Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 337: Movie a Huge Success, Hong Kong Real Estate Begins Financing

When Ning Hao came to Shenzhen to promote "Crazy Racer," Yan Li made a special trip to see him.

"Director Ning, Director Ning, you've really made it big this time."

Yan Li hugged Ning Hao happily. "Crazy Racer" broke 100 million in five days and 200 million in eleven days, crushing "Red Cliff II". It is very likely to become the second film in the "If You Are the One" New Year's season to break 300 million+.

Huayi Brothers, which had just been triumphant, hadn't been able to gloat for long before Yi An caught up with them again.

With the huge success of "Crazy Racer," director Ning Hao's reputation has naturally soared.

No, saying that "as the tide rises, all boats rise" is too modest. Ning Hao became a legend in one battle.

Nowadays, it's not uncommon for domestic films to gross over 100 million yuan, but many of them are directed by Hong Kong and Taiwan directors.

In reality, only three mainland Chinese directors have achieved commercial success exceeding 100 million yuan: Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and Feng Xiaogang. These are the origins of the so-called "Three Great Directors of Mainland China."

"Crazy Racer" made Ning Hao the fourth mainland Chinese director to enter the 100 million yuan club.

He is also the third mainland Chinese director to surpass 2 million yuan in box office revenue, and is expected to become the second mainland Chinese director to surpass 3 million yuan.

The significance of these titles for Ning Hao, a director who has just turned thirty, is self-evident.

If the previous claims of Ning Hao being a genius director and a leading figure of the sixth generation of directors were just hype and marketing, then in terms of box office performance, Ning Hao is undoubtedly the one to claim the title.

Even if some people don't acknowledge it, Yi'an will make them acknowledge it.

Huayi Brothers gained so much with Feng Xiaogang, and Yi An has always been thinking that her own company also has a leading director. Now that Ning Hao has shone, it must be celebrated and elevated to a pedestal.

Ning Hao was grinning from ear to ear. With the movie being a huge hit and him reaping both fame and fortune, how could he not be happy?

However, he also knew that "Crazy Racer" had some padding.

The film's production and marketing costs are already approaching tens of millions.

This cost is comparable to some blockbuster films. In other words, the success of "Crazy Racer" is by no means solely due to his efforts.

"What do you mean by 'watered-down'? Marketing and publicity are also part of the film business. In the future, the proportion of marketing and publicity costs will become higher and higher, and may even account for the majority of the total cost."

Yan Li thought Ning Hao was probably influenced by some online comments and comforted him.

"Whether it's 'Red Cliff' or 'If You Are the One,' they both spent a lot on publicity and promotion, it's just that the proportion or the total budget was a little smaller."

"Don't overthink it, don't dwell on it. No matter what, our box office figures are real, and the project is profitable. That's the bottom line."

Ning Hao, as the director, may be thinking about attracting the audience with the film itself, but Yan Li has a higher perspective and thinks about more.

In today's society, it is no longer the era where good wine needs no bush. Since its founding, Yi'an has never relaxed its emphasis on publicity.

Marketing doesn't overshadow the film itself; rather, it serves as a supporting element, amplifying and enhancing the film's appeal.

If the film itself is bad, no amount of marketing will help; the two must complement each other to achieve great success.

To put it bluntly, what's so special about increasing marketing efforts? Some companies resort to all sorts of underhanded tactics to boost box office revenue, such as buying tickets and creating ghost screenings.

Compared to them, Yan Li was a law-abiding and honest man.

Besides the newly appointed director Ning receiving a warm welcome from Yan Li, the male lead Huang Bo also enjoyed good treatment.

"Bo'er, you've really done well this time. You've become incredibly popular. Even Deng Chao is panicking, worried that you'll steal his number one spot."

Huang Bo's signature grin: "He's overthinking it. With my image, if I became the top dog, wouldn't that be embarrassing for our company?"

With the huge success of "Crazy Racer," Huang Bo's appearance will greatly boost his fame and status, but to say that he'll steal Deng Chao's top spot is nonsense.

Not to mention that Deng Chao's starring role in "The Road to Awakening" is also a very popular TV series now, reaping benefits that are not much different from those of Huang Bo.

The key point is that the top executive in a company isn't just determined by film performance; otherwise, Huayi Brothers' top executive would be Ge You or Zhang Hanyu.

