Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 501 Meeting with Coal Bosses

Coal Province

The plane landed, and Zhang Chen and Chen Xi landed in Taiyuan.

Returning to my hometown again, I feel so familiar when I smell the smell of coal in the air.

Taiyuan’s airport is very small and does not deserve the title of a provincial capital at all.

"Ah, Ah, Ah~"

Chen Xi started sneezing non-stop from the moment he got out of the cabin. He developed rhinitis as soon as he arrived in Taiyuan.

The dust pollution here is too serious.

For a long time, Taiyuan and Lanzhou have always been first and second in the national dust pollution rankings, and the two brothers often exchange positions.

So many people here suffer from rhinitis or asthma.

But strangely, the hospitals here have not made any progress on these two types.

Isn’t it said that hospitals in a certain place are good at treating common diseases in that area?
For example, Chongqing has the best anorectal department, Inner Mongolia is the best for treating parasitic diseases, for oral problems go to Hunan, and for mushroom poisoning go to Yunnan. Why is it that it doesn't work in Shanxi?

Outside the airport, Zhang's father and mother had been waiting for a long time.

"Uncle, Aunt~"

Chen Xi also knew Zhang's father and mother.

"Xiao Xi, stay for two more days this time. Let Zhang Chen take you out for some fun..."

Zhang's mother presented flowers to Chen Xi, who took them with a smile.

"Yes, Zhang Chen recommended several places to me, such as Jin Temple, Pingyao Ancient City, Qiao Family Courtyard, etc..."

As everyone was talking, a gust of wind blew, and the dirt in the wind blew in their faces.

"Hurry up and get in the car. It's too dirty outside. There's been a sandstorm these past two days..."

When Mr. Zhang opened his mouth, his teeth were all black, obviously he had been exposed to a sandstorm during the waiting period.

The group got in the car and Zhang's father drove.

Mother Zhang asked, "Xiaoxi, is there anything you want to eat, or is there anything you cannot eat?"

Chen Xi smiled and shook her head: "No, Auntie, I'm from Longjiang Province. I'm not picky about food. I can eat anything."

Father Zhang said, "Then let's go to Shanxi Restaurant. I have reserved a table there. I would like to invite you to taste authentic Shanxi cuisine. The chef there has cooked the fried meat for the state banquet."

Chu Yunfei was actually right. Shanxi cuisine is not up to standard and there are no particularly famous dishes. Only the deep-fried pork and knife-cut noodles are served at state banquets.

However, Shanxi Hotel has a long history. This place used to be the Gongyuan in the Ming and Qing dynasties, a special place for the imperial examinations.

It became very popular on Douyin in later generations and is a must-visit place when visiting Taiyuan.

But it’s not that beautiful now. It only reached that scale after the renovation in 2011.

Seeing that Chen Xi was somewhat overwhelmed by his parents' enthusiasm, Zhang Chen changed the subject: "Dad, have you arranged everything for tomorrow?"

"It's all arranged. Your uncle Li helped arrange it..."

Father Zhang replied while driving.

After thinking for a while, he reminded her: "For tomorrow's matter, you should do whatever you want. Don't consider my face. If those old guys make any excessive demands, you should be tough on them..."

"Understood, Dad."

Of course, he came back this time not to visit relatives, but for the cinema business.

Last year, several of my dad’s coal boss friends started cinema businesses and made a fortune.

Then more coal bosses came to my dad to ask about this matter.

Some of them are friends with Zhang's father, some are strangers to him at all, and some were introduced by Lao Li.

Not all of them are coal bosses, there are also people working in other industries, but they are generally from the same circle.

The coal province is only that big.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen simply organized them to meet together.

The next day, Zhang Chen and Chen Xi came to the Lakeside Hall, which was the place where they had agreed to meet today.

The Lakeside Hall is just opposite the Shanxi Restaurant where I had dinner last night, located on both sides of the wide Yingze Street, one in the south and one in the north.

Yingze Avenue was once the second widest street in the country, second only to Chang'an Avenue in Beijing.

Long, straight and wide!

Why is it long, straight and wide?
Because this street has a strategic significance, it is the alternate landing runway for the capital.

If there is a war, this place can be used as an airport runway after a little cleaning.

Lakeside Hall, you can tell its function just by listening to its name.

In order to avoid causing trouble for his son, Zhang's father did not come today, and Lao Li was responsible for picking him up at the door.

