DMG Media CEO Dan Mitc
The dual success of "Du拉拉升职记" in both business and public reputation, especially its success in commercial operations, has made the industry and the public begin to pay attention to "DMG Entertainment Media." This is a company that started with advertising and initially ventured into the film industry. Its two forays into the film world have been grand: the star-studded "The Founding of a Republic," and "Du拉拉升职记," which made Xu Jinglei the first female director in China to surpass 100 million yuan in box office revenue. The high-starting strategy has quickly turned DMG Entertainment Media into an unignorable dark horse in the film industry. Surrounding "Du拉拉升职记," as well as its commercial operation and product placement, we interviewed Dan Mitc, CEO of DMG Entertainment Media. He shared with us various aspects about "Du拉拉升职记" and allowed us to understand DMG Entertainment Media's "film ambition."
This is an office building located near Chaoyangmen. Upon entering the elevator, the top floor number is covered by the DMG logo. When the elevator doors open again, Buddha statues, rockeries, flowing water, small paths, red lacquer... a scene full of rich Chinese style greets the eyes. Turning inward, there are modern and bright offices, contrasting greatly with the entrance.
Here is where DMG Entertainment Media is located. And Dan Mitc, the CEO of DMG Entertainment Media, this New Yorker who speaks fluent Chinese, had a smooth and serious conversation with reporters in his bright and simple office on the 25th floor, discussing DMG-produced "Du拉拉升职记," DMG's impressive background in the advertising industry, and DMG Entertainment Media's film blueprint.
"Du拉拉升职记": Product placement is definitely not the focus
When DMG started working on "Du拉拉升职记," they boldly estimated that its box office would exceed 100 million yuan. "This book has a large readership, but after all, it lacks visuals and dialogues..." Dan Mitc believed that the art form combining sound and image - cinema - would give "Du拉拉升职记" a second life. "We can also add fashionable elements."
Indeed, what was presented on the big screen in "Du拉拉升职记" was infused with a lot of fresh fashion elements, crafting this workplace story with both refinement and taste. But at the same time, there were also a lot of advertisements placed within the movie.
"Product placement is not the focus; the focus must be the movie." Dan Mitc clearly stated. "The movie story is the main subject to convey to everyone. First, it must be a good movie to attract people to watch, so that the advertisements placed within it can also be seen by everyone. If you make a movie that no one watches, then the placement is done in vain."
Regarding product placement, Dan Mitc also has a clear understanding - product placement must fit the movie context. "Unsuccessful product placements often ignore the basic starting point - audiences go to the cinema to watch movies, not advertisements."
DMG has rich experience in the advertising industry, making Dan Mitc appear quite confident in both films and product placement: "There aren't many people who understand both movies and advertising." In brand placement, it involves both the movie story and the brand story. How to use brands to enrich the movie story, and how to reflect the characteristics of the brand in the movie? Dan Mitc picked up a reporter's small Longchamp bag and gave an easy-to-understand and interesting analogy: "For example, this (small Longchamp), when you come, place it on the table without saying anything, I already know your job and the identity you came here with today. This is the role of the brand in the movie."
Nowadays, Chinese filmmakers seem to be increasingly commercially minded, and product placement is gradually becoming a trend. Dan Mitc also openly admitted that "movies need advertisements," but in his view, it absolutely cannot be rigid or abrupt, but rather the mutual interaction between the two. "For example, in a movie, a person needs to drive a car. What kind of car does he drive? We must find a suitable brand to better reflect this person's identity. There are many famous brands in 'Du拉拉' because of the plot needs. We say she is a white-collar elite, so how do we reflect this? The clothes she wears, the shoes on her feet, the bags she uses, are the most straightforward ways for the audience to see that she is an elite."
In a movie story, finding a right point, integrating a suitable brand into it, and organically combining it with the movie story, this is Dan Mitc's view of successful product placement. At the same time, he also expressed his views on the current movie market: "In 'Du拉拉,' our product placement operations were pretty good. But overall, the market is still immature, there are still shortcomings. 'Du拉拉' is just the beginning."
DMG: Advertising and entertainment are like two cups
DMG entered the film market in 2009, the year when China became the second-largest box office source for movies like "Transformers" and "2012." Dan Mitc believed this was a great opportunity: "2009 was the year when the film market began to stabilize." Thus, in that year, DMG Entertainment Media's debut film "The Founding of a Republic" appeared. At that time, many people were still relatively unfamiliar with the name DMG. It had already gained much praise in the advertising industry and was a complete newcomer in the film industry.
DMG Entertainment Media is a member of the DMG Group, and under the same group, there is also DMG Advertising. Dan Mitc explained DMG's advantage using two cups: "If there is only one cup, then if it contains water, if I want to drink wine, I have to pour out the water and fill it with wine. But if there are two cups, then I can use one to drink water and another to drink wine."
Entering the film industry, DMG did not intend to play around. "It's impossible for us to stop after one or two films." After the three domestic films "The Founding of a Republic," "Du拉拉升职记," and the yet-to-be-released "No Man's Land," as well as imported films like "Twilight," DMG Entertainment Media began to be noticed by the masses. When asked about the next plan, Dan Mitc did not reveal it explicitly, but regarding the direction of development in the film industry, he quickly indicated: "What we touch (themes, types) will be very broad, we won't limit ourselves. As long as we think it's a good project, we will do it."
In the entertainment industry, DMG Entertainment Media first touched upon films. Dan Mitc believes that once films are done smoothly, "other fields will also be easier to handle." At the same time, "not setting limits" also allows DMG to not exclude extending its reach to other entertainment fields such as music in the future.
As a new force in the film industry, DMG's strong strength, rich advertising experience, and although few but quite successful works, have begun to draw attention. Starting from the topic of "product placement," Dan Mitc and we talked about many things. This New Yorker who came to China and Beijing in 1990, witnessed Beijing's development over 20 years and will continue to "root" here, now not only speaks fluent Beijing dialect but also has deep insights into exploring the psychology of Chinese audiences. "Product placement is not the focus," this sentence seems to be a calm response to the various discussions surrounding product placement in films. Dan Mitc teased us about DMG's next move, but regardless, we hope that this dark horse in the film industry can bring better spiritual nourishment to the audience and the film industry.
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