6 March 2019
On 6 March, the launch ceremony of the first “experimental web play” jointly produced by the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) and iQIY was held at STA’s Duanjun Theatre. Lou wei, Party Secretary of STA, Huang Changyong, President of STA, Gong Yu, founder and CEO of iQIY, and other key members of iQIY’s senior management attended the event.
The purpose of "experimental web plays" is to develop the industry-school integrated teaching and training mode. Through the "integration of industry, school and research", iQIY and STA will enable enrolled students to participate directly in the development, shooting and production of film and television plays so as to synchronize practice with learning and create an innovated training system for film and television talents. Practice and training will proceed simultaneously and create an innovated training system for film and television talents. In the future, the two sides will deepen their interaction in the fields of talent training, content support and school-enterprise partnership etc, constantly explore and cultivate promising young film and television talents, and create a broader platform for the interaction between the specialized film and television colleges and the film and television industry in China.
“My Lonely Planet” is the first work under this mode, in which the main roles are played by students from STA and actors contracted with iQIY. The model of "experimental web series" not only identifies promising new actors for the film and television industry, but also is a new method to strengthen the practice of acting students. Previously, the main way of testing students’ learning results was the production of experimental dramas. This time, a bold breakthrough has been made to try the form of "experimental web series" for the first time, which will help students think more about their performance and create more diversified practice opportunities for them. Before the shooting of the play commenced, STA had arranged for alumni with film and television experience to provide systematic and intensive performance training for the selected actors.
The web play "My Lonely Planet" features a contemporary theme of love affairs in the city with positive energy of youth, which will be filmed formally in the these days. We all look forward to seeing this work of good faith, which is the first of its kind in the industry, and hope it will add a fresh touch of color to the screen in the future.
