During the 13th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF), film executives participated in workshops to discuss the development of China’s film content franchise assets and the impact of technology on the future of the industry.
Guest speakers take a group photo at the Motion Picture Association Film Workshop held during the 13th Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) on April 27, 2023 in Beijing. [Photo courtesy of MPA]
In his opening speech, William Feng, Director of Greater China and Vice President of Asia Pacific, Motion Picture Association of America (MPA), said that factors such as streaming media and artificial intelligence (AI) applications are rapidly transforming the global film industry. emphasized that there are Feng noted that throughout his 100-year history of world cinema, key events and major transformations are closely linked to technological progress and industrialization.
Attendees at the Motion Picture Association Film Workshop on April 27 will delve into topics such as film and television intellectual property (IP) assets and the digital future of the metaverse, exploring prominent tech-related themes Did. Prominent Chinese filmmakers and industry leaders joined his two panel sessions, focusing on the development of digital assets within China’s film and television ecosystem, film and television technology, AI-generated content , discussed content creation in the metaverse.
Jillian Zhao, President of Warner Bros. Discovery China, emphasized the importance of storytelling and high-quality content in the development of classic IP. Emphasizing the importance of the entire industry chain in creating an inclusive ecosystem, she encouraged domestic industry peers to adopt a more flexible approach to IP authorization. Zhao also emphasized using digital assets as a tool to maintain the enthusiasm of her fans and attract more fans, citing the US “Matrix” movie as an example.
Li Jie, senior vice president of Alibaba Pictures and CEO of Taopiaopiao, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, emphasized the importance of a unique worldview and adaptability to different formats for IP success. . Li pointed out that his IP industry in China has a weak foundation and needs influential works and character roles to expand. He identified his three key ingredients for successful IP development. Sustainability, strong commercialization and vitality.
Mr. JC Cheng, President of Fosun Pictures, pointed out the important things to consider when building a mature and complete ecosystem IP system, including characters, emotions, stories, scenes, symbols, commercial awareness, plans and implementation paths. proposed elements. Cheng stressed that building such a system takes time and patience, and emphasized long-term planned operations over short-term monetization.
Director Shwe Xiaolu expressed his belief that choosing a good story is the foundation of IP development. In addition to frequent adaptations of online novels, she suggested that good serious literary works, foreign novels, picture books, and other materials should be considered for film and television adaptations. Citing the success of the adaptation of “Dune” (a 1965 science fiction novel), he expressed the need for time and patience to develop intellectual property, stating that classic works of literature have stood the test of time. I emphasized that
Li Ning, CEO of New Classics Pictures and senior vice president of New Classics Media for Chinese Literature Department, emphasized the importance of adapting literary works. He proposed to integrate a large number of authors and works to create a comprehensive his IP digital ecosystem, transforming works suitable for digital asset development into various content formats. Li also said the broad definition of IP includes content within various intellectual property rights as long as it has commercial value. Li also said AI technology can improve the efficiency and speed of the industry, better meet the company’s profit targets, and make film production more efficient, marketable and profitable.
During the workshop, several speakers shared their thoughts on advances in AI and other cutting-edge technologies being used or considered in filmmaking.
Liu Yangming, President of Huawei Cloud Hybrid Cloud, argued that from movies and television to mobile internet and the metaverse, AI is serving as the driving force in the audio and video industry, creating new opportunities. “With 90% of the top 10 highest-grossing films in the world utilizing virtual production, AI technology can create many opportunities for film and television production.The power of cloud computing and advanced models The ability to leverage will determine the competitiveness of any film or television company.”
Gong Cai-chun, president of the Wuhan Metaverse Research Institute and director of the Metaverse Committee of the Beijing Information Industry Association, argued that the copyright of machine-generated content in the future Metaverse space is legally contested. . Resolving this issue requires system changes and revisions to the relevant legal aspects. In addition, rights verification, source tracing and watermarking techniques can be employed to protect intellectual property and encourage innovation.
