Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 486 Internet Forum

This year's Shanghai International Film Festival forums were almost entirely dominated by internet companies.

The New Normal in Film: Internet Plus and Industrial Upgrading

Big Data Promotes Feature Films: Taking You on a Playful and Flight-like Journey

A New Blueprint for Internet Films

Internet Film Shanghai Summit

Internet Literature, Film and Television Scripts, and New Screenwriting Talents

Of the 16 forums, 5 were directly related to the internet, not to mention that the internet was also mentioned in other themed forums.

This demonstrates the impact of the internet on film today.

Li Qiutang did not appear at any forums; he only attended the advance screening of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival.

Thanks to effective pre-screening promotion, "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" was highly anticipated at the Shanghai International Film Festival, and today's screening attracted many viewers.

Most people were amazed after watching it, realizing that domestic animation had reached this level.

Li Qiutang said, "This film took us a full four years to produce, and eight years including the preparation period. I can't explain how difficult it was behind the scenes in a short time, but after watching the film, so many people are willing to stay and talk to us, which makes me feel that it was worth it, because it shows that everyone likes it and that our hard work has not been in vain."

Li Qiutang originally intended to only talk about movies, but a reporter insisted on asking about industry issues, such as the impact of the internet on creative work.

Li Qiutang said, "Looking at it now, the Internet has profoundly influenced the selection of film projects and the later publicity and distribution. However, the film production process requires professional producers, directors, actors and other behind-the-scenes teams. This is currently the only link in the film industry that the Internet cannot directly participate in. For a long time to come, the Internet will still not be able to directly participate in this link. There is no need for people to be afraid of the Internet. We will still make films as usual."

The conversation could have ended there, but Li Qiutang added one more thing:
"However, the internet has influenced the thinking of many practitioners. Many of us in the industry see that the internet is hot now and rush into it without thinking. Even some big bosses in the industry lack the ability to discern. They stop making films and shout that they want to move away from filmmaking and go into investment, real estate, and games. I think this is very wrong."

This is a criticism of Huayi.

You're allowed to steal my box office revenue, so I'm allowed to publicly criticize your core strategy.

When Li Qiutang uttered the words "movie adaptation," the reporter knew he was referring to Huayi Brothers.

However, Li Qiutang had a relatively harmonious relationship with Huayi before, and even worked for Huayi for the first two years after her debut. The reporter was very puzzled as to why Li Qiutang would suddenly attack Huayi.

But it's not good to ask too many questions about this matter. Anyway, the manuscript is already out, and once Li Qiutang's words are published, it will definitely cause a stir in the outside world, and that's enough.

This led to an article titled "Li Qiutang: The Internet Cannot Participate in Film Production; Filmmakers Should Stick to the Industry and Not De-Cinematize It."

The relevant person in charge of Huayi certainly saw the article, but still didn't take it seriously. Since the "de-filmization" strategy was proposed, there have been endless doubts, but the company's performance has continued to grow rapidly. Now that Li Qiutang has publicly questioned it, it is not surprising. One more person like him will not make a difference.

However, Li Qiutang's public questioning, combined with the recent stock market crash, has attracted the attention of some investors: "Is Huayi gradually withdrawing from the film and television industry and shifting towards investment and other entertainment directions?"

Huayi's stock price has plummeted. As of press time, it has fallen from a high of 63.58 to 44.05. Much of the pressure undoubtedly stems from the overall market crash—the market is on the verge of breaking below 4500.

Li Qiutang's public questioning provided an outlet for investors. On a financial website, an investor asked Huayi Brothers: "Does the move away from film mean that the company will gradually reduce its investment in film and entertainment and shift to other business directions? Faced with increasingly fierce competition in the film and television industry, how will Huayi respond in the future? How does the company view the decline in box office revenue?"

Perhaps due to the recent sharp decline, Huayi Company took this opportunity to respond to investor concerns, but the response from Huayi's board secretary can be considered to be superficial and unsatisfactory to investors.

Huayi's stock price continued to fall, showing no signs of stopping. Finally, on the last Friday of June, Huayi's stock price broke through the 40 yuan mark. In just half a month, Huayi's market value dropped by more than 20 billion yuan.

It should be said that all stocks on the market are falling! Guangxian's market value has dropped by more than 30% during this period.

All investors suffered huge losses!
At the Shanghai International Film Festival awards ceremony, the Best Actor award was a tie, with the three male leads of "The Dead End" going on stage together. The presenters were Hao Lei and Li Qiutang.

"The Best Actor award at the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival is..."

Li Qiutang asked Hao Lei to read out the names: "Deng Chao, Duan Yihong, Guo Tao, The Dead End."

During the award ceremony, viewers could see Deng Chao's complex expression through the live broadcast, and guests at the venue could see it through a large screen.

He was very happy to win the Best Actor award, but what was he holding back when facing the award presenters?

Li Qiutang was also up to no good. He was holding a trophy, while Hao Lei had two. He deliberately slowed down a couple of steps, wanting to see if Hao Lei would give it to Deng Chao, and what would happen when the two faced each other.

Deng Chao pursed his lips, and his smile was clearly an act.

Hao Lei seemed to be deliberately a step behind, giving a trophy to Duan Yihong and then chatting with him for a couple of minutes.

Deng Chao looked at Li Qiutang, who stopped teasing him and quickly stepped forward to give him the trophy. Seeing that he had given the trophy to Deng Chao, Hao Lei handed the last trophy to Guo Tao, and the two presenters left the stage.

If it weren't for this stock market crash, Li Qiutang would have almost forgotten that she still had money in the stock market.

Li Qiutang also invests in A-shares, but he knows he can't get rich through the stock market, especially not through A-shares. So he only buys the kind of stocks that are simple, stable, and reliable. He only bought two stocks in A-shares: Maotai and Yunnan Baiyao.

I bought them a long time ago, and then just left them in there without doing anything.

He applied the same approach to overseas stock markets, buying companies like Tencent, Monster Beverage, Amazon, Apple, and Netflix. He didn't know how these companies performed; he only knew their stocks were valuable, so he bought them.

"Do you have money in the stock market?" Li Qiutang asked his wife.

"No." Liu Yifei didn't understand these things and never did them. "What's wrong?" She didn't play, but many of her staff did. During this period, she had heard them complain about losing money in the stock market more than once—the bull market of the past year had attracted countless novices to participate.

"It's nothing. There's been a stock market crash recently, and a lot of people have lost money. It's fine if you don't play." But then she added, "Does your mother play?" Liu Xiaoli had some spare cash.

"I don't know," Liu Yifei said, her eyes darting around. "I'll ask her sometime." If Liu Xiaoli loses money, in the end, it will be her daughter and son-in-law who will cover for her.

(End of this chapter)