The traditional structure of production is changing and many production companies in China have been forced to diversify in order to survive, but LostPensivos, which now goes by LP Films, doesn’t feel the crunch. Since the company’s start the team has always had a more experimental mindset. This flexibility has helped them expand each year they’ve been in business and ride out any waves in the production industry and China market.
传统制作结构如今正在发生变化，中国很多制作公司不得不丰富自身业务才能存活，但是罗家文化（LostPensivos）却没有这样的紧迫感。公司自成立以来，团队始终保持着不断实践的思维模式。正是这样的灵活多变，让罗家文化的业务每年都在扩大，在制作行业和中国市场游刃有余。
LP Films team | 罗家文化团队
More than a passion project
不只是热情
LP Films is not new to producing films in China. The original team of three, a fierce Chinese woman and two British filmmakers, quit their day jobs over fourteen years ago to produce a documentary film entitled, A Farewell Song. The documentary is a story based on three elderly Chinese traditional musicians who came out of retirment to perform and make music together. The film took five years to complete. In the meantime they had garnered enough additional small film projects and also plenty of problems issuing company ‘fapiaos’ making the decision to register as an official production company in Shanghai much easier.
罗家文化在中国制作片子已经有些年头了。初创团队只有三人，包括一位中国女强人和两位英国电影人，14年前，三人辞去工作，一起打造了纪录片《阳关三叠》（A Farewell Song），讲述了是中国三位著名的传统音乐家的故事。该片历时五年打造，在这期间，三个人也接了很多小型电影项目，同时却也不得不处理开公司发票的很多问题，于是，三人决定正式在上海注册公司。
While they began as a documentary production house, their show reel is much more diverse. Based in the Shanghai Art Design compound on Caoxi Road, the team is now a mix of twelve Chinese and foreign producers and creatives. Yes, creatives. This is one of LP Films’ unique angles; they are a production company with a bilingual in-house creative team. With most of the creative done in-house, this sets their company structure apart from other production companies. It means they work directly with clients as much as possible, which Executive Producer Luo Tong says “cuts down on the payment delay that some production companies might face when trying to chase money from an agency or client”.
罗家文化起家于纪录片制作，但作品远远不限于此。公司坐落于上海美术设计公司院内，团队现在已达到12人，包括国内外的制片人和创意人才。没错，就是创意人才。这就是罗家文化的独特视角，作为一家制作公司，他们有着自己的中英双语创意团队。正因为多数创意工作都是公司内部来完成，所以他们跟其他的制作公司结构非常不同。也就意味着他们会尽可能直接跟客户沟通，对此，监制罗彤表示，“这减少了付款拖欠的情况，而这正是一些制作公司面临的问题，要向广告公司或者客户追款”。
office | 办公室
LP Films did not always have this freedom and authority. They got their start in the commercial film industry by simply taking short video and editing projects from their friends at 4A agencies whose larger vendors didn’t want to take on these seemingly insignificant projects. “We started out as documentary filmmakers so where we excelled was storytelling, and clients liked this” Luo explained.
以前罗家文化可不是总能自由施展拳脚，展现自己的权威性。最初打进广告片行业时，他们承接一些简短广告项目的制作和剪辑工作，这些项目来自与4A广告公司的朋友，大制作公司不愿意做这些看似微不足道的工作。“我们起步于纪录片制作，所以我们擅长的是讲故事，客户很欣赏这一点，” 罗彤如是说。
Over the years LP Films has built strong relationships and now they have more respect when negotiating with clients during the creative process. “Most small production companies” Luo believes, “are scared of standing up to clients but because we are not tied to one brand or project, over the years we have grown the confidence to speak up for ourselves”. Even though they produce videos for brands as recognizable as Disney and Apple, they operate on a system of trust and delivery rather than retainers. Clients are pleased with their results and so projects keep coming through the pipeline.
多年以来，罗家文化已经建立了坚实的人脉，现在跟客户谈判创意过程的时候，也获得了更多的尊重。罗彤认为，“多数小型制作公司都很胆怯，不敢违背客户，但是我们并不依赖某个品牌或者某个项目，所以多年来，我们积累了信心，敢于维护自己的声音“。罗家文化在视频制作领域的客户包括一些非常卓越的品牌，比如迪士尼和苹果，尽管如此，他们更注重的是信任感和交付作品的质量，而不是唯唯诺诺。客户对成果很满意，所以项目接踵而至。
Team LP | 罗家文化团队
Innovate or die
创新求变
To stay relevant in a changing production and digital environment is not as simple as it sounds. Creative Director Arthur Jones, however, still excitedly shares about the production and film techniques LP Films has accomplished in the past and those that are just around the corner. The team covers a broad range of production techniques and this helps them to continually impress and better service clients.
想要与时俱进，跟得上不断变化的制作产业和数字产业，说起来简单，做起来可不容易。创意总监罗飞（Arthur Jones）很愿意与人分享罗家文化的制作技巧和电影技巧，不论是已完成的项目还是潜在的项目都如此。团队有着广泛的制作技巧，他们不断让客户眼前一亮，不断为客户提供更好的作品。
When filming for the Special Olympics held in 2007 in Shanghai, the company created new time-lapse techniques that subsequently gained them further recognition in China’s production market. One technique the team created, which is sometimes referred to as hyper lapse now, is where the camera can sweep around in a big 360 degree movement, perfect for showcasing the activity in a giant stadium such as in the case of the Special Olympics. The footage is then condensed from a two hour period of filming into just a few seconds. “The effect of this time-lapse technique was very dramatic” Jones explained, “we had many clients approach us after that who wanted to use the same techniques to present their projects or events”.
