The Summary of Storydrive 2018

Interview with Chou Yih-fen

In the last 10 years, however, with picture books as the center of the circle, we’ve leveraged crossovers to increase the radius, so that we can draw a larger circle and do the things that some of the others (because there’s no profit) are unwilling or are unable to spare the effort to do. The process of crossovers is very slow. For instance, it took 10 years to complete Evergreen Nursery Rhymes: Mimi Listens to Folk Music, which won the Golden Melody Awards for Best Children’s Music Album; Yang Huan Forever, which was nominated for four Golden Melody Awards categories (Best Composition, Best Singing Performer, Best Performer, and Best Album); and Mimi’s exquisite animation, which caught the eye of an international European group with which we will develop in-depth cooperation.

Interview with Anna Holmwood

I don't underestimate the power of AI to transform the work of literary translators or agents -- I think that it will be a question of working with it rather than insisting that it has no place in our field. Ultimately, the goal of translating literature is to open up communication between cultures and it is often claimed that it is too expensive to translate books.

Interview with Tarek El Bolbol

The younger generation prefers “access” over “ownership”, with streaming falling under “access”, or pay to access. This is something that has impacted many industries around the World, such as Music (Spotify), TV (Netflix), Transport (Uber), and more – and we can already feel these changes in the Arab World. I believe this will eventually spill over to Audiobooks, but perhaps more slowly.

Interview with Zhu Yingchun

I’ve been telling stories about bugs and transformed birds to students in various universities, high schools and primary schools lately. Some people are asking me about whether “transformed birds” are real or fake.

Interview with Chao Cheng-ming

I think Taiwan’s print book market has already fallen to its nadir! Then again, we thought this was the case two years ago, but it’s still on-going. Although the upward momentum of a handful of bestsellers is, at this time, faster and stronger than before in Taiwan, sales of most books are still on the downtrend, and have come to a virtual standstill. I think this downtrend has bottomed, but the prospects of a rebound is unlikely.

Interview with Dhawal Gusain

We are leaders in digital entertainment in India. TVF was one of the first-movers creating great storytelling on the web for young Indians - we were the first to create an Indian web-series, and one of the biggest players in the Indian branded content market. What sets TVF apart in the Indian viewers' minds is the emphasis we lay on creating relevant stories - our content doesn't expect the audience to suspend belief to the point that it stops making sense. We create stories that are true to life and strike a chord with our audiences.

Interview with Ren Hui

Ellabook is positioned as a children’s digital reading platform. Ellabook is the first animation book reading platform and animation book engine architect in the world. Compared to similar platforms or products in the market, Ellabook’s greatest advantage is that it not merely provides a new generation interactive animation book reading service that integrates animation, gaming, sound effects, interactive and other experiences, it also provides animation book production and distribution services for picture book authors and publishers.

Interview with Huang Yuning

Q: Which among the Listening to A Book Everyday currently being produced is the most difficult to present? Are you able to explain a book clearly in 25 minutes?

A: In fact, every book is difficult, with different difficulties. If difficulty were to be measured simply in terms of a novel’s volume and text, War and Peace and Moby Dick would be considered tough nuts to crack. The standard duration for interpreting each book is 25 to 30 minutes. Some, such as War and Peace, are extended versions, lasting about an hour or so. As for whether this book can be explained clearly during this period of time depends on the angle you take. First, to be sure, the effect of listening to a short audio program cannot be compared to reading each word and sentence - in fact, nothing can really replace actual reading. Second, let’s say metaphorically, the classic text is a big mansion. Our audio program offers you a few paths of entry, opens a few doors and windows for you, and gives you a map.

Interview with Anja von Kampen

Knietzsche doesn't have a specific age. Depending on the story, we sort of travel in time to visit him at different stages of his life. Sometimes he is a baby, sometimes he is an old man, but most of the time he is just a normal school kid. He does not have any special skills or powers, but he loves to think about the things that matter to him the most in a funny and smart way.

Interview with Huang Yikun

Jianshu is the largest writing platform in China. When I say “largest”, this is primarily in terms of the number of writers, the number of articles produced, and the number of users. Jianshu is currently offering in-depth and valuable services to young writers. From a certain perspective, it is China’s Wattpad. Unlike traditional online literary platforms, the scope of the works of Jianshu’s authors is broader, and includes genre literature in the form of traditional online literature, as well as business, science and technology, education and other non-fiction content.

Interview with Dr. Michael Roesler-Graichen, Börsenblatt

A shrinking number of readers are buying more books, and the average price of books has risen during the last years. Especially young readers and elderly people are interested in purchasing books. Due to the demographic change in Germany until 2030 people above the age of 60 will account for 35 percent of the whole population. This means there could possibly be an increasing potential for book buyers.

