Current movie derivatives in China are still in their infancy。Compared to foreign countries, especially the North American market，The vast majority of Chinese film revenue still comes from box office，Derivatives only account for a small proportion。

But this does not mean that the derivatives market is not important。Opposite，With the emergence of big IPs，The output value of many film and television derivatives has reached astonishing figures。

The sales of derivatives of the 2015 movie "The Return of the Great Sage" exceeded 10 million on the first day，Exceeded the single-day historical record of domestic film derivatives。

The 2016 movie "Big Fish and Begonia" launched derivatives through crowdfunding，Sales reached more than 3 million that day，Sales exceed 50 million in two weeks。

Anle Pictures planned a spin-off based on Huba before the release of "Monster Hunt 2"。Nearly 200,000 genuine authorized Huba dolls sold，Sales revenue 4 million。

“Pleasant Goat” exceeds 1 billion、The annual output value of "Bear Infested" in 2017 is 2.5 billion、“Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom” exceeds 300 million......The impressive output value of movie derivatives has become an important node in China’s derivatives market，Promoting the development of the film derivatives industry step by step。

Ni Yuehong, Vice President of Beijing Film Academy, explains the current status of the film derivatives industry: "The film derivatives industry is a new business format that has emerged in recent years，It is an emerging economic field with the rapid development of my country's film industry。

Look at the overall situation，The big pattern is initially formed，Not only are more and more film and television companies paying attention to the development of derivative products、Operation，Internet companies and brands also join in the licensing of native film and television products、Design、R&D、Production、Every aspect of sales，More financial companies are involved in financing，Built a service platform and operation system with the characteristics of my country’s market economy，Form division of labor and collaboration among enterprises，Industry maturity characteristics are beginning to emerge。”

Many people in the industry believe that，Derivatives will become a powerful booster for the future development of the film industry。Then，Are derivatives really the next blue ocean for the growth of the film industry??

The reporter interviewed the film and television copyright company (licensor) with these questions、Derivatives producer、Derivatives sellers and ordinary consumers, etc.，Strive to jointly outline the complete picture of the current derivatives industry chain and the new direction of future derivatives development from different angles。 

In the domestic film derivatives market，Mobile phone case、Mug、Power banks are jokingly called the “Three Derivatives”，Almost every movie will choose to start with these "three treasures" when making derivatives。Lack of creativity is a major dilemma of derivatives，Many spin-offs have little relevance to the film，Also lacks novelty attraction。

In the opinion of Fu Haifang, 188bet app general manager of Zhejiang Starlight Cinemas，“Domestic derivative products are too single，I haven’t changed my face for several years，There are not many creative things。Today’s young people like creative things、Fun and interesting products，But most of the products currently in the theater derivatives sales area are very ordinary。”

Not just a lack of creativity，Single category，The quality of some derivatives does not satisfy consumers。When "Monster Hunt" was released, President Jiang Zhiqiang of Anle Pictures, the producer, admitted that he did not consider the development of Huba-related derivatives in advance。Anle’s lag in the development of derivatives directly led to the situation where viewers wanted to buy derivatives after the film was released but there was no genuine version to buy。

The director of "Monster Hunt" Xu Chengyi expressed his helplessness，The plush doll Huba handed over to the manufacturer “isn’t even enough for the crew members”。This situation directly led to the proliferation of all kinds of unauthorized pirated derivatives during the release period。

The reporter discovered during visits to many theaters，Many viewers bought non-genuine licenses、Roughly made、After the poorly designed "Huba", he complained that "Huba was too ugly"。For copyright owners，Such pirated and inferior products are undoubtedly a huge damage to the copyrighted brand image。

When "Monster Hunt 2" is released，The film crew has fully learned the lesson，Develop and produce derivatives more than half a year in advance，Finally achieved the sales volume of nearly 200,000 pieces of "Huba"。

“Some producers will go to Yiwu Small Commodity Wholesale Market to find some small manufacturers for labeling production”，Fu Haifang revealed in the interview that some derivatives lack design，Not all of the major reasons for poor quality are due to piracy，“The products produced by just looking for manufacturers to label them will basically not have any creativity or design，It’s just a common home department store with a movie logo on it，How can a large number of viewers pay for such a product?”

Consumers don’t pay for low-quality derivatives，Why didn’t the party choose a better derivatives production and designer in advance?

