The results of the 2020 audience satisfaction survey was published recently.  Among the top 10  non-serial movies (including movies first released at the end of 2019), 4 were HG Entertainment production or co-production. Leap, A Little Red Flower, Coffee or Tea?, and The Sacrifice took 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th places respectively. Almost a Comedy and Begin, Again were also listed in the top 25.

Affected by the COVID pandemic, the Chinese movie market was severely impacted in 2020.  After 178 days of shutdown, cinemas began to resume business on July 20.  The Chinese movie market still shows signs of growth and thriving energy after the “darkest hour.” 

A Little Red Flower, the main feature film from HG Entertainment, is directed by Han Yan, with Jackson Yee and Liu Haocun as lead actors, Zhu Yuan Yuan and Gao Yalin as supporting actors. First released on new year’s eve 2020, the movie went on to be the box office leader in the New Year market. The first 8 days brought in over 900 million yuan and the movie continued to be the single day box office leader.

Another HG Entertainment production, Coffee or Tea?, produced by Peter Chan, directed by Derek Hui, and starring Liu Haoran, Peng Yuchang, and Yin Fang, was released on October 4, 2020. The film is about three young people who leave the city to go to a thousand-year-old village in Yunnan and how they make lasting connections because of a common dream and form lifelong friendship and partnership despite initial misunderstandings. 

Begin, Again, also a HG Entertainment production, was released on December 31, 2019.  The movie was directed by Peng Youlun, produced and written by Zhang Dingding, and starring Bai Baihe, Zhang Zifeng, Wei Daxun.

The co-productions of HG Entertainment, Leap, The Sacrifice and Almost a Comedy, also received outstanding box office results and critical acclaim. Leap, directed by Peter Chan, starring Gong Li, Huang Bo, Wu Gang, Peng Yuchang, and Bai Lang, was about several generations of women volleyball players.  The movie was released on September 25, 2020 and earned 836 million CNY at the box office.  The Sacrifice was co-directed by Guan Hu, Gwo Frant, and Lu Yang, and starring Zhang Yi, Wu Jing, Li Jiuxiao, and Vision Wei. The movie about China’s assistance of Korea against the US was released on October 23 2020, with a box office earnings of 1.122 billion CNY.  Almost a Comedy, written and directed by Zhou Shen and Liu Lu, starring Ren Suxi, Wu Yuhan, Liu Xun, Tang Min and Zhao Haiyan, was released on December 20, 2019.

Quality is the lifeblood of film and television products. Good content begets good acclaim, and good acclaim begets good box office.   Movies that can satisfy viewers all possess “professionalism and artisan spirit.”  They may win over the market by a high level of production value, or they win over the audience by realistic plot and characters.  According to the spokesperson of HG Entertainment, the company will increase investment on content production and make movies that have both economic and social return.  HG Entertainment will continue to strive to create movies with deep thought and high artistic and production values.

The audience satisfaction survey was jointly carried out by China Film Art Research Center and endata.com. The survey started in the spring festival season of 2015.  It is a film evaluation system independent of box office.