Production House MSE might not be a common house hold name in the Chinese Adversing world, but thats probably about to change as they continually keep producing award winning work and have just recently won “Best Production” at the 2020 Golden Lions. SHP+ recently sat down with the quiet achieving PH to have a proper chat and to learn more about them.
对于中国广告界来说，动观（MSE）并不是一家耳熟能详的制片公司，但随着他们的作品不断收到奖项的鼓励，最近还荣获2020“最佳制片”金狮奖，成为一家知名公司，似乎指日可待。SHP+近日联系到了这家获奖不断的制片公司，希望通过我们的深度采访帮助大家进一步地了解他们。
MSE is a company that often introduces themselves as “Millennials with a big cinematic dream”. That’s an apt description for the production house moved by the goal to create good stories for younger generation, that will ultimately bring their work to the big screen. Given that the post 80s and post-90s generation reportedly accounts for 65% of total consumption growth in China, Chinese millennials are quickly becoming the dominant and influential consumer force. Brands want to tap into their growing appetites to spend, and a production house that doubles as target audience, is understandably up to the task to turn creative ideas into effective ads.
作为一家公司，动观常常这样介绍自己：“一群怀揣强烈电影梦的90后集合体”。一家以为年轻一代创作好故事为目标，并希望以此最终将作品搬上大银幕的制片公司来说，这样的自我定位真是恰如其分。在中国， 80后90后们正在迅速成长为主要，且有影响力的消费群体，据报道这些本土“千禧一代”的消费能力，目前占中国总消费增长额的65%。品牌们都想抓住这些新晋消费能力者的胃口，而这家本身就属于目标群体的制片公司，理所当然地就成为了将创意变为出色广告片的不二人选。
MSE moves fast: within five years since its inception, the company’s now producing at a pace of 70 spots per year. The two founders Tong Chao and Zeng Jian jokingly credit a plate of crayfish as the origin story of the company. The future partners met through Zeng Jian’s wife who’s a classmate of Tong Chao, and clicked instantly: they both were tired of working as hired professionals and wanted to do something of their own. With expertise in branding on one side, and production experience on the other, shared ideals and dedication, MSE founders make a balanced partnership.
动观成长迅猛：成立刚满五年的他们，如今正以一年70部作品的惊人速度野蛮生长。公司的两位创始人童超与曾健打趣道：公司成立的背后全靠当初的一盘小龙虾。曾健的太太是童超的同学，当年，这两位未来的创业伙伴通过曾健的太太相识，并且一见如故：两人都已厌倦了受雇的职人生活，想要自己创作点什么。于是，一方有专业经验的品牌职人，与另一方成熟的制片职人，在共同的梦想和全情投入的决心下，组成了最佳创业搭档。
Middle 中间 – ZengJian 曾健
Middle 中间 – Tong Chao 童超
It’s interesting to notice, how in mere 5-6 years storytelling transformed from a niche sector in Chinese adland to a must-have of marketing campaigns. Looking at their work for Dettol, spots for WeChat, NetEase, Tencent Maps and other projects, you get the understanding that MSE is primarily after storytelling as well. According to Tong Chao, it’s not that storytelling did not exist in China earlier, it’s that before the market took foreign adverts as reference, but with time the audience’s tastes and aesthetics are changing, and there’s a big demand for local stories now. Even though MSE enjoys working with foreign talent who bring a broader, more international perspective and a different visual approach, those collaborations are occasional. If it’s not the in-house director Karen 徐凯伦, who shoots about 10% of MSE’s spots, most likely it’s another Chinese director on their set. What differentiates storytelling spots from other ads are a sense of authenticity and how they can resonate with the audience. “Local directors understand Chinese people, and this is life that they too are living. Unless a foreigner lived in China for a long time, and is not coming and going for different projects, it’s very hard to grasp the Chinese storytelling”, says Tong Chao.
值得留意的是，在短短5-6年的时间里，中国广告市场中的故事性广告从一个很小众的类别，迅速变为广告界的主流。从动观之前的作品，比如滴露，微信，网易，腾讯地图等相关广告，我们不难看出，动观也是以故事性为主。而根据童超的说法，在这之前故事性广告中国不是没有，只不过当时的市场以外国广告作为参照，现在随着时间的变化，观众的口味和审美也变了，大家希望看到本土故事的意愿越来越强烈。虽然，与国外人才合作很开心，他们也能带来更广泛，更国际化的视角和不一样的视觉方式与方法，动观还是选择主要与国内人才合作。公司10%的项目由公司内部导演徐凯伦来完成，剩下的则通常会选择与一名中国导演合作。能让一部故事性广告片脱颖而出的往往是一种 “真实感” ，以及如何巧妙地以此唤起观众的共鸣。“国内导演比较了解中国人，以及生活的感情可能发生在他的身边。国外导演，他除非在中国生活很久很久，他才回了解这些东西，但如果是从国外飞过来，可能很难了解story的部分”童超说到。
“The Pinewood Giant & The Germ Kingdom”, directed by Kevin Lee, brought gold in Best Production category for MSE (动观).
由Kevin Lee 执导，动观制作的《松林巨人和细菌王国》在金狮奖的评选中获得最佳制片
You might think, that MSE is sort of practicing storytelling in advertising to get to movies one day, but it’s not an absolutely accurate assumption. The founders confirm, that entering film industry is the ultimate goal, but even when that happens, they won’t give up advertising. To stay relevant in the internet age in the market that develops as fast as China, the production house has been playing by the “content is king” rules from the very beginning. As to their cinematic future, MSE shares that creating good scripts is a foremost task, and the genre, be it a comedy, a horror, or sci-fi, is secondary.
你或许会认为，动观只是用过拍商业广告来打磨自己的电影技术，以便有朝一日拍摄电影，但这并非是最精确的猜测。创始人承认，能去拍电影的确是最终的目标，但即便顺利打入电影界，他们仍不会放弃拍广告片。在互联网时代，在中国这个迅速发展的市场，要想时刻跟得上潮流，动观从一开始就恪守“内容为王”的原则。至于他们未来的电影梦，动观认为好的剧本还是最最重要的核心，而电影的类型，喜剧也好，惊悚或科幻也好，则是次要的。
网易云音乐 x MSE 动观文化 x 徐凯伦
We finished our chat on a bittersweet note, talking about advertising production industry’s attitude in China. “With all the attention on agency and director, it’s important to get more people in the industry to be seen. So that young people pursue and understand different types of work, rather than limiting the career aspirations to “I want to become a director”. Only in this way our industry can achieve extensive growth— with young talents entering the industry, moving to professionalism, and we’re looking forward to the industrialization of film and television”, says Zeng Jian. “It feels, that abroad the production is more relaxed, while in China everything’s done on the verge of mental breakdown: the time is always extremely tight, the budgets are tight”, adds Tong Chao with hope that local production can also one day be less brutal.
我们访谈的最后一个话题是：中国广告制片行业的态度。显然，这是个痛并快乐着的行业，“在制作行业，第一很多人关注导演或者创意公司，但的确这个行业里更多的人应该被看见，让更多的年轻人对不同的工种都有期待，而不是一说起来就是“我想当导演”，也只有这样我们这个行业的粗放成长，因为不断的后续年轻人的涌入，走向专业，和大家期待的影视工业化”，曾健感慨道。随后，童超补充道：“感觉，在国外制片是很relaxed，大家轻松得去创作，但在国内时间紧，预算紧，就很紧张，大家都在崩溃的边缘完成创作“，他希望有一天，本土的制片界不再如此“残酷生猛”。
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