Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 968 Let's solve the movie problem with a movie! (33)

Uh…

Huang Zhonglei clearly didn't want to talk about this topic!
His purpose in attending the Shanghai International Film Festival was clear: to tell the outside world that Huayi Brothers has no problems!
Huang Zhonglei was the same way...

Including the Huayi Brothers' 'Sixth Season H Movie Project' held on the Bund...

A while ago, Huang Zhonglei criticized Cui Yongyuan online, and then Cui Yongyuan directly exposed a corner of a contract: it had a signature and seal, and the signature was Huang Zhonglei!

Then… Huang Zhonglei immediately deleted the Weibo post…

It's obvious that they have something on us!

In response to Mr. Cui's allegations, Huayi Brothers also downplayed the seriousness of the matter, only providing vague explanations for tax evasion and equity pledging.
Moreover, they dared not confront Cui's revelations directly, but instead targeted a few self-media outlets.

—Recently, articles such as "Storm Approaching! Tax Authorities Investigate Huayi Brothers? Industry Insiders Expose Money Laundering Secrets and Methods in the Film Industry!" and "Huayi Brothers Suddenly Pledges Almost All of Its Shares, the Show Is About to Begin!" and "Breaking News! Huayi Brothers Suddenly Pledges Almost All of Its Shares, Cashing Out Frenziedly!" flooded the internet. Then, Huayi Brothers announced that it would sue the self-media accounts that spread rumors, including Weibo accounts such as "Fresh Hot Topics", "Direct Media", "Internet Gossip", "Dr. Liu Yun", and "Industry Guru".

They announced that they will formally file a lawsuit in court after the relevant investigation and evidence collection work is completed.

That's right, there was no response to Teacher Cui's questions...

However, now that Shen Yan has asked him directly, he has no choice but to respond!
"The film project 'Cellphone 2' produced by Huayi Brothers has never been related to Cui. Please do not assume this is a connection. Huayi Brothers has always adhered to compliant operations and can cooperate with all relevant departments in accordance with the law."

Shen Yan pursed his lips and stopped talking. Then Jiang Ping interjected, "I've noticed a phenomenon: the more uncertain the market is, the more effort from collaborators is needed. Many blockbusters are produced by a group of companies, like 'Operation Red Sea' during the Spring Festival..."

"When the project 'Operation Red Sea' came to me, I estimated that to make a film at a level no less than 'Operation Mekong,' it would need an investment of at least 2.5 million yuan... 3 million yuan isn't actually that much. I estimate that with the subject matter of 'Operation Red Sea,' plus the story I wrote, a box office of 10 billion yuan is still quite achievable..."

However, the chief director Guo Fan and Wu Jing both told me that they wanted to try a modern military war... and they even made a PowerPoint presentation. When I saw it, I got hooked and immediately doubled the production scale to 5 million...

"Recovering costs was a bit of a challenge, so I partnered with China Film Group, August First Film Studio, Wanda Group, Enlight Media, and Xiaoxiang Film Studio..."

Jiang Ping interjected: "I was amazed by the production process of 'Operation Red Sea'... The entire Xiangshan Film and Television Base had four 5000-square-meter sound stages, with 15000 costumes and props, all mass-produced and custom-made, and the filming location was assembled and tested on-site..."

The entire production crew consisted of 4500 people, and effective coordination and management were achieved…

The process was streamlined and industrialized…the entire production followed a Hollywood model…and all the actors, including the extras, ate in the cafeteria in shifts…”

Shen Yan smiled and said, "We've been doing this since 'The Martian.' After five years, we've initially standardized and streamlined the process for big-budget productions..."

"How are foreign actors managed?"

"We divided the crew into groups of ten, assigned two translators, and also arranged a team leader… We used a pre-shooting method, for example, with 'Operation Red Sea,' we divided it into more than 2000 shooting segments. So everyone, including the extras, knew exactly what they were going to be filming that day; otherwise, with so many Chinese people speaking different languages, it would have been impossible to film…"

"Furthermore, industrialization isn't just about the hard aspects like props, equipment, and sets. There's also the soft side, like going to the toilet or eating. Things that seem simple become a problem because there are over 2000 people. After the first few finish eating, the rest of the crew starts filming, but half of them still haven't eaten..." After a pause, Shen Yan added, "Once the processes and standards are established, everything will go smoothly!"

Yu Dong added, "Then there shouldn't be any kickbacks involved!"

"I don't know, but we generally don't exceed the budget for any of our films, maybe by a million or two at most..." "Then... every single expense can be recorded?"

“Of course, every expenditure can be traced…that’s how we pay our taxes!”

……

Oh, and Yu Dong also mentioned that the company isn't publicly listed…

Huang Zhonglei then expressed his envy – no performance pressure. In his view, Huayi Brothers, as one of the earliest film and television companies to enter the capital market, has a deep understanding of performance pressure, as well as the different understandings of investors and the public regarding films, especially in the last two or three years.

Shen Yan noticed that Yu Dong's lips twitched slightly...

He probably wants to curse!
Those who are clever with words and flattering in appearance are rarely benevolent!
That's really shameless...

The Huang brothers are actually in a pretty bad situation – even if they wanted to cash out and go abroad, they wouldn't be able to get much money out of them; Huayi's market value has already dropped to 120 billion…

If you want to go abroad, you need to have at least several billion in assets!
Pan Shiyi cashed out 300 billion yuan and went to the United States…

He also founded a film company called "Closer Media," which produced two films, one of which was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Of course, they all suffered huge losses!
The first film, titled "Ezra," is a road movie that tells the story of an irresponsible father and a troubled child growing up together on a journey, similar to "Green Book."

In order to achieve instant fame, Pan Shiyi spared no expense in hiring veteran actor Robert De Niro.

Unfortunately, due to its clichéd plot and poor box office performance, "Ezra" was pulled from theaters after only a few days, leaving Pan Shiyi with a huge loss.

The second film learned its lesson and followed the formula of low-budget, niche, and art-house films.

They found a young female director in Asia to make a film called "Monks and Guns" set in Bhutan, which mainly shows the conflict between traditional religion and modernization.

Asian, women, religion, guns—all sorts of positive attributes were combined. After its release, it received unanimous praise from Hollywood. Although it didn't make much money at the box office, it had plenty of positive influences!

It was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

I've heard that Pan Shiyi's family still hasn't been able to make a name for themselves in the American wealthy circles...

With so much money and still no luck, the Huang brothers decided to give up…

Furthermore, "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" and "Yunnan Insect Valley" haven't been released yet...

What if it becomes a box office hit?

Let's solve movie problems with movies!
(End of this chapter)