Ni Yuehong thinks，“As far as the current situation in which derivatives are regarded as ancillary products of film and television IP，Not every IP has a strong enabling effect on derivative products，The authorization and design of domestic derivatives lacks a complete industrial process。”

Looking at Walt Disney in the United States，It has four companies，The first one is Disney Pictures Entertainment，The entire Walt Disney Company is built on this part of the business。The core of this part of the business is Disney animated features and live-action films，Includes multi-brand global distribution companies，Leading film production、Issuance business，Also includes DVD、Audio and video products、Musical、Disney on Ice and other stage shows。

Second is Disney Theme Park，Responsible for the operation of Disney theme parks around the world、Build。In addition to 5 resorts and 11 theme parks (this number continues to grow)，There are also two giant cruise ships。

The third is Disney Consumer Products Department，Responsible for authorization of peripheral consumer products，is the world’s largest brand consumer licensee。Disney cooperates with a wide range of global licenses to launch including clothing、Toys、Books、Food、Various consumer goods such as games，Covered Design、Production、Sales and other aspects。

This division is responsible for Disney’s global publishing business、Interactive software development, etc.。Disney has its own direct sales business、Direct sales website and store。

The fourth is media network，This division operates various media properties，Includes acquired ADCs、Radio and television production and television station business。Control Disney Channels around the world and the channels they own equity in。

The above four companies，Except Disney Pictures Entertainment，The other three companies are in derivatives-related industries。Before every Disney animation is released，Derivative design is synchronized or even precedes film production，Will leave 18-24 months for derivatives design。

This cost investment of time and manpower is 188bet sports betting app download very rare in the domestic derivatives field。Especially in the field of original live-action movies，Such a high-cost long-term investment is almost difficult to recover during the movie’s release period。

At a time when the situation in the derivatives market is not yet clear，Entering the market cautiously is the mentality of most copyright holders。But there are also some who are full of confidence，Industry leader who aggressively attacks。

The super animation IP "Bear Infested" is one of the best developed brands in the domestic derivatives industry。

“Bear Infested” has been on CCTV Children’s Channel since January 2012，has covered more than 200 TV stations across the country、Network Platform。Since 2014，"Bear Bears" launched in theaters，The first part of "Bear Haunted: Treasure Hunting Bear Soldiers" has finished 2.4.7 billion box office，Creating a new craze for Chinese animated movies。

The following films in the series continued to surpass the box office of the first film，The total box office of "Bear Bears: Fantasy Space" in 2017 is 5.2.1 billion，2018 "Bears·Transformation" 6.0.5 billion，Refreshing the box office records of domestic animation series again and again。

At present, the total box office of the 5 major movies released by "Bear Bears" is 19.5.3 billion。This is definitely a number to be proud of in the domestic series of movies。But the value of "Bear Haunted" doesn't stop there。

Shang Linlin, senior vice president of Huaqiang Fantawild who is responsible for the full development of "Bear Infested" derivatives, told reporters，Back in 2014，The annual output value of bear derivatives has exceeded 2 billion。And this number is constantly being refreshed，The current annual total sales of authorized products of the "Bear Infestation" series have exceeded 2.5 billion。

Then，How Huaqiang Fantawild forged this “bear with an annual output value of 2.5 billion”?

"There are now more than 3,000 derivatives of "Bear Bears"，We have cooperated with more than 200 licensees。Categories include milk、Snacks、Toys、Stationery、Clothing、Luggage、Toiletries、Game、Books, etc.。”

Shang Linlin introduces to reporters，These wide range of authorized derivatives cover clothing、Food、Live、Every aspect of the business，“Some new children’s pharmaceutical categories have been added in recent years，For example, atomizer、Band-Aids, etc.”。

It can be said，All categories、Authorization for large-scale layout，Is an important means of "Bear Infestation" derivatives，It is also the basis for obtaining ultra-high annual output value。

“Bear Infested” derivatives cover a wide range of categories，Even made reporters confused，Is it the “bear infestation” that boosts the sales of these derivatives，It is these various derivatives that have contributed to the brand influence of "Bear Bears" as a film and television IP?

