Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 343 The Intrigue Within the Film Industry: The Daily Breakdown of Huayi Brothers' Two Kings

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, just after the New Year holiday, Yi'an held a grand celebration banquet for the film's success.

Those attending the celebration banquet included the cast and crew of "Love Transfer 2", "Peach Blossom Luck", "Ip Man", and some of the main creators of "Crazy Racer", which just achieved a box office of 3 million yuan.

Normally, celebration banquets are held for each work, and Yi An usually does it that way too.

The reason we're holding these events together today is that Yi'an (Li Yi'an) intentionally created momentum for them.

These films include super blockbusters and dark horse hits, while the other two are also above average, achieving good results and making a profit.

With both large and small productions available, spanning the entire Lunar New Year film season, the film's performance was arguably the best it could be, truly demonstrating Yi An's rise and dominance in the film industry.

Therefore, it is necessary to hold them together. Only by holding them together can we more clearly and directly showcase the charm of Yi'an Films.

Du Guowei, deputy director of Yi'an Film and Television Department and also the director of the film department after the reorganization, personally took the stage to introduce the achievements.

"...To date, our company has co-produced and distributed four films during the Lunar New Year season: 'Love Transfer 2' with a box office of approximately 3900 million, 'Peach Blossom Luck' with a box office of over 3500 million, 'Ip Man' with a box office of over 1.2 million, and 'Crazy Racer' with a box office of over 3 million. The total box office for the entire Lunar New Year season has exceeded 5 million..."

"In addition, the films distributed by our company, such as 'Red Cliff II,' 'All About Women,' and 'All's Well, Ends Well,' have accumulated a box office of approximately 4 million yuan, and the total box office for the entire Lunar New Year film season is nearly 9 million yuan..."

Bang bang bang~
The people at the celebration party applauded enthusiastically, and many were also shocked by the number of people who had won the award.

They made nearly 10 billion yuan in just one Lunar New Year film season. That's incredibly profitable.

Of course, this is only said by those who don't know much about the industry; anyone who is familiar with the behind-the-scenes aspects of filmmaking knows that's not the case.

In particular, very few of the releases were exclusively distributed by Yi'an, and the data is highly inflated.

Including those who participated in the production, there were also many partners who shared the profits, and some films were not entirely under Yi An's control.

Corporate reports, they try to force connections even to things they don't actually have, not to mention those that are genuinely related, they practically want the whole world to shout that Yi An is the best in the world.

Neither Huayi Brothers nor Orange Sky, their two competitors, sent anyone over, but Fatty Yu came specifically to join in the fun.

Upon hearing these figures, Fatty Yu's expression was complex: "Your Yi'an is developing really fast."

Du Guowei's statement may have some exaggeration, but even after removing the exaggeration, the remaining information is still quite substantial.

Moreover, this is just one Lunar New Year film season. Before that, films like "Painted Skin" and many other summer films performed exceptionally well.

Throughout 2008, it's hard to say which company had the best film business, but it was definitely Yi An that made the most progress.

In particular, Yi'an merged with the original Yi'an Cinema Line, expanding its business and increasing its size significantly.

Before the Spring Festival, the Southern Metropolis Daily compiled a power ranking of the mainland film industry.

Han Sanye of China Film Group ranks first, Yan Li ranks third, private companies rank first, and they even surpass Wang Zhongjun of Huayi Brothers.

Yu, the head of Bona Film Group, the largest film distribution company in mainland China, has fallen to seventh place. It's fortunate that some bosses from Hong Kong and Taiwan were not included, otherwise he would definitely have fallen out of the top ten.

Fatty Yu had mixed feelings. He had known for a long time that Yi'an had a bright future, but he never expected it to be this good.

Huayi Brothers and Bona Film Group, industry veterans that began to rise rapidly at the beginning of the century, have accumulated their strength step by step, but Yi An has easily caught up with or even surpassed them, as if it were just a matter of stepping on the gas pedal.

