Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

The Korean film market in the 1980s was dominated by Hollywood and Hong Kong films.

Every year, the box office rankings are dominated by Hollywood and Hong Kong films.

Among the top ten Korean box office hits from 1980 to 1989, 20 were Hong Kong films, while only 12 were Korean films.

In this time and space, thanks to Yang Ye's blessing, as many as 39 Hong Kong films have made it into the top ten Korean films within ten years.

In addition to Yang Ye's own films, there are also films that Yang Ye helped to create for Jet Li, Zhang Guorong, Liu Hua, Zhang Xueyou and others.

Poplar Pictures is also the only Asian film company that can compete with Hollywood.

When some media rank the world's film companies, they include Topol Pictures and call them the "Nine Major Film Companies in the World" together with the eight major Hollywood companies.

The fact that Korean local films have been suppressed to this extent shows how lame the Korean film industry is.

However, since the 1990s, with the revitalization of the Korean economy, the South Korean government has begun to use support policies to promote the development of the film industry.

The South Korean government promulgated the Film Promotion Act, established the Korea Performing Arts Promotion Association, and abolished the film censorship system...

A series of measures are used to help Korean films get on the fast track.

After ten years of development, in 1999, "The Cop" broke the Korean box office record with 245 million viewers, which marked the beginning of the revitalization of Korean films and also sounded the clarion call for Korean films to counterattack Hollywood in their home country.

During the heyday of Korean films, the Korean Wave swept across Asia many times and also formed a certain scale of input to Europe and the United States, with an influence no less than that of Hong Kong films in the 1980s.

The reason it can achieve this scale, apart from the support from the South Korean government, is... the chaebol monopoly.

The four major film companies in South Korea are CJ Entertainment, Showbox, Lotte Entertainment, and NEW Pictures.

Behind it are the three major financial groups: Samsung, Orion and Lotte.

Of course, CJ and Samsung have cut ties, but you cannot deny that Lee Mi-kyung is still a member of the Lee family and a branch of Samsung!

As for NEW Pictures, it was only established relatively late in 2011. Its founders and main managers all came from the film companies under Samsung and the three major chaebols.

Many netizens in later generations like to criticize Korean movies for criticizing the government all day long but never criticizing the chaebols.

Nonsense, these film companies are all owned by chaebols, who the hell would blacken themselves?

……

Yang Ye was arranged to stay at the Shilla Hotel, a high-end hotel owned by Samsung that has hosted foreign heads of state and VIPs many times.

Li Meijing personally welcomed Yang Ye into the presidential suite on the top floor and said with a smile, "Mr. Yang, please take a rest first. We have arranged a welcome dinner for you."

Yang Ye smiled and said, "If possible, let's have dinner in the room. There's no need to make a big fuss, and it will also be convenient for us to talk about things."

Li Meijing smiled and said, "You are very approachable, and it is true. I will go and prepare first!"

"Good work!"

After Li Meijing left, Yang Ye casually lay down on the sofa.

Cui Zhenzhen came over obediently and asked, "Brother Ye, are you tired after sitting on the plane for such a long time?"

"A little bit!"

"Then I'll give you a massage!"

As Cui Zhenshi spoke, her soft little hands pressed on Yang Ye's shoulders.

Yang Ye closed his eyes comfortably and said, "Zhen Shi, why are you here?"

Cui Zhenzhen walked up to Yang Ye, massaged his shoulders obediently, and said, "Miss Li asked me to come and receive you. I haven't seen you for a long time, so I came here."

After a pause, he continued, "I asked Manager Xu for permission, and she said it was okay, so I agreed to Miss Li's request!"

Yang Ye knew about this. Xu Feng told him that Li Meijing wanted to see him.

Otherwise, Li Meijing would not have rashly gone to the airport to meet Yang Ye.

Yang Ye nodded and said casually: "What is the purpose of this Miss Li looking for me? Has she told you?"

"She said she wanted to work with our company, and since you happened to be in Korea promoting the movie, she hoped to meet you."

"Well, I understand!"

……

Ever since Lee Kun-hee ascended the throne of Samsung, Lee Mi-kyung, the eldest princess of Samsung, has become a figurehead and her position in the family is very embarrassing.