The top male and female stars are judged by their popularity, exposure, and business acumen. For someone as powerful as Huang Bo, it would be good enough if he could snatch the second spot.

"Don't be modest, I have high hopes for you. Put more pressure on Deng Chao."

Yan Li was in a really good mood. "Crazy Racer" had produced a famous director and a comedy star, both under Yi An's management. He had made a fortune.

More importantly, Ning and Huang were both cultivated by Yi An from scratch, which greatly demonstrates Yi An's talent cultivation and star-making ability.

Compared to Huayi Brothers and Orange Sky Entertainment, where most of their artists are "mercenaries," Yi An Entertainment is far ahead.

Yan Li originally planned to hold the celebration banquet for "Crazy Racer" when it broke 3 million, but since he came in person, he couldn't just not show his appreciation, so he arranged for the crew to have a private celebration.

"This is Kaohsiung MRT."

"This has nine holes."

Ning Hao introduced the main members of the production team to Yan Li one by one.

The cast of "Crazy Racer" includes many Taiwanese artists because the filming location is in Xiamen, and Ning Hao wanted to find several artists who could speak the Taiwanese Hokkien language.

However, since they couldn't find suitable artists from Fujian Province, they turned their attention to Taiwan Province, where the Minnan dialect is also prevalent.

This decision has made "Crazy Racer" quite popular in Taiwan.

Releasing a film in mainland China is quite troublesome, so Yi An sold the DVD and online streaming rights first, which made her a small profit.

"Mr. Yan, thank you for your hospitality, I'll take it."

Yan Li is somewhat famous in Taiwan, though not as famous as he is in mainland China and Hong Kong, but most people who come to work in mainland China know him.

There were no big stars in "Crazy Racer", and no one dared to put on airs in front of Yan Li; everyone behaved very politely.

Yan Li was very approachable, chatting and laughing with everyone, eating and drinking, and even giving each person a gift before leaving.

The gifts were all exquisite souvenirs, such as pens, water bottles, and lighters, and they weren't very expensive, around a thousand or eight hundred yuan. Huang Bo and Ning Hao received separate gifts, each a watch worth tens of thousands of yuan, which served as small red envelopes.

Ning Hao was fine; he was close to Yan Li and used to getting free meals and drinks from him. Huang Bo, on the other hand, was delighted to receive this special perk from Yan Li for the first time, wearing the watch with great excitement.

"Our boss is really generous."

"what is this."

Ning Hao smiled and said, "President Yan may not be good at other things, but he's really generous when it comes to money. The more successful you are, the more generous he will be."

"Just wait, once the roadshow is over, the company will arrange new movies and some business collaborations for you. If you can maintain the momentum, they will proactively ask you to change the contract ratio."

Huang Bo has been with Yi An for the past two years and has had no shortage of acting opportunities, but given his fame and status, his income is just so-so.

With the huge success of "Crazy Racer," Yi An certainly won't miss the opportunity to promote it, since both Huang Bo and the company make money.

So, as expected, Huang Bo is going to be very popular for a while.

As for Ning Hao himself, he made a fortune. In addition to the director's fee, he also received some dividends from "Crazy Racer". More importantly, he made a contribution to the company, which will increase his share of the original shares he can buy later.

These past few days, he's become incredibly popular, and some companies have extended offers to him, but Ning Hao has ignored them all.

Yi'an has money, power, and the lure of listed company shares; only a fool would switch jobs.

Not only did Ning Hao not jump himself, but he also told Huang Bo not to do anything foolish.

I won't go into details before, but now Huang Bo definitely has a chance to win the original shares.

The two had a good personal relationship and supported each other at the company; Ning Hao couldn't just watch him fall into a trap.

"Don't worry, I'm not that confused."

Huang Bo scratched his head. Yi An was on a roll and was doing well for him too. With such a popular project as "Crazy Racer" supporting him to the top, he couldn't just leave as soon as he became famous.

Not only is he inconsiderate, but more importantly, he doesn't think President Yan has a good temper. He's ungrateful, so President Yan might just retaliate.

...

Back in Hong Kong, Yan Li was still scrolling through movie reviews of "Crazy Racer" on his phone.

Compared to his previous work, "Crazy Stone," this film is more mature, and Ning Hao's signature dark humor, multi-layered plot, and memorable lines are all outstanding.

This is also the core reason why Yi An has the potential to push "Crazy Racer" to over 3 million views.

