To further promote the policies on the film & television and e-sports industries in Jing'an, highlight the advantages and characteristics of cultural industry development, as well as showcase the business environment and urban image of the Jing'an, the Bureau of Culture and Tourism of Jing'an District took the opportunity of the Award Ceremony of the 2nd China Game Innovation Awards to hold a media briefing on the afternoon of December 8 at Honghui Shijie BOX, one of the five major film & television and e-sports industrial parks in Jing'an. The briefing aimed to introduce the upgraded version of the film & television and e-sports industrial policy released by Jing'an in 2021, known as "Film and E-sports, New Consumption in Culture and Tourism, Jing'an's Nine Supporting Policies", and to showcase the new achievements and new endeavors made by Jing'an in the fields of film, e-sports, new economy, new consumption, and new business formats.
I. Counting New Achievements, Jing'an Achieves Remarkable Results in Film & Television and E-sports
During the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2021, Jing'an announced the industrial policy called "Film and E-sports, New Consumption in Culture and Tourism, Jing'an's Nine Supporting Policies". Since the implementation of the policy, Jing'an has fully utilized the guiding and driving role of the industrial policy to integrate regional resources and industrial advantages and actively develop new business formats and models in the industry, focusing on building the core area of "Global Film & Television Creation and Production Center" and "World Capital of E-sports". The industrial development achievements mainly include the following four aspects:
(I) Attracting a number of outstanding film & television and e-sports enterprises and industry talents to settle in Jing'an. From 2021 to date, Jing'an has introduced over 700 cultural and creative enterprises in the film & television and e-sports industries, with a total registered capital exceeding RMB 3.5 billion. Jing'an has attracted more than 30 key film & television enterprises, such as Big Wave Entertainment, General Dream Studio, and Anghe Entertainment. It has also seen the establishment of over 20 high-quality e-sports enterprises, such as Zhejiang Kayou and Shanghai Jiuzhirun Information Technology Co., Ltd. At the 2021 Global Esports Conference, Riot Games signed a contract with Jing'an, marking the establishment of its first overseas global research and development center in Jing'an. Besides, in response to the work requirements of the Shanghai Film Bureau regarding the "return of film talents to Shanghai", Jing'an has made efforts to attract a group of outstanding young filmmakers and their teams and projects to settle in Jing'an. Now, Jing'an is gradually establishing itself as a highland for industry talents.
(II) Producing a batch of "phenomenal" masterpieces in film & television. The TV series A Lifelong Journey, co-invested by Xianshida Studio, has been selected as the opening drama of CCTV for the year 2022 and has won the "Outstanding Television Series" at the 31st China TV Golden Eagle Awards. The film Nice View, produced by General Dream Studio, has accumulated box office earnings of over 1.3 billion since its release during this year's Spring Festival. The drama The Pavilion, produced by DC Films, has gained great popularity on iQIYI. The film Wu Hai, produced by Juben Pictures, has won awards at a series of domestic and foreign film festivals, such as the Hong Kong International Film Festival, Sofia International Film Festival, and San Sebastián International Film Festival. The film Break Through the Darkness, produced by iQIYI Pictures, has surpassed RMB 400 million in box office revenue, breaking the record for the cumulative box office of crime films during China's May Day holiday. Another film, Let Life Be Beautiful, produced by iQIYI Pictures, has won the Best Children's Film at the 34th Golden Rooster Awards in China. Besides, Jing'an has seen a total of 46 film projects of film & television enterprises approved for development from 2021 until now, ranking first in the central urban area in terms of the number of film projects approved.