"Director Zhang, Mr. Chen~" Lao Li was very polite in front of outsiders.

"Uncle Li~"

Some people who knew Zhang Chen also stood up and greeted him, and Zhang Chen responded one by one.

Lao Li temporarily served as the MC and said a few words of introduction: "I, Lao Li, will not waste your time here. Now, I would like to invite Director Zhang to answer your questions."

Applause broke out from below and Zhang Chen walked up to the podium.

Someone in the audience was teasing Lao Li: "Lao Li, now you have learned to be pedantic. It turns out that your stay in Beijing was not in vain..."

Old Li laughed: "Boss Wu, please stop teasing me. Listen carefully. This is a rare opportunity. Director Zhang is here in person. If you have any questions, ask them now. If you miss this opportunity, you will never have it again..."

On the stage, Zhang Chen took the microphone: "Hello everyone, I am Zhang Chen~"

Polite applause.

"Recently, many people have approached my father and Uncle Li to ask about the cinema business or to invest in movies. I might as well explain it to everyone at once."

"Okay, Director Zhang is kind and righteous~"

Someone below agreed.

Coal bosses are generally rough people.

It's not common, 100% of them are rough people.

But don't think that rough people are stupid.

There is no fool who can make it in this era.

“First of all, let me talk about investing in movies. You are all my uncles, you are my family.

As someone who knows the inside story, I can tell you clearly that investing in movies is not a good business.

But if I were a student at Beijing Film Academy, I would tell you that investing in movies is very profitable. "

buzz~
There were discussions from the audience, and it was obvious that many people had had bad experiences.

"It seems that everyone is not completely ignorant."

Zhang Chen paused and said, "Movie investment is a very risky business, not a good business. Many of you should have invested in movies, either to make money or to promote people, but have you made money? I think about 90% of people lose all their money..."

coo~
Everyone below burst into laughter.

It wasn’t because his shortcomings were exposed, but because Zhang Chen mentioned supporting the mistress.

Someone immediately joked with each other:

"Lao Zhang, how did your little honey become?"

"We broke up a long time ago~"

"Old White, where's yours?"

"Which one do you mean?"

Finally, it was Lao Li who stood up and said, "Okay, everyone, be quiet. Everyone, pay attention to your manners. Director Zhang is still standing up there~"

The crowd gradually quieted down.

Zhang Chen continued: "Why is investing in movies not a good business? Because this industry requires very high professional skills.

If you want to invest in movies, you must at least understand movies, but do you understand?
The working style of our Shanxi coal bosses is basically still based on the principle that if I trust you, I will invest in you.

But the film and television industry has the most scammers.

There are too many people who can blow up a makeshift team into a major international project.

Those bosses who are losing money, think about it, is this how you lose money?

If you want to invest in movies, you should at least know what types of movies you can invest in. It doesn’t mean that a movie will make money once it is made. It may not even be released.

You invested 1000 million to make a horror film, but it involves the promotion of feudal superstition and has no chance of passing review. Are you anxious or angry about your 1000 million investment going down the drain?

Of course, if you just want to sleep with an actress, just ignore what I said."

coo~
The audience laughed again.

As for men, there are few who are not interested in women.

Fortunately, it was stated at the beginning of today's gathering that it was an internal gathering and was not allowed to be spread outside, nor was any recording or video equipment allowed.

Zhang Chen spoke more boldly.

"Let's not talk about those deceptive means for now. Let's just talk about normal investment. It's not that simple. Mr. Li should have personal experience in this regard..."

The crowd looked at Lao Li, who smiled bitterly: "I invested in Director Zhang's first film, The Dark Invasion, and made a lot of money. Then I used the money to invest in several other films of the same type, and lost all of them..."

Zhang Chen continued: "He was smart enough to invest in movies of the same type, but he still lost money.

In fact, it's not just him. Even professionals in the industry often fail. Movies are sometimes irrational. It's just like gambling. You can't figure out why they succeed or fail..."

There was no sound from below for a moment.

"Let's talk about those deceptive methods. In our film and television industry, it is too easy to cheat people outside the industry.

Let me give you an example. A director comes to you and says he has a film project and has found Jackie Chan to collaborate with him. He also needs investment. Would you invest?

You must think that with Cheng Long, it is a sure win, so you will definitely invest.

Invest 5000 million first.

When the filming is halfway done, they tell you that they don’t have enough money and need additional investment, will you invest?