"Just luck."

Yan Li smiled. Yi An performed well last year, but it's not time to relax yet.

Not to mention that Huayi Brothers is still powerful, this sighing and groaning Fatty Yu is no pushover either.

Last year, Bona Film Group did perform poorly, with few blockbuster hits and a slight decline in popularity. It was overshadowed by Huayi Brothers and Yi An Entertainment, and even Orange Sky Entertainment, which acquired Golden Harvest, surpassed Bona.

Because of this, Fatty Yu went all out and launched many projects by investing money and cooperating with resources.

For example, the collaboration with renowned Hong Kong director Wong Jing (also known as Fatty Wong) on ​​"Money Empire".

Collaborating with Taiwanese tycoon Mr. Guo, he invested over 100 million in the historical epic "Empire of Silver".

There's also "Mulan," a film co-produced with Starlight International Media and Galloping Horse Media, which boasts a large budget and significant scale, and involves many popular stars.

By the way, Bona Film Group also got involved in the "Bodyguards and Assassins" project, being one of the co-producers.

These are just the big-budget films; there are also quite a few low- to medium-budget movies, which, roughly calculated, are approaching double digits.

It's clear that, under pressure from companies like Yi An and Huayi Brothers, Bona Film Group has had no choice but to enter an arms race.

This is not something that can be resolved simply by Bona admitting defeat and withdrawing from the battle for market leadership.

Once companies like Yi'an and Huayi Brothers become desperate, they will expand and seize the market at all costs.

Bona gritted its teeth and followed suit. If it survived, it might still have a place in the market. If it didn't, it might become cannon fodder, barely surviving with no hope of going public. This was something Fatty Yu could not accept.

Therefore, Bona cannot take any chances; they have to grit their teeth and comply, whether they want to or not.

"I heard that Yi'an is raising funds."

Fatty Yu began to inquire about Yi An's information so that Bona could be better prepared.

Yan Li glanced at him and didn't hide anything: "Yes, the merger of the two businesses went quite smoothly. Raising some money will allow us to further integrate resources and facilitate the expansion of the cinema chain."

This is no secret. Yi An has contact with many people and is being watched by many people. Some basic information cannot be kept secret.

Which organizations are involved?

"Currently, we are discussing several companies, including Beijing Culture and Media Group, with China Resources also considering increasing its investment. We are also looking to connect with some PE (private equity) funds that can help with IPOs and to connect with relevant resources."

Yan Li didn't hide it from him. Fatty Yu was an expert and had been thinking about going public for a long time. He understood all these things.

Sure enough, Fatty Yu counted on his fingers.

Beijing Media Group (CMG), an official media group, guarantees official resources and relationships; China Resources, a central state-owned enterprise and commercial real estate giant, supports the cinema chain's development; and private equity funds provide capital and support for listing.

All aspects have been taken into consideration. If this is handled well, we might be able to make a quick getaway.

Normally, there should also be an internet company involved in channel resource cooperation and future planning, but Yan Li has Weibo, so there's no need to worry about that.

Which internet company is better suited to collaborate with film and television companies than Weibo?

The more Yu Pangzi thought about it, the more envious and covetous he became.

Huayi Brothers' star strategy is good, but it is clearly inferior in scope compared to Yi An's comprehensive development strategy.

Not to mention, Yi An herself can also play the celebrity card, and she also has Yan Li, an absolute business superstar.

Originally, he came to gather intelligence, but as he did so, Fatty Yu ended up eyeing Yi An's stock instead.

There's definitely a chance to make money. I might buy some later if I have the opportunity. Tsk, it would be even better if I had some original shares.

Fatty Yu wanted to shamelessly ask if Bona and Yi'an could exchange some shares, but he was afraid of humiliating himself by asking, and even more afraid that Yi'an would simply swallow Bona up.

"Your Yi'an is going to fight a rich battle this time."