(III) Presenting a series of achievements in the development of the e-sports industry against the odds. Due to its strong online attributes and large user base, the e-sports industry has become an important force in Jing'an's digital culture and tourism industry during the pandemic. In 2021, TJ Sports completed the construction of Phase III of its remote live broadcasting center, and with the technological upgrades and iterations, it now has the capability to produce multiple projects concurrently which cover the live production of all League of Legends series events in every country and region worldwide. The animated series Arcane: League of Legends, produced by Riot Games, has been a top-ranking show worldwide since its premiere. The Chinese theme music "Warrior of the Darkness", performed by Eason Chan, has become a popular hit song. Besides, Jing'an has successively hosted the Award Ceremony of China Game Innovation Awards and attracted major events such as the TGA Tencent Esports Games, CODM National Professional League, and the "2022 Intel World Open", an exhibition project in the Beijing Winter Olympics. These events have further enhanced the industrial brand and image of Jing'an.
(IV) Supporting a number of industrial policy application projects for "Jing'an's Nine Supporting Policies". This year, Jing'an has completed the application, acceptance, and evaluation work for the first round of the new version of industrial policy. It has seen an active application of a total of 46 enterprises and 81 projects. After the evaluation process, support has been given to nearly 40 key projects. The support covers various aspects, including carrier platform building, corporate financing and loans, R&D and production, filming and distribution, rewards for excellent works, support for technological advancement, hosting of sports events, and development of derivative IPs. The total amount of funding support for the industry is nearly RMB 20 million.
The recurrent outbreak of the pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to the culture and tourism industry. However, Jing'an's support for creative industries such as film & television and e-sports will remain steadfast and consistent. Jing'an always welcomes cultural enterprises engaging in film & television, e-sports, art, publishing, and other industries to settle and thrive in Jing'an. Jing'an will spare no effort to support and assist the healthy development of enterprises and provide enthusiastic and professional services to ensure steady growth and success for enterprises!
II. Keeping Moving Forward, the Film & Television and E-sports Industries in Jing'an are Flourishing.
Jing'an's film & television and e-sports industries have a first-mover advantage and a solid foundation. With the strong support from government departments at both the district and municipal levels, both industries will continue to develop and prosper and yield fruitful results. Next, for the development of the film & television and e-sports industries, Jing'an will focus on the following three aspects:
(I) Focusing on "talents" and "new talents, new works, and new track". On the one hand, Jing'an will fully harness the role of the industrial policy to attract more outstanding film & television and e-sports talents to settle and gather in Shanghai and Jing'an and attract more high-quality and high-growth enterprises to choose Jing'an for development. On the other hand, Jing'an will continue to focus on "new projects". It will pay attention to "Jing'an Productions" and "Jing'an Premium Works", new areas such as "film & television +", "e-sports +", and "culture +", and the development of digital cultural IPs.
(II) Focusing on the "carrier" to continuously strengthen the "Film & Television and E-sports Creation and Production Center". Jing'an will continue to promote further quality improvement and efficiency enhancement of cultural and creative industrial parks such as Honghui Shijie BOX, Zhujiang Creative Park, Xiu709, and Jing'an Innovation Galaxy International Cultural and Creative Park, which are led by the film & television and e-sports industries. In 2023, Jing'an will take the Yonghe Business Center as its foundation and strive to build the "Global Film & Television and E-sports Creation and Production Center" in Jing'an, thereby providing exhibition space, workspace, and communication space for cultural enterprises.
(III) Focusing on "platforms" to build high-quality industrial service brands continuously. Jing'an will continue strengthening the promotion and support for the "Jing'an's Nine Supporting Policies" and cooperate with the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association to jointly build platforms such as the China E-sports Industry Research Institute. Through various activities such as the "Shadow π" Culture and Tourism Enterprise Salon, "IP Innovation Hub", Jing'an "Master Series" themed events, and the Jing'an Copyright Service Forum, a good interaction between the government and enterprises will be formed. Jing'an will make efforts to strengthen the foundation of mutual trust and collaboratively create more high-quality works under the label of "Jing'an Productions", thereby setting a 'Jing'an example', as always, to build Shanghai into a Global Film & Television Creation and Production Center and the World Capital of E-sports.