Lengthy boardroom discussions, stocks, quarterly data and investor relations. Does that sound like a hellish day at the office you want to get away from? For many Chinese TV fans, this is the “entertainment” they currently want to come home to, amid a growing trend for dramas, TV series and documentaries to focus on the corporate world.
Documentary series “The Power of Capital” debuted this week on China Central Television, marking the latest in a growing trend of series and documentaries focusing on Chinese business and entrepreneurship.
A project developed in conjunction with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, the first part of China Media Group's series aired on Monday in a primetime slot on the Finance and Economics channel, with the fifth and final episode airing on Friday.
A promo for The Power of Capital. /China Media Group Photo
Using 40 years of reform and opening up as a background, the series looks at the development of China's capital markets and their contribution to economic development.
While Western movies like The Big Short, Wolf of Wall Street and Inside Job focused on the dark side corporate culture, hundreds of millions of Chinese viewers have been glued to more positive stories about the economy on their screens.
Like a Flowing River (大江大河)
Hit or miss with audiences? A huge hit.
With an impressive score of 8.9 on Douban, millions of Chinese viewers have been drawn to this portrayal of entrepreneurship during the early days of reform and opening-up.
Debuting a week before the 40th anniversary of China's economic reform, Like a Flowing River starts in 1978 and follows three young men, charting their careers at state-owned enterprises and in the private sector against the backdrop of rapid economic growth.
A still from Like a Flowing River, depicting a typical university dorm room from 1980s China. /VCG Photo
According to Tencent, the series has been viewed at least 2.7 billion times on its platforms, and glowing reviews suggest the series strongly resonated with viewers, reminding audiences of their youth or their parents' humble backgrounds.
The top review on Douban says Like a Flowing River “shows ordinary people changing their destinies during changing times, providing true inspiration.”
Even overseas, the first episode has been viewed almost one million times on YouTube, with the top-rated comment saying “finally, a TV series that truly reflects that period of history.”
Startups (燃点)
Hit or miss with audiences? Miss.
Released in cinemas nationwide earlier this month, Startups is a documentary that profiles a year in the life of 14 Chinese entrepreneurs, featuring famous names like live streaming star Papi Jiang and Dai Wei, the founder of now troubled bike-sharing startup ofo.
Despite the high-profile names, Startups has been a box office flop. According to China Film Insider, the movie only raked in 530,000 yuan (80,000 U.S. dollars) on its first day of release, and failed to make the weekly top 10.
Chinese celebrity and entrepreneur Ma Weiwei at a promotional event for Startups in Beijing, January 7, 2019. /VCG Photo
When it comes to business documentaries, timing is key, and Startups got it all wrong. The movie was filmed in 2017, a year that saw ofo at the peak of its power, and portrays 28-year-old Dai Wei as one of China's most successful young entrepreneurs.
But what a difference a year makes. Fast-forward one year and everything has gone wrong for Dai. Audiences were turned off by the outdated story of ofo's rise, after hearing about its downfall through 2018.
Entrepreneurial Age (创业时代)
Hit or miss with audiences? Hit… and miss.
Featuring top stars Angelababy and Huang Xuan, with a high-profile marketing campaign and an interesting storyline, Entrepreneurial Age pulled in huge viewer numbers, as well as fiercely negative reviews.
Launching in October 2018, the 54-part series tells the story of a software developer in the late 1990s and early 2000s, who creates his own messaging app, and builds it into a huge company, dealing with investors, partners and love interests along the way.
A promotional poster for Entrepreneurial Age. /VCG Photo
Amid speculation that the plot was based on the real-life storyline of Ma Huateng and Tencent, an incredible 3.38 billion views on Tencent's streaming platforms shows how many people were interested, but a dismal score of 3.7 on Douban says a lot more about Entrepreneurial Age.
The acting was heavily criticized, with the top-rated review on Douban saying “Huang Xuan, if you were kidnapped and forced to star in this, please blink twice.”
Other reviews called the series "completely unrealistic," with one viewer saying as a former worker in the early 2000s' tech industry; the series had completely failed to reflect the sacrifice that went into developing the sector.