Internet giants move from behind the camera to front

[Photo/China Daily]

Liu Chunming, CEO of Alibaba Digital Entertainment Group, may declare that future moviemaking will "be revolutionary" by customizing the script and the cast to cater to targeted viewers, but he still says that the Internet-backed firms, with their big budgets, still need professionals and will rely on "the best director, the best crew and the best technology" to make well-received movies.

"The Internet has influenced the movie industry for four to five years. For me, it's not quite brand new to hear of the merging of the Internet and film business," says Wang Changtian, chairman of Enlight Media. "The biggest change is the way we think. The Internet also changes the way that a movie is produced, promoted and sold."

With online cinematic service Maoyan.com last year selling 82 million tickets, followed by Gewara.com with 45 million and Wepiao.com with 28 million, online ticket sales rose to around 50 percent of the entire market, up from 40 percent last year and 20 percent in 2013.

Celebrities are also tasting the sweet power of the Internet, which allows them to shun traditional media exposure and promote themselves via social-networking services.

Guo Jingming, one of the richest authors in China, has recently made his upcoming movie Tiny Times 4 sensational news during the Shanghai festival. Followed by 38 million fans on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, the novelist-turned-director behind the 130 million yuan box-office hit Tiny Times franchise, was named the most influential weibo (micro blog) figure on Sunday, which is another way of saying that every sentence he posts on the Internet will easily reach potential ticket buyers as a promotion.

With all the chaos and turbulence in the market from the digital world, some domestic media are raising concerns.

"This is the best era for the Chinese movie market, and may also be the worst," concludes China Economic Weekly.