Interview with Giorgi Kekelidze, poet, writer from Georgia

My poetry is based on folklore and mythology. My prose tells the story of common people. There are about 100 publishing houses in Georgia, the publishing industry is a very fast developing field in the country and its cultural life. We are glad, that Georgia is a leader in the region.

Interview with Matthias Röder, managing director of Karajan Institute

Imagine that most experts believe that within 15 years we will have wide adoption of quantum computing. Because of the better efficiency of quantum algorithms we will see tremendous increases in our computational power, which in turn will have a huge impact on the types of learning systems we can build. If you then take into account that we will likely see an explosion of available data in music that will come from connected and smart instruments, concert halls and homes, it is very likely that we will have something that I call General Musical Artificial Intelligence. We will then have computer systems that can perform and create music with us and with each other. Creativity levels in society will be higher than ever and consequently we will have more innovation in society as a whole.

Interview with Caver Zhang, lecturer, illustrator, picture book author

I was very nervous when I was doing the illustration, to be honest. I wasn’t all that worried about technique. Rather, I was somewhat perplexed and hesitant about the way it is to be presented and how to handle the ambience. I then began to have a sense of the overall feel of it. When I consolidated the elements in my imagination, I realized there was great aura in Mr Yu’s poetry.

Interview with Gerald Cai, business partner & co-founder of MXRi

Research tells us that students learn best through multi-modal engagement. Using AR/VR, learners get to interact and visualise content in an interactive and immersive manner that improves understanding and knowledge retention. Essentially, any concepts that are Too Big ( Solar System), Too Small ( Human Cell), Too Complex ( Aircraft Engine), Too Far ( Ancient China) etc can be well presented using the AR/VR format.

Press 2017

8 Questions for Tian Feng

China is currently at the crucial structural transformation phase of moving from “business innovation” to “fundamental innovation”. It is transitioning from leveraging “consumption intensive market” to relying on “talent intensive technology”. Sharing bicycles and sharing Charge Pal are business innovations, while “city brain”, “face recognition payment” and “quantum computer” are fundamental technological innovation.

Because of the “Pareto Principle” (the 80/20 Rule), the Internet unicorn winner takes all, but MIT’s latest research shows that “super-Paretos” exist in the AI era. Enterprises that are adept at using “data intelligence” will use data analytics to rapidly increase their unique competitiveness. Market coverage would change from the traditional 80/20 to 10/90 or 5/95.

8 Questions for Yao Wentan

Paid content has only just begun. We have a long way to go. Wait and see. Soft fire makes sweet malt. Douban Time is willing to accompany users to quietly grow into themselves. Douban Time was also the first to provide content services to 150 million Doubon users. Douban is 12 years old, and its users have always loved reading, film and music. They also like creative writing as well as giving ratings and commentaries. They have a great sense of participation and cultural purchasing power. I feel that a platform reflects the makeup of its users. Frankly, Douban users are the strength of Douban Time.

8 Questions for Stephan Orth

I like travel narratives that don't just deal with the touristic aspects of a country. The best stories contain also some political and social issues, facts about everyday life, surprises that don't fit into the known clichés. If the writer really tries to understand how a country works, has amazing observation skills and a good sense of humor (also about his or her own shortcomings), then there is a great chance it will be a good read.

8 Questions for Sven Hänke

Mainly by making a fool of myself on the internet. Five years ago when Weibo was still the new social media kid on the block and I wanted to be part of this evolving personal media world. As hardly anybody was interested in serious topics, I called myself DeyulaoshiSven（德语老师Sven） and uploaded fun stuff on the Germans and their language. I also published some videos of me singing German versions of Chinese pop songs. The lyrics were not bad but I am definitely not a very talented singer. Some videos got quite popular and suddenly I had more than 50,000 followers.

8 Questions for Alvin Juban

Our industry current priority for both Games and Animation is Upskilling; and bringing in more foreign resource speakers and trainors is quite an expensive task. There are always new tools and pipelines available for our trade, but this has to be matched with requisite training. For our studio side, we are burning with excitement with our new IPs for release for both Game and Animation. We are on track to achieve a breakthrough in our domestic digital entertainment scene. We have a small market compared to India or China but if we strike first and fast with our combination of products then we should be making a little of history.

8 Questions for Ahmed Rashad

On the negative side, if we are talking about Egypt, it would definitely be the floating of the “Egyptian pound” and its effect on pricing. On the positive side, we have been working on a very important project, which is re-publishing all the classics to make it easier to read and more appealing to young adults and people below 40.

8 Questions for Arpita Das

Self-publishing is a natural space for an editor who works well with authors because more and more authors will continue to self-publish anyway. With the technology at their fingertips, there's no stopping that. But as an editor I can give these works shape, structure, improve their quality, help pitch them right in the market. And that is exciting. Particularly so with the sort of books I handle at AuthorsUpFront which are mostly by whistleblowers.

