On July 20, Force Animation's first independent IP animation film "Mamma Mia Duck" was launched on Netflix platforms in nearly 20 countries and regions around the world, including South America, North America, Northern Europe, India and Southeast Asia. Entertainment Capital (ID: yulezibenlun) learned that the film's first week of broadcast data on Netflix is very eye-catching among similar products, and all parties have high reviews and satisfaction, according to which Netflix has clearly expressed its intention to cooperate with Force Animation.
"Mamma Mia Duck" is broadcast on the homepage of the Netflix website
In the past year, Netfilx has been expanding the Chinese film and television content on the platform, including the mainstream movie "Later Us", Douban's high-scoring web drama "White Night Pursuit" and many other Chinese works, but it is less involved in the animation market. "Because "Mamma Mia Duck" and Hollywood animation are very close", so the cooperation between Netflix and Force Animation has made Chinese animation movies go global and usher in a highlight.
"This year can be said to be the first year of the comprehensive 'going to sea' of Chinese animation films, because after Netflix purchased "Mamma Mia Duck", it also obtained the exclusive global (except Chinese mainland) distribution rights of "Future Machine City". This is a proud achievement of Chinese animators. Zhang Suyue, chief operating officer of Force Animation (USA), who has dominated the global sales and distribution of the film, told Xiaoyu, "However, it is also worth pointing out that the management process of the two in the production dimension is completely different." "Future Machine City" is led by Rampage Comics and completed in Canada, while "Mamma Mia Duck" is the standard 'Force Full Process Production', that is, the original IP development is first developed by the force animation (USA) own team, and then the force China team completes all the production. Therefore, this work, which has refreshed the history of many Chinese animation films, can be called the true 'crystallization of the transnational cooperation of more than 500 Chinese and foreign animators'. ”
USA Today's report on Mamma Mia Duck
Because of "Mamma Mia Duck", the producer Force once again entered the public eye, and in the 19 years since its establishment, from 4 people to more than 1300 people, from working for Hollywood to hiring foreign employees, from outsourcing partners to the upstream of the industry... Not only has he accumulated international industrial production experience, but he has also established his own studio in the heart of Hollywood, of course, these are all in the past tense. The future of the Force is intriguing, so Entertainment Capital (ID: yulezibenlun) travels to the Force headquarters in Nanjing to visit China's most low-key animation company.
Force Animation Nanjing Headquarters
"Foreigners sell their things backward, and we need to put more initiative in our own hands, that is, independent research and development or research and development with foreigners." Zhao Rui, CEO of Force Animation, expressed the concept of Force in technology research and development to Xiaoyu, "Not only that, Force, as an open cooperation platform, currently has multiple capabilities such as production and distribution, and there are still many things we want to do in the future." ”
As the world's premier international heavyweight CG event, SIGGRAPH was held in Vancouver in August. Zhao Rui was invited to participate in the keynote speech of "siggraph asia", an important part of the conference, and as the only representative of China's CG industry, he shared the "20 years in China CG industry" on the spot. In Zhao Rui's eyes, "China's animation market has great potential, and various growths in recent years have been very obvious and have attracted the attention of the capital market." ”
Zhao Rui, CEO of Force Animation, delivered a keynote speech at SIGGRAPH
The nearly 300-person technology research and development team has given birth to a high-tech that makes people open their minds; the new positioning of the traditional animation company makes the Force have multiple capabilities such as production and distribution; the scarce "industrial value" makes the Force become an open cooperation platform; the new multiple business lines make the Force have formed a strong closed loop inside... Refresh the Impression of the Force in all the reports, shocking and refreshing, the original CG world, the Force can play like this!
Leading with technology Has a technical research and development team of nearly 300 people
Coming to the Force, before sitting down, I saw that Zhao Rui, CEO of Force Animation, was watching a video, and the mobile phone screen displayed a song MV with a close-up shooting angle, and the singer who sang in love was very infectious. Xiao Yu originally thought that it was the live work of which star, but Zhao Rui introduced that "this video is all produced by CG, which is a virtual idol technology developed by the Force, just like MJ's resurrection performance, the future will be combined with live broadcasting, and the audience can interact with virtual idols through live broadcasting." ”
For this technology, Entertainment Capital (ID: yulezibenlun) was deeply surprised, because the facial expressions and body movements of the virtual idols in the video are very smooth, there is no trace of CG production, and the CG technology is played to the extreme, with false and real, really unexpected. Xiao Yu's heart capitalized "Serve! And this is just the opening remarks of this trip.
Zhao Rui shared a set of data, "The Force will take out 15% of the annual revenue for technology research and development every year, and the investment in this underlying foundation may exceed the sum of domestic animation companies." Traditional animation companies are very artistic, and in terms of the composition of the Force, "more than 20% of the employees are doing technology and research and development." In this way, the Force, as the largest animation creation enterprise in China, has nearly 300 technical research and development personnel.