The fight for the throne in the Samsung family was extremely bloody. It is said that Lee Kun-hee once sent people to kidnap and assassinate his eldest brother Lee Mong-hee.

Although Li Mengxi was later exiled abroad, he left his wife and children in South Korea.

But no matter what, they are still members of the Li family.

When Lee Byung-chul died, he gave part of the shares of Samsung's CheilJedang and Samsung Insurance to his eldest son's family.

However, Lee Kun-hee also owns shares in these two companies.

Li Mengxi's wife Sun Funan is very decisive. She knows that Lee Kun-hee is cruel and ruthless, and will swallow up her family's shares sooner or later.

So he took the initiative to ask Lee Kun-hee to exchange shares and give the more valuable Samsung Insurance to Lee Kun-hee in exchange for Lee Kun-hee's complete withdrawal from CheilJedang.

For Lee Kun-hee, this was a good deal, so the two sides quickly reached an agreement, and Lee Meng-hee's lineage completed the separation from Samsung.

Samsung's industries are spread all over South Korea. There are three things that Koreans cannot avoid in their lives: death, taxes and Samsung.

Although Li Lao Da and his family got Cheil Sugar, it doesn’t mean their lives will be easy.

Lee Mi-kyung is very smart. She immediately targeted the entertainment industry in Korea, which is still very weak.

Because the current entertainment industry in South Korea does not have much money, those big conglomerates have not put much effort into it.

However, Lee Mi-kyung knew that as the Korean economy took off, the entertainment industry would also take off.

This was a brand new track, one that her uncle's clutches would not touch for the time being.

……

In the original time and space, CJ Group completed the separation with Samsung.

Spielberg also founded his DreamWorks and began looking for partners around the world.

In South Korea, Stoudemire set his sights on Samsung, but Lee Mi-kyung was one step ahead and flew directly to Los Angeles to meet Stoudemire.

Eventually, she impressed Scott with her sincerity and became the second largest shareholder of DreamWorks, owning 10.8% of the shares.

And obtained the distribution rights of DreamWorks films in Asia except Japan.

After getting on board with Stanford, CJ Entertainment controlled by Lee Mi-kyung began to take off, far ahead of other Korean entertainment companies, and she also became the godmother of Korean Wave.

...Due to Yang Ye's strong performance in the entertainment industry, DreamWorks has not yet appeared.

So if Li Meijing wanted to enter the entertainment industry and hold on to a thick leg, Yang Ye would be her first choice.

For Yang Ye, knowing Li Meijing's ability in advance, it is better to provide timely help than to add icing on the cake.

Instead of continuing to cooperate with Samsung, it is better to help CJ and take the opportunity to infiltrate.

It's a pity that Lee Mi-kyung is short and fat, and her appearance is far from that of a fair, rich and beautiful girl like Lee Boo-jin, otherwise LSP would definitely have accepted her.

……

Yang Ye took a bath and rested for a while. It was already evening.

Li Meijing ordered people to serve dinner. Yang Ye took a look and was surprised that it was quite sumptuous. It was actually prepared according to the standards of the Korean state banquet.

There are kimchi, tofu soup, rice rolls, smoked fish, barbecue...

Just eat it!

Yang Ye picked up the iron chopsticks, ate a piece of soaked lotus root, picked up a seaweed rice roll and started to eat it.

Li Meijing and Cui Zhenshi accompanied Yang Ye for dinner, and the three of them chatted while eating.

Li Meijing graduated from Fudan University. She speaks Mandarin fluently and is very familiar with Chinese history. She knows all of Yang Ye's movies like the back of her hand.

The atmosphere was very good, it looked like three Chinese people eating kimchi.

After dinner, Cui Zhen had the banquet table cleared away, and she also left on the pretext of something. Only Yang Ye and Li Meijing were left in the restaurant.

Yang Ye got straight to the point and said, "Ms. Li, do you want to obtain the distribution rights of Baiyang Films in South Korea?"

Li Meijing said solemnly: "Yes!"

