During my years at China Entertainment

Chapter 641: The Great Principles of Master La Peikang

As the saying goes, auspicious snow means a good harvest. As for whether the economic situation this year will be good or not, we cannot make a definitive conclusion yet as the new year has just begun.

But the movie market during the Spring Festival is visibly hot.

The holiday has just ended, and some media have calculated that the entire Spring Festival box office revenue was about 14 billion yuan.

This figure has increased by at least 40% compared to last year, and has more than doubled compared to the year before.

But what makes the industry regretful is that of the nearly 14 billion box office, 6.12 million was taken by "The Unknown", which had an investment of million.

In seven days, the box office exceeded 6 million yuan, a result only achieved by the original "Gravity".

During the Spring Festival, Ning Hao jumped from the 3 million directors club to the 6 million directors club like a rocket.

And this is far from the end.

Judging from the attendance rate reported by theaters, "Nobody" still has great potential to be tapped.

The 12 billion goal that Wei Jin shouted out at the premiere is definitely not a fantasy and there is a high probability that it can be achieved.

In comparison, "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", which had an investment 10 times that of "The Unknown", had a cumulative box office of less than 3 million yuan in 7 days, closing at 5 million yuan, ranking second during the Spring Festival, even with the support of high ticket prices in 4.88D theaters.

The total box office of the following few films showed a cliff-like drop.

"The Man from Macau", which had claimed to have a box office target of 10 billion, only earned 7 million in 2.26 days.

The industry believes that the final box office revenue will not exceed 500 million yuan.

The movie "Ex-Files" was even worse. During such a hot Spring Festival period, the box office in 7 days was less than million.

It was even almost overtaken by "Frozen", which was released for only one day.

Thanks to Disney's long-standing reputation in animated films and the popularity of Liu Yifei's dubbing, "Frozen" grossed more than 3600 million on the first day of its release.

This can't help but remind the film industry of the joke Liu Yifei made when answering reporters' questions at the premiere of "Nobody":

"Shu Chang and I will join forces to 'rule' the Spring Festival season together!"

Regardless of whether it "dominates" or not, it seems that the box office of "Frozen" will not be low.

Of course, Liu Yifei herself made a great contribution to this achievement.

In addition to intensive publicity, she actually booked several theaters in Jiangcheng Wanda to give back to her fans, which is considered a new level of fan pampering in the circle.

Wei Jin was quite surprised to receive Xiang Wenlong's call, because the two had just talked on the phone at Huayi's annual meeting.

However, after hearing the content of the call clearly, Wei Jin became cheerful.

"Are you saying that Jindong's IPO plan is about to start?"

The investment scope of Qingtian Capital is very broad. After Wei Jin makes a decision, he rarely asks questions, and most of the docking is handled by Xiang Wenlong.

There had been discussions before about Jindong's preparation for listing in the United States.

Even in the first two rounds of investment, the North American Tiger Fund was specially introduced, but Wei Jin did not expect it to happen so quickly!
"Yes, Mr. Wei. Lao Liu has already prepared a plan for raising US$12 billion to US$15 billion. It is estimated that the application will be submitted to the SEC within a week."

Listening to Xiang Wenlong's report, Wei Jin's mouth corners couldn't help but rise slightly.

Although Kingkong Capital's shares in Jindong have been diluted significantly after several rounds of financing over the years, it still retains a shareholding ratio of nearly 18%.

According to the current financing plan, the equity ratio released this time is approximately 7%.

In other words, investment institutions value Jindong at around 200 billion US dollars!
Compared with the valuation of 80 billion US dollars in the last round of financing, this is more than doubled, which is indeed a bit exaggerated.

However, when thinking about Jindong’s revenue last year, Wei Jin didn’t feel surprised.

The complete annual report for 2013 has not yet been released, but in the first three quarters, Jindong's revenue reached US$81 billion and its net profit was US$10 billion. The valuation is less than 20 times, which is within a reasonable range.

"Okay, you keep an eye on this matter."

When he thought about the fact that his net worth would increase by tens of billions of dollars after Jindong went public, Wei Jin, who was already bored with making money, became more interested.

What's more, listing is just the starting point for Jindong's rise, and its future valuation will once be close to 1000 billion US dollars.

According to conservative estimates, the shares held by Wei Jin are enough to create a Merck & Co.

Murdoch: Am I a unit of measurement again?

"Don't worry, Mr. Wei, I'll keep an eye on it."

Xiang Wenlong's tone was also a little uneasy. He received management dividends and enjoyed 5% of the profit rights of Qingtian Capital. The more prosperous the industry the company invested in, the more money he would get.

Previously, Tudou and Weibo were both investments of Shanhe Media, but they did not reap any dividends.