Shang Linlin believes that this is a process of mutual achievement，“The derivative licensing industry chain is not as simple as everyone thinks，How to use it well、Used in a novel way，How to be loved by consumers is very important。We must conduct a comprehensive inspection when selecting an authorized provider，Strict factory inspection、Check production qualification，Ensure that authorized products are high-quality products on the market。”

For children’s food in authorized products，Shang Linlin showed special concern，“We must investigate again and again，We also cooperate with manufacturers with relatively high domestic brand reputation。We’ll even look out for some candy、Details such as the sweetness of preserved fruits cannot be too high，Basically all products we have to participate in the design process”。

“Supervision” and “participation” are two key words that Shang Linlin mentioned many times in the interview，“Our derivatives department designed a basic authorized image gallery。At the same time, it will also be based on different categories and changes in seasonal fashion trends，Individually developed authorized library。Provide manufacturers with more targeted services，Guarantee your own sense of design and quality。Of course, there will also be a series of monitoring after listing。"Shang Linlin said。

The uniqueness of "Bear Infested" lies in its industrial chain-like creation method，When the domestic market is not complete，The "Bear Infested" team used product thinking to turn this IP into a long-term brand。

Just as Shang Linlin said in the interview:“Derivatives are a short-term thing for many film developments。Maybe it’s just popular during a certain period of time when the movie is released，It is inevitable that there will be unsatisfactory results caused by rushing work。But for ‘Bear Infested’，Derivatives are a long-term business，Responsible by our derivatives team。”

Creative design and practicality,Two golden keys to open consumers’ pockets

Fu Haifang was once passionate about selling derivatives，When "Kung Fu Panda" was released, a special sales team was set up to promote derivatives，Even cooperated with Mtime.com，Open a special area for display and sales of derivatives in the best location of a cinema with an annual box office output of more than 30 million。

But in the words of Fu Haifang, the final results were “not very good”。He affirmed the quality of Mtime.com’s products，Also mentioned existing problems，“The quality of Mtime.com’s products is good，But relatively speaking, the variety is still single，Not very attractive to consumers”。

Facing various problems existing in the current derivatives market，Fu Haifang, who has been fighting on the front line of derivatives sales all year round, has his own unique insights，“The audience entering theaters has generally become younger in recent years，Young people like creative people、Interesting product，It is best to have a sense of technology、Freshness”。

A small robot named COCO appeared in the fourth movie of the "Bear Bear" series "Bear Bear·Fantasy Space"。When designing derivatives，Shang Linlin and her team’s story content，Designed a small intelligent robot toy like COCO in the film，Built-in smart voice chip，Voice control enabled，Can sing and dance，Make various LED expression changes, etc.。

Shang Linlin told reporters: "After simultaneous sales in January 2017，Products achieve online omni-channel coverage，Offline products quickly enter Walmart、China Resources Vanguard、Carrefour、Large chain KA stores such as Yonghui Supermarket and professional toy stores Toys R Us, etc.，And put the gameplay video on the sales terminal，Loved by consumers，During the movie release，Robot COCO is in short supply，Becomes one of the best-selling derivative products during the Spring Festival in 2017。The sales of this robot product exceeded 6 million in the first quarter after the movie was released。”

The idea of ​​"Bear Infested" is just like DC launching a power bank with the same sports car shape as Batman，Tightly integrates the content of the video and puts great effort into the design，Winning consumers’ love with high-quality product quality。

Different from the COCO robot with a sense of technology in "Bear Infestation"，When the live-action film "Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossom" is released，Authorized derivatives cover rice, flour, grains and oils、Makeup and skin care、Daily household items、Hundreds of categories including toiletries and more。Authorized products rely on Alibaba’s powerful e-commerce platform，Extremely practical，Not only attractive to the fan base，For non-specific audiences，It is normal to buy such a practical product。

In this type of practical daily household products，The usage attributes of the product itself are higher than the derivative attributes of the movie IP。

The reporter searched for the keyword "三生三世" on the shopping platform，A large number of authorized household products such as "Bilang Sansheng III Customized Edition Laundry Detergent"、"Member Three Lives Three Worlds Edition Orange Juice"、"BESTORE Sansheng Sansei Peach Blossom Drink Rice Brewing" etc.。

