Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 434: Making Movies Really Doesn’t Make Money

Zhang Chen's ideas were more or less influenced by later generations. When talking about streaming media, the first thing he thought of must be copyright wars and burning money.

But at this stage, there is no copyright awareness at all.

At present, there is a chaotic situation in China, including pps, pptv, 56.com, Youku, Tudou, Liujianfang, Qvod, Baofengyingyin...

There are a lot of streaming media companies. Everyone thinks this is a new track, so they all rush in and want to be the first to get in. But in fact, no one knows how to play a video website.
But one thing is clear: streaming media is not in competition with movie theaters at all.
Of course, we are not in competition. If netizens want to watch pirated videos, they can just download them online. Who would watch them on video sites?
There are plenty of resources on Feiniao Films, Yindianyuan, and Holy City Home. You can find whatever you want to watch with just a simple search.

As long as you don’t infringe on the interests of big companies, who will care about you?

Sometimes even big companies won't pay attention to you.

When Sohu introduced Prison Break, the Internet was still full of prison break torrents, eMule, Wowga, BT, and Orient Express, you could download them at will.
The richness of online resources is hard to imagine for netizens today. At that time, who among the netizens didn’t have a mobile hard drive filled with their own treasures?
I understand everything~
Therefore, there is no such thing as the copyright war that Zhang Chen mentioned, or spending money to grab copyrights.

In Chen Xi's opinion, it is impossible.

However, since she met Zhang Chen, Zhang Chen has never missed it.

"You said that the country will gradually pay more attention to copyright. Is that true?"

"of course it's true."

"Then shouldn't we sign the new media copyrights of those movies and TV series first? Sign them for 20 years. If they really require genuine products, the copyright will definitely increase in value. We can make a lot of money whether we use them ourselves or sell them~"

Zhang Chen thought it was feasible, and Chen Xi clapped his hands excitedly: "Why don't we invest in a streaming media company? It's the same if we drive one sheep or a flock of sheep..."

"I told you, that one is very expensive~"

"It's okay. When we really have to burn money, we can just sell our shares. But I think streaming media is a cornerstone. We can do without it, but we have to have it~"

"Hmm~"

Zhang Chen thought it made sense. "Then you decide for yourself, but your main business is still movies~"

"I understand. I will just secretly collect some copyrights and store them in my hands, and wait for the government to issue policies..."

"There's a TV show you can try, 'Soldier Assault'..."

"Soldier Assault" is already very popular now.

In the first half of this year, the most popular TV series was "Wulin Waijia", and in the second half it was "Soldier Assault", but I believe it will soon be regained by "Wulin Waijia 2".

It is easy to understand why the TV series "Soldier Assault" was not favored by the TV station.

A bunch of men, not even a female protagonist, and it's a story about soldiers' lives.

When talking about soldiers, the first thing that comes to mind is fighting, walking on flat ground amidst a hail of bullets, etc., how many enemies they killed, etc.
It is iron-blooded and courageous.
But "Soldier Assault" tells the story of a group of soldiers in a barracks, and there is no particularly big conflict.

It is normal for the film purchasing director to be pessimistic about this kind of drama.

The producers of "Soldier Assault" actually did not make much money from this drama, because the TV series was already in its second round when it became popular.

The third and fourth rounds of films couldn’t be sold for much at all, so the producers only made about 20% of the profit.

Even though it has been put on the third or fourth round, the vitality of this drama is far more than that. Like "Soldier Assault" and "Wulin Wai Zhuan", it is most suitable to put it on the video platform, and the on-demand rate is very high...

Chen Xi obviously figured out the key here and was delighted.

"Two more cinemas broke ground this week, and they both chose to join our Golden Harvest Cinema Line..."

Zhang Chen knew that this was all thanks to his father.

After his father's old friends set up a cinema, they made a fortune from the release of "A Quiet Place".

By looking at the daily attendance and tickets sold, you can calculate how much box office revenue you will get.

It really makes a fortune~
Several people made money in the new investment industry, so of course they had to brag about it in the circle of coal bosses.

Other coal bosses are worried about having money but nowhere to spend it.

Buy a house, buy a car, send children abroad, but the money is still not spent.

Many people have invested in the film and television industry, but most of them have lost everything.

The world is truly hostile to them.

Those guys who were soliciting investments made all kinds of promises when asking for money, but when the movie was released, they died the most miserably than anyone else.

In contrast, Zhang Chen’s father’s friends were like fireflies in the dark night.

When everyone was eating, these few people became the core.

They are not the richest, but they are the most successful in investment.

