The trend is that in the Chinese market, consumers who buy movie tickets through mobile phones have accounted for 20%, and the future will increase rapidly to 30% to 35%. Therefore, the mobile phone has long been not a simple communication tool, its entertainment property is becoming increasingly apparent. Zhu Huirong asserts, "The future of the Unity film, whether it is a movie investment or marketing, should be linked to mobile online and offline, but also need to pay particular attention to this rule." ”

Zhu Huirong said he had "died once". When he was in high school, he lost too much blood because of a car accident. After returning to school, severe neurasthenia makes it unable to sleep. Zhu's solution is to run, when the air is good time to run more than 10 kilometers, this habit he has been insisting for nearly 20 years. "If I am different from my peers, it is that I cherish time more than others," he said. Zhu Huirong told global entrepreneur.

Who is the oneness?

In February 2015, the Unification film officially released its "UP2015" movie IP incubation program.

In short, the movie IP hatch means that the Oneness film wants to turn a novel, a web video show, or even a song into a movie.

The first 6 projects with the exposure: "Let's Get Married", "Gardenia Open 2015", "never Thought of", "How much love can mess up", "Teacher Diary", "dream or to have, in case of realization of it". According to statistics, only this 6 IP transmission volume has accumulated nearly 6 billion times (equivalent to touch every Chinese 4 times).

In Zhu Huirong's view, in the past, the United Film Joint production of films, as "with the vote" some projects, now to "take the initiative" to achieve those who have the potential, but has not become a film project. "At this time we choose some of the younger IP, or choose some of our special matching with the original material, let them become film works." "Zhu Huirong said.

The establishment and rapid growth of the unity film is also an important part of the multi-screen culture and entertainment ecosystem of the Youku potato. Koo, chairman and chief executive of Youku Potato Group, said: "The Oneness film is the third largest business unit of Youku, dedicated to using O+o to get through the various value chains of the movie industry." We are very pleased to see that, after the Youku potato has become the first platform of all movie net marketing, the joint production model created by the Unity film has also set up a new industry benchmark. Today, to allow more and more excellent cultural works to share the vitality of multiple-screen ecology and great innovation is the new goal of the Unity film, but also the beginning of a new legend. ”