1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Hearing Han Sanping mention the goal of 35 million, Xu Feng raised her eyebrows slightly. She was quite confident that "Time Traveler" could get this box office.

Even before this movie was filmed, Zhou Yan's concert had already attracted widespread attention.

Later, when the film was officially launched, it continued to gain popularity and was frequently reported.

With such a large base of fans including Joey Wong and Zhou Yan, perhaps the final domestic box office may not be as good as "The Chorus", but it should not be a problem to get a box office of 35 million.

Xu Feng’s expectations for this movie are, of course, not limited to the mainland box office.

If they only focused on the mainland box office, they would definitely lose money, as the production cost of this film ultimately exceeded 30 million.

According to the current domestic profit-sharing model, there is no way to break even without a box office of 90 million, and the possibility of achieving such a box office is extremely slim.

If this movie wants to make money, it must be successful in other box office markets.

Not to mention Europe and the United States, which are not very stable. Xu Feng is mainly concerned about the box office in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, especially Japan. As long as the box office performance in Japan meets expectations, this movie will make money.

It doesn't need to reach the level of "The Sixth Sense", as long as it is at the level of "The Chorus", the allocation income of "The Chorus" in Japan also exceeded 1.3 billion Neon coins. Although it is not as good as Zhou Yan's first two films, it is also very impressive.

Han Sanping also knew that it was meaningless to talk about the box office at this time, so he just mentioned it and didn't go on. He looked at Zhou Yan who was pouring wine and said, "After this movie, you probably won't have any new movies for a while, right?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "It depends on luck for the next movie, but it will definitely not be next year, and the earliest will be the year after next. I have a lot of other work on hand right now, and if I shoot a new movie, I will be too busy."

"Well, finish the work on hand first. They are all big jobs." Xu Feng said.

Han Sanping asked, "Besides the soundtrack for Titanic, what other work do you do?"

"I promised Alan Kleeman that I would compose the music for his new movie, and they're going to start shooting soon. The movie I wrote, Shutter Island, will also start shooting next spring, and I'll definitely make time to go there by then."

"I have to go there. It seems that it is not easy to earn the screenwriter fee." Han Sanping sighed.

Zhou Yan nodded, "It's really not easy to earn money."

"How much do you get paid for writing scripts for them?" Han Sanping asked curiously.

"Seven hundred and seventy thousand."

Han Sanping's eyes widened. "US dollars?"

"Of course, who would do it if it weren't for US dollars?" Zhou Yan said with a smile.

"Is 770,000 US dollars considered high in Hollywood?" Han Sanping didn't know much about the market conditions in Hollywood.

"Not very high, there's also a script for four million dollars."

"Oh, there's also a script for four million dollars. Now that I heard that, seven hundred and seventy thousand is not really that high. The market in Hollywood is really high. Seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars can make a medium-sized movie in China. No wonder so many people want to develop abroad. This money is really easy to make."

What Zhou Yan didn't tell Han Sanping was that in addition to the $770,000 screenwriter fee, he also received $1.8 million in film and television licensing fees, which added up to a total of $2.57 million.

Later, when "Shutter Island" is released, if the sales are good, he will also get a bonus, and it will be very considerable.

Xu Feng smiled and said, "Don't be too envious of Hollywood. The production costs there are too high. You can't make any movies with a few million dollars. This is not conducive to the development of independent producers."

"Their overall level is still high and worth learning from. Zhou Yan has done a good job in this regard. The money has been spent wisely. The sound and picture quality of the movie is very high. On the contrary, the overall equipment level of domestic cinemas is poor, which may hinder the film."

"That's not the case. Although the equipment level of domestic cinemas is relatively poor, the differences in the sound and picture levels of different movies can still be reflected. Otherwise, those Hollywood blockbusters would not be so popular." Xu Feng said.

In fact, the equipment level of domestic cinemas is not as bad as Han Sanping said. After all, there has been no innovation in film projection technology in recent years, and there is almost no generation gap between domestic and foreign countries.

There is no fundamental difference between the technology used by the United States now and that used by China.

