Since the outbreak became public in late January, COVID-19 virus has affected every aspect of life in China, on both personal and professional levels. The commercial industry is no exception. With consumers housebound and many fearful of spending amid the economic uncertainty, the lifeblood that flows down throughout each layer of production has been affected. Meanwhile, the near total ban on shooting within Mainland China places limitations on possibilities open to creatives and production companies, and has clear knock-on effects for the post houses. But beyond the obvious disruption and challenges, are there opportunities to be found?
自从疫情爆发在一月底被公布，COVID-19病毒已经影响了中国人生活的方方面面，无论是个人层面还是职业层面。商业广告行业也不例外。因为消费者宅在家里，许多人在经济不确定的情况下害怕消费，连接影视制作各个层面的命脉已受到影响。与此同时，中国内地的电影拍摄几乎都被禁止了，限制了创意人员和影视制作公司发展的可能性，一系列连锁反应显然也影响了后期制作公司。但是除了四处可见的破坏和挑战，还有机遇吗？
In this three-part series we talk to top figures of companies from each part of the production process – agencies, production houses and post houses – to see how this situation is affecting their businesses and how they are handling these exceptional circumstances.
在这次包含三部分的系列文章里，我们与公司高层对话，他们来自制片流程中的各个环节——广告公司、影视制作公司和后期制作公司——来看看现在的局势如何影响他们的公司，以及他们怎样应对这些特殊情况。
For this second instalment, we spoke with management figures from three post houses in Shanghai. We are thankful to all of them for their thoughts, ideas and insights. During these challenging times we all need to share, exchange and support each other.
在第二部分，我们采访了上海三家后期公司的管理层人员。我们感谢他们所有人的思考、想法和见解。在这个挑战性时期，我们都需要彼此分享、交流和支持。
Q：How has the current situation affected your business? Do you receive boards to quote? Is anything confirmed? 目前情况对你们的业务有什么影响？你们有收到脚本任务吗?有什么是定下来的吗?
Lily Li, MPC：We lined up jobs before CNY, so we’re now playing catch up see the best we can do to deliver the jobs which are confirmed as early as possible. We received a few boards this and last week, so far, nothing confirmed yet. February will be a bad month as we only had our staff return at the end of the month. As post always happen at the end for advertising jobs, I think we will feel the business impact in the coming months.
我们在春节之前就安排好了工作，所以我们现在在追赶进度，尽我们最大的努力来提交任务，这些工作要尽早得到确认。我们在这周和上周收到了一些脚本任务，到目前为止尚未确认。2月将是很糟的一个月，因为我们的员工月底才回来。由于广告中的后期工作总是在最后阶段才开始，我想我们会在接下来的几个月里感受到业务影响的。
Dennis Yeung, Craft Creations：The business is taking a huge hit right now. We are taking seriously on all the boards we received and carried out practical proposals according to the current situation. Overall, 50% of the business has been declined comparing to previous, while those with shooting-required TVC have been a huge loss. Almost 70% of the business (shooting-required) has been either suspended or canceled. Most CGI productions are in our line of business, and full CG TVC has a significant increase in this week, and we just confirm two full CG TVC in the last two days.
这个行业现在正遭受巨大的打击。我们正在认真对待我们收到的所有脚本任务，并根据目前的情况做出切实可行的提报。总的来说，与以前相比，业务已经下降了50%，这对那些需要拍摄的TVC是一个巨大的损失。几乎70%的业务(需要拍摄)已经暂停或取消。大多数的CGI制作都在我们的业务范围内，全CG的TVC在这周有了显著的增长，我们在过去的两天里刚刚确认了两个全CG TVC。
Craft Creations – RESCUE
Jeffrey Chow, Vision Shanghai：The present situation is bad: very few boards from agency & production and an 80% decrease compared to before the virus. Few projects are pending. The biggest impact is losing the Q1 sales.
目前的情况很糟糕：从代理和制片公司收到的脚本任务非常少，与疫情之前相比减少了80%。少有几个项目尚在等待批准。最大的影响是失去了第一季度的销售额。
Q：How are you coping? What solutions are you offering to clients? 你是如何应对的? 你为客户提供什么解决方案?
Jeffrey Chow, Vision Shanghai: We can work normally within our own operations. Nearly 100% of employees are back to work after 14 days indoor quarantine. The only thing is no business requests due to the fact that most clients are not back to work yet, and business is on hold.
我们可以在自己的业务范围内正常工作。经过14天的室内隔离，近100%的员工已经恢复工作。唯一的问题是没有业务请求，因为大多数客户还没有返回工作，业务被搁置。
Lily Li, MPC: There’s nothing I can do about the situation, so I just try as much as I can to stay calm and help and protect our staff. All of our clients are understanding. We provided revised schedules and they are all very supportive.
