The Entertainment Industry in Turmoil: Young Actresses All Want to Rise to the Top

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Huayi has collapsed!

Huayi Brothers, which had been a major player in the Chinese entertainment industry since 1994, unexpectedly collapsed on the eve of its 20th anniversary.

Back in 2009, when the company went public, the Wang brothers were full of vigor and high spirits.

And now, in the blink of an eye, the person in charge has changed.

Changfeng Fund immediately came into the public eye.

Who exactly is Changfeng Fund? This has become the biggest mystery.

Although its registration information and management team were quickly exposed, it appears to be a newly established private equity fund with a clean background.

However, the fact that it was able to raise huge sums of money in a short period of time and seize the opportunity to complete the absolute control of Huayi has made the real financial backer and operator behind it a hot topic of discussion.

Industry insiders generally believe that Changfeng is very likely a forward base for certain capital, and the identity information behind it will probably only be known when the suspension ends.

Huayi's stock is currently suspended from trading, preventing a further collapse in its share price.

However, this could not stop the fermentation of market information and the spread of speculation.

From that day on, major financial media outlets, securities firms' research reports, and investment forums were flooded with related analyses.

"Huayi's asset portfolio is very clear: cinema chains, production teams, copyright library, artist management, some cultural tourism projects, and Huayi's most valuable asset, its listed shell company."

"But he also has a lot of debt: loans for the movie-themed town real estate project, distribution business, and revenue sharing with the artist team."

"Changfeng is just an equity fund, not an operator. It is highly likely that he will dismantle these assets, and the recipients are very likely the ones who have caused Huayi to fall into such a predicament."

"The collapse of Huayi has freed up huge market space and resources, and a new round of division and consolidation has begun."

Compared to the calm analysis of the capital market, those in the entertainment industry, especially the artists deeply tied to Huayi Brothers, are experiencing more genuine anxiety and confusion.

Inside the Huayi Building, the once bustling artist management department has recently become extremely somber.

The employees who hurried down the corridor looked anxious and spoke in hushed tones.

Inside the office, the agent team held one meeting after another, amidst swirling smoke and endless debates.

"What about the contract? Will the new employer recognize our contract?"

"Will the revenue sharing payments still be settled on time? I heard the finance department is almost completely drained."

"Won't the Changfeng Foundation sell its entire artist management department? To whom? Will the terms change?"

Do you know who the new owner is?

"If the company is split up, will the Huayi shares we bought on the stock market still be worth anything after trading resumes? Won't they just become worthless?"

"Should I start looking for another job soon? But if I switch jobs now, I don't even know who to talk to about terminating my contract?"

Questions came one after another, but there were no clear answers.

For the first time, the artist teams who once relied on Huayi Brothers for support are now experiencing such helplessness so clearly.

Artists like Huang Xiaoming and Li Chen, who are deeply tied to Huayi Brothers, face the most complex situations.

Their personal wealth shrank significantly due to the stock price crash. Although Changfeng bought back the shares at a low price and recouped some of their losses, they were still essentially at a huge loss.

On the other hand, his business is also intricately intertwined with Huayi's projects.

They were worried about being taken care of by Changfeng and losing control of the situation.

Therefore, they have started contacting other companies in private, hoping to avoid being in a passive position.

In one of Huayi Brothers' internal artist chat groups, messages kept flashing.

"I just received news that my next film, which was originally slated to be primarily funded by Huayi Brothers, has now had its production company say that the investors need to reassess the project, and the start of filming has been postponed indefinitely..."

"My endorsement contract even includes a guarantee clause from Huayi! Now that Huayi is acting like this, the brand is directly causing me trouble!"

"Everyone should keep a low profile recently, be careful with what you say on social media, and refrain from making any comments about the current situation of Huayi, as it could easily backfire."

"So we're just going to wait and see? Let others decide our fate?"

"...What else can we do? We don't even know how Changfeng plans to sell us off, so what are you going to do? We don't even know who to talk to about finding a new owner!"

"Be careful. While Huayi is suspended from trading, quietly prepare a Plan B."

Unlike the chaos within Huayi Company, outsiders are more curious about how much damage Changfeng will inflict on Huayi.

How do we break down this former giant?

Changfeng didn't keep everyone waiting too long.

The first surgery came in the second week.

Changfeng Fund issued an announcement stating that Huayi Brothers' cinema asset package, which includes 15 cinemas, has been sold to Mohen Capital for 8 million yuan.

The market was in an uproar, but then quickly fell into a "I knew it" mood.

