The “Pan-Entertainment” strategy, which came up and implemented by one of the tech giants in China Tencent, “refers to the multi-domain symbiosis of the Internet and mobile Internet to create a fan economy of star IP (intellectual property).” [1] It emphasizes the central position of IP. With the IP at the core and being adapted to all kinds of genres such as films, TV series, and games, a pan-entertainment ecosystem can be created, in which the value of an IP is maximized. [2] During the years after Tencent proposed the strategy, IP had become a buzzword in the Chinese entertainment industry, especially the film and television industry. Nowadays, most popular films and TV series in China are IP adaptions.

Upgrading its “Pan-Entertainment” to “Neo-culture Creativity” strategy in 2018, [3] Tencent has continued to build its “empire of pan-entertainment” around IP development. It also targets the broad international market. For example, for the upstream of its IP industrial chain, Tencent has Webnovel.com on which Chinese online literature works are translated into English, and for the downstream, the international version of its live-streaming platform Tencent Video, WeTV, was launched in 2018. The first section of my project will map the framework of Tencent’s IP industrial chain in terms of a global networked cultural context.

Tencent’s web drama The Untamed, adapted from the web novel Mo Dao Zu Shi, was a significant success of its business strategies. It had a total viewership of over 5.2 billion and brought the live streaming platform more than 156 million yuan in early access fees. It also had an impact overseas, especially in Thailand, where even a fan meeting was held to fulfill those big fans of the drama. From the original web novel to the web series and soundtrack, and to the offline events and relating fan merch, Tencent’s IP industrial chain from China to overseas is clearly demonstrated. The case of The Untamed will be the second part of the project.

Last but not least, I would also like to include audience’s perception of The Untamed in my narratives. In particular, I am interested in the interaction between fans of different cultural backgrounds. In mainland China, due to the restricted governance on the Internet, many fans choose to upload their fanfictions with potentially censored content like erotic writings to Archive of Our Own (AO3), a nonprofit open-source fanfiction repository, and then put the link of the AO3 site on microblogging platforms like Weibo (similar to Twitter) or Lofter (similar to Tumblr) to circumvent removals. It provides the opportunity for fan interactions. On AO3, “the show’s main characters are the most popular romantic pairing among the fandoms represented on the website.” [4]

During the whole process, I will keep illustrating the dynamic role of Chinese authority. On the one hand, seeing the overseas dissemination of Chinese TV series as an approach to show the state’s soft power, the Chinese government promotes it with policy support. [5] On the other hand, despite the great difference between Boys’ Love (Danmei) content and LGBTQ content, “Boys’ love drama adaptations must navigate both the platform’s commercial interests and the political demands of the National Radio and Television Administration’s (NRTA) regulatory processes,” [6] which means “boys’ love” must be depicted as “bromance.”

 

 

Bibliography

“2018 China’s Pan-Entertainment Industry White Paper.” Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. March, 2018. http://www.199it.com/archives/701587.html.

“Five Tencent Businesses Announce Pan-Entertainment Upgrades to Neo-Culture Creativity.” Tencent. April 23, 2018. https://www.tencent.com/en-us/articles/2100009.html.

Baecker, Angie and Yucong Hao. “Fan labour and the rise of boys’ love TV drama in China.” East Asia Forum Quarterly 13, no. 2 (2021): 17-20. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.800453830441805.

Qiao, Xiangrong and Wenrui Duan. “Analysis on the Communication Strategy of Chinese Television Drama Bao Zheng and The Untamed in Thailand — Based on Perspective of the ‘5W’ Communication Mode.” Open Access Library Journal, 8, no. 12 (2021). DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1108179.

Yan, JiHui, Byung Chun Lee, and Taesoo Yun. “A Study on the Elements of Chinese Animation IP (Intellectual Property) Development Based on the Pan-Entertainment Industry.” International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication 13, no. 1 (2021): 168-179. https://doi.org/10.7236/IJIBC.2021.13.1.168.