Illustrative image

Galaxy has announced 20 Vietnamese film projects exclusively for an online platform. The company confirmed that in 2022 they will invest hundreds of billions of VND in the online entertainment market.

Ms. Vu Quynh Ha, Content Director of Galaxy, said the reason why this firm invests a large amount of capital in online movies is because after two years of the covid-19 pandemic, the number of subscribers as well as revenue from the online platform has doubled. Currently, this firm has more than 7 million registered users.

"During the epidemic, online cinemas offer entertainment service to the audience's beds, and at the same time open up a playground for directors and actors, and create jobs for film crews," she said.

With the increasing scale and investment capital, the question is whether online movies can replace and take the market share of cinema movies.

Movie director Bao Nhan said the OTT series would be a film trend serving a new generation of audiences. "In Vietnam alone, audiences have started to get used to accessing movies and entertainment through international OTT platforms. The better and stable quality of Internet is a factor that closes the transmission quality gap of OTT movies or theater movies. That's also the reason why audiences are more receptive to OTT movies," he explained.

Film director Dong Dang Giao said that the development of the OTT film line is undeniable. He is finding another way for his film production company during difficult times. To maintain the company, he said there is no other way to cooperate and produce content for online platforms.

"Cooperating with Netflix is the goal of my company and many other Vietnamese film production companies. I have started to expand cooperation with online platforms in Vietnam. This is not easy to develop, but this will be the trend in the future,” he said.

A representative of BHD said that besides the movie project for cinemas, this firm is developing web series projects for audiences of all ages. This is a way to earn revenue to make up for the difficulties of the cinema movie segment that has struggled for the past two years, and also a new way to serve the entertainment needs of the audience.

Director Bao Nhan said that online movies have many advantages, but this type of film cannot completely replace theater movies.

Sharing the same opinion, Ms. Vu Bich Lien, Production Director of the movie House Not for Sale, said: "Spider-Man's revenue has reached billions of dollars in the world, and in Vietnam it has earned nearly 100 billion VND. It proves that audiences have not turned their back against cinemas, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. As long as the film is attractive, the audience will go to the cinema."

Mai Lan

Vietnamese films in 2021: from the best to the worst

Audiences witnessed some successful movies in 2021 that broke the record as well as some projects that incurred financial losses in the Vietnamese film industry.