Otherwise, with the cast of "Crazy Racer," it wouldn't be that appealing.

Excellent quality, rave reviews, successful marketing, and the added boost from the film "Red Cliff"—it had all the right timing, location, and people.

"It's a pity about 'Painted Skin'."

Yan Li felt a little regretful thinking about this. The movie missed the National Day holiday. Although the results were still excellent, it made people think that if it had been released during the National Day holiday, Yi An might already have two movies with a box office of over 3 million.

While feeling regretful, Yan Li silently calculated the profits from the movie "Crazy Racer".

Although Yi An has significantly increased its publicity and marketing costs, even claiming that it is prepared to lose money.

But in reality, this movie still made money, and quite a lot of it.

If the film's box office exceeds 3 million, the production company and distributor will only receive about 1.2 million, which will immediately recoup the tens of millions of yuan in costs, not to mention other miscellaneous profits.

According to Yan Li's estimate, the film's total revenue will be between 1.4 million and 1.6 million.

This is just a rough estimate, and Yan Li is not sure of the exact figure, because it is indeed difficult to predict the outcome of such a phenomenal film.

The various copyrights and other revenues of a normal film are closely related to the market, and the price generally falls within a range, depending on how many copyrights you can sell.

But that's a normal movie. "Crazy Racer" has grossed over 3 million yuan, and given the current film market, it's a super blockbuster with the potential to compete for the annual championship.

This inevitably leads to a premium, even a record-breaking premium, for its copyrights and other revenues, and there are all sorts of buyers, making it impossible to judge by common sense.

Yan Li and Yi An had experience in this regard.

Previously, "Painted Skin" was a huge hit, and with the combined halo of Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing, it performed exceptionally well in terms of copyright sales, in addition to box office revenue.

The company earned approximately 6000 million yuan through a series of revenue streams, including copyright and business collaborations related to television, the internet, overseas markets, DVDs, and books, as well as image licensing and peripheral development.

"Crazy Racer" had a higher box office, but due to its subject matter and cast, Yan Li thought it was unlikely to be able to compare with "Painted Skin," but he couldn't say for sure.

What if Crazy Racer becomes a huge hit and makes a fortune?!

Just like half a month ago, no one could have imagined that "Crazy Racer," with a budget of tens of millions, would crush "Red Cliff," which had a budget of several hundred million. Taking a middle estimate of 1.5 million, after deducting tens of millions in costs and some dividends, Yi An is estimated to have nearly 5000 million.

After all, since "Crazy Racer" is likely to be profitable and has significantly increased its marketing efforts, Yi An is the one who bears the lion's share of the profits.

This will generate more profit than the previous "Painted Skin" film, and more importantly, it will be much less troublesome.

Yan Li felt that the tens of millions he earned from "Painted Skin" were hard-earned money, while the tens of millions he earned from "Crazy Racer" made him happy and surprised.

However, "Painted Skin" is just a single project; there's also a TV series version and a sequel, so there's still potential for profit.

"Crazy Racer" is most likely to be the first one. Yan Li asked Ning Hao, and it's difficult to adapt a movie with such a strong plot and fast pace into a TV series.

correct!

Yan Li slapped his forehead. He had been calculating from the perspective of a film company and almost forgot about theater revenue.

Now that Yi An has merged, in addition to production and distribution, its various cinemas can also make money from "Crazy Racer".

The theater chain itself will definitely promote its own movie heavily, so "Crazy Racer" has a good box office ranking. If it's lucky, the box office share alone may bring in eight figures, truly making a fortune from start to finish.

What's even more noteworthy is that the above only represents the apparent benefits; potential benefits haven't even been calculated yet.

Since the merger, Yi'an has been strong and its valuation is favored by outsiders. Now, with a series of hit films and television dramas and substantial profits, its valuation is likely to rise again.

A blockbuster movie might only earn tens of millions, at most a hundred million, but when combined with the capital market, it's hard to say.

Yan Li increasingly understood why the Wang brothers were so desperate to go public—it was all about making a fortune.

If Huayi Brothers and Yi'an were to go public now, with the two blockbuster movies "If You Are the One" and "Crazy Racer" already released, any stock that doesn't immediately hit its daily limit up would be considered a failure as a stock investor.

...

Back in Hong Kong, Yan Li had a short meeting with his team.