Yang Ye said: "Our company's movies have always been distributed by Samsung, why should we hand it over to you? Excuse me, although you are from the Li family, you have no say in Samsung."

Lee Mi-kyung said: "Because film distribution is just an insignificant business for Samsung. But I love movies and am willing to devote my lifelong passion to this industry. I believe I can do better than Samsung."

"It's good to have passion, but what's more important is strength. As far as I know, although your family has inherited some of the industry, it is still controlled by your uncle and cannot be used by you.

If you want to work in the entertainment industry, you must have controllable capital at hand, because behind the big-budget films there must be strong investors. Otherwise, you can’t afford to play in this industry.”

Li Meijing thought about it and explained to Yang Ye directly, "My family is planning to exchange shares with Samsung to gain full control of a company."

"How do I change it?"

"We will exchange our Samsung Insurance for my uncle's shares in CJ Group."

Yang Ye nodded and said, "In that case, we can discuss this deal."

Li Meijing said respectfully: "Please teach me, sir!"

Yang Ye sorted out his thoughts and said, "CJ Group's main business is the food industry, right?"

"Correct!"

"Then congratulations, this industry is a natural fit for the entertainment industry."

As Yang Ye spoke, he transformed himself into Li Meijing's military advisor.

According to Yang Ye's plan, Lee Mi-kyung should first complete the separation with Samsung and take complete control of CJ Group in her own hands.

Then, using the financial resources of the CJ Group, we will move to the downstream of the film industry as quickly as possible, build a large number of new multi-screen cinemas, and construct a film company with highly integrated distribution and screening links.

After the theater chain is established, it is possible to obtain the distribution rights of movies by controlling the number of screenings, thus forming the entire upstream and downstream industry into a whole.

The ultimate goal is to form a virtuous cycle:

Earn high and stable profits from showing and distributing films;

Use the profits to invest in producing quality films;

Use high-quality movies to attract audiences to the cinema and contribute to the box office.

At the same time, since CJ Group is mainly engaged in the food industry, this gives theaters a natural advantage in exploring non-box office revenue.

As we all know, the biggest source of income for a cinema is not from selling movie tickets, but from selling popcorn!

The drinks and snacks sold in cinemas are all produced by their own company, which can undoubtedly bring in huge profits and further allow the cinema chain to form a monopoly.

CJ Group’s catering business can also grow and develop based on the cinema chain.

Once the film industry grows bigger, it can become a publicity platform for CJ Group.

In short, industry and film rely on each other and go round and round, just like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger.

Li Meijing's eyes sparkled when she heard this, and she almost bowed down.

However, in order to achieve this, the first condition is to obtain high-quality film sources.

The best-selling movies in Korea now are Hollywood movies and Hong Kong movies.

Every year, Hollywood and Hong Kong films account for more than eight of the top ten box office titles in South Korea.

It's hilarious that two Korean films made the list. In 1988, only one film, "Prostitution," barely made the list.

So... although the strategy that Yang Ye formulated for Li Meijing is perfect, if Li Meijing wants to achieve it, she needs Yang Ye's support to complete it.

With Yang Ye's support, two of the world's nine major film companies will provide her with film sources.

Then why did Yang Ye support Li Meijing?
His movies will never have trouble selling!

……

In fact, the strategy Yang Ye mentioned was exactly the development strategy of the original CJ ​​Group in time and space.

After CJ Group completed the separation with Samsung, DreamWorks was looking for partners around the world.

Li Meijing seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, invested in DreamWorks and became Scolari's partner.

This helped him break the impasse and eventually lead CJ Group to become one of the world's top 500 companies.

Lao Si's DreamWorks is a new company and is looking for investors everywhere.

Yang Ye doesn't need it. It's just a dream for Li Meijing to acquire shares in Baiyang Pictures.

So Yang Ye wanted to do the opposite, he wanted to invest in CJ Group.

Otherwise, why should I give you such great wealth?
In the end, Yang Ye and Li Meijing reached an agreement: after CJ and Samsung completed the separation, Yang Ye invested 18 million US dollars in CJ Group, acquired % of the shares, and became the second largest shareholder.

So how much will CJ Group be worth in the future?
500 billion US dollars! (End of this chapter)