CATDOLL: Micro comics build a new comic IP industry chain and set a new industry standard

Halfway through 2015, China's summer movie season has arrived. Judging from the list of films in this summer season, there are many films derived from literary or comic IPs, which indirectly reflects that in order to avoid the embarrassing situation of dismal box office, film and television companies have begun to focus on mature IPs with a certain fan base. Chinese films have entered the era of star effect + fan economy. Among them, the movie "Go Away! Tumor King", which was adapted from the best-selling comic book of the same name by Weimanhua and the real experience of Xiong Dun, has attracted widespread attention because this film is China's first real-life comic adaptation movie. The success or failure of the film's operation is a weather vane for both the Chinese comic and film industries.

Three years of hard work, the film is released with dreams

On August 21, 2011, cartoonist Xiong Dun (real name Xiang Yao) was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Faced with misfortune, Xiong Dun insisted on creating comics, recording the joys and sorrows during his medical treatment. With his super cute style and funny words, it is hard to imagine that this is actually telling his story of fighting cancer. In 2012, Weimanhua and Xiong Dun jointly planned and published the comic book "Go Away! Tumor King", which was well received by netizens. Since then, Xiong Dun has been called the "anti-cancer cartoonist". In November of the same year, Xiong Dun's friends announced the news of his death through Weibo.

As time goes by, perhaps many people have forgotten Xiong Dun, but Weimanhua has been working hard for three years to fulfill Xiong Dun's wish to turn comics into movies. Finally, with the help of Wanda Pictures and Fruit Films, the film of the same name was completed. The movie stars Bai Baihe and Daniel Wu and will be released on August 13. Weimanhua hopes that more people will know Xiong Dun's inspirational story through this movie and encourage people not to give up their dreams easily at any time. The editor believes that Weimanhua may also imply that all Chinese cartoonists, including himself, need to learn from Xiong Dun's spirit and persevere with an optimistic attitude. Therefore, the release of the movie not only fulfilled Xiong Dun's dream, but also opened the door to the dreams of Chinese cartoonists.

Join the stage play because of love and take the lead

As a standard platform for the IP industry development of the comic book "Go Away! Tumor King", the stage play "Go Away! Tumor King" has begun intensive rehearsals. Outstanding young actors such as Jiang Xiaohan, Guo Jiaming, and Qu Shuangshuang have joined the play out of love and emotion. The smiling Jiang Xiaohan will play Xiong Dun. It is reported that this time she will not only experience extreme misfortune and pain on the stage, but will also challenge the bald look for the role.

This positive work full of love and care is produced by Beijing Century Huapeng Culture Media Co., Ltd. The chief producer Wang Pengfei, director Yang Shuo, and screenwriter Yu Ao are all well-known drama industry celebrities. This collaboration is inspired by Xiong Dun's happy living spirit. The stage play will be staged in Shanghai, Beijing, and Changsha from July 23. Such a huge lineup is not to be missed.

New comic book for charity released simultaneously by three major e-commerce platforms

To commemorate Xiong Dun, Weimanhua will launch a new version of the comic book "Go Away! Tumor King" on July 20, and will be released simultaneously on three major platforms: Dangdang, Amazon, and JD. The new book not only exclusively collects a large number of Xiong Dun's first published hand-painted works, but also launches a limited edition movie commemorative collection and signed posters of Bai Baihe and Daniel Wu. Whether you are a comic fan, a movie fan, or a fan fan, there is always a content in the book that suits you.

As the initiator and holder of the comic IP "Go Away, Tumor King", Weimanhua will contribute all the proceeds from its comic books to charity, and together with part of the proceeds from the film and stage play, it will set up a public welfare support fund with Weigongyi to help cancer patients recover and support Chinese original cartoonists. Weimanhua CEO Mr. Sun Yuqian said: "We have used a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources to promote movies, stage plays and comic books, but Weimanhua will contribute all the proceeds to charity. Society needs positive energy, and we will do this regardless of cost." At the same time, according to another person in charge of the marketing department of Weimanhua, the TV series of "Go Away, Tumor King" is also being actively prepared and may be broadcast on Hunan Satellite TV in the future and sweep across the country.

Regardless of the box office, Weimanhua has successfully completed the cross-border operation of the comic book "Go Away! Tumor King", and successfully derived a comic book into multiple forms such as books, music, movies, stage plays, and TV series. This shows that Weimanhua has successfully accumulated and has the experience and ability to operate comic IPs, and can build a comic IP industry chain with a strong lineup and resources at any time. As long as the replication is completed, it is only a matter of time before it becomes profitable.

Analyzing the development process of this IP operation, Weimanhua has created a new model for the operation of Chinese comics IP. In the process of cross-border cooperation, Weimanhua did not adopt the common rights sales or bundling cooperation methods in the industry, but from the perspective of promoting the formation of the IP industry chain, fully believed in and utilized the professional strength of all parties in various industries, and developed through a new business model of each party doing their own job and specializing in their own business. Finally, through the overall improvement of the main line of IP, the profitability of all parties in various fields can be achieved. On the one hand, this greatly reduces the capital and operation risks of downstream parties, and there is no need to pay huge licensing fees in advance. On the other hand, it avoids business frictions and interest disputes during the operation process. For downstream companies such as film and television parties and game parties, there are IP works with a fan base, and they do not have to bear capital and operation risks. Why not do such cooperation? Cross-border cooperation is a done deal. As an outsider, in the short term, this cooperation model may reduce the profits of literary and comics IP holders, but in the long run, this can not only effectively curb the problem of inflated IP prices caused by concept speculation, but also be conducive to the diversified development of Chinese comics, and have a huge driving effect on the progress of the industry.