Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 485 The Summer Movie Season Begins

In the summer movie promotion war, Huayi Brothers was surprisingly the first to bear the brunt.

"As a traditional powerhouse in the entertainment industry, Huayi Brothers' absence from last year's summer season was an extremely significant strategic mistake. This year, Huayi Brothers also made a major mistake in its film scheduling. Two films were released in July: 'Forever Young,' which it co-invested in, and 'Only You,' which it was the main investor in. Let's not even talk about the co-invested film; Huayi Brothers wasn't even the second-largest shareholder of 'Forever Young,' so you could say that 'Forever Young' wasn't even a Huayi Brothers film. As for 'Only You,' which it controlled, it was produced by Feng Xiaogang and starred Liao Fan and Tang Wei. It was positioned as a romantic comedy, but this film didn't look very good for the summer season and was basically unwatchable."

Then, some marketing accounts began to attack Huayi's "de-cinematization" strategy.

"A film company that has been in business for over a decade, the largest film and television company in the country, suddenly announced that it would move away from filmmaking. This can only mean that the Wang brothers' hearts are no longer in film, and Huayi has abandoned the audience. Otherwise, Huayi would not have released two such films to fill the gap during such an important period as the summer season."

Such questioning was not enough to attract Huayi's attention.

Huayi's 2014 financial report shows that the company's total operating revenue exceeded 20 billion yuan and its net profit was close to 9 million yuan, the highest among all listed film and television companies.

This shows that the de-filmization strategy is successful, so there is no need to respond to these questions.

If the above questions were somewhat justified and were still about business and development strategy, then the subsequent attacks on Huayi Company and the Wang brothers can be described as smear campaigning.

"Huayi is a notorious brothel in the entertainment industry, where actresses basically have to go to parties and drink with the guests. Huo Siyan is jokingly called Huayi's 'public relations manager' because she has a high alcohol tolerance and knows how to get things done. She is often taken to various parties by the two bosses. These news stories are not made up by me. You can still find them now."

"It's said that a male actor returned home in the same car as a male executive from Huayi Brothers after an event. This executive allegedly groped the actor in the car, scaring him so much that he jumped out. The actor has since terminated his contract with Huayi and run away. Knowing he was in the wrong, the executive didn't make things difficult for him in the contract. You can guess who this executive is."

"The two brothers like to buy all kinds of artworks, and since artworks cannot be priced, it's easy to imagine how deep the transfer of benefits is."

This kind of personal attack is very dangerous.

What's worse is yet to come; some netizens have started to elevate Huayi to a political level.

"The country encourages the development of film and television culture and encourages films and television shows to go global. However, Huayi, as the first listed film and television company in China, is making a big show of de-emphasizing film. Huayi has built a Feng Xiaogang Film Commune on Hainan Island. The film and television base is actually quite good, but it only occupies less than half of the land. The other half has been used by Huayi for real estate development! Last year, their real estate project was the top seller in Haikou, with sales reaching 8.25 million yuan!"

"China's top film and television company has gone into real estate; do you expect them to make films for us?"

All these negative reports point to one conclusion: Huayi is no good.

However, attributing the decline in Huayi's stock price to these opinions is a bit of a stretch.

Huayi's stock closed at 63.58 yuan on Friday, after falling to 57.43 yuan on Monday, continuing to fall to 54.52 yuan on Tuesday, and further dropping to 46 yuan on Friday.

A drop of 17 dollars in a week is really devastating.

Li Qiutang had already sold all his Huayi shares, so the decline in Huayi's stock price had no impact on him.

Li Qiutang couldn't possibly remember Huayi's stock price trend so clearly, but she knew that the world-famous 2015 stock market crash was coming, and no one would be spared when the nest was overturned.

Huayi's market value reached a peak of 90 billion this year, and the Wang brothers' confidence in reaching 100 billion was wiped out in this stock market crash.

Huayi's stock price has never recovered since the stock market crash.

Over the past year, the A-share market surged from 2000 points to 5100 points, an unprecedented bull market that made countless people rich. The recent decline is seen as a temporary correction. Autumn Pictures' investment department wanted to enter the market, but Li Qiutang rejected the idea and ordered the investment department that the company did not need to engage in financial management at present.

The company has many expenses and needs to continue its industrial development; there's no need to invest in the volatile A-share market.
But the investment department can't just sit idly by.

At this point, Mr. Li acted particularly assertively, believing that it was best for the investment department to remain inactive for the time being.

"Don't invest recklessly. I feel this downturn is far from over." Li Qiutang rarely holds meetings for financial investors.

"The company has many expenses, so we are not considering financial management for the time being, and we are not allowed to do trusts. When we invest in companies, we will prioritize the film and television industry. We will not invest in companies that are not related to film and television."

Autumn Pictures is also seeking an IPO. With the stock market crash, there are too many variables. Li Qiutang must protect the little money in his pocket. He doesn't think he's smart enough to deal with those shrewd people who play the financial game.

Li Qiutang held a half-day meeting with the finance and investment department before leaving.

Li Qiutang's most important film is undoubtedly "Monkey King: Hero Is Back." Under his direction, the marketing budget for this domestically produced animated film, whose future was uncertain, was made in accordance with the standards of a blockbuster.

All the necessary pre-roll ads were purchased, and in the fall, we even bought domestic pre-roll ads for "Jurassic World".

As for buses, subways, office buildings, etc., there are none of them missing.

Trailers and posters are everywhere!
After mid-June, pre-sales and ticket subsidies for the July summer movie season will begin.

The pre-sale results of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" were not ideal, as animated films have not yet gained the trust of audiences.

Therefore, WeChat Movie Tickets, one of the film's distributors and promoters, offered ticket subsidies for "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" on the first day. During the opening weekend of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" from the 10th to the 12th, users who purchased tickets through WeChat Movie Tickets could enjoy a discounted ticket price of 19.9 yuan.

"Monkey King: Hero Is Back" is a 3D movie! At 19.9 yuan, watching it in 3D is definitely great value for money.

Meanwhile, other ticketing platforms also offer various discounts in the fall.

The abuse of invoicing subsidies is indeed not a good phenomenon, but everyone is doing it now, and if Li Qiutang doesn't keep up, he will only fall behind.

The publicity team has gradually figured out Li Qiutang's ideas, so they followed them and came up with a slogan: "Monkey King is back, opening up a new world for domestic animation!"

“Very good.” This slogan received Li Qiutang’s approval. “Why can’t we use it? What’s wrong with having a big tone? You’ve all seen the movie, wasn’t it good? Doesn’t it match the slogan? Use this one, this one is good!”
"We make animated films to open up a new world for domestic animation. This is a good one."

If Li Qiutang didn't have this much ambition, she wouldn't have started planning her animation career in 13.

"If in the future, when people mention Chinese animated films, the first thing that comes to mind for audiences is our autumn and our almonds, then we will have succeeded."

"Let's discuss the premiere plan again. Have you invited Teacher Liu and Teacher Xu Jingqing yet?"

(End of this chapter)