Hu Zhaohong

Hu Zhaohong

Hu Zhaohong, a Chinese animation director, joined Shanghai art film studio in 1975. He was a photography assistant, photographer, screenwriter and director. He is now a first-class photographer and director of Shanghai Art Film Studio.

brief introduction

Main works: strange boy of Xiyue stubborn kailaban around the earth for 80 days journey to the moon five weeks in a balloon sons and daughters of Captain Grant thieves flowers in the mirror among them, around the earth for 80 days is the only one so far to win the "China Film Huabiao Award - excellent foreign co production Award" in the competition with feature films "Captain Grant's sons and daughters" won the 11th "China Film Huabiao Award - excellent art film award"

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"The economic environment of each country is different, and the animation industry chain of each country is also very different." Hu Zhaohong, deputy director and director of Shanghai art film studio and professor of Communication College of East China Normal University, said in an exclusive interview with the first financial daily that "China's animation industry chain is still in the exploratory stage, and we can learn valuable experience from the experience of other countries." the animation industry has experienced more than 80 years of development, which is not only limited to animation movies, TV movies and other forms, but also involves many industries such as advertising, games, toys, furniture supplies, clothing and so on. Some experts have pointed out that the main profit point of animation industry now lies in its derivatives. "The animation industry is a high investment, high-risk cultural industry." animation production and broadcasting itself has limited capital circulation ability. With the help of the curve development of the industrial chain, it is a good way to let the animation industry enter a virtuous circle. At the same time, Hu Zhaohong also said, "whether derivatives can be welcomed in the market is very delicate, and the factors to be considered are complex."

The United States won by quality

in the development of more than 80 years, the American animation industry has always been in a leading position in the world, relying on its strong financial and technical strength and complete market-oriented organization. The export of the whole industry is second only to the computer industry, with an output value of more than 200 billion US dollars. when it comes to the American animation industry, most people first think of Disney. There is no doubt that it is an unshakable rock in the American animation industry chain. "Disney's various animation images are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The success of the film has made Disney's brand enter thousands of households and laid a solid foundation for its derivatives." Referring to DreamWorks, which was able to compete with Disney in animated films a few years ago, Hu said, "Disney has accumulated for many years, and DreamWorks can't have a business like Disneyland at present." In addition to movies and theme parks full of daily visitors, Disney also owns excellent assets such as ESPN and ABC cable TV network. These media are also important platforms for Disney to market movies and theme parks. In addition, there are 400 Disney retail stores around the world, mainly selling doll goods. Disney Company is not directly involved in the production of related products, just to sell the portrait rights of the characters. Even so, these image authorizations still bring Disney huge commercial profits. "most American animation companies are meticulous in the production of animation films, with a long production cycle, high investment and high risk." Hu Zhaohong said that the failure of many people may be behind a well-known cartoon that the audience saw, "including script, character design and so on. The cultural businessmen selected" excellent works "from numerous manuscripts." Emphasizing the quality of each work has become a feature of the American animation industry. It is based on this starting point that many animation stars have been born in the American animation industry. The ability of these stars to "make money" is no less than those real life stars. Their products have become an important source of income in animation derivatives. "Only when animation stars accumulate to a certain extent can theme parks like Disneyland appear."

Japan wins by quantity

"Hayao Miyazaki, Yasukuni, okyo and other rare animation masters and talents are not the main pillars of the Japanese animation industry." Hu Zhaohong said, "the starting time of Japan's animation industry is roughly the same as that of China. In the 1970s, Japan undertook the animation processing of the United States and reserved a large number of talents for the Japanese animation industry. In the 1980s, the Japanese economy began to take off, and the local original animation also developed rapidly. " After the popularity of television and the creation of "limited animation" by Tezuka, Japanese animation industry has gradually formed the monopoly of sales groups, the characteristics of small, scattered and numerous creation and production enterprises, the industrial structure of animation content mainly original and supplemented by outsourcing, and the market structure of internationalization and marketization. According to Hu Zhaohong, many companies issue "original animation video" (OVA) as the beginning of the entire animation industry chain. "If you pay attention to the subtitles of animation works, you will find that the same technician works in one production company today and another tomorrow. The flow of talents in the whole industry is very fast." unlike the American animation industry, which wins by quality, Japanese animation industry wins by quantity. At present, there are more than 400 animation companies in Japan, including OEM processing companies, alliance companies and group companies. These companies produce 70 to 80 episodes of animation a week. At the same time, a number of animation production companies from China, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and other countries and regions have also been included in the Japanese animation industry chain, becoming efficient and cheap "OEM manufacturers" in the industry chain. the sales of image derivatives play an important role in the Japanese animation industry. In the industrial chain of "cartoon TV movie video game toy" mode in Japan, many Japanese animation companies take the late extension products as an important means to recover capital, and sell the animation broadcasting rights to TV stations at low prices or even free of charge. These companies pay more attention to the efficiency of transmission and production. In Japan, in addition to traditional clothes, shoes and hats, derivative products are more video game products and all kinds of toys, which makes publishers, TV stations, video game manufacturers and toy manufacturers get good profits. most of the Japanese animation companies are small-scale, and they do not have enough strength and time to create enough animation stars, and they are not likely to achieve a complete animation brand. Therefore, it is very unlikely to develop theme parks on the basis of the existing animation industry in Japan.

Property rights protection, a race against time

when you buy pirated products and look back, you find that the price of genuine products is similar to that of pirated ones, or even cheaper. Do you regret it immediately? In addition, have you noticed that many domestic films, including "pleasant goat", are hard to find pirated discs in the market within a month of their release? Hu Zhaohong said with a smile: "how to deal with piracy and protect property rights, domestic distributors have a set of methods, which may have more marketing tactics than foreign distributors." Hu Zhaohong said that there are mainly two ways to protect property rights. One of them is to reduce the price of licensing. Manufacturers produce in large quantities, and the cost is much lower than that of pirated manufacturers in small workshops. "When the price of genuine products is similar to that of pirated products, will you still buy pirated products?" Another way is to compete with pirates for time. During a period of time when the film is just released, keep the mother version of the film closely. "A few big men act as bodyguards and take strict care of the mother film. I'm afraid this kind of situation is rare in foreign countries." Domestic pirates are one foot higher than publishers and manufacturers. "The beginning of the whole animation industry chain is like a steaming meal. The producers, distributors and manufacturers are seeking to get into the market quickly. They rush to move their chopsticks before the pirates. I'm afraid that those who do piracy will only have leftovers."

Chinese PinYin : Hu Zhao Hong