Beijing Cinemas Will Not Open Anytime Soon
On February 26, the Beijing city government released a guideline for business resumption of the film industry. However, at a conference held on February 27, Chen Bei, deputy secretary general of the Beijing Municipal Government, clarified that the the guideline is for future use, as the current conditions in Beijing are not ready for movie theaters to reopen or for film studios to resume productions yet. Sources related to Wanda Film told Securities Daily that Wanda has no specific plans for reopening its movie theaters anytime soon. Film distributors like Enlight Media have no updates on rescheduling their previously postponed releases, either. Sources from Beijing Culture said that most employees of the company had returned to the office since this Monday but didn’t mention if the studio will start filming anything soon. Read more on Securities Daily
iQiyi CEO Says, It’s “Unsustainable” to Premiere Theatrical Movies Online for Free
Today, Chinese streaming giant iQiyi released the company’s Q4 results and unaudited annual financial report for FY19. During a conference call following the release, iQiyi CEO Gong Yu said it is unsustainable for streaming companies to premiere big-budget theatrical movies for free and to only rely on ad revenues. “We don’t think it is a sustainable or healthy business model,” although it helps to achieve short-term audience expansion goals. Gong Yu also disclosed that iQiyi is testing a new video platform named “Sui Ke” (“随刻”), which according to Gong is similar to YouTube. Gong Yu didn’t specify the similarities between Sui Ke and YouTube. Read more on TechWeb
