Where is the next literary prototype that can "explode"? After "Flowering", "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", and "City within a City",
"Find audiences for good stories and explore good stories for audiences." On June 26, the Shanghai Literature, Drama, Film and Television Venture Capital Salon·Literary Works Promotion Special was held at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, using the length of a movie to build a bridge for the transformation of excellent original literary works into drama, film and television.
The attendees included not only professional writers and online writers from the Shanghai Writers Association, such as Lu Nei, Yang Xiuli, Wu Haiyong, Chen Lang, Wang Rong, and Fu Tian, but also cross-border writers who are financial industry practitioners and engineers, as well as Yu Rongjun, artistic director and screenwriter of the Shanghai Drama Center, and Gao Bowen, head of the Shanghai Pingtan Troupe. What kind of literary works can become a high-quality source for the film and television stage, and what kind of audio-visual works do today's audiences need are issues of common concern.
Shanghai is the birthplace of Chinese film and a major center of modern and contemporary Chinese literature. In the past few years, more and more excellent literary works have been adapted into movies, TV series and stages, and have been widely welcomed by audiences, such as the popular TV series "Flowers", "City within a City", "Home" and "Young Babylon", the drama and Pingtan "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" and "Flowers". The film version of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" "officially announced" the main creative lineup during this year's Shanghai International Film Festival. The film "Silly Roe Deer", in which Shanghai online writer Ye Jing participated in writing, was shortlisted for the "Project in Production" unit of the Shanghai International Film Festival·Film Project Venture Capital, and attracted the attention of the industry, winning two "Focus Project" awards.
"Film and television need to draw nourishment from literature. The two empower each other and interact in both directions. The transformation of literary works into drama, film and television not only has huge market potential, but also has far-reaching social significance. However, the secondary development of literary works is not easy. It requires a deep understanding of the connotation of literary works and an accurate grasp of their spiritual essence. It requires careful planning and ingenious conception to present the essence of literary works in the form of drama, film and television. It also requires respect for the original work and the audience, and to win market recognition with a sincere attitude and superb artistic skills." Ma Wenyun, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Shanghai Writers Association, said.
The Shanghai Literature, Film and Television Venture Capital Salon was founded in 2017. Starting from 2021, the Shanghai Writers Association and the Shanghai International Film and Television Festival Center will share resources and launch literary works promotion activities at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Based on the high-quality literary works of the Shanghai Writers Association, with the long-term participants of the salon and the film and television production units participating in the two festivals as interfaces, through the special promotion of literary works and one-on-one matching negotiations, the text content and adaptation advantages of literary works and original IPs are displayed, promoting the efficient connection between the content source and film and television adaptation.
In the literary works promotion session, writers and copyright operation representatives introduced 15 literary works in detail according to the three major sections of "Red Revolution", "Urban Industry" and "Ancient Costume Fantasy", covering traditional publications and online literature, and the content covers all dimensions of modern life. A roundtable salon discussion with the theme of "Two-Way Journey: Exploring New Possibilities of Art - The Integration and Development of Literature, Drama, Film and Television" was then launched.
"As a Pingtan performer, I was a little surprised at first to be invited to the TV festival. However, this further proves that the current art world cannot fight alone, but must also emphasize cross-border integration," said Gao Bowen.
"We want to find excellent seeds suitable for the film and television industry in the 'cross-border'." Yang Wenhong, president of the Shanghai Film and Television Production Association and chairman of Xingge Media, recalled that "City within a City" was "selected" at the Shanghai Literature, Drama, Film and Television Venture Capital Salon. "Four years ago, we thought "City within a City" was good because it had 'new characters'. Characters that make people feel fresh have grayscale, not simple binary opposition. Characters are an important fulcrum for judging IP. Whether a film or TV series can be successful depends on whether the audience can remember the characters in the end."
"The TV series 'Good Things Come in Pairs', adapted from my novel, was directed by Teng Huatao, the director of 'City Within a City'. The transformation from novel to TV series is a two-way interaction, in which the director has re-created the story of the text. The support of famous directors and actors has a process of 'upgrading' the work itself," said Chen Lang.
"Right now, the boundary between serious literature and popular literature is slowly disappearing. There are elements of popular literature in serious literature, and many expressions of values can also be found in popular literature. For traditional literature, if a work is to have transformative value, it depends on whether the writer can provide the essence of the experience, not just the framework of the story," said Lu Nei.
"The play adapted from Wang Anyi's novel The Song of Everlasting Regret has been performed for 21 years. Now it is adapted into a Shanghainese version and is still very popular. We adapted the literary IP The Code of Along the River During the Qingming Festival into a play, which had a good box office and sold out in 10 seconds after the additional show." Yu Rongjun said, "Today's audiences may have grown up watching TikTok and short videos, but they still need different types of stage works and film and television works, some of which may be more commercial, and some may be more classic. Adaptation is to stand on the shoulders of others and continue to climb up. Either you climb higher or you fall harder, so we must prepare a rope and be ready to climb out of the pit at any time."
"Literary works are irregular. They may be round houses, square houses, or staggered houses. To interpret and express them in more ways, more performances and narrative forms must be created." Gao Bowen said that the Pingtan versions of "Flowers" and "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" are unique. "They are different from others, but they can attract young people to sit down and watch for two or three hours. Thanks to excellent literary works for giving new vitality to traditional art, traditional art should also explore new forms to respond to excellent works. This is the so-called keeping the integrity and making innovations."
"Like the situation facing short dramas now, online literature was once not recognized for a period of time. But today, the biggest difference between online literature and traditional literature lies in the carrier of dissemination. The Internet is just a means of dissemination that allows content to reach users more widely. The same is true for short dramas. They are not trying to cannibalize the market share of long dramas, but user habits are changing, so the content format must adapt to this change and develop towards high-quality products." Liu Muhan, online copyright operation manager and producer of Qimao Chinese Network, said that the dance drama film "The Eternal Wave" gave her a lot of inspiration, "Can online literature IP also be adapted and presented in a new form?"
"Pay more attention to young writers and directors. There are many possibilities in them. I like to be enterprising, not conservative," said Lu Nei.
"I am also a teacher at the Shanghai Film Academy. I am looking forward to my students - the post-00s - producing more good works," said Chen Lang.
Shanghai Literary Creation Center, Shanghai Script Creation Center, Shanghai Film Distribution and Exhibition Industry Association, Qimao Chinese Network, and Shanghai Radio and Television Station Film and Television Office jointly announced the launch of a strategic cooperation.
The event is hosted by Shanghai Writers Association, undertaken by Shanghai Literary Creation Center, Shanghai Script Creation Center, Shanghai Film Distribution and Exhibition Industry Association, and Qimao Chinese Network, and co-organized by Shanghai Writers Club Co., Ltd.