The company still has a lot of things to do, and the Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Yan Li really can't stay in Hong Kong for much longer, so his idea is to withdraw all the planned funds.

"After you've eaten and drunk your fill, go home for the New Year. This is the last hurrah, so everyone should put in some effort. In addition to the originally planned bonuses and yacht, I'll also prepare a big red envelope for you all for the Spring Festival."

"Thank you, Mr. Yan."

"Long live President Yan!"

The team readily agreed, everyone beaming with joy, and Yan Li was also in a good mood.

He calculated that he could take back at least a billion dollars in cash with him, not including the stocks he left in the market, and a luxury house in the Mid-Levels of Hong Kong that he bought at a bargain price.

During the financial crisis, Hong Kong property prices were in a period of sharp decline. According to media statistics, in early 2009, property prices had fallen by as much as 20-30% compared to the peak in 2007.

However, this is only the publicly available data.

In reality, many wealthy individuals are facing financial constraints and are hesitant to spend money recklessly, while others are in urgent need of funds and are selling off their properties.

The entire Hong Kong property market, especially the luxury housing market, is in a situation where there are prices but no buyers, and the discounts are extremely generous.

The house Yan Li bought was a lucky find through the system. The owner's business was in trouble and he was selling it urgently at a low price. It is currently worth about 1.1 million yuan, and at its peak it was about 1.4 million yuan. Yan Li only spent 8600 million yuan to get it.

Let's put it this way: once the economic crisis is over and Hong Kong property prices recover, this house won't even need to return to its peak; as long as it reaches the current price, Yan Li will directly earn more than 2000 million.

However, Yan Li has no plans to make a move for the time being.

This house is relatively new, in an excellent location overlooking Central and Happy Valley. It has an area of ​​over 300 square meters and is well-equipped in all aspects, making it a great place to stay.

Yan Li originally wanted to buy a villa, but he thought it was too expensive and too remote. He also felt that since he didn't live in Hong Kong often, it would be a waste to leave it empty, and it would be too big to stay there occasionally, so he bought a single-story apartment instead.

If we need to buy a villa later, or if our family grows larger, it's not too late.

As for the rapid rise in Hong Kong property prices, those were expensive back then, and even the fastest and most expensive rise couldn't keep up with the growth of Yan Li's wealth.

While it's certainly welcome to buy at the bottom and get a bargain, buying at the normal price is fine with Yan Li as well.

Although she bought the house, Yan Li was not satisfied with many things inside and was currently renovating it. She wouldn't be able to move in until at least summer, and if she didn't have time then, who knows when.

To be honest, I don't know if it's because I made too much money during this financial crisis, but Yan Li subconsciously doesn't treat this money as money.

A luxury mansion worth hundreds of millions of yuan was somehow dispensable to him.

You know, the Xinghewan apartment that Fan Xiaopang bought before was much cheaper than this one. Yan Li was quite excited about moving into the multi-million dollar mansion.

Hmm, it feels unreal!

Yan Li understands this mentality; he had similar thoughts before, whether it was during the World Cup or when trying to make money in the stock market.

Money that comes too easily is not cherished; once it's spent, it's gone. But if it were hard-earned, it would be a completely different story.

Before returning to the mainland, Yan Li thought of buying some things for his family. Since he didn't know much about these things, he called Wen Yongshan and another person over.

When it comes to spending money and shopping, they're both experts.

Using Yan Li's card, they indulged their shopping desires. Yan Li didn't treat them badly either, letting them pick out a couple of items, and he would reimburse them.

That night, after being suppressed by Yan Li again, Wen Yongshan nestled in Yan Li's arms and boldly asked a question.

"Yan Sheng, are you going back to the mainland?"

"Ah."

Baby looked up, her big eyes sparkling: "I also want to go back to the mainland."

She grew up in Shanghai and came to Hong Kong in her teens. Although she is a Hong Kong resident, she is considered half a mainlander, so she is returning to the mainland.

"Go back. The market in mainland China is good right now. You might have opportunities there."

Yan Li remained noncommittal, leaving Baby somewhat speechless. She meant she wanted to return to the mainland with Yan Li. It was unclear whether Yan Li hadn't understood her or was deliberately ignoring her; he was truly heartless.

Wen Yongshan was clearly more sensible and asked in a low voice, "So, will you come back this time?"

"Hard to say."