Although new technologies have been developed abroad, they have not yet been popularized in cinemas.

"Indeed, the shortcomings of domestic cinemas nowadays are not mainly in the equipment, but in the fact that the cinema system is too loose and not market-oriented enough. The relevant departments want to solve this problem, but there has been no good method." Han Sanping sighed.

"In fact, it is not difficult to change this situation. We just need to break the existing cinema system and adopt another system. With funds and film supply as the link, a film distribution entity and several cinemas will be formed to implement a distribution system with unified brand, unified scheduling, unified operation and unified management." Zhou Yan said.

Xu Feng smiled and said, "Isn't this the theater system in North America?"

Han Sanping sighed, "In fact, such voices did appear during the previous internal meeting, but they were not firm enough, and they were just voices without any practical solutions. Our national conditions are different from those of the United States. If we want to adopt the theater system, we will definitely encounter a lot of resistance."

At present, the filming, distribution and operation of domestic cinemas are all controlled by public economic organizations, and only state-owned enterprises are qualified to operate related businesses.

The filming step is a little looser. Companies like Tang Chen can still cooperate with major production studios, take a roundabout route, and lay eggs by borrowing other companies' shells.

There is no way to change the screening and distribution, because once they are changed, the access control will be relaxed, private capital will enter, and the former state-owned enterprises will face great risks.

It is certainly not possible to completely let go and allow private capital to develop wildly, but if we are timid and do not break the existing system, it will only lead to a slow death.

Taking all the circumstances into consideration, the relevant departments are in a dilemma when formulating strategies.

The relevant departments must find a suitable method that can not only mobilize the enthusiasm of private capital and the vitality of cinema development, but also impose effective restrictions on private capital and keep the initiative in their own hands.

Zhou Yan is a veteran who has experienced the cinema chain reform and knows the general development of the domestic cinema chain system. It can be said that the reform of China's cinema chain has been successful, which has not only improved the vitality of the market's micro-operations, but also ensured the control of macro-management.

There is one thing Han Sanping did not mention. The domestic cinema system is in urgent need of reform. Not only is it lacking in vitality, but many state-owned cinemas are in a "monopoly" position, lack supervision, and often conceal their box office revenues.

After the implementation of the profit-sharing system, cinemas have to share their box office revenue with the producers. This gives cinemas room to operate. As long as they conceal their box office revenue, they can give less share to the producers and put the money in their own pockets.

This is not an isolated case, but a common phenomenon across the country.

Because it is too easy to do, there is a lack of supervision and system, and box office revenue data mainly depends on the cinemas.

As a result, producers' income decreases and they naturally lack enthusiasm for production.

There is no money for production, the number of films decreases, the quality declines, and the income of cinemas will also decrease, which forms a vicious cycle.

"If the cinema chain system is implemented in the country, does Mr. Xu have any ideas?" Han Sanping suddenly looked at Xu Feng.

Xu Feng shook his head and said, "I haven't really thought about this. Director Han, you know that I established Tomson Films because I like movies and want to make more good movies. My thoughts have not changed at this stage, and I will still focus on filming." Han Sanping smiled, "It's okay, you can think about it later. Tomson Films is developing very well in the mainland now and has the foundation for establishing a theater chain. If you have any ideas, that would be great."

"Maybe I'll have an idea later."

Han Sanping nodded and said nothing more.

The reason why he told Xu Feng about the cinema chain was not just because Tangchen Pictures was doing well. If the cinema chain system was really to be implemented, ordinary film companies would not be able to set up a cinema chain.

But Tang Chen is not an ordinary cinema company. The development of Tang Chen Group, which is controlled by Xu Feng’s husband Tang Junnian, in the real estate industry is obvious to all.

The couple, one is in the film and television industry and the other is in real estate. If they were to run a cinema chain, they would be in a unique position to do so.

However, it is too early to say this now. It is still unknown whether the cinema system can be implemented. Even if it is to be implemented, it is basically impossible without three to five years.

There is currently no unified voice within the organization and it is impossible to formulate clear policies in a short period of time.

It will take some time for internal voices to be unified, policies to be formulated, and then implemented.