Golden Harvest is listed on the Hong Kong stock market, and the overall market is also limited. The first company it invested in that is listed in the United States has a valuation of up to 200 billion US dollars. He can't help but be excited.

Finally, Wei Jin remembered something and said, "Wenlong, you are like this."

Ten minutes later, Wei Jin hung up the phone, leaned back in his boss chair, and pressed his temples.

Previously, due to an emergency, he gave out 35% of the shares as a token of his sincerity to impress Jing's father and mother.

Although this part of the shares has strict trading restrictions and Jing Tian will not sell them, their value is ultimately too high.

As a master of balancing things, Wei Jin must of course try his best to make up for it with the other three concubines.

Wei Jin also prepared one for Liu Yan, who was already pregnant.

Although Liu Yan's presence is not strong, the children are his own, so Wei Jin naturally will not favor one over the other.

There is no way to continue operating the shares of Shanhe Media, but Qingtian Capital does not exist. Wei Jin only needs to ensure absolute control.

Of course, Liu Yifei's share can only be used when she has a showdown with Liu Xiaoli, so now it is just a precaution.

Retracting his thoughts, Wei Jin left the company and asked Lao Zhu to drive to China Film.

At the summary meeting before the New Year, all departments have reported on their work, and the post-production of several of the company’s films has been completed. As the new year has just begun, it is time to set the release dates.

In addition, Wei Jin had one more thing that he needed to discuss with La Peikang.

Although the Spring Festival holiday has passed, the traffic conditions in Beijing are still good. Starting from Chaoyang, it takes less than 20 minutes to reach the China Film Building in Haidian.

"Mr. Wei?"

At the reception desk, a familiar person saw Wei Jin and ran over with a very friendly attitude.

"Is Director Han La busy?"

"Yes, Director La ordered that you come and sit for a while."

"Row."

Wei Jin sat in the reception room, eating fruit casually as usual, until about ten minutes later, he saw someone walking out of the chairman's office.

It was still the same familiar old guys. No doubt they were here to seek financial support. However, they seemed quite happy this time, with a smile on everyone’s face.

It seems that La Peikang, who has just taken office, is quite caring towards the "old comrades".

After the group of people left, someone came to invite Wei Jin. It was La Peikang's secretary, who had met him once in the company. "Boss Wei, this way."

"it is good."

Although this was not the first time Wei Jin came to La Peikang's office, there seemed to be significant changes since the last time.

How should I put it? It's a little more elegant.

It seems that La Peikang is gradually adapting to his position as the head of China Film Corporation and the leader of the entertainment industry.

However, when La Peikang saw Wei Jin's expression, it was exactly the same as Han Sanping's at the beginning. He was smiling and even asked his secretary to bring out the best tea.

"I heard from Lao Han that you like to mess with his tea leaves the most. How about trying mine?"

La Peikang invited Wei Jin to sit down on the reception sofa and started chatting.

"Okay, I was in a hurry last time, so I'll try Mr. Ladong's tea this time."

Wei Jin followed suit, then lifted the teacup to his nose and sniffed it gently, praising: "Not bad, Anxi's top-quality Tieguanyin?"

Wei Jin was not actually very proficient in the tea ceremony, but Zeng Li liked to drink it and had been influenced by it to some extent over the years.

"Haha, no wonder Old Han said you are connoisseur. Xiao Wang, pack one for President Wei."

La Peikang gave an order, and the secretary smiled and nodded, and Wei Jin also followed suit, "Thank you very much for giving up your love, Mr. La."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Wei Jin did not continue to be polite and stated his purpose directly.

La Peikang was not surprised. He just handed over the film schedule and added, "Wei Jin, what new films are planned this year?"

This almost made Wei Jin spit out the tea in his mouth. After holding it in for a while, he said unhappily, "Boss La, have you also learned Boss Han's trick of urging for updates? Our Operation Mekong hasn't even been released yet."

To be honest, Wei Jin certainly has plans for a new film, but this drama promotes Gao Yuanyuan, the production cost is limited, and there is no need for China Film to intervene.

"Haha, I'm not in a hurry. I'm just asking."

La Peikang smiled and stopped, he still couldn't learn Han Sanping's shamelessness.

"By the way, you mentioned Operation Mekong. How is it going now? This is the group's top priority project this year, so we have to choose the release date carefully."

"Well, the post-production is almost done. The special effects will probably take another month or so. I plan to release it during the National Day holiday."

"Great, great, the National Day schedule is great, it fits the occasion!"

La Peikang smiled happily. Strictly speaking, this main theme movie was the starting point of his cooperation with Wei Jin, although it was also thanks to Han Sanping.

As for the issue of scheduling the release date before passing the review, La Peikang didn't even consider it.