Most people will invest, right? Another 5000 million, that’s million. After the film is finished, there’s post-production and promotion, all of which require money, and additional investment is needed. Will you invest?

Don’t vote?

The 100 million yuan before that was just wasted.

投？
Will a movie with a budget of 100 million definitely make money after it is released?
By then, all the money will be lost.

This is just the simplest method, and there are many more ways to cheat money in the crew.

The crew was shooting on location and needed to borrow a private residence to film for a few days.

The owner of the house offered one thousand.

There is definitely no invoice.

Then what will the crew do? The expenses on the account are 5000, the producer takes 3000, the director takes 9000, and the people who handle it take another thousand or a few hundred. These are just lost.

Can you find out?

There are hundreds of people in a film crew. Meerkats have their own way, dogs have their own way, and every position has its own way to make money.

If you are an insider, you can control the hacked budget within a reasonable range.

But if it’s someone outside the industry, I’m not exaggerating to say that even if you arrange a few people to join the crew to watch, you still can’t control it, and you may not even be able to find the tricks here.”

At this moment, the faces of the bosses below were not very good. After all, no one would feel comfortable being treated as a fool.

Not to mention the coal bosses who are wealthy and powerful.

But as Zhang Chen said, they don’t understand the ins and outs of this.

“It’s very popular to co-produce films with Hong Kong recently. Let me tell you the ins and outs of this.

You all grew up watching Hong Kong films, and you must think that the filming teams there are more professional.

Then how do they usually do it?
Normally when shooting a movie in Hong Kong, the cost of the photography team is about 200 million.

Then when cooperating with mainland companies, they directly offer a price of 1200 million. Don't be surprised, they can do such a thing.

The mainland company felt that the Hong Kong team was professional enough, so they gritted their teeth and accepted the offer.

Then after the movie was released, the box office totaled less than 2000 million.

All the staff involved in the film, including actors, directors, photographers, and props, made money; only the investors lost money.

Are you angry?

Don't think I'm talking nonsense, this is real.

This is how the Hong Kong team cheated Star Cinemas, which is one of the top three cinema chains in China. People in the industry were also cheated. Do you think you, as an outsider, can be spared?"

There was silence again.

Suddenly, someone said, “What if we invest in your movie?”

Someone immediately agreed: "Yeah, what if we invest in your movie? Your father and we are family, you can't cheat us, right?"

Old Li stood up and wanted to say something, but Zhang Chen waved his hand to indicate that it was okay, then looked around and said, "My fellow uncles, since we are all family, I will tell you the truth.

You have no chance to invest in my project, even my company's project is impossible.

Xingchen Entertainment's projects are considered high-quality projects in the entire circle, and many people want to join at a premium but cannot.

Those who can join either have background or resources that can help the film.

For example, you have cinema resources, or publicity resources, or can benefit overseas box office, but do you have these?"

The scene suddenly fell into silence.

Zhang Chen's words were a bit harsh, but they were all real truths that could not be refuted.

"So what should we do? We can't just let the money rust in the bank, can we?"

Zhang Chen on the stage smiled and said: "This is exactly what I am going to say next, investing in movies is not a good business, but investing in cinemas is.

Since joining the WTO, the country has been making efforts in the cultural industry.

At present, the total number of films in our country is increasing at a rate of 30% every year.

Film will be a sunrise industry in the next 20 years. Cinemas, as the basic supporting facilities of the film industry, are also a sunrise industry.

Moreover, this industry has an entry threshold, and people without a certain net worth simply cannot afford to get involved, so I think there is basically no risk in investing in this.

Let me do the math for you:

It is best to locate a cinema in the core area of ​​a first- or second-tier city. Although the rent in the core area is more expensive, the huge flow of people can also bring more revenue.

Let’s take Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen as examples.

In the core areas of Wangfujing in Beijing and Nanjing Road in Shanghai, the rent of shops is about 10 yuan/㎡/day. For example, a cinema with 5 theaters and a total area of ​​1000㎡ has a monthly rent of about 30 yuan.

Then there is the projection equipment.

The price of a new 16mm film projector is about 50 yuan, and the total cost of equipment for 5 theaters is 250 million yuan.

Digital projectors are more expensive, with a single set costing about 150 million yuan, including a server and decoder, but they are more cost-effective in the long run.

However, film projectors are currently the mainstream, so let’s take film cameras as an example.