Fatty Yu was envious. He was optimistic about Yi An's future, not to mention those institutions. Yi An was likely to raise a lot of money.

Mr. Yan, who is usually "stingy", is about to start spending lavishly.

"Rich? I'm afraid it's not enough."

Upon hearing this, Yan Li began to complain about being poor. Yi An was indeed going to raise a lot of money this time, but most of the funds would be invested in the cinema.

Film and television production and distribution are mainly funded by Yi'an's own funds, and may even involve lending some to the cinema business.

"That's not enough. How many cinemas are you planning to open this time?"

Fatty Yu could not hide his shock, while Yan Li smiled without saying a word. Finally, they had money, and with the financial crisis coming, they could buy at the bottom. Of course, they would buy as much as they could. If it didn't affect the listing, they might even borrow money from the bank.

"..."

After a long silence, Fatty Yu suddenly smiled with relief: "I'm really curious to know what expressions those two CEOs, Mr. Wang, have."

Yan Li raised an eyebrow: "I'd like to know too."

...

Of course his expression didn't look good!

Wang Zhongjun closed the Weibo page related to Yi An's victory celebration and glanced at his younger brother.

"What did Xiao Gang say?"

Wang Zhonglei sighed: "They finally relented and are willing to make another 'If You Are the One 2' for the company to guarantee a profit."

The Lunar New Year film "If You Are the One" was a huge hit, making Huayi Brothers a fortune, but Feng Xiaogang still has some ideas.

He didn't want to confine himself to Feng Xiaogang's comedies; he wanted to make truly blockbuster films and movies with intellectual depth.

Perhaps spurred by last year's events, he recalled his memories and decided to make this film, "Aftershock".

There was some internal resistance within Huayi Brothers to the project. This kind of disaster-themed emotional film required a large investment, was not necessarily popular, and was commercially risky.

Now is the time when Huayi Brothers is about to go public, and if anything goes wrong, it will have a huge impact on Huayi Brothers.

The Wang brothers did a lot of work behind the scenes to persuade Feng Xiaogang, but he was unmoved.

He's now successful and famous, with no shortage of money or fame, and he just wants to prove himself.

The failure of "Assembly" has always been a knot in his heart, and now he wants to use "Aftershock" to regain his face and reputation.

Feng was the head director and had always been quite assertive in his creative work. The Wang brothers couldn't do anything about it and had to back down, letting him make another film, "If You Are the One," as a backup. Feng Xiaogang couldn't keep fighting with the two bosses, so he eventually backed down as well.

Wang Zhongjun felt a bit suffocated just thinking about it.

With the IPO imminent, Yi'an is eyeing the market covetously, and Feng Xiaogang is causing trouble again; he now needs sleeping pills to fall asleep at night.

After muttering a few words about Feng Xiaogang, Wang Zhongjun and his brother started talking about the company's celebrity shareholders.

Starting last year, Huayi Brothers began to increase its investment and acquire shares, or more accurately, to use original shares to win over and bind celebrity shareholders.

Feng Xiaogang was the first to invest, and he received the most original shares, approximately 3%.

Then there's Zhang Dahuzi, a key figure in Huayi Brothers' TV drama business, whose shareholding is only slightly less than Feng Xiaogang's.

After that, there were the top two, Huang Xiaoming and Li Bingbing. Their original share was second only to Feng and Zhang, with a maximum share of nearly 2%.

Li Bingbing initially only bought half, while Huang Xiaoming bought the full amount.

It is said that he even borrowed some cash from someone because he didn't have enough on hand, which shows his courage.

Later, after consulting with someone again, Li Bingbing and her sister were persuaded to increase their investment and buy the full amount.

The remaining artists did not have as high a share as Li and Huang.

Actually, offering such a high price is useless, because there aren't many celebrities who dare to buy it.

As I said before, many celebrities are unfamiliar with finance and stocks and are wary of them, especially after experiencing the financial crisis not long ago, so their attitude is inevitably conservative.