Working photos of "Traces 1"
Because Zhao Rui is from a technical background, the Force's unique scientific and technological genes are the same as his. "Foreigners sell their things backward, we must do our own research and development, or with foreigners to develop together, so that we can take more initiative in the hands of Chinese." I've always wanted to use technology to give audiences experiences that were previously unthinkable or unimaginable. ”
In terms of technology research and development, although the initial investment is huge, it is gradually applied in the project, and the advantages reflected are also very impressive. A few years ago, the Force became the exclusive partner of The Avatar motion capture company Profile Studios, and the blessing of this powerful technology effectively promoted the Force to produce the first live-action CG movie in China to a certain extent.
The Force's motion capture studio
As the producer and exclusive CG producer of "Traces", Xiao Yu had the honor of watching the wonderful clips of "Traces 2" in advance in its professional-level screening hall, which greatly subverted the previous perception. The eyebrows, skin texture and expression changes of the characters' faces in the film are very detailed, and difficult elements such as rain, wind, hair, and stone dust are also depicted in large quantities. Zhao Rui laughed and said, "Now it seems that the film effect of "Trace 1" is really unbearable to look at, even I can't watch it myself, and the CG level of "Trace 2" has surpassed "Final Fantasy". ”
International layout with dual capabilities of production and distribution
In addition to high technology, internationalization is another key word of the Force. Zhao Rui has publicly stated more than once that it is difficult to take the road of internationalization, but the Force is very persistent and hopes to truly become an international company one day. Xiao Yu saw artists of different skin colors at the Force headquarters in Nanjing, all of whom were Employees of the Force, some of whom had been serving the Force for many years. Entertainment Capital (ID: yulezibenlun) When visiting, they would smile friendly and say a standard "hello" and be very kind.
In addition to hiring foreigners to China, the Force extended its tentacles overseas very early. Zhang Suyue said, "The Force's international business began very early, but the real establishment of the international business department overseas was around the end of 2013. American studios have been investing heavily in originals, hiring two major producers of Hollywood's first-class animation studio, and at one time multiple projects were parallel, strictly following the Hollywood studio green light system in the project process. Ten Lives, which is currently being created, has entered the final phase of Green Light and has received seven or eight million subscription intentions at international film festivals. The overseas distribution of this work will also actively negotiate with Netflix. ”
(The Force Animation's first self-owned IP animated film,"Mamma Mia Duck," landed in France on August 15, local time.) ）
It is understood that the Force has recently come to Thailand, "there is a good idea, their advertising is very good, but the volume is not large, the overall market is not yet mature, belongs to the 'vacuum' zone", and the Force with a keen sense of smell is aiming at such an opportunity, and set up a Thai branch."
From the original IP to the industrialization of the whole process of production, it is an extremely scarce ability in the domestic animation industry. Due to years of technical accumulation and participation in many major international projects, the "industrial value" of the Force is self-evident. As a result, The Force has a bolder idea, that is, "to be an open platform, we want to cooperate with the artists or companies with the top content in the industry, this cooperation is not simply undertaken, but involved, not to make an outsourcing money to end, the concept and meaning are different." "This kind of openness coincides with Disney's development path."
As an open platform, multiple projects of the Force are unfolding, and Entertainment Capital (ID: yulezibenlun) has seen the filming of popular episodes in the Force moncap studio. This drama is not only an IP with its own traffic, but also uses the technology commonly used in the game for the first time in the TV series, which is full of technology. "In the next two or three years, the Force will appear in multiple works, and the roles will not be outsourced, but based on the deep cooperation after trust in the Force technology." Of course, this does not affect the Original Road of the Force, "The original team within the Force is growing day by day, and we are very open-minded. Because you can't close yourself off, the more closed you are, the worse it is."
Not only that, "this year, we and the well-known Bó Lè and Lianrui joint venture set up a company, focusing on the introduction, sales and distribution of animation films. "The Force has the originality of IP and the productivity of industrialization, but also has the ability to issue, such a layout and planning is enough to see its ambition, attaches great importance to technology, and does not lose the strategic market layout."
Add business lines Capital helps the Force grow
Some people say that the domestic box office of "Mamma Mia Duck" affects the Force to a certain extent, but in the business system of the Force, the independent IP work is only a section. In addition to the original film and television division and game division, in recent years, a number of business lines such as the real-time digital film and television department, a wholly-owned subsidiary focusing on theme entertainment and a derivative licensing department have been set up, which has formed a strong closed loop within the Force. Taking "Mamma Mia Duck" as an example, "The Force licensed the IP to Wanda Theme Park, and Wanda chose the Force to provide offline interactive entertainment content for it." In terms of derivative licensing business, "Mamma Mia Duck" has sold more than 10 million. ”
The step-by-step growth of the Force is inseparable from the power of capital. In recent years, the Force has won the favor of strategic capital of industry giants such as Tencent and Micro Shadow, and has made breakthrough development in the layout of globalization. Zhao Rui thanked all investors, "Thanks to their long-term awareness to help the development of the Force, animation is a very valuable industry, the need for capital blessing, but the funds are limited, we need to hug more groups, and jointly create a healthy industry ecology." ”
From the perspective of operating data, the revenue scale of the Force is much larger than most domestic animation production companies, and the market has also repeatedly rumored that the Force is seeking to go public, but Zhao Rui told Xiaoyu that the animation content industry needs long-term investment and patient cultivation, and seeking future listing will indeed help the company's development, but there is no clear timetable at present.