iQIYI has fired the first shot in the film and television industry in 2024. On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, iQiyi launched the micro-short drama "Deadly Game" without warning, which was adapted from Jinjiang Yumei ** "Kaleidoscope of Death" and starring Xia Zhiguang and Huang JunjieIs the soul of the drama returning? 
When the audience and friends were confused, and they were curious about what method iQiyi used to bring up the delayed drama, "Deadly Game", which was launched for less than two hours, was hurriedly taken off the shelves, and the most "short-lived" TV series in history was born. In fact, although "Deadly Game" only existed for less than two hours, iQiyi did make a lot of efforts to win a ray of life for the drama, but unfortunately it failed in the end. And this also exposes a more important problemThe resurrection of the drama may be far away
iQiyi, which "exploits loopholes".How much does iQiyi want to eat this bowl of rice? Several preparations have been made since the start of filming of "Deadly Game". "Deadly Game" is adapted from Xi Zixu's popular ** "Kaleidoscope of Death", the original work has a collection of more than one million in Jinjiang Literature City, and it can be regarded as a well-known big IP in the Tanmei market, but because it is an infinite stream theme, the content contains elements such as Tanmei, horror, and supernatural, so it is relatively difficult to adapt. What's more, "Deadly Game" will only start filming at the end of 2022, and at that time, the drama has been completely banned, and no one believes that this drama can be broadcast, and they all feel that iQiyi is wasting its efforts. But a year after the finale, "Deadly Game" was brought to the stage, in fact, it was completely dependent on iQiyi".Wild Road
On the one hand, iQIYI has found another way to record online micro-short dramas, compared with online long dramas, the content review of micro-short dramas is more relaxed. At the beginning of the project planning, iQIYI took into account the sensitive issues of the Tanmei theme, renamed "Kaleidoscope of Death" as "Spiritual Realm", and filed it as an online micro-short drama, and finally changed the finished film to "Deadly Game" again. "Deadly Game" has a total of 78 episodes, each episode is about 20 minutes long, and the title is also marked with "Network Micro Drama Trial No. 001", and the issuing authority is the Sichuan Provincial Radio and Television Bureau, which is essentially a loophole in the review. On the other hand, from the selection of actors, content production to online broadcasting, the whole process is low-key and unannounced, and the whole episode is directly released. Although "Deadly Game" is a big IP, the two leading actors are all little-known young actors, one is a pasty coffee from idols, and the other is a collapsed house coffee riddled with black material, which has no star in itself. From the start of filming to the production, the whole drama was basically not announced, not even the start-up scene, only a few chance encounters of passers-by, and it was suddenly airborne on the day of its launch, without any advance notice, and the whole episode was released in one go, which caught the audience and the market off guard, and even the regulatory authorities did not react. 
In view of the current situation that the broadcast of the Dangai drama is a victory, iQiyi did give the best path for the launch of the Dangai drama, but".Micro-short drama review + low-key lifeThe method cannot be replicated by other platforms at present. One is because the premise of the review of micro-short dramas is the filing of micro-short dramas, but the current delayed projects that have been completed cannot be changed for filing, and after "Deadly Game", the review of micro-short dramas may become more stringent. The second is that the micro-short dramas that have been filmed are all famous, such as "Hao Yi Xing", "Ji Xing", "Beacon Flowing Gold" and so onBig IP + big production + traffic actor, from the beginning of filming, it has been in full swing, and it is not a little low-key. What's more, "Deadly Game" was removed from the shelves less than two hours after it was launched, which also proves the strict supervision of the relevant departments on the theme of delay, iQiyi took advantage of the loophole this time, but it is obvious that this loophole has now been blocked. 
This bowl of rice is really fragrantObjectively speaking,The drama is a game of capitalAlthough the game has now been paused, the high returns behind it are still the object of competition for capital from all walks of life. In fact, to be precise, there is a big difference between the Tanmei drama and the Tanmei drama, the "Counterattack", "Addiction" and "Shengshi" trilogy filmed by Chai Dan in the early days all belong to Tanmei dramas, blatantly labeling "same-sex" and "love". Due to the sensitive subject matter, the actors are mainly newcomers, and the shooting cycle is relatively short, basically small investment and small production, until "Addiction" became popular, "Shengshi" received investment from Guangguang Media, and the industry's leading capital was already aiming at this popular theme at that time. An unavoidable problem is that although there are certain lovers of the Tanmei theme, it is relatively niche and sensitiveLove has become a "brotherhood"., evolved into a delayed drama, and officially became one of the top dramas. 