What a joke! Who dares to mess around with the first mainstream theme movie in China?
Have you forgotten what happened before?
Wei Jin didn't think too much about it and focused on looking at the screening list in his hand.

At the beginning of the year, many movies have been scheduled for release, many of which are very familiar.

"You Are the One Sitting Next to Me", invested by Fiber Optic and directed by Lin Yufen, was released in late April, just a few days after "Hypnotist", produced by Wanda and starred and produced by Xu Guangtou.

After last year's Lunar New Year box office, these two companies are competing again, and it is unknown who will win in the end.

However, Wei Jin was a little surprised by the movie "Iceman: The Gate of Rebirth" starring Zhen Zidan, Huang Shengyi and Wang Baoqiang, which was also scheduled to be released in late April.

This drama has always been very low-key in the circle, but Wei Jin still knows some inside information. It was after "A Man's Martial Arts" became a big hit that he invited Bao Qiang to join.

Originally, he wanted to take advantage of the popularity of "Special Identity" and the success of Wang Baoqiang's two films last year to get a share of the Lunar New Year box office.

Unexpectedly, "Special Identity" was such a poor film that it didn't even finish its release period, so the film company decisively chose to skip the release date.

Unfortunately, now that it is targeting the fiercely competitive May Day period, Wei Jin estimates that "Rebirth" will be defeated again.

Because Wei Jin also plans to release "The Raid 2" on May Day, so that Wu Jing and Zhen Zidan can have another showdown.

As for the competition with Fiber Optic and Wanda, there is nothing we can do about it. There are only so many schedules, and I’m afraid it’s unavoidable in the future.

Fortunately, everyone is on different tracks and has different audience groups. Given the current market environment, the possibility of a head-on conflict is not great.

As for the summer season, except for the film "The Breakup Master" co-produced with Fiber Optic, the rest are blank.

So Wei Jin made a quick decision, drew a few circles on the table, and handed it back to La Peikang.

After reading it, the latter thought about it for a moment and did not raise any objections.

After all, Shanhe Media has already established its reputation over the years, and its competitiveness will definitely be strong no matter which time slot it is released in.

"By the way, what's the status of Interstellar? Is there any hope that it will be released this year?"

La Peikang is naturally concerned about this co-production project with an investment of 1.7 million US dollars, in which China Film holds a 15% stake.

"The post-production stage has just begun, and it will probably take four to five months. I will go over to the Oscars this time to check on the progress, and we will discuss it in detail then."

"Well, good, I wish you win the Best Picture Award."

"Haha, borrow Dong Jiyan."

Wei Jin responded with a smile, and then took advantage of this topic to directly mention the idea of ​​establishing a new award.

In order to convince La Peikang to support him, Wei Jin almost bombarded the various shortcomings of the three Chinese-language gold medals.

"The Golden Rooster Awards are based on seniority, and their credibility has collapsed. No big directors have participated in the past few years.

The Golden Horse Awards' local protection policy has many people taking an incorrect stance, and I'm afraid there will be more and more such outrageous actions in the future;
The Hong Kong Film Awards are for self-entertainment and self-development. Apart from proving the decline of the Hong Kong entertainment industry, they have no gold content at all.
The Chinese-language film market is growing, but there is no film award with broad appeal and value."

But when Wei Jin finished speaking, La Peikang looked at him deeply, "Wei Jin, do you know what you are doing?"

Wei Jin smiled and said, "Boss La, of course I know that if we completely break off relations with those people, we will be at loggerheads with them."

"Then have you never considered the consequences?"

"What are the possible consequences? Will they throw dirty water at me, or will they block my review?"

Behind the Golden Rooster is the cultural circle. Most of these people are "old and young". They do have some energy, but Wei Jin doesn't care at all.

Now is the era of mobile Internet, and the public opinion front has long since shifted. Those pen-pushers are no more than barking a few times.

As for the auditors, he cared even less about them. Each of them was half buried in the ground and would not be able to jump around for a few more years.

"You can ignore it, but what about the others? The circle of those people is complicated and not as simple as you think.

You are not alone, you will eventually have offspring, who may also enter this circle. Even if you don't want to have any contact with each other until you die, there is no need to be so ruthless, right?

Wei Jin, you have to understand one thing: reconciliation and compromise are the most important parts of reality, no matter who you are."

After hearing this, Wei Jin knew that La Peikang had no chance of winning, so he said no more.

But when he got up to leave, Wei Jin added one more sentence.

"Boss La, I'm only 31 years old now. If my descendants need to reconcile and compromise with these people in the future, wouldn't my decades of struggle become a joke?"

After saying this, Wei Jin left without looking back, leaving La Peikang alone in the office, sighing softly.
(End of this chapter)