Lu Fanxi, vice president at Bilibili, has resigned.
Joining the company in 2020, Lu was instrumental in leading the platform’s film and documentary production efforts.
Insiders at Bilibili revealed two key reasons for Lu’s departure. First, while the company remains committed to its premium content strategy, Lu sought to experiment with a broader array of content forms. This creative difference led to his decision not to renew his contract upon its expiration. Second, Lu mentioned health concerns and a need for personal time off.
Before his tenure at Bilibili, Lu served as vice president at Youku Tudou, where he spearheaded Youku Original’s production. He was the driving force behind the microfilm Old Boy, which garnered over 170 million views, and he played a pivotal role in making Little Apple a national hit.
In recent years, Lu contributed as chief producer, executive producer, and lead planner for several of Bilibili’s original series, including Link Click, An Ancient Love Song, Song of Life, Delicacies Destiny, Lady Tough, and Couple of Mirrors.
Lu’s arrival at Bilibili coincided with the company’s 2020 foray into “occupationally generated video” (OGV) content production. That same year, Bilibili hosted its first-ever New Year’s Eve gala, marking its venture into larger, pricier projects like online variety shows and web dramas. Productions such as Run for Young and Rap for Youth were praised as breakthrough works by industry watchers.
In 2020, Bilibili also made a strategic investment of HKD 513 million (USD 65.8 million) in Huanxi Media and announced a collaboration with director Ning Hao’s Dirty Monkey Studios.
Since 2023, however, the premium content strategy has become the norm for long-form video platforms like iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video. As a result, Bilibili’s OGV output has gradually decreased. While its New Year’s Eve gala, a powerful draw for advertisers, continues to be a success, the overall number of original productions has dropped significantly. This is evident in Bilibili’s financial reports, which show a steady decline in content costs over several consecutive quarters—an indication of the company’s efforts to reduce expenses and improve efficiency.
Bilibili’s financial statements categorize spending on original OGV content and licensed content as “content costs,” which is distinct from “revenue-sharing costs” used to incentivize creators. Both are critical components of the company’s operating expenses.
In the second quarter of this year, Bilibili reported that content costs continued to fall, partially offsetting an 11% rise in revenue-sharing costs. This helped reduce the overall year-on-year growth in operating costs to just 5%. Ultimately, Bilibili’s adjusted net loss for the second quarter was RMB 271 million (USD 38.2 million), a significant 72% reduction compared to the previous year.
Looking ahead, Bilibili remains on track to achieve non-GAAP breakeven by 2024, according to its previous projections.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Wang Yuchan for 36Kr.