Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 703 The Arrogance of Cat's Eyes

Since the May Day holiday was changed from a seven-day break to a three-day holiday, its value and appeal as a key film release period have plummeted.

It has even been selectively abandoned by many companies.

I gave up on the May Day holiday this year in the fall.

It's not that we don't have films; "How Long Will I Love U" has completed all post-production, and a preview screening was even held internally at the company last month.

However, "How Long Will I Love U" never considered the more bustling May Day holiday period and instead chose the seemingly more ordinary May 18th without hesitation.

Simply put, as a romantic comedy, 520, as an emerging romantic release date, is clearly more suitable for "How Long Will I Love U".

Another reason is that this year's May Day holiday film lineup was not friendly. Liu Liying rushed to release "Us and Them". Many people know that Liu Liying is just here to make money, but she herself and the song "Later" can really play the nostalgia card. This movie has the highest pre-sales among the May Day films.

The craze for youth films has passed, but they're not completely gone. The two leads of "Us and Them," Jing Boran and Zhou Dongyu, still have some appeal among young audiences.

"Behind the Scenes," starring Xu Shanzheng, is a business war suspense film.

"Genghis Khan," starring Chen Weiting and Lin Yun, is a war epic about Genghis Khan.

"Low Pressure: City of Desire," Zhang Jiahui's directorial debut, is a Hong Kong-style police and gangster action blockbuster with plenty of hype.

With the May Day holiday already so packed, it's understandable to put a newcomer like "How Long Will I Love U" in a difficult position.

No, there are only three days of holiday. How can you squeeze four movies into the holiday? Including those released before, there are at least 10 movies in the May Day holiday lineup.

This also illustrates the current market boom from another perspective.

To be honest, Li Qiutang didn't want to watch any of these four movies.

On the evening of the 28th, Li Qiutang returned to Yanjing from Chengdu. Upon her return, she was immediately taken to other social engagements and had no time to pay attention to the film market.

Then I woke up and found out I'd gotten a refund.

"Us and Them" grossed 2.8 million yuan on its opening day! This is the best performance since the Spring Festival!
However, the film also experienced the most serious abnormal ticket refund crisis in recent years, and the source of the refunds pointed directly to the film's producers and exclusive distributor, Maoyan!

In short, "Us and Them" secured a large number of screenings in theaters thanks to its high pre-sale figures, but a large number of tickets were refunded on the opening day. The theaters could not change the scheduled screenings, causing losses to the theaters. The theaters could not afford the large number of refunds and directly exposed the matter.

As the film's investor, exclusive distributor, and largest ticketing website, Maoyan naturally bears the brunt of the impact.

Even though more than half of the refunds occurred on the Maoyan platform, Maoyan claimed that it suffered significant losses, but this statement was seen by outsiders as a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

"Refunding movie tickets is very troublesome, and refunding discounted tickets at 19.9 yuan is even more troublesome. Such a large-scale refund would be impossible to complete without the participation of a platform. Maoyan is acting as both player and referee, crying 'stop thief' while being the thief itself."

"Refunding tickets without communicating with the cinema is unprecedented. This is a shady operation. Who has the opportunity and ability to carry out such an operation? The most likely candidate is the ticketing platform."

Maoyan issued a statement early this morning, saying that it has closed the ticket refund function.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television quickly took notice of the matter, stating, "Preliminary findings indicate that the ticket refund situation for this film is indeed abnormal, and the specific issues are still under investigation. An analysis has been conducted, and all parties involved have been interviewed." Subsequently, the official Weibo account of "Us and Them" and Liu Naicha's studio, representing the film's producers and creators respectively, also issued statements hoping to clarify the truth and allow the discussion to return to the film itself.

The storm came very quickly, and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television intervened very promptly.

Despite it being her own company, Maoyan claimed to be innocent, but Li Qiutang didn't believe it at all!
After finishing some work, Li Qiutang came to Maoyan headquarters in the evening to discuss this matter.

Maoyan originated from Meituan and was later acquired by Qiutian, which resulted in Maoyan lacking the Qiutian genes.

Maoyan has the efficiency of internet companies, but it also has some of their problems.

For example, those damn PPT presentations and so-called upward management.

Li Qiutang came to the scene to question this matter, yet they still thought they could fool Li Qiutang with PPT and data!
Li Qiutang rarely visits Maoyan and hardly participates in its management. Qiutian's controlling stake in Maoyan is more of a strategic deployment.

This results in Maoyan not having a strong sense of belonging or identification with Qiutian (the company behind Autumn). Maoyan Entertainment CEO Zheng Zhihao wasn't cultivated by Qiutian; he came from Kangaroo (another company). If they give you face, you're the chairman; if they don't, who are you?
Li Qiutang slammed her hand on the table and asked who the person in charge of distribution for "Us and Them" was, but none of the executives present dared to identify him. CEO Zheng Zhihao kept trying to smooth things over.

People do laugh when they're angry.

"Ha, no one's in charge, huh? Then I'll change the marketing and distribution departments tomorrow. I'm lacking in everything, but I'm not lacking in film distribution talent."

Li Qiutang knew this was inextricably linked to Maoyan. He said, "Before, when you inflated box office figures and bought screenings, at least you had to throw in real money. Now, you throw money in, buy screenings, and actually get a return. Do you really think the cinemas are idiots?!"

Ultimately, this incident boils down to the arrogance of internet companies. Maoyan thought that by monopolizing the online ticketing business, it could control the cinema industry.

Unexpectedly, not only did the cinemas take the lead in making trouble, but the State Administration of Radio and Television also issued a document the very next day, responding so quickly that no one had time to react.

"In 2012, the five major domestic distributors joined forces to pressure the cinemas, but what was the result? The plan for the number of screens has been written into the development plan of Chinese films. Do you really not understand who the higher-ups support, or do you think you are so great that you don't care about anyone?"

What's done is done; swearing won't solve the problem, but it can release emotions.

"You're blaming scalpers for 1300 million yuan in refunds?! Think before you write this! It's 2018, are there still movie ticket scalpers?! Even if there are, who is Liu Yingchao (Liu Zetian)? Is her movie worth scalpers' money?"

“This is not over. You need to produce an internal investigation report and a punishment decision.”

At this point, whatever Maoyan says is just sophistry in Li Qiutang's eyes.

Li Qiutang stayed at Maoyan's headquarters until very late before leaving, leaving a group of Maoyan executives looking at each other in bewilderment.

The clever ones have already realized that Li Qiutang clearly wants to use this incident to strengthen Qiutian's control over the inside of the cat's eye.

Having a large number of shares doesn't necessarily mean you have the final say.

But to say that Maoyan was behind the whole thing is a bit unfair. Without the involvement of the film crew, could Maoyan have stirred up such a big incident?
The ticket refund controversy did not prevent "Us and Them" from becoming the champion of the May Day holiday, raking in nearly 10 billion yuan in three days. They should be content with that.

But this incident also completely severed Liu's ties with the film industry, at least the mainland film industry. From then on, she never mentioned acting again. In addition, she didn't have any roles in mainland China anyway. But this is for the best. She can focus on singing. One song, "Later," can support her for a lifetime.

(End of this chapter)