According to Han Sanping's judgment, even if it happened quickly, it would have to wait until after 2000.

Without saying anything more about the cinema, Han Sanping asked Zhou Yan, "You are going to attend the Writers' Congress tomorrow, right?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, there will be a meeting tomorrow afternoon, I will go there."

"It's in the Great Hall."

"Well, the conference was held in the Great Hall, and I don't know about the subsequent activities." Zhou Yan did not participate in the subsequent change of leadership activities.

"How about contacting the TV station and having them take some photos of you tomorrow and write a report to help promote the movie?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "You can write the report, but forget about taking photos. They're too eye-catching."

Han Sanping nodded and said, "It's okay if we don't take pictures specifically. I'll ask CCTV later. They should be able to take pictures of you."

There will certainly be many reporters from official media at the conference tomorrow, and they will certainly have photos on hand. It will naturally not be difficult for Han Sanping to ask for some photos.

Xu Feng smiled and raised his glass. "Director Han, you are so dedicated to the promotion of your new movie. Come on, Ayan, Xiaoxian, the three of us will toast to Director Han on behalf of the entire crew."

After hearing what Xu Feng said, Zhou Yan and Wang Zuxian also raised their glasses. Zhou Yan said, "Sister Feng is right. Third Brother really took a lot of effort for the new movie this time."

Han Sanping picked up his wine glass and said with a smile, "You are being too polite. We are all family, why are you talking in different ways? Besides, I asked my third brother to make this movie. I have to thank him for his help. Come, I toast to you. Thank you for your contribution to the movie and to the Chinese film industry."

“Everyone works together.”

……

After lunch, Han Sanping sat for a while and then left.

Xu Feng sat on the sofa holding a teacup. She drank a little too much at noon and was a little drunk. After a while, she looked up at Zhou Yan and said, "Do you have any thoughts on what Director Han said?"

"whats the matter?"

Han Sanping talked about a lot of things today, and Zhou Yan didn't know which one Xu Feng was referring to.

"It's about the reform of the cinema chain. Do you think the reform will be implemented?"

"Of course it will be implemented." Zhou Yan said confidently, "However, I am not sure when it will be implemented. According to my guess, it may be after China enters the WTO."

Xu Feng curled his lips, "It's still uncertain when I can enter the world."

China formally submitted its application for rejoining the WTO's predecessor, GATT, in 86. It was not until last year that it started multilateral negotiations with the member states of the WTO. However, the situation is not clear and many people are pessimistic about joining the WTO.

After all, it has been ten years since they submitted their application for re-entry, and there has been no progress at all.

So far, China has not reached an agreement with any country.

Even if we can get five done in a year, it will take more than seven years.

The key is, can five be completed in a year?
"Of course I can, and it won't be too far."

Seeing Zhou Yan so optimistic, Xu Feng was quite curious, "Did you hear any news?"

Xu Feng knew Zhou Yan's background. It was very normal if Zhou Yan could hear some inside information that ordinary people didn't know.

In some ways, Zhou Yan's sources of information should be more extensive and reliable than Han Sanping's.

"China is such a big market, those member states will not give it up, they just want us to make more concessions."

"Will we make concessions?"

"Concessions are necessary, but there is a balance, so negotiations need time to find the balance."

"Do you have any idea about the time? I heard someone say that even if it succeeds, it will take at least ten years."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I don't know either. Maybe."

Although Zhou Yan did not give a direct answer, Xu Feng could tell from Zhou Yan's reaction who he was. Zhou Yan believed that it would not take ten years for China to join the WTO.

Xu Feng had an inexplicable confidence in Zhou Yan's judgment.

On the one hand, because of Zhou Yan's background, she believed that Zhou Yan would definitely be able to obtain some information that ordinary people could not access.

On the other hand, Zhou Yan’s judgment has never been wrong. Although Zhou Yan has never made a judgment on such matters before, since Zhou Yan has spoken, there must be a reason.

If China can really join the WTO in a few years, domestic economic policies and market environment will be greatly affected, and their development will also follow the pace of policies. (End of this chapter)