Proposing an official measurement system to measure Vietnamese film revenue before release

Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung - marketing expert with a proposal for a tool to measure Vietnamese film revenue before its release in theaters. (Photo: Anh Tuan/Vietnam+)

With current data and measurement methods, marketing experts affirm that it is possible to determine the revenue of Vietnamese films before their release, especially since film is a risky investment industry, with only 10-15% of films released in theaters each year achieving revenue success.

This is the opinion of Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung - former production director of Galaxy and Galaxy Play, at the workshop "Developing the art market in Vietnam: Current situation and solutions" organized by VICAST Institute under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Pre-release film editing

With experience in managing many investment funds, including film funds, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung proposed a set of criteria to evaluate commercial success to help reduce the risk of loss in Vietnamese films.

The tool includes a series of surveys, rating and measuring pre-release edits of films on a scale of 1-10. Script, actors, visuals/effects... help determine the experience, the decision to go to the cinema and recommend to friends, the ability to create word-of-mouth effects among audiences and many other factors.

The tool proposed by Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung is regulated: Scores from 1-7.5 are all high risk, revenue under 10 billion VND (usually not enough to break even with the current average budget of 20 billion VND). Scores from 7.5-8, revenue 10-40 billion VND. Scores above 8 are considered "blockbusters," revenue above 40 billion.

Part of the solution proposed by Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung. (Screenshot)

“Build survey results are analyzed and interpreted to support decision-making in manufacturing, marketing, and release,” said Tung.

If the audience rating is below 7, the producer should consider editing the edit, even consider cutting losses or changing the release direction to limit financial losses.

A score of 7-7.5 means that there is still the ability to reach the market but lacks breakthrough factors. To compensate for the limitations, it is necessary to increase marketing activities and emphasize strengths to attract public attention...

Above 7.5, the recommendation for producers is to boldly increase the budget for marketing and distribution, maximize revenue, and expand media coverage.

Scientific workshop "Developing the art market in Vietnam: Current situation and solutions." (Photo: Anh Tuan/Vietnam+)

This expert also suggests a series of specific indicators to measure and analyze other issues related to revenue, profit, quantity and quality of interactions on social networks, participation of KOLs, marketing communication plans at important times such as 3 months before release and 1 month after release, handling risks and crises if any...

In his analysis, Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung pointed out that with films from 2010 to now, box office success is 50% from film quality, 30% from media marketing campaigns and 20% from distribution. Marketing costs can account for up to 30%. Thus, good films, highly rated by experts, do not necessarily win at the box office and vice versa, bad films can win big.

In addition, to ensure total film revenue of 40 billion VND or more, there must be 2,000-4,000 screenings/day (20-30% of the total screenings nationwide) in the first 7 days of release, including the prime time from 6 to 9 pm.

Revenue potential from OTT

The revenue strategy of Vietnamese films also includes the period after leaving the theater. At this time, films can continue to bring in round 2 revenue on cross-border online film platforms OTT, through royalties and exploitation.

In his speech on OTT platform management in Vietnam, Deputy Director of the Department of Cinema - Dr. Do Quoc Viet affirmed that this platform is on the rise.

Deputy Director of the Department of Cinema - Dr. Do Quoc Viet. (Photo: Anh Tuan/Vietnam+)

He said that although the number of units popularizing movies on the internet has decreased sharply by nearly 2/3 in recent times, the number of accounts registering for services on OTTs is not small, including "the first online movie platform in Vietnam" with about 300,000 monthly subscribers, about 1 million users (if calculated on the premium service package used for multiple devices at the same time).

Affirming that cinemas have their own role along with many other trends, the Deputy Director of the Department of Cinema also believes that there will be a shift from cinemas to OTT platforms: "It is forecasted that by 2027, Vietnam will have more than 20 million paid OTT subscribers, with revenue reaching about 350 million USD, according to Statista, 2023. OTT will become an important distribution and dissemination environment, especially for episodic films, series, short films and documentaries."

He also said that the revenue from popularizing movies on the internet in Vietnam is estimated at more than 3,000 billion VND, not yet equal to the revenue from movies shown in theaters (4,700 billion VND, in 2024) "but in the future, the gap will narrow and exceed the revenue of movies shown in theaters, when science, technology, innovation and digital transformation develop steadily, contributing to making Vietnam a developed and high-income country," Mr. Viet said./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/de-xuat-bo-do-luong-chinh-thuc-de-do-doanh-thu-phim-viet-truoc-khi-ra-rap-post1072652.vnp