Take Zhou Xun, for example. She holds a significant position at Huayi Brothers, and if she were to buy shares, her stake wouldn't be much smaller than Huang Xiaoming's or others. But she didn't buy a single penny. She doesn't understand or believe in such things, so she doesn't get involved. Besides Zhou Xun, Ge You is the same way. He focuses on making movies and earning his salary, without getting involved in these things.

For every timid person, there is a bold one.

Zhang Hanyu and Ren Quan were quite bold, optimistic about Huayi Brothers' IPO, and bought a lot of original shares.

Actresses Hu Ke and Luo Haiqiong are also very active, becoming some of the most prominent celebrity shareholders of Huayi Brothers.

However, the one who is most enthusiastic about buying stocks is Huo Siyan.

She was also the only Huayi Brothers artist who, after buying the full amount, still felt the shares weren't enough and asked the company to release some more original shares, and was willing to pay extra to buy more.

After her proposal was rejected by Huayi Brothers, she resorted to underhanded tactics, contacting celebrities who were eligible to buy the tickets but hadn't, and paying them to buy them on her behalf.

Later, Huayi Brothers discovered this and stopped it, which infuriated the Wang brothers.

The two aren't stupid. Huo Siyan's jumping around like this, and Li Bingbing and her sister's unusual second stock purchase, clearly indicate that they have a mastermind behind them.

You bastard!

They're harassing our company's artists, openly planting spies, and even encouraging them to buy pre-IPO shares to fleece us. That guy surnamed Yan is utterly inhuman.

“Hey, brother, Yan Li is just giving us advice from behind the scenes, so let’s just bring this up.”

"Li Bingbing, Huo Siyan, and Ren Quan have most likely all asked him. We can just tell the public that Yan Li asked them to buy more Huayi shares, which shows that he is also optimistic about Huayi. Wouldn't that be good for our stock price?"

"He takes advantage of us, so we'll use him for advertising. That's called reciprocity."

Wang Zhongjun seemed to be thinking about what he heard and was about to nod when he suddenly realized something.

"Aren't you mythologizing him?"

"You're praising him so highly; when he leads Yi'an to an IPO, won't the stock price soar even higher?"

"Moreover, if he says Huayi's stock price will rise, then Huayi's stock price will rise. But what if he says Huayi's stock price will fall the next day? What will we do then?"

Wang Zhonglei thought about it and broke out in a cold sweat. He was so relieved that he had put a noose around his own neck. Then he handed the end of the rope to Yan Li.

"Yes, let's just pretend we don't know. If we make money later, it'll be thanks to our marketing talent and Huayi Brothers' own ability."

The two men chatted for a while longer. After Wang Zhonglei left the office, Wang Zhongjun remembered Yi An's victory celebration and decided to check Weibo.

As soon as I entered the homepage, a news article popped up—

Huo Siyan personally confirmed that Yan Li suggested she invest in Huayi Brothers; Li Bingbing and Ren Quan did the same.

"grass!"

Wang Zhongjun's blood pressure spiked, and his vision went black for a moment before he finally opened the page.

The above is an interview with Huo Siyan. This was arranged by Huayi Brothers to contact the company's artists and ask them to talk about this matter, in order to promote Huayi Brothers as celebrity shareholders.

As a result, Huo Siyan said that she did not initially intend to invest in Huayi Brothers because she did not understand it. Later, she specifically consulted Yan Li, who told her that she could buy it.

I don't remember his exact words, but he basically analyzed the market for me. I didn't understand much of what he said, but I do remember one thing he said: "Buying Huayi Brothers stock now is a sure way to make money. Buy as much as you can, and if you need more money, borrow from him."

He's such a good businessman, I definitely trusted him, so I took out all my savings and even borrowed some more.

Later I heard that Quan Ge and Bing Bing Jie had also asked him, and he also suggested buying more, so we were among the artists that Huayi Brothers bought the most.

