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The news of the postponement of popular blockbusters is endless. From last summer’s troika to this year’s Spring Festival’s three strong films, the screening time has been extended, and the box office champion of Chinese films has been postponed for three months at once. In the eyes of the general audience, the postponement means that it can be seen in the cinema one month after the film is released. However, in the eyes of the industry, the specific process of key extension is the most important. Why can a movie be released for as long as four months? Is the existence of this mechanism reasonable? This article will take you through all aspects of key extension.
What is the key extension? You can’t show a movie until you have a key. You don’t have to pay for an extension.
For the general audience, the word key is unfamiliar. What is a key? This should start with the film screening. The movie will be made into a copy, and it needs to be connected to the server before it can be read. The key is similar to the activation code, which allows the server to successfully read the movie in the copy. At this time, the projector can play the movie, and it cannot be shown without the key.
So where did the key come from? According to a senior person who has been engaged in distribution for many years, most of the current keys are made by China Film Digital Film Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Digital Film Development Co., Ltd.) and Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China). These two companies actually play the role of agents between the issuer and the cinema, and the issuer can save manpower and material resources through their communication and settlement with the cinema. Therefore, we will see the names of these two companies in many documents with extended keys.
After the key is made, it will be uploaded to the network and downloaded by each theater. The validity period of the key is one month, that is, we often say that the film screening period is one month. After the expiration, the cinema server will no longer be able to read the movies in the copy. At this time, if you still want to show, you need to postpone the key.
When a movie wants to be postponed, do you still have to pay a fee? The answer is no, Zhu Dawei, vice president of Stellar Pictures, Qin Wei, vice president of Beijing An Shi Ying Na Film Distribution Company (hereinafter referred to as An Shi Ying Na) and many other people in the industry have confirmed this, but they don’t need to pay for the extension of the key.
Is there a standard for key extension? Domestic films are flexible to operate and imported films are difficult to judge.
Since it doesn’t cost money to extend the key, isn’t it an extension if you want? You can postpone it at any time or for as long as you want. The answer is still no.
According to the distributor who has operated many imported films, it is true that there is no explicit stipulation in the mainland about which films can be postponed and which ones can’t. Generally speaking, domestic films are very flexible in operation. "Just tell the distribution company, such as China Digital, through them to tell the cinemas that we have extended the key, and everyone can still use it. That’s it." Of course, the so-called "let me know" actually needs to be presented in written form, but domestic films will basically not encounter any problems and there is no limit.
But this is not the case with imported films. Zhu Dawei, vice president of Stellar Films, said that imported films need to apply to the Film Bureau for extension. According to the senior distributor, after the imported film is submitted, it depends on whether it will be rejected.
There are indeed many domestic films and some imported films in the history of mainland film. For example, the one in 2010, which was released on January 4, was postponed until March 14, when it was released for more than two months, is very rare in imported films. Released on April 10, 2012, it was extended for another month when the key expired, and finally the box office exceeded 1 billion.
Looking back carefully, most of the key extension time is within one month, and it is really surprising that the Mermaid has been extended for three months at once. Is it arbitrary to extend the time? The answer this time is yes.
Is there a time limit for extension? The film is completely independent, and most of them do not exceed one month.
After the key expires, how long you want to extend it is really up to the film, whether it is a week or a month, and no one interferes. The three popular films in the Spring Festival were postponed for one month, 12 days and released on March 20th, except Mermaid, which was postponed for three months. At present, there is no specific extension, and there is no strict regulation on when to apply for an extension.
Qin Wei, vice president of Ann Shi Ying, told us that in theory, five working days before the start of the extension, they would communicate with the key maker who often cooperated, but there was no big problem earlier or later, and the time was more flexible. Moreover, the extension notice of "Journey to the West’s Monkey King Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon" released by Ann Shi Ying was issued on February 18. The reason why the extension notice was released ten days after the film was released was because both the film producer and the publisher had enough confidence. "We felt that the reputation was good and we wanted to take a long-term screening from the beginning."
After the issuance direction of China Digital or Huaxia proposed to extend the key, the two companies completed it relatively quickly. "Now, if you follow the process, you can go down in two days. In fact, China Digital also has a competitive relationship with China, and everyone has to compete for services." The veteran of the distribution industry said. According to Qin Wei, sometimes it doesn’t take two days. "It can be made in half a day, which is faster."
Next page:What kind of movie will be postponed? Blockbusters usually delay the box office as the driving force.