"Mohen really made a move! I knew this big show couldn't be without him!"

"From the clash at the Hundred Flowers Awards to 'Lost in Thailand' crushing 'Back to 1942,' and then to shorting Huayi Brothers, Shen Mo and Huayi have a long-standing feud. I'd be surprised if he didn't kick them while they were down!"

"Only 8 million? 15 cinemas—even without considering brand premium, the land and equipment alone are worth that much, right? This is practically a fire sale!"

"This is clearly not a buyer that Changfeng found. More likely, Mohen is the mastermind behind Changfeng. Maybe the agreement was already negotiated and this is just going through the motions."

Analysts have pointed out that this deal is of great significance to InkSign.

After all, while Inkmark had production and investment capabilities, its terminal channels were a weakness.

However, by acquiring Huayi's high-quality cinema chain at such a low cost, this move will complete the closed loop of the industry chain from production and distribution to screening.

Shen Mo's move propelled Mohen from a newcomer in the entertainment industry into the ranks of traditional giants.

However, some more astute observers sensed something unusual.

"Mohen only secured the theatrical releases? While crucial, compared to Huayi's massive production system and IP library, these are just small fry."

"If Inkmark is the main driving force, its appetite shouldn't be so small. Could there be even greater power behind it?"

Sure enough, a few days later, the second blow came down, this time pulling out an even bigger crocodile.

Changfeng Fund issued another announcement, selling Huayi's film and television production team, including multiple contracted directors, producer studios, artist contracts, and brokerage teams, to Tencent Penguin Pictures for 13 billion yuan. At the same time, Tencent Penguin Pictures was authorized to use all the IP copyright projects accumulated by Huayi before this point in time for free.

This time, the market was far more shocked than last week.

"What the heck! It's a penguin?!"

This question instantly went viral online.

It's worth noting that although Tencent Pictures is backed by Tencent, it was only established this year. Everyone thought it might need a few more years of development before it could truly stand out.

However, this move directly involves taking over the core creative power of Huayi Brothers, a traditional film and television giant.

This means that Tencent Pictures will skip the developmental stage and go directly into the mature developmental stage.

"I'm suddenly a little envious of those Huayi Brothers artists who haven't left yet. They've instantly become Tencent artists, their backing is even stronger!"

This time, in Huayi Brothers' internal artist group chat,

The news spread even faster than before.

"The producer of the movie that was put on hold actually called me right away. My role is absolutely secure, and filming will start next month!!!"

"The brand that was giving me trouble apologized today! Hahaha!"

"I plan to fly to Shenzhen today to talk to the head of Tencent Pictures about my contract!"

"Wait for me at the Beijing airport, let's go together!"

"Together, together!"

……

Just how powerful is Shen Mo?

The outside world suddenly realized that the role that Mohen, or rather Shen Mo, played in getting the penguin involved was definitely not simple.

"No wonder Huayi couldn't hold on. With Mohen joining forces with Tencent, how could he possibly stand it?"

Public opinion began to attribute Huayi's collapse more to being besieged, and a subtle sympathy even arose for the Wang brothers.

"A free IP library?!"

"Huayi's decades of project accumulation, even if many are unfinished products or old IPs, still have huge creative value and adaptation potential."

"They just gave it away for free like that!"

"Tencent made a killing by acquiring the production team and IP library for 13 billion yuan."

The bargain price further confirms the outside world's speculation that Huayi's downfall was the result of "premeditated planning".

In the fourth week, new information completely ignited the market.

Changfeng Fund issued a series of announcements, bringing this spin-off drama to a climax and completely revealing the full picture of the participants.

Huayi's several movie-themed town projects, which had seen huge investments but made no progress and dragged down cash flow, were packaged and sold to Wanda Real Estate.

At the same time, some of Huayi's previous investments in games and other peripheral projects were also sold off, with the specific prices not disclosed.

On the other hand, Changfeng transferred its entire 67.1% controlling stake in Huayi Brothers to Alibaba Pictures for a total price of 15 billion yuan.

After a brief period of silence, the market erupted in chaos.

"Alibaba!!! And Wanda!!"

Everyone was stunned.

It was initially speculated that the incident was caused by collaborations between certain traditional film and television companies or financial capital.

But to everyone's surprise, in addition to Mohen and Tencent Pictures, Alibaba Pictures and Wanda also made an appearance at the end.

"Hua Yi is so pitiful! What kind of deity did you offend?"

"Which private company can withstand such a siege!"

"Even the Monkey King, who wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, is nothing special!"

"What are you all so pitying about? The Wang brothers are living it up now that they're retired, okay?"