Let's talk about personnel costs:
In terms of staff salaries, the average monthly salary for cinema employees in first-tier cities is about 2000-3000 yuan. We will calculate the monthly labor cost of a cinema with 50 people as 10 yuan.

The water, electricity and maintenance bills are about 8 yuan a month.

Promotional expenses: In the initial stage of opening, it will cost about 50 yuan to invest in advertising and event planning.

Other expenses: Film screening license: about 10 yuan.

Fire protection and environmental protection approval: approximately 5 to 10 yuan.

Equipment deposit and consumables: The deposit for film copying is about 20 yuan, and the cost of copying a single film is about 2 yuan.

Then a medium-sized cinema with 5 halls would cost a total of 800 million yuan for film equipment and personnel.

Now let’s talk about income:
Box office revenue is the bulk of all revenue, accounting for about 80%.

Other popcorn and beverages account for about 10%.

Screen advertising, battlefield advertising, etc. account for 10%.

假设每天放映 5场，平均上座率 30%，5个厅总座位 1000个，票价按照40元算，那么日票房收入为1000×30%×5×40元= 6万元，月票房约180万元。

The cinema takes 41% of the box office revenue, so the monthly income after the split is about 73.8 yuan.

After deducting costs, including 30 yuan for rent, 15 yuan for labor, 8 yuan for water and electricity, and 5 yuan for publicity, the monthly profit is approximately 15.8 yuan.

Payback period: 800 million ÷ 15.8 ≈ 51 months, or 4.3 years.

But please note that this refers to ordinary cinemas.

Golden Harvest is not in this category.

Last year, Golden Harvest joined a total of 8 cinemas, all of which were located in core areas of first- and second-tier cities. The profits were higher than this, and the average payback period was two and a half years.

Everyone here must think that earning more than two million a year is not that meaningful.

But don’t forget that the total box office of domestic movies is increasing every year, and the increase is more than 30%.

This is a long-term business that can be passed down from generation to generation.

I think that all the bosses have achieved today's success because they have a deep understanding of the industry they are engaged in.

I guess not many people want their children to follow in their footsteps.

Coal mining is hard and risky, and you never know when you might get burned.

But movie theaters are different. With the guidance of theater chains, it is not difficult to operate them.

If you manage the business well, you can pass it on to your children when they grow up.

In the beginning of Zhang Chen's speech, he was presenting facts and making sense, but the last few sentences were aimed at the weak spots of the bosses.

Yes, only you know your own suffering.

No one wants their children to follow in their footsteps.

Many people don’t ask their children to have a bright future. They just want them to behave themselves and keep the wealth.

But even though it is so simple, many people can't do it.

Those second generations either spend their time in debauchery or think about starting a business.

It is easy to learn bad habits by living a life of debauchery, and starting a business is like throwing money into the water.

Now there is a ready-made money-making business for them to do. As long as they invest a few million dollars in the early stage, they can turn it into a career.

Why not?
This is better than spending money to find a class for those little ancestors.

"Okay, I've said everything I need to say. Now let's let General Manager Chen Xi from Jiahe tell you about Jiahe's business philosophy..."

Chen Xi came on stage and spoke eloquently.

"In 02, 23 cinema chains were officially established in 30 provinces and cities across the country...

At the beginning, the benefits were not good and no one paid attention to it.

But in recent years, the market has grown bigger and bigger, and a lot of private capital has noticed this and entered the market.

The first to try it out was Xingmei, and it made a fortune.

Then Wanda Cinema Line was established in 05, and Dadi Cinema Line was established in 06...

In just two years, Wanda has become the fifth in the country, ahead of Shanghai United, BJ New Film Association, China Film Star Media, and Southern Shinkansen...

Golden Harvest is now the sixth, with two fewer cinemas than Wanda, at 13, but the difference in turnover is not that big, theirs is 1.5 million, ours is 1.43 million...

And what is the price of Shanghai United, which ranks first?

They have more than 100 cinemas, more than 200 screens, and a turnover of 3 million.

What does this prove?
This proves that this is a completely open blue ocean market and we still have a lot of room for improvement and great potential.

The best proof is that the cinemas joined by Mr. Li and several other CEOs can make back their investment in two and a half years, which is far longer than their peers.

I look forward to your joining and welcome you to join Golden Harvest Cinemas.

Of course, today is just an internal exchange, and it is not mandatory. You can also choose other theaters to join. "

The last sentence is pure nonsense, and I believe no one would be stupid enough to join other companies.

(End of this chapter)