Headlines from China: Is Live-streaming Becoming A New Secret Weapon for Selling Movie Tickets?

Is Live-streaming Becoming A New Secret Weapon for Selling Movie Tickets?

2019 sees e-commerce livestreaming becoming the most trendy way to promote and sell products in China. With the increasing popularity of e-commerce live streaming, it also becomes an emerging method for film marketing and promotion. On November 5, two lead actors of My Dear Liar, an upcoming Chinese comedy that will be theatrically released on November 8, teamed up with top e-commerce live streamer Viya to sell ticket vouchers of the movie through her live streaming channel on Taobao, Alibaba’s shopping platform. Priced at 0.1 yuan, The ticket voucher will allow customers to buy one film ticket for 19.9 yuan. One customer can only purchase up to two ticket vouchers. Within seconds, 66,666 ticket vouchers were sold out. Along with later added 30,000+ vouchers, over 100,000 ticket vouchers were sold during the stream. The streaming event marks the first sale of movie tickets through e-commerce live streaming, although it was not the first time a film is promoted on live streaming platforms.  Read more on dianyingqingbaochu

New Film Streaming Platform Launched in the US to Promote Chinese Movies

Smart Cinema USA, a new mobile streaming platform that focuses on Chinese films, was officially launched in Los Angeles at the China-U.S. Film and TV Festival this November. Launched by Smart Cinema, a China-based film streaming app, in partnership with North America’s largest Asian film distributor Well Go USA, the mobile app aims at bringing the latest Chinese films directly to the North American audience. Currently, Smart Cinema USA has 17 Chinese films on the platform, including Dying to Survive, Looking Up, Men on the Dragon, Cao Cao and Yang Xiu, and Chasing the Dragon II. With 15 selections of this year’s China-U.S. Film and TV Festival, the platforms now has a lineup that includes 32 films. Read more on yuemuchina