【…】

Wang Zhongjun shook his head, deeply regretting not having fired Huo Siyan, that jinx, back then.

What's most infuriating is that, following the comments below, he also found that Yan Li was also answering some netizens' questions online.

For example, why are we optimistic about Huayi Brothers' stock?

Yan Li gave a brief analysis of the film market, the economic environment, and the stock market.

In short, the film and entertainment industry is booming, and Huayi Brothers, as an industry giant and the first to go public, certainly has a bright future.

Some people asked him why he was so supportive of Huayi Brothers, since the two companies are competitors.

Yan Li responded with a broad perspective, stating that Yi An and Huayi Brothers are both rivals and friends. He hopes Huayi Brothers will prosper, as a prosperous Huayi Brothers also means a prosperous market, and a prosperous market will benefit Yi An as well.

One clever netizen translated it: Yi An is not afraid of Huayi Brothers, and Yan Li believes that Yi An will have a higher market value than Huayi Brothers.

Therefore, the more valuable Huayi Brothers is, the more valuable Yi An becomes.

Others asked about Huayi Brothers' market capitalization upon listing, and what it would be if Yi'an were to go public.
Yan Li gave a conservative answer, saying that he would consider multiple factors, and finally made a rough prediction under the persistent questioning of netizens.

It's quite possible that Huayi Brothers' market value will exceed 10 billion yuan. Yi An's lower limit is similar to Huayi Brothers', and his upper limit depends on his actions.

"Fuck you!"

Wang Zhongjun couldn't stand it any longer. The two companies hadn't even gone public yet, and Yan Li was already tacitly acknowledging that Yi'an was above Huayi Brothers. It was simply arrogant.

He admitted that Yan Li was indeed quite capable, having made money through selling plays, attracting investors and raising funds, running an internet company, and having a keen eye for investment.

But when it comes to capital operations, Yan Li hadn't even graduated from university when Wang Zhongjun started doing this.

Don't be fooled by Yi An and Yan Li's current smiles. Once Huayi Brothers goes public and receives numerous support measures, it will immediately enter a period of rapid expansion. At that time, Huayi Brothers will be the ones laughing.

...

"What are you laughing at?"

In the banquet hall, seeing Yan Li playing with his phone and laughing, Fan Xiaopang couldn't help but ask him a question.

She starred in "Peach Blossom Luck", so she was also invited to the celebration banquet.

"It's nothing, just watching for fun."

Yan Li stretched and looked at Liu Yiwei, who had just left: "How did the chat go?"

"It's just so-so, nothing new in a new guise."

"Love Transfer" is considered a sister film to "Fate Transfer". There are already three films in the series, and they have all made money. However, the highest-grossing film, "Love Transfer 2", is only estimated to break 4000 million.

The worst part is that with so many similar plots in a row, viewers are getting a little tired of it.

Of Yi An's four films released during this year's Lunar New Year season, "Love Transfer 2" received the worst reviews.

The internal consensus within Yi An is to take a break, or even give up, since the profits are limited anyway, and Yi An doesn't lack low-budget film scripts and projects right now.

However, Yi'an wanted to stop, but Liu Yiwei, the person in charge of the project, couldn't afford to.

This time, we specifically sought out Fan Xiaopang, intending to create "Love Transfer 3" with her as the core.

However, after looking into it, Fan Xiaopang wasn't too interested; she preferred to film her own planned chick flick, "Go Lala Go!"

"You can't just film one movie a year, can you?"

After the release of "Painted Skin", "Peach Blossom Luck" and "Red Cliff", Fan Bingbing has been in the spotlight for a long time, but he doesn't have many films in the pipeline, only "The Message" and "Three Kingdoms".

The only film scheduled for this year is "Go Lala Go!", while "The Founding of a Republic" is a cameo role and is not included.

"How about I get you a TV series? The script I told you about last time is almost finished."

"The one about dating aliens?"

Fan Xiaopang was a little disgusted. She had heard some of the plot before and thought it was just an idol drama, so she didn't really want to act in it.