From "Soul Town" 10 to "Chen Qing Ling" 20 and then to "Mountain and River Order" 30, it turns out that this bowl of rice is really delicious. On the one hand, the market enthusiasm of dangai dramas is much higher than that of ordinary romantic dramas, especially the huge female audience, has a strong willingness to pay and krypton gold ability, which has brought a fan economy that makes capital blush. The on-demand revenue of "Chen Qing Ling" exceeded 100 million yuan, the online live broadcast income of the after-sales concert exceeded 100 million, and the auction of a costume of "Shanhe Ling" was as high as 220,000 yuan. This is only the benefit that can be digitally concretized, and the follow-up all-round operation of IP has created a more complete gold-absorbing industry chain. On the other hand, the star-making ability of the drama is also much higher than that of other themes, from Zhu Yilong to Xiao Zhan to Gong Jun, all of them became popular through the Dangai drama, and quickly harvested a large number of very sticky fans. After becoming popular, the actor who delayed the change also naturally won the favor of the market, and the big-budget dramas and high-quality endorsements received soft hands, bringing greater long-tail benefits to the capital. When the capital and the market saw the huge dividends of the delayed drama, the war between the four long-term platforms of Aiyou Tengmang to compete for the top of the delayed reform officially started in 2020. 
According to the statistics of Eye Entertainment, as of now, Tencent and iQiyi have a backlog of 4 delayed dramas, Youku has a backlog of 3, and Mango TV has a backlog of 2, and they are all a combination of "big IP + big production + traffic male star". However, the current situation of the delayed market is that due to the young age of the audience and the chaos in the fan circle, the bottomless hype and excessive consumption caused by "rotten culture" have brought a great negative impact, and the relevant departments have very strict supervision of this kind of theme, and 13 dramas on the four major platforms have been "buried" tightly. iQIYI came up with a glimmer of life in "Deadly Game", undoubtedly unwilling to give up the delay in the market, but the failure to test the water also means:On the one hand, in the short term, the relevant departments will not relax the supervision of the theme of delaying and reforming, and the drama will continue to press the bottom of the box; On the other hand, in the future, the relevant departments will definitely further strengthen control to prevent film and television producers from continuing to exploit loopholes. I thought it was going to explode, but now it's hard to even see the light of day. 
Going to sea, a lifesaver for delay? In the face of the strict control of the delayed market, a bowl of such fragrant rice cannot be eaten in front of you, and the capital will definitely not sit and watch the rice cold. At present, both film and television producers and IP copyright owners are beginning to look for a new way out, and going overseas has become their common expectation. The first is IP going overseas, the online text market has a rich and high-quality Tanmei IP, but with the complete ban on Tangai dramas, it will inevitably affect the sales of IP film and television copyrights, so IP sales overseas has become a new way out. For example, the well-known author Shui Qiancheng's "Professional Stand-in" was sold to a film and television company in Thailand, and the project has reached the filming stage, and Priest's "Big Brother" was sold to a film and television company in Taiwan Province. The second is to send funds to sea, since the mainland has strict control and cannot be filmed, then go directly to a place where content review is relaxed. iQIYI invested in the filming of "Gangster Young Master Falls in Love with Me" for Thai film and television companies, and broadcast it on iQIYI International Station, with a very good reputation, Youku's investment in "About Us Who Unknown" was filmed in Taiwan Province, and it has been officially announced that it will be officially broadcast on February 26. The third is to go to sea in pieces, The delayed dramas that have been filmed and produced cannot be broadcast in the mainland, and it may be a new way to broadcast in the overseas version, and Tencent wetv released a list of films on the overseas ** including many delayed dramas such as "Hao Yi Xing", but it may take some time to implement the broadcast. In fact, the main target of the delay is Southeast Asia, which has a similar culture and a certain audience, and the most important thing is that the review of film and television content is relatively relaxed, and the creative space and scale are larger, but the question is whether it will be possible to go to sea? 
Going overseas does give more possibilities to the drama of Dangai, but no matter from the perspective of the audience or capital, going overseas cannot completely solve the problem of being controlled by Dangai. On the one hand, can the content still meet the audience's appetite after the delay is released? In fact, the biggest problem is that Chinese audiences are basically "Chinese stomach", not talking about objective factors such as appearance, acting skills, and art texture, Chinese like hazy and blank, and the kind of subtle and stoic emotional expression cannot be made by foreign film and television dramas. And this is also the disadvantage of lax review, although it gives more space for film and television creation, but the content will also be more straightforward and bold, for Chinese audiences, blatant "selling corruption" is far less good than "everything is in plain sight". 
On the other hand, how to successfully transfer to domestic sales after the drama goes to sea? The purpose of capital to invest in overseas dramas is definitely to make money, the market in Southeast Asia is limited, and the larger market is in China, but how to turn domestic sales has become a headache. If the funds go to sea and overseas actors are selected for filming, they will face various problems such as language barriers, style and soil adaptation, and the audience is mainly concentrated in a small range, which is difficult to cause a large range of out of the circle, at most a meeting. If it is a film that goes to sea, they are basically mainland traffic stars, and the popularity bonus after the drama is broadcast is bound to be great, but in the face of such strict domestic delay control, the development of these stars may be affected.
In fact, so far, the drama has still not found a good way out, a relatively niche theme, but it has a considerable amount of online voice, which can be regarded as a blessing and a curse for the Dangai. In the eyes of Eye Entertainment,The hope of delaying the drama actually lies in the "rotten culture" that is detached from low-level tastes, transformed into a multicultural perspective of "same-sex", emphasizing the artistic and social nature. But this is also destined to delay the drama, which will not and cannot become the mainstream of the film and television industry. February** Dynamic Incentive Program