我对这种情况无能为力，所以我只是尽我所能保持冷静，帮助和保护我们的员工。我们所有的客户都很理解。我们提供了修改后的时间表，他们都非常支持。
Dennis Yeung, Craft Creations: There are obvious limitations for us to push projects forward during the quarantine stage. As for internal management, I am devoted to figuring out ways to reboot and integrate our workflows and resources to get past and survive this “time gap”. We are increasingly using Cinesync for teleconferencing as the main source to reach out to our clients so they don’t need to come onsite; Shotgun and Nim-lab for project management; and we also provide remote grading and review rounds with those clients working at home. We are also making good use of our Hong Kong based branch and contracted artists to get more overseas clients to make up for the losses here in the Mainland.
在隔离阶段，我们推进项目有明显的局限性。至于内部管理，我致力于找出重新启动和整合我们的工作流程和资源的方法，以通过和生存于这个“时间空档”。我们越来越多地使用Cinesync作为电话会议的主要资源，以接触我们的客户，因此他们不需要到现场；项目管理用Shotgun和Nim-lab；我们还为那些在家工作的客户提供远程评分和评估阶段。我们也很好的利用我们在香港的分公司和签约艺术家资源来获得更多的海外客户来弥补在大陆的损失。
Q：What is your overall feeling about current situation? 你对目前的情况总体感觉如何?
Lily Li, MPC：I am confident that China’s government will get this under control as soon as possible. However the panic will, unfortunately, remain virulent for a few more weeks.
我相信，中国政府会尽快把疫情控制住的。然而，不幸的是，这种恐慌还将持续数周。
MPC – latest CNY KFC
Dennis Yeung, Craft Creations：Mixed feelings, but I am confident we will weather the storm and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Meanwhile, we are not wasting any time. It is a good time for everyone to gather their thoughts and creativity, collecting ideas for the future. Also, we finally have a chance to rearrange everything in the company, like clean up the server, sort out the folder structures, reset the workflow systems, and reschedule the milestones.
情感很复杂，但我有信心，我们会度过危机、看到希望的。同时，我们不浪费任何时间。这段时间也很宝贵，每个人都可以收集他们的想法和创造力，为未来收集想法。此外，我们终于有机会重新安排公司的一切，比如清理服务器、整理文件夹结构、重置工作流程系统和重新安排里程碑（进度计划）。
Jeffrey Chow, Vision Shanghai：As the management, our first concern is how to survive during this hard time. We have do some quick restructuring internally in order to cope with the current situation and are preparing for the best when business is back. If it’s like the situation during SARS, it will go back to normal quickly after the virus. Most companies will need to review their cashflow. We have a healthy financial structure, so we are confident the business will get back to normal once the virus is gone. We pray for it everyday.
作为管理层，我们首先关心的是如何在这个艰难时期生存下来。为了应对目前的形势，我们必须在内部进行一些快速的重组，并为业务恢复做最好的准备。如果是跟SARS期间的情况差不多，疫情很快就会恢复正常。大多数公司需要评估他们的现金流。我们有一个健康的财务结构，所以我们有信心，一旦病毒消失，业务将恢复正常。我们每天都在祈祷。
Q：How long do you think it will last and how will business be affected when it becomes active again? 你认为它会持续多久？当它再次活跃起来时，业务会受到什么影响?
Lily Li, MPC: Judging by the news and word from the authorities, it will be under control before the end of April. I see two challenges when we come back: we might have a few quite slow months as clients will shrink their budget for this year since nobody has had a great start beginning of the year. This will in turn increase our challenges of talent recruitment and retention.
从有关部门的消息和表态来看，疫情将在4月底前得到控制。我认为当我们回来的时候会面临两个挑战：我们可能会有几个月的进度非常缓慢，毕竟大家在的年初都很不顺利，所以客户会缩减今年的预算。这将反过来增加我们在招聘和留住人才方面的挑战。
Jeffrey Chow, Vision Shanghai: I think it will last until April in China, then business will activate again right after May’s long holidays. Again, this prediction is based on personal feeling and hope.
我想在中国会持续到4月份，然后在5月份的长假之后商业就会重新活跃起来。同样，这个预测是基于个人的感觉和希望。
Vision – SHOWREEL
Dennis Yeung, Craft Creations: It may possibly last till July, I would say, but of course, I wish it would be shorter than that. Now the virus disease has been spread worldwide, we must be prepared for any consequences. We shall face the situation with growing confidence and preparation. The more prepared we are right now, the easier it will get later on.
我想它可能会持续到七月，但当然，我希望它实际上不会那么久。现在病毒病已经蔓延到全世界，我们必须为任何后果做好准备。我们将以更大的信心和更充分的准备来面对这一局势。我们现在准备得越充分，以后就会越好过一些。
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