Do self-produced dramas have to rely on fresh actors to be interesting? Sohu Video tells you the answer

Appearance is king, and handsome actors dominate the screen. This is an era where looks are everything. Whether it is a costume drama, a Republican drama, or a modern drama, a delicate face and a fit body have gradually become the only criterion for measuring whether a drama is popular or not. At the same time, purchasing big IPs for drama adaptation is also one of the most obvious trends this year. Whether it is iQiyi's "The Mystic Nine" or Tencent Video's "Ghost Blowing Light" series, they are all based on novels.

From a certain perspective, it can also be seen that large companies will also consider many aspects when investing in a self-produced drama. Best-selling novels can at least ensure a certain number of fans. Coupled with the high-value and high-exposure celebrity signs, there is an absolute guarantee for publicity and influence.

In this general trend, Sohu Video's self-produced drama "Assassins of Nations" was launched on August 8. This drama is jointly produced and released by Sohu Video and Lingyu Media, and will be officially launched on Sohu Video from August 14.

As a series that has been supported by a large number of young fans, it has received a lot of attention from viewers and media before it was aired. On the one hand, it is a self-made drama of the year with a historical costume and a dark plot. More importantly, it is starred by ten very young new generation actors born in the 1990s, and there is not even a female lead. It is completely a youth idol drama.

The arrival of the IP era

Last year was the year when major online dramas began to reach their climax. “Internet-born” content became the most watched aspect of online media. It also became a competitor that cannot be underestimated for traditional media, especially television media that produces and produces programs.

An analysis of the number of self-produced dramas released by the top five video websites in 2016 shows a total of 38. Among them, iQiyi and Sohu produced the most self-produced dramas in 2016, with Sohu producing 10, Tencent producing 8, Youku producing 7, and LeTV Video producing 4.

From these numerous dramas, we can roughly see that this year will be the busiest year for IP adaptations, especially costume dramas, which account for half of them.

Sohu Video, which once occupied the front page headlines with successful works such as "Diaosi Man" and "He's Coming, Please Close Your Eyes", once again proved the influence of online self-produced dramas among the audience.

After a long period of silence, Sohu CEO Zhang Chaoyang is finally going to make a move in 2016. He recently said that Sohu Video will be back on the offensive in 2016. In addition to investing more heavily in self-produced dramas, the company will also resume purchasing rights for some major dramas in terms of copyright investment. Last month, Zhang Chaoyang revealed at a press conference that Sohu Video will introduce popular American dramas including "Game of Thrones", "House of Cards" and "Fargo", and will carefully select programs for the audience this summer. He joked that "a lot of money has been prepared" so that everyone can have an "American drama summer vacation."

In addition to fresh meat, there must also be epic

As costume dramas become increasingly popular in China, audiences' requirements for content are also getting higher and higher. Last year's huge hit of "Nirvana in Fire" made many young audiences start to like costume dramas, and the ratings on major video sites were all above 9.5.

If we think about it carefully, we can see from the current audience groups that those born in the 1990s and even the 2000s have gradually become the main audience groups in the multi-screen era. This also determines that online novels with content sources that are adaptable to young groups have the prerequisites for being put on the screen.

However, the current actual situation of domestic online novels is that the authors themselves are relatively young, have little social experience, the main storyline framework they write is relatively thin, and the details cannot stand up to scrutiny.

In order to ensure the quality of the series, Sohu's self-produced drama "Assassins of Various Nations" not only used all young actors in the cast design, but also invited the godfather of Asian idol dramas and founder of Comic Productions Feng Jiarui to supervise the production.

According to the creators, this series is divided into three seasons, and will gradually lead you into a grand story world with a brand-new structure through narrative. The design of plot logic and camera language, as well as the costume and styling designs are also complex and gorgeous. Modern design styles are added to the character costumes, and the effect of combining them with traditional costumes adds a few fantasy colors to the show visually.

Whether a good drama can be successful depends on several important conditions: whether the plot is innovative, whether the main style is emotional, whether the characters have personality, and whether the props and scenes are unique. After a period of silence, whether Sohu Video can make a splash in 2016 depends on the final answer from the audience.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.