Beijing, China, December 19 (Reporter Zhou Yifan, Voice of China, General Station) According to the report of Voice of China, China Radio and Television General Station, since the end of November, major cinemas across the country have entered the screening period for the New Year. According to the latest data, there are more than 70 new films in this year’s Lunar New Year, and the number of films released has reached a five-year high, with domestic new films accounting for 80%.
With the rapid recovery of the market, "movie roadshow" has recently become a hot spot of concern. Many reports said that because of the presence of stars, directors and other creative personnel, the original free or about 100 yuan roadshow tickets were fired by scalpers to hundreds or even thousands of dollars, which did not rule out that internal complimentary tickets were taken out for sale, or scalpers purchased tickets in advance and then sold them at a higher price. How to prevent "scalpers" from eyeing movie roadshows?
According to the data, as of 12 noon on December 17th, including the pre-sale box office, the box office of this year’s Lunar New Year file reached 2.337 billion yuan (including the pre-sale box office), and the number of people watching movies exceeded 57 million, and roadshows of many movies were being launched.
The second-hand trading platform has many links to the tickets for roadshows.
Roadshow refers to the advance screening of films in some theaters before their official release. In these special events, creative personnel, including directors and starring actors, will be present to communicate with the media, fans and film critics and promote the highlights of the film.
He Li (not his real name), a manager of a cinema, said in an interview with Voice of China: "Recently, due to the intensive film release and fierce competition at the end of the year, many film producers started to run roadshows one by one with well-known leading actors. The film roadshow is actually a very traditional means of film announcement, especially in the era when online announcement was not developed. For example, more than a decade ago, there might be three or four film roadshows held in the cinema every week. In fact, it has narrowed the distance between ordinary fans and film creators, and the effect is generally better. "
However, many media reported that there were many roadshow tickets for movies in the circle of friends or second-hand trading platforms, and the prices were staggering. A few months ago, Wang Xi (pseudonym), a Suzhou movie fan, wanted to participate in roadshows because he liked several actors in a new movie, so he posted on social platforms to buy movie tickets.
Wang Xi told reporters: "There was a roadshow when it was just released, and those starring actors were more attractive. I wanted to receive a ticket for the Suzhou roadshow, so I posted it on the social platform. At that time, it seemed that the cinema sold tickets for more than 100 yuan each. Some people sold them to 1000 yuan, but I didn’t receive them later. Now you go to the second-hand trading platform to see that a new movie recently released is not on the road show, and there are tickets on it. "
The reporter searched for keywords on the second-hand trading platform and did find a number of accounts selling tickets for film roadshows. Some of them directly sell tickets for fixed sessions; There are also some "substitute shots", which can help fans grab more front seats.
In the circle of friends, tickets for some roadshows are also being sold.
A proxy auction merchant shows that the proxy auction price in the first row is 369 yuan, and the cheapest random seat price is 149 yuan. In addition to the proxy auction fee, the audience also needs to pay the movie fare themselves. In comparison, the ticket price for fixed events will be more expensive. Tickets for a movie roadshow starring a star are priced at 1900 yuan in the first three rows, and 1000 yuan is also required for random seats. A screenshot of a circle of friends shown to reporters by a movie fan shows that a movie will be premiered on December 25, and two movie viewing places will cost more than 900 yuan.
A staff member of a publicity and distribution company in Beijing said that he paid attention to this phenomenon during the summer vacation. For example, a ticket for a premiere he attended was even sold for 3,000 yuan. "In fact, this phenomenon is particularly serious after this year’s summer file. All roadshows will encounter this problem. Everyone wants to see stars and want to communicate. One is that tickets can’t be bought, and the second is that tickets are very expensive."
So, how did these "scalpers" get the roadshow tickets? Chen Jia (a pseudonym), a staff member of a ticketing platform, told the Voice of China reporter that the audience who generally participated in the roadshow were invited guests or movie groups who were eligible for admission free of charge by lottery; In addition, as more and more films flood into the market, more and more roadshows are arranged, and some roadshows will also sell some movie tickets to the public. The ticketing platform will mark such special events. For example, the ticket purchasing page has the words "There will be a star meeting after the screening". Therefore, it is not excluded that free tickets are sold at a high price, or the price is increased to grab a good position.
Chen Jia said: "It is sold normally, just like all the usual events, except that there is such a reason (the stars meet), and the theater may raise the price, and there may be some tickets in the theater, that is, some seats are locked in the system. For example, it is necessary to keep a distance from the stars, and the first row is not allowed to sell tickets, so the first row is locked and not sold; There are also some cinemas that have their own big customers, or designated customers and relatives of the star creative group. These are reserved seats. The cinema may also have some golden seats, or some front row seats, and sell these tickets with cash tickets, high-priced tickets or special packages. Buying tickets by scalpers is actually these two channels. "
Tickets for some designated roadshows even cost as much as 1,000 yuan.
In the eyes of many insiders, roadshows are targeted by "scalpers", which reflects the recovery of the film market to some extent. On the one hand, the creators hope to enhance the reputation of the film through active communication, get the support of the cinema, and then get the box office return; On the other hand, the audience also has enthusiasm for face-to-face communication with favorite teams and stars. However, the price increase of scalpers undoubtedly interferes with the normal market order.
Chen Jia (pseudonym), a staff member of a ticketing platform, said: "Under normal circumstances, most people who come to attend have a strong desire to watch movies, so they can definitely achieve the announcement effect when they arrive at the scene, so whether his purchase channel is normal, or through second-hand trading platforms or scalpers, they have achieved the announcement effect. For studios, there are not many tickets, and there are only a hundred tickets, and they have no selling pressure. But after the scalper got the ticket, he made money in the middle. "
How to prevent "scalpers" from eyeing movie roadshows? He Li (a pseudonym), a cinema manager, believes that from the ticketing end, the platform will strengthen the supervision of the ticket purchase accounts for special events, which can alleviate the phenomenon of scalpers hoarding tickets to some extent.
He Li said: "For cinemas, in order to increase the popularity of cinemas, some free movie-watching places will be put in the fan base, but the number is not too large. Another situation is to put it directly on the online sales platform for sale. At present, when buying movie tickets, an account can basically buy up to 6 tickets at a time. If some scalpers feel that hoarding goods is more profitable, they may buy many pieces at the same time, and the online sales platform may need to strengthen management. "
Zhifina, a professor at the China Academy of Art, believes that in the longer term, more and more filmmakers are encouraged to enter the cinema to interact and communicate with the audience, so that more people can have the opportunity to watch the premiere and lead the market to a certain extent.
Zhifina said: "Film is a star-making industry. It is an eyeball economy and needs attention. It needs face-to-face communication between the audience and the main creators. Most of the roadshows in the past were concentrated in Beijing or Shanghai. A big change this year is that some films went to roadshows in medium-sized cities, which narrowed the distance between movies and audiences and made movies sink even more. I hope more audiences can enter the cinema. The whole industry is working hard to run roadshows. As our film creation level is getting higher and higher, the film quality is getting better and better, and filmmakers make further efforts, there will be more premieres coming to audiences all over the country, and scalpers will gradually disappear. "
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