Many users did not mention “Three Lives Three Worlds” in their reviews，Some people even bluntly said, “They are not fans of ‘Three Lives Three Worlds’”，“Always buy this brand of laundry detergent”、“The quality of orange juice is as good as ever” etc.，There are very few people who actually buy these household products because of the movie "Three Lives Three Worlds"。But no matter who the consumer is，The huge sales prove the success of these products。

During the release 188bet online sports betting of the movie "Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossom"，Alibaba’s Aliyu and Quanbao announced that sales of derivatives have exceeded 300 million。

Days ago，The reporter asked Alibaba insiders about the latest sales figures of "Three Lives Three Worlds" derivatives，The insider said，"No latest numbers to disclose at this time"，Because "this number keeps growing，The sales of derivatives do not stop with the end of the film screening，Accurate statistics are not yet available”。

Judging from the single product sales of COCO Robot of 6 million and the sales of a large number of practical department store derivatives of "Three Lives Three Worlds" far exceeding 300 million，Technological creativity and product practicality may be the two golden keys to open consumers’ pockets in the future。 

Ni Yuehong thinksWhile the domestic derivatives industry is currently booming，There are also many problems，“The first problem is that our company is relatively small in scale、Low degree of specialization，No inter-enterprise collaboration alliance has been formed。Second, no product standard system has been established。Insufficient protection of third-party intellectual property rights。The fourth marketing environment is not very sufficient。The fifth source management is absent。The collaboration between the sixth industry is not smooth enough”。

From the perspective of the industrial chain，The lack of industrialized standard processes is a major pain point in the development and production of derivatives。At what stage of IP content production does derivatives development involve?，Who will design and produce，What channel to sell through?These are the problems that derivatives need to solve urgently。

Time.com is currently a major online platform for the design and sales of genuine domestic movie derivatives，Currently with Disney、Sony、Paramount、Warner Bros.、Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox and other Hollywood film companies have derivative licensing cooperation。

Its film derivatives production process is，First, you need to apply for authorization from the film company that owns the IP，Film producers review Mtime.com’s financial capabilities、Number of users、Design capabilities, etc.，When approved and authorized，Mtimetime.com will get a category that can produce derivatives、IP validity period and details of the sharing ratio，Each film company has different regulations on this。

It is reported，Derivatives produced by Mtime.com，There are 3 main sales channels: one is offline theaters，Time.com has signed contracts with more than 4,000 theaters across the country，Products can be sold in physical stores in theaters;One is the professional version of Mtime.com APP，The above provides genuine derivatives procurement channels for B-side merchants，The price is more favorable than the C-end;Finally, Time.com APP，Time.com Mall can provide derivatives purchase channels for C-side movie fans。

Currently，The ratio of Mtime.com’s shipments to B-side and C-side is 3:7，The ratio of online to offline shipments is 8:2。

Online channels have become the main way of selling derivatives。Liu Hui, manager of Beijing UME Cinema, one of the first to set up derivatives display cabinets in the country, told reporters，The display sales volume of theater derivatives is "not large"，Especially the 1:1 life-size DC in the window、Marvel animation character model，More serves as a display。

Many heads of derivatives companies also discovered thatMovie audiences are not necessarily consumers of derivatives.

Zhao Ning, CEO of Light and Shadow Smart Culture Communication Co., Ltd., discovered during the cooperation with derivatives of films such as "Monster Hunt" and "Beijing Meets Seattle"，"Show a lot of derivatives in cinemas，Sales were not as good as expected。This does not mean that this derivative is not selling well，It sells very well in its own channels。Finally I discovered that there are actually channels for watching movies、Movie theaters are not a good sales channel。”

For Zhao Ning’s point of view，Chen Wei agrees，He further analyzed the reasons for this situation，Online ticket purchase shortens the time audiences stay in the theater"，Online ticket purchase，The audience is stuck watching the movie”。He thinks the era 188bet app of online ticket purchasing，The channels in the cinema play more of a display and promotion role。

April 19，The 2018 strategic plan released by Taopiaopiao，One-stop publicity platform - "Lighthouse" announced to be launched。"Lighthouse" is positioned to serve film producers and promotion companies，Fully visual data-driven，Large-scale resource allocation，A one-stop marketing platform that can quantify publicity effects。Provide multi-dimensional video data for film producers，Smart recommendation promotion plan，Make Xuanfa efficient、Accurately reach users。