"Lao Zhang, you are not kind~"

It wasn't just those few people who knew Zhang Chen's father. His father was in charge of railway cars, and had dealt with countless coal bosses, but before he had only dealt with railway cars.

After everyone got together, they decided to set up a fund pool, and everyone invested money to build a cinema together.

The two companies mentioned by Chen Xi are just testing the waters.

In fact, according to their scale, it would be enough to apply for a new cinema chain. Unfortunately, they don’t understand it, and out of professional habit, they will never interfere in areas they don’t understand.

We do exactly what those guys do, the model is exactly the same, even the manager is Zhang Chen's father.

"It's just right that you're here these two days. I have to go back to the mainland?"

"What's wrong? Are you homesick?"

Zhang Chen thought Chen Xi was homesick, which was normal.

He took over Jiahe and became a hands-off boss. Jiahe was completely managed by Chen Xi.

The little girl was all alone in Hong Kong and had few friends. After a long time, she couldn't help but feel homesick.

Chen Xi smiled and shook his head: "You think I am too fragile. I went back to the mainland to discuss business. I want to acquire a cinema chain. There are people competing with us. I have to go there in person to talk to the other party..."

After he said that, Zhang Chen became interested: "Which cinema chain do you want to acquire? Tell me in detail~"

“It’s Qingdao Silver Star Cinema Chain. The big cities are tightly controlled by the eight major cinema chains. Except for Shenzhen, we can’t get involved.

I decided to enter the second-tier cities. Silver Star Cinema Line is the local cinema line in Qingdao that I am interested in. But now Northern Cinema Line has also taken a fancy to it and I am in contact with them..."

"Northern Cinema? Isn't that BJ New Film Association?"

In 05, Liaoning Northern Cinema Chain was fully integrated into BJ New Film Association, and Huaying South was merged with China Film Shinkansen to form China Film South Shinkansen, which are all among the eight major cinema chains.

Compared with others, Jiahe is nothing.

"Yes, it's BJ New Film Association~"

"Then can we win?"

"That's why I want to go there in person. The eight major cinema chains have their own advantages, and a small cinema chain like ours has its own advantages. And don't we have you here?"

Chen Xi's intention was obviously to use his talents to his advantage.

Just pull it~
"Okay, go ahead. I'll take over for you here for a few days. But, you're buying up theaters and copyrights. Do you have that much money?"

"Hey, don't you know what the current share price of Golden Harvest is?"

Speaking of this, Chen Xi's face was full of excitement.

"The acquisition does not require a full purchase price. Anyway, you don't have to worry about it. I will take care of everything~"...

In the afternoon, people from Golden Harvest accompanied Fan Xiaopang and Jason Statham to a roadshow at Golden Harvest's cinemas. Zhang Chen said he would not go at the beginning, but in fact he had other arrangements.

He took over "Qiang Qiang Three People" ~
Almost every time a new movie is released, he will participate in "Threesome" and he has become very familiar with Dou Wentao.

It’s still the familiar studio, and it’s still the familiar small table.

Dou Wentao first passed out a cigarette, and then the three of them chatted while smoking.

"I donated two movie tickets for "A Quiet Place"~"

"Two? Who did you watch it with?"

"The main point, shouldn't it be the contribution of movie tickets?"

Dou Wentao was still waiting for Zhang Chen to thank him, but he didn't expect this guy to turn to gossip.

The audience burst into laughter. This is also the characteristic of "Threesome". They use the real reactions of the audience. They won't fake it, such as arranging a person to lead the laughter or something.
"My girlfriend~"

Zhang Chen chuckled and wanted to ask if it was Yu Feihong, but Liang Wendao had already taken over the conversation: "I heard that "Hold Your Breath" is also your work?"

Zhang Chen nodded: "I guess so. I'm the screenwriter and the director is also my friend~"

He did not say that Cube Company was his own company, but packaged himself as a collaborator, which was a form of self-protection.

If they knew about this and calculated how much money Cube Company made, some of them would definitely become jealous, and that would cause a lot of trouble.

It's better to hide behind the scenes~
"Do you know that 'Hold Your Breath' is very popular in North America? It's been circulating in the horror film circle. I admire you very much. With the same setting, you can make two different movies, and they are both big sellers~"

Dou Wentao also echoed: "Yeah, what's the matter with your brain?"

But this guy immediately said, "Actually, I'm more curious about how much money you made from this movie? Can you tell me about that?"

Seeing the pair of small eyes behind the black-framed glasses, Zhang Chen knew that the other party was definitely doing it on purpose. This was revenge, revenge for what he had just asked his girlfriend...