罗家文化为2007年上海特奥会制作了作品，打造了一种全新的延时技术，这也让他们在国内制作市场上进一步得到了认可。公司团队打造的一种技术 – 现在有时被称为“hyper lapse”技术，可以让摄像机进行360度扫描，完美地展示诸如体育场等大型场所举办的活动，上海特奥会的场所就是一个例子。两小时的拍摄脚本后续可以压缩至短短的几秒钟。“这种延时技术非常了不起，”罗飞如是说，“特奥会之后，很多客户都找上门，想让我们用同样的技术呈现他们的项目和活动”。
Timelapse Showreel
The team also pioneered static time-lapse shots from cameras housed in weatherproof boxes that could record construction projects over months or even years. Later they developed techniques to view the images live and online from what they call the BlackBox set-up. Jones says that “this capability has proved to be a great selling point for clients with long-term large scale construction projects”.
同时，团队还率先打造了静态延时摄影拍摄，摄像头放置在防风防雨的盒子里，可以记录历时几个月甚至几年的建筑项目。之后，他们又打造了一些技术，可以通过BlackBox来实时在线观看图像。罗飞表示，“这一技术也是我们公司一个大卖点，可以满足客户历时长久规模巨大的建筑项目”。
Sugar Tang Video | 糖视频
As the demand for short videos has increased, LP Films started its own short video platform, which they call Sugar Tang Video. They receive no direct monetary benefit from the platform for now but it allows the team to explore what content and strategy makes a short video successful. While they are not strangers to creating videos that have gone viral, a recent video for Porsche had over a million views, and some of their teasers and short films have had even more views, the Sugar Tang Video platform is simply another way for the team to learn and respond to the market’s currently insatiable demand for video content.
随着短视频需求量的增加，罗家文化开设了自己的短视频平台，叫做SUGAR糖视频。现在，这一平台还没有给他们带来直接经济收入，但却可以让团队探索什么样的内容和策略可以造就成功的短视频。打造点击量超高的视频对罗家文化已不是什么新鲜事，公司最近打造的保时捷广告赢得了100多万点击量，此外，有一些预告片和短片点击量甚至更高，SUGAR糖视频平台可以让团队了解现在市场对视频内容的强烈需求，从而做出应对。
This doesn’t mean LP Films is able to throw money around or start projects that are not sustainable or don’t have an audience. “Each project must stand on its own two feet” Jones conveyed. When starting any new project or film, the team sets out to understand the projects viability, fundability, and audience from the very beginning. “We are not making money on one project to then turn around and do an art project that we enjoy. Each project must be marketable and sustainable in its own right”.
但这也并不意味着罗家文化会随意砸钱，或者制作一些不持久的项目，或是一些没人爱看的节目。罗飞表示，“每一个项目都要能站得住脚”。每次项目和片子开展之初，团队都会评估一下项目的可操作性、资金情况，以及是否会受观众欢迎。“我们的模式不是做一个赚钱的项目，之后就可以不考虑钱，去做一个自己很喜欢的文艺项目。每一个项目自身必须具有市场推广性，也要有长久性”。
Balancing act
寻找平衡
LP Films’ adaptability and wide array of production services in some light demonstrates the company’s prescient thinking and of course a bit of luck and good timing. More rigid production companies have struggled because they are not able to adapt their production services to a more demanding and more digital market. When producers might be asked to take stills for a client or produce short teaser films on top of the million dollar TVC, this is where LP Films has rolled with the punches.
罗家文化灵活变通，提供广泛的制作服务，这一点也展示出公司的先见之明，当然还有一点运气和天时地利。很多制作公司都挣扎过活，这是因为他们不能变通，无法满足严苛的数字市场的制作服务需求，客户可能会要求制片人拍摄剧照，或者制作一个短小的预告片，这些都是几百万美元的电视广告之外的要求，罗家文化对此都会兵来将挡。
The Six | 《六人》
The company’s recent documentary The Six which documents the story of Chinese survivors of the Titanic has gained them international attention, all the while they continue to work on film projects as varied as short videos for new Apple product releases to a documentary charting the construction of a new Raffles City in Chongqing over a three year period.
罗家文化最近打造了纪录片《六人》（The Six），讲述的是泰坦尼克沉船中的六名中国幸存者，该片也获得了国际关注，与此同时，罗家文化还继续参与电影项目，包括苹果新品发布短视频，此外，还有一部纪录片，记录即将历时三年建设打造的重庆来福士广场。
As the traditional creative industry structure evolves, flexibility of mind and skills is surely key for all players involved. LP Films it seems has found a way to balance itself beautifully in this new mix.
随着传统创意行业结构的演变，思想和技能的灵活变通无疑是行业中每个人都要具备的关键素质。罗家文化在全新的行业业态中，似乎已经找到了完美的平衡。
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