8 questions for Stefen Chow

I have been pretty busy. I just came back from a documentary shoot from the Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side. We spent 3 weeks in the Himalayas and 8 nights at 5400m out in the cold and the snow, and I shot a documentary for a Singapore programme. It was really fun and extreme. I have also been involved in various editorial and commercial projects this year, and I haven't really stopped traveling for the past 5 years. Just this year, my projects have gone from the open sea to the high Himalayas, from social projects to advertising campaigns.

8 questions for Zhu Ying

I’m frankly quite fatigued about the notion of soft power, despite the fact that I’m working on two books related to soft power. Emotional resonance is probably a more interesting term, though equally elusive. In this regard, books and audiovisual products, if done well, are equally compelling in their capacity to appeal to emotions. Isn't this what storydrive is about?

8 Questions for Isabelle Fauvel

We work around “storytelling ” in our script analysis by trying to find the best way to match the script we’ve received and read to the writers’ and directors’ intentions, and help them reach that point. The “storyselling ” part of our job is in book and talents scouting, so it’s more about finding the right books, talents and projects for the producers who commission us to conduct a research than “selling ” them a story. But we try to present the books, talents and projects we scout for them in a way that will allow them to see what we saw in there for them. So they are both equally challenging in their own way.

8 Questions for Yang Wenxuan

Our education is one that suppresses children’s imagination and expression. I've come into contact with some young illustrators. They have fairly good foundation in art, but lack a common set of values and do not know how to express these values by way of literary and artistic language. This requires nurturing over a few generations. This predicament is not unique to China’s publishing industry. It is in fact, the predicament of the entire Asian culture. During the Bologna Book Fair, I spoke to an old-timer in publishing from Taiwan. He has had close partnership experience with the Western publishing industry for nearly 40 years, and his advice was to not do meaningless hard work. Take Japan for instance. When Japan's economy was booming, the nation also attempted to export culture. Other than having an impact on neighboring countries in Asia, it returned empty handed from Europe and the US. Now it stays quietly in its corner, and does not carry out any cultural expansion. In fact, being an economic superpower is pretty good thing. Why waste money to keep up appearances?!

8 Questions for Lu Jun

The market has always been fair and good but the premise is a truly market-oriented market. At this time, there is still immense room for a higher level of marketization in the children’s book market. We need to better operate the children’s book publishing business according to the laws of the market. If most of the competing players are true market-oriented enterprises; the choice of users, adequate and free; and intervention from administrative powers appropriate, then this market will grow into a sound, orderly, fair and good market. Marketization issues require market-oriented policies and solutions. A market that does not operate according to market-oriented laws will find it difficult to develop and thrive. On that basis, our aspirations to go global and export culture will become all the more difficult. Put another way, if policy intervention can resolve cultural export issues, then we certainly do not need to have a true market economy.

8 Questions for Michael Neugebauer

While the global markets across the continents are not so extremely different, the biggest difference I find is between the French and German markets. In many cases, the books which are doing well in Germany are flopping in France and vice versa. This may be because the French children’s book market is more artistic and innovative, while I find the German market (including Austria) much more conservative.

8 Questions for Zeng Zirong

After CITIC Art Museum launched the Chinese Art History - Original Works of Masters book series last year, it was a coincidence that “Toutiao Academy” founded by “Jinri Toutiao” (literally: “Today’s Headlines”, a news and information mobile application) also wanted to launch an art course. We hit if off right away, and started a course on Chinese paintings. We also seemed to feel that when it came to paintings, our past memories were dominated by famous paintings of Western Masters like Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso ......, but our impression of Chinese art was somewhat dim and vague. Perhaps Chinese painting classics were often done on very long scrolls, so public display was inconvenient.

Jiang Feng explains Himalaya FM

Ximalaya FM is the largest audio platform in China, and has more than 340 million mobile phone users, as well as 30 million automotive, wearable and audio smart equipment users. In the last three years, Ximalaya FM has become one of the fastest growing mobile Internet platform enterprises in China.

8 Questions for Hou Mingliang

Original picture books from China are witnessing a spurt of creativity at this time. This is a truly encouraging sign. An increasing number of publishers has begun to initiate research in and development of original picture books. Some of these original picture books are of extremely high quality, particularly in the area of cultural content. If I have to talk about areas that require improvement, I personally think that the biggest charm of picture books is its perspective from that of a child. Whether these are illustrations with unique artistic aesthetics or literary text with deep metaphoric significance, they should be child oriented. Currently, there are relatively few exquisite picture books of this sort in China.

8 Questions for Zhu Yingchun

Your books have received the titles “World’s Most Beautiful Book” and “The Beauty of Books in China” several times. What sort of books can be described as being “Most Beautiful”?
A perfect combination of form and content. Of course, the beauty of a book is primarily determined by the beauty of its content.

When did you become interested in bugs? And how did it snowball subsequently?
I became interested in 2007. I find being with bugs untiring and amusing.