Hollywood’s Dreamworks Animation is in talks with a Beijing-based production company to produce a slate of original online content based on “Surprise,” an Internet-driven TV show has been viewed more than 1.3 billion times since it went online last year, according to people familiar with the matter.
The show, produced by Unimedia and online video site Youku Tudou, follows penniless daydreamer Wang Dachui and his misadventures as a diaosi, a vulgar Chinese slang term for educated young Chinese men with dim job prospects, little money and no girlfriends.
Unimedia is expected to be in charge of the content creation, while Dreamworks would provide special effects and animation skills. The channel is expected to launch on a major domestic video streaming site and will include daily and weekly programs — from animated videos to talk shows – based on the original Web series.
A Unimedia spokeswoman confirmed that the company is in talks with Dreamworks but declined to give more details. Unimedia is also preparing a movie based on the show and has released books and other items tied to the series.
Shanghai-based Oriental Dreamworks, which was co-founded by Dreamworks Animation and its Chinese partners, said it has been actively looking for local, original online shows to work with, with a focus on animated content. The California-based company’s Shanghai facility is also working on producing the third installment of the “Kung Fu Panda” animation as well as two original films based on Chinese legends. More than 200 artists, including veterans who have been working for the company in the U.S. for more than 20 years, are working on the shows.
DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said recently that the studio’s plans and ambitions for China are “as big as the country.”
"We aim to produce original Chinese content here with immense support from our parent company in America,” an Oriental Dreamworks spokeswoman said. “One expects to see an increasing number of deals of this kind in the next two years.”
Working with existing, locally produced shows is an easy way for Dreamworks to tap into China’s booming online video industry, especially given that Beijing has been tightening control over imported content online. China’s broadcast regulator has put limits on foreign TV content on local streaming sites, and all foreign television shows now must be approved by the state regulator before they can be posted on Chinese video-streaming sites.
Just like “Surprise,” most original online shows, in the early days, were made by amateurs, known mostly for their low-budget quality and looked down upon by industry people. But thanks to the surging popularity of such low-budget online TV shows, China’s big Internet companies are getting in on the game, offering audiences an increasingly expanding reservoir of professionally made Web-first programs.
"It won’t be long before I get promoted, become the general manager, serve as CEO, marry the beautiful and rich, and enter the prime time of my life,” said protagonist of “Surprise,” Wang Dachui, in one episode.
Though the fictional Wang still seems to be clueless about how to improve his prospects in life, at least his backers have come up with a plan: tying the knot with a beautiful and rich Hollywood studio.