After all, given her status, if she doesn't act in movies, she'll only be in those "historical dramas." Idol dramas are all made by those young actresses, which aren't very interesting.

The script Yan Li mentioned had two appealing aspects for her.

One was a script that Yan Li came up with himself, and the other was a script based on her real-life counterpart. In a way, it was a play that Yan Li wrote for her; otherwise, he would have rejected it long ago.

“I can play the role, you can play the alien, and we can team up.”

Fan Xiaopang made a request: if Yan Li also acted in this drama, she could barely accept it.

"Painted Skin, Investiture of the Gods, and Three Kingdoms have all been done in several episodes. The audience must be tired of it. This is not how you can have a relationship on public funds."

Yan Li shook his head. He and Fan Xiaopang had been working together a bit too frequently, which was counterproductive. He was even planning a "Painted Skin 2" movie later.

Moreover, if this idol drama becomes a hit, it will probably boost the careers of many people, so it's a bit of a waste for him, a boss, to act in it.

It's one thing that "Painted Skin" had to play the dual role, but at other times, Yan Li, unable to fully utilize the actors' popularity, preferred to give opportunities to the artists and let them make money for him.

"If you don't want to act, we can have Yang Mi or someone else do it later."

Although the female lead was somewhat tailor-made for Fan Xiaopang, there was nothing that could be done if she didn't act in it. The script couldn't be wasted, so they had to promote someone else.

"Don't rush, the script isn't finished yet, let me think about it first."

Fan Xiaopang herself said she wouldn't act, but when she heard that someone else was going to play the role, she became a little reluctant, since in a way, it was a role and script that Yan Li had personally written for her.

With the idol drama project temporarily on hold, Fan Xiaopang and Yan Li discussed another plan.

Films like "Painted Skin" and "Red Cliff" have brought her commercial appeal up to the level of the "Four Dan and Two Bing" (a group of four top actresses and two top actresses), at least on the surface, but her achievements in terms of honors are somewhat lacking.

Actresses like Zhou Xun, Li Bingbing, and Zhang Ziyi often act in art films, and Fan Bingbing is also considering acting in one.

She's already chosen a director: Li Yu, the director of "Apple".

Last time, this person wanted to cast Fan Xiaopang in "Apple", but was turned down. However, Fan admired this female director and even invested money in "Apple". They also kept in touch from time to time in private. After they became familiar with each other, they thought about collaborating.

"I think if I were to make a film, it would definitely be a female-centric film or one with a female perspective, as female directors tend to be more sensitive and insightful."

Yan Li doesn't object to Fan Xiaopang making art films, but isn't his style a bit... well, what if he corrupts Fan Xiaopang?

Fan Xiaopang rolled his eyes at him: "I knew you were petty. Don't worry, I already said so. Besides, they'll most likely come to the company to ask you for investment. I wouldn't dare offend a big spender like you."

Art films come in many forms; some involve significant sacrifices, while others don't even involve physical contact. It all depends on the plot and the director's approach.

Li Yu wasn't stupid; she also wanted to get close to Yi An through Fan Xiaopang so she wouldn't have to worry about funding and issuance in the future.

One is a commercial film featuring a young woman, the other is an art film.

Fan Xiaopang impressed Yan Li. He thought she would continue to be obsessed with blockbusters, but he didn't expect that she had realized the need to expand and diversify her personal career and explore and create her personal brand in a more comprehensive way.

Although Fan Xiaopang has always emphasized business as her career path and cultivated a strong woman persona, it does not mean that she has completely given up on other aspects.

These days, it's all about overall strength. She doesn't need to be particularly strong in other areas; as long as she makes up for her weaknesses, she can influence the whole situation and mobilize everyone.

The more comprehensive, versatile, and perfect Fan Xiaopang is, the more his personal charisma can be maximized, allowing him to reap all sorts of benefits…

　(7000/217000)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)