He will definitely come back. There are some things to take care of in Hong Kong, but Yan Li's focus is still on the mainland. He's lucky if he can spend a few days in Hong Kong throughout the year.

Sensing the two women's disappointment and resentment, Yan Li shook his head.

He didn't stay in Hong Kong for long, and their base of operations was also in Hong Kong. In fact, everyone knew the ending from the beginning; it was just a matter of each getting what they wanted.

These days, whether it's pocket money or clothes and bags, Yan Li believes he hasn't shortchanged the two women materially. In fact, since Yan Li is making a lot of money, he's been a bit extravagant, and the two women have benefited quite a bit from it.

At the same time, considering their feelings, Yan Li decided to give them one last helping hand and fulfill their wishes.

As for the future, that depends on fate.

Yan Li took out two business cards: "This is Mr. Huang's. I've already spoken to him. He'll arrange for you to act in Oriental's movies. This is TVB's artist director. How you deal with him is up to you. With my connections, he should be able to arrange film contracts for you."

With these two paths, the two of them can be considered to have entered the film and television industry from the modeling circle, and their starting point will not be too low.

Whether they can truly establish themselves and achieve further development depends on themselves.

Baby's eyes lit up, she snatched the business card, fiddled with it happily for a moment, and then gave it a sweet kiss.

Wen Yongshan glanced at the business card, still looking somewhat listless. It wasn't until she was leaving the next day that she suddenly turned back and said to Yan Li.

"I will wait for you."

Yan Li didn't reply, but just smiled and waved. Thanks to the system, he knew a little about the two women.

Baby is more driven by self-interest and somewhat infatuated with him, but more than anything, she wants to benefit from his fame and influence.

Wen Yongshan also had her own selfish motives, but she was practically a fan of his, admiring and adoring him, and developing some genuine feelings for him.

This is under the condition that Yan Li is relatively restrained. If he were more proactive and tender, he could charm people with his personal charm and the aura of power and influence, and make them follow him to the ends of the earth.

Yan Li didn't take Wen Yongshan's words too seriously.

A young woman in her early twenties has an unstable personality; what she says is one thing, and what she does is another.

The atmosphere in Hong Kong is even more like this; people change their minds and attitudes very quickly. One day they might be acting like they're dying, and the next they're out partying with their girlfriends and fighting over handsome guys.

wait?!

This word is a bit of a luxury in Hong Kong, not to mention that Yan Li didn't give any explanation.

After that, Yan Li stopped seeking pleasure and instead waited patiently for the funds to arrive. He then celebrated with his team before returning to the mainland.

At this time, there were only a few days left until the Spring Festival, and Yan Li asked his driver Wu Maowen to pick up his grandmother and parents and bring them to Beijing.

Last year, we spent the Spring Festival in Sanya. This year, Yan Li hasn't been in Beijing much for the rest of the year because he needs to keep in touch with many people. So, he invited his parents to Beijing for the Spring Festival and also to take his grandmother for a medical check-up.

While settling his parents who had come to Beijing, Yan Li also held meetings with various companies to summarize the gains and losses of the year.

Weibo is developing smoothly, and it's only a matter of time before its total registered users reach 1 million. Its mobile development is also remarkable, and it is currently far ahead of many competitors.

However, the money is being burned through quite quickly; the several hundred million yuan raised in the first round of financing is not much left.

Weibo plans to prepare for its next round of financing.

First, observe the market reaction. If the market is sluggish due to the financial crisis and valuations are not ideal, then the solution should be to bring in resource shareholders and use financial incentives to address the issue.

Following Weibo's fundraising efforts, Yi'an is also considering a new round of financing.

The merger process of Yi An is progressing smoothly. The next step is to take advantage of the financial crisis to acquire some cinema chains and independent cinemas at bargain prices.

Although Yi'an's film and television business is profitable, a lot of funds need to be invested in projects, and it is impossible to provide all the funds to Yi'an Cinemas in order to prevent the capital chain from breaking.

Therefore, the money for the expansion of the cinema chain still needs to be raised externally, and at the same time, some important shareholders need to be introduced to improve the shareholding structure and pave the way for listing.

Huayi Brothers plans to go public this year, so Yi'an definitely won't be able to catch up.

However, we can't fall too far behind. At the earliest next year, and at the latest the year after, Yi'an should also go public, to reap the benefits of the film and television industry's golden age of development as soon as possible…

　(7000/198000)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)