“You see, the audience also wants to know~”

This guy was afraid that Zhang Chen wouldn't tell him, so he tried to control the emperor to control the princes~
Zhang Chen shrugged nonchalantly: "As a screenwriter, I get 5% of the box office share~"

"How much is that?"

“About $150 million.”

These people don't know what box office share means and are still obsessed with numbers.

Hearing 150 million US dollars, converted into Hong Kong dollars, is about 1200 million, which is a lot, but not surprising.

Liang Wendao changed the subject: "I heard that A Quiet Place will be released simultaneously in China and the United States?"

"Yes, the Chinese version is distributed by Xingchen Entertainment, while the North American version is distributed by New Line Entertainment..."

"I know the box office in Hong Kong is very high, how about in the Mainland?"

I don’t know if he didn’t do his homework or was deliberately giving up the topic, Liang Wendao asked.

"As of today, it has exceeded 1.5 million~"

"What is your goal? 2 million?"

"Well, 2 million, it's still a bit difficult for this movie to break 2 million~"

"So how much will you get in the end?"

"All movie box office revenues in the mainland are subject to a 3.3% special business tax and a 5% special fund for the film industry.

Of the remaining box office, theaters and cinema chains usually keep about 57%. Of the remaining 43%, producers and distributors usually get about 40%, and the distributor's fee is generally 7%, so the final profit for the producer is 35%...

If the box office is 2 million, it’s about 7000 million, and the cost is more than 2000 million, so the profit is only more than 4000 million. This more than 4000 million is divided among all the investors, so there is actually not much left for me~"

"Wow, doesn't that mean that if you make a 200 million RMB blockbuster in China, the revenue might not even be as much as the revenue of a low-budget screenwriter in the United States?"

"more or less."

"What about North America? How is the box office there?"

"I don't know the total box office, but the first weekend box office seems to be over 3000 million~"

This number cannot be concealed because the media has already reported it.

"It's 10 times the cost, so isn't that a big profit?"

Zhang Chen shook his head: "That's not how it's calculated~"

Zhang Chen felt that being too high-profile was not a good thing and that he should keep his shortcomings to himself.

As the saying goes, you don't worry about thieves stealing, you worry about thieves thinking about it.
"The box office in North America mainly depends on the first two weeks. The final box office is probably between 7000 million and 8000 million.
North America adopts a tiered profit sharing system, which means that the profit is higher in the first week and decreases every week thereafter. The overall average profit is 50%, or US$4000 million.

But the distribution fee in North America is not 7% ​​like in China, but 20%, so the producer only got $2600 million in the end, and after dividing it with other investors in proportion, the final amount was only a few million dollars, which may be a little more than in China, but not much more~"

Zhang Chen is already trying his best to hide his shortcomings.

He didn't mention anything about selling copyrights, but even so, it shocked the two people opposite him.

After figuring out the account, the two of them immediately lost their composure.

“Is this how much money you can make from making movies?”

By this calculation, Zhang Chen makes tens of millions for each movie. I can’t say how much, but it’s definitely tens of millions.

This ability to make money is terrifying~
Liang Wendao's focus is not here: "Why is the domestic revenue share so low? In North America, it can reach up to 60%, but in China, it is only a fixed 41%..."

Zhang Chen had already guessed that the other party would ask this question: "Let me explain this~"

He cleared his throat and saw that the audience around him were all interested. Then he said, "The proportion of 41% in China is indeed the lowest~
But there is a reason for this.

The North American film market is already a very mature market, and their profit-sharing method and proportions were determined after years of bargaining.

But our country is different.

The film and television industry in the mainland was just beginning to take off, and there were simply not enough cinemas.

Why let theaters take the lion’s share?
Because we want to encourage the development of cinema chains.

Only by giving cinemas benefits and making them earn money will people continue to build cinemas~
Only when the number of cinemas increases can the total box office of the film go up. This is a mutually reinforcing relationship...

You may not know this yet, but the government has targets for the number of screens in cinemas.

It’s not the number of cinemas, the number of films, the quality of the films, or the total box office, but the number of screens…

The only indicator for film industry reform is the number of screens.

Therefore, cinemas will occupy the upper reaches of the film and television industry chain for a long time..."

"So Golden Harvest has been building cinemas in the Mainland?"

"Yes, at least in the next ten years, the film industry will develop rapidly, and cinemas are a sunrise industry~
In the United States, cinema chains are a well-known sunset industry with heavy assets and high losses.

But in the country, it is a real sunrise industry, making money with your eyes closed~"

(End of this chapter)