The future impact of this plan on the publicity and distribution industry can be foreseen，Traditional publicity gradually gives way to online publicity through precise channels，What follows，The pattern of film and television derivatives will also quietly change。

Taopiaopiao President Li Jie thinks，“Lighthouse” is bound to change the online landscape of the derivatives industry，“Basically the entire film and television derivatives are concentrated in Alibaba Pictures and Alibaba Fish Brand。Alibaba will also have a dedicated entrance for derivatives in the future，This will allow all parties with derivatives needs to connect with Alibaba in a unified manner。

Second，We will connect with merchants on Tmall and Taobao in the future，Such marketing authorization and brand authorization derivatives business，will be digitized and delivered through our lighthouse platform，Greatly improve efficiency。” 

There are currently only a handful of domestic professional derivatives production teams，Different companies have different business priorities。Take Guangying Lingdong Culture Communication Co., Ltd., the party responsible for the cross-border derivatives of "Monster Hunt 2" as an example。

CEO Zhao Ning summarizes its role as，"Screening content for brand customers，At the same time, looking for suitable brand customers for high-quality IP content，Building a bridge between high-quality IP and brands”。It’s not hard to see，Promoting IP and brand cooperation is this company’s derivative idea。

Different from the light and shadow，Worked with Hollywood on "Alien"、Beijing Lezitiancheng Cultural Development Co., Ltd. 52Toys is a company that mainly designs and develops derivatives of IP derivatives such as "Iron Warrior"。Working with different games on the basis of designing its own products、anime、Cooperation with IPs such as film and television。

These two types of companies with different focuses basically represent the two tendencies existing in the current derivatives market:一，Derivatives exist as promotional materials for movie IP，Derivatives are more focused as a means of publicity and improving box office。二，IP empowers products，Find the right IP with excellent design and products，Improve product value。

For these two tendencies，Ni Yuehong, Vice President of Beijing Film Academy, prefers the latter，“I don’t agree with the development of derivatives as a way and means to increase box office。”

Guo Hao, Chairman of Shenma Fun, starts from an industrial perspective，I agree with Ni Yuehong’s views，I believe that real derivatives companies do not do publicity in the first place，Still based on product。

"Most content companies，Now the first thing to do is to look for derivatives companies as a publicity path，Hope to do more brand co-operation，Do more product output，You can invest less in the previous announcement。But this path is impossible，So I agree with what Dean Ni said，A real derivatives company does not do publicity first，Still product-based。

A more cruel question is，If I do publicity，Usually not able to get authorization money，If acting as a derivative licensing management company，I made a lot of products but had no income，What is the significance of this company、What’s the value。" Guo Hao said。

In the opinion of Chen Wei, head of 52Toys of Beijing Lezitiancheng Cultural Development Co., Ltd.，“Movie derivatives can be gifts、Gift、Product，The most important thing is the product，Play different roles at different stages”。

There are not many IPs that are truly valuable for derivatives，The development of derivatives completely depends on whether the IP party has enough confidence in its own IP，Because developing a movie already requires a lot of energy, money, material, and 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino manpower，It is already extremely difficult to get the right funds to make this movie。When considering survival，Too busy developing derivatives。”

At this time，Derivatives can only be “B2B，Customized according to the film and television company，Develop it，In order to cooperate with the announcement，Can be used as small promotional materials。”

Looking at Japan、United States，Especially in the field of animation movies，The derivatives company is in the scriptwriting stage、There has been in-depth cooperation during the filming stage。Chen Wei thinks，This is "because they are very confident in the IP"。

He gave the example of Frozen，“After setting the character, start developing corresponding derivatives，The movie has been deployed to various channels a few months before its release。Toy Store、Online、Amazon、Shangchao，The overwhelming number has become a good carrier before the movie is announced。The movie turned into a 100-minute commercial once it was released，It also plays an advertising role for products，It is a mutually supportive relationship。”

Back to the current status of domestic derivatives，Derivatives that exist as a means of promoting movies are still mainstream。How to be like Japan、Same as American animation，Use IP energy to empower high-quality products，Still a topic worth thinking about in the future。

*Source of this article: WeChat public platform "China Film News" (ID: ChinaFilmNews)，Author: Zheng Zhongdi，Original title: "Will derivatives be the next blue ocean for the growth of the film industry? 》.