"That's right! The Wang brothers cashed out 18 billion at the beginning, and now they've sold Huayi and gotten another 19.25 billion. You couldn't earn that much in ten lifetimes."

Beyond simply observing, some astute observers have also grasped the overall picture.

"So that's how it is! The three giants will divide it up!"

"Mohen acquired the theater chain, Tencent acquired the production and artist team and IP licensing, and Alibaba acquired Huayi's shell company resources and its existing IP rights."

"Wanda is probably the 'white knight' that those three companies found to take over the real estate projects."

"After all, developing real estate projects is a bad asset for the three of them, but for Wanda, it's a piece of cake."

"Buy it at a low price, do someone a favor along the way, or exchange benefits in other ways."

"Moreover, the acquisition funds paid by Mohen, Alibaba, and Tencent combined are exactly the same amount that Changfeng spent to acquire 67.1% of Huayi's shares at a valuation of 55 billion yuan."

"The undisclosed revenue from real estate, gaming, and other peripheral projects is most likely the profit of these three companies this time."

"Each gets what they need, a perfect closed loop, leaving no room for anything else!"

"Huayi, you deserved your loss!"

At this point, any regret for Huayi has turned into awe of the power of capital.

Faced with such a joint effort by internet giants Alibaba and Tencent, as well as emerging capital tycoon Mohen, Huayi, whose influence is limited to the entertainment industry, is powerless to fight back, even though it is called a giant.

"This is simply a case of 'dimensional reduction' (or 'dimensional reduction') attack."

"To recap, from capital operations to public opinion control to industry segmentation, it was a complete and utter domination."

And the market's evaluation of Shen Mo has been raised again after this battle.

"If there were only one Alibaba or one Tencent, perhaps Mohen wouldn't be the dominant party. But with both parties involved, the dominant party can't be either of them. There must be a middleman, and now it seems that this middleman is most likely Shen Mo!"

"This person... is terrifying."

"Those who blindly followed the crowd to criticize Mohen and sided with Huayi back then, aren't they ashamed now?"

With Alibaba taking control, Huayi Brothers, a listed company, has had its original core assets stripped away, essentially becoming a "clean shell" waiting to be injected with Alibaba's entertainment assets.

In just four weeks, all the speculations that arose at the beginning of the trading suspension have come true, and even far exceeded expectations.

A textbook example of capital encirclement and division has been laid bare before everyone.

Huayi, a name that once resonated throughout the industry, has been completely devoured by three major players. In the future, it is feared that even the name Huayi will cease to exist, since Alibaba Pictures cannot continue to use the name Huayi indefinitely.

The rain stopped, and the weather changed.

People in the entertainment and financial circles were shocked, but also felt a chilling sense of enlightenment.

Traditional giant Huayi is dead, while more powerful internet companies like Alibaba and Tencent have entered the market.

And Shen Mo was the most crucial factor that led all of this to happen.

For Shen Mo, the last time Han Sanping intervened to mediate was just a truce; only now has the war with Hua Yi officially ended.

In this battle, Inkmark's gains far exceeded even the most optimistic estimates from the outside world.

Even before the storm began, Mohen sold his 5% stake in Huayi Shares, which he had bought for around 13 yuan, to the Wang brothers for 70 yuan.

This alone generated a profit of 12.5 billion yuan.

After the storm hit, Mohen joined forces with Tencent and Alibaba to short Huayi, launching a massive attack that drove its price down from a high of 90 yuan to less than 13 yuan.

This alone netted over 17 billion yuan.

When Huayi was broken up, Mohen acquired 15 high-quality cinema assets covering core cities from Huayi for only 8 million yuan.

In addition, there were some minor gains. After Huayi's "non-performing assets"—film and television theme town real estate, games, and other peripheral projects—were liquidated and sold at low prices, they still brought Changfeng more than 6 million yuan in revenue.

Therefore, Mohen also received 2 million yuan from it, which is only a drop in the bucket compared to the other gains.

In addition, Inkmark received many unexpected surprises.

Even before Huayi changed hands, when morale was low, Mohen established contact with some of Huayi's talented employees.

Artists such as Sha Yi and Wang Baoqiang have successfully joined the team.

Several directors skilled in commercial genre films and talented screenwriters who had not yet found success within the Huayi Brothers system have also quietly signed with Mohen.

The story of Huayi has come to an end; a part of its flesh and bones has successfully transformed into nutrients to nourish Mohen.

It's likely that the Wang brothers never imagined that Huayi would be defeated by such a young man.