How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 259 Times have changed; we must embrace the trend.
Actors are heartless, prostitutes are ungrateful.

It is a stereotype of occupational discrimination in feudal society, and is essentially a misconception due to the limitations of that era. It does not fully conform to the mainstream values ​​of occupational equality and respect for individuals in modern society.

However, if something exists, it must have a reason. In any case, such stereotypes do objectively exist within a fixed group.

At least in the utilitarian world of the entertainment industry, most practitioners' primary goal is profit, followed by fame, and lastly, artistry.

Tianhuo Entertainment's push for Huaxia Cinemas to go global is a good thing for the entire industry, because whether it's the company or the artists, they will have a legitimate reason to add the gimmick of "having the opportunity to go global and take an international route" when making money in the future.

In the past, when people talked about going international, they always relied on Hollywood for prestige. The main reason was that without a theatrical distribution network, anyone could make a film, but only by securing screenings and distribution channels could a film have a chance to be exposed.

AMC holds over 18% of the cinema market share in Europe and America. Based on the principle of "helping fellow countrymen," Chinese films will definitely have a certain chance of getting more screenings overseas in the future. They dare not morally blackmail foreign cinemas into not giving them screenings.

But if the cinemas controlled by domestic companies don't give them face, they might not only resort to moral blackmail, but also contact the parents.

However, Tianhuo's decision to invest heavily in "Queen of Silicon Valley" and increase Fan Bingbing's salary by more than twenty times is definitely bad news for companies in the industry, but good news for artists.

Whether they are artists of the same level as Fan Bingbing or second- or third-tier artists, they now have a reasonable excuse and reason to raise their pay.

In the past, Chinese artists and their management companies would inflate their market value and pay by relying on "foreign aid"—praising the pay of artists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or even Korea and Japan—in order to create various pretexts to increase their own value.

The earliest example can be traced back to the 80s when Grandma Qing caused a scene on set to protest for her rights. Why was there such a high tolerance for the pay of Hong Kong and Taiwanese artists during the joint venture era? It was precisely to reasonably improve the treatment of the entire production crew.

However, Fan Bingbing's exorbitant salary has given her peers a new benchmark, directly causing "salary inflation" within the industry.

This year, the influx of hot money from coal mine owners into the entertainment industry has led to tight schedules for actors, giving them more say and even allowing them to dictate scripts and supporting roles.

Now, due to Fan Bingbing's influence, many agencies have tacitly started to inflate salaries, especially for production crews that have already started filming. Their budgets have been completely disrupted, but they cannot afford to stop filming. As a result, the entire industry is in turmoil recently.

Based on the law of the contradictory movement between productive forces and relations of production, it reveals that productive forces are the fundamental driving force and ultimate determining force in promoting the historical development of human society.

Artists are the main productive force in the film and television industry, but their productivity is limited. Even a workaholic like Gu Tianle can only star in 2-3 movies and have 3-5 cameo roles each year.

Therefore, every artist is considered a 'scarce resource,' and the current inflation of film and television salaries may make this scarcity even more 'precious.'

Therefore, the biggest impact is on investment and production companies. Increased budgets mean increased risk for investors, while if budgets are not increased, production or other costs will be cut, leading to a decline in quality, which also increases risk.

Especially now that it's already the second half of the year, most production and distribution companies have started preparing for next year's projects. As the "patriarch" of the entire Chinese film and television industry, Han Sanping has been very troubled by these matters lately.

Driven by online ticketing platforms like Kanpianer.com, the growth rate of the entire box office market this year has far exceeded expectations before the Lunar New Year. Before the end of Q3, the cumulative box office in China has already reached 80 billion yuan, surpassing the total box office of last year (70 billion yuan). With more blockbusters to be released in Q4, the box office this year is very likely to reach more than 110 billion yuan.

It was a bumper year.

For Han Sanping, who was at the helm of Xia Dian, this achievement was an unexpected surprise. Just as he was happily preparing for the epic film "Jianwei", he suddenly found that many people were talking to him about the recent fluctuations in film salaries.

Although no payment is required for the film "Jianwei", it still affects Xia Dian's investment in other films. He really needs to uphold justice in this matter.

The sudden rise of Tianhuo Entertainment, or rather Wang Yao, has always been an unexpected turn of events for Han Sanping.

He first noticed Wang Yao through the movie website, but at the time he only thought of him as a professional manager hired by Ren Quan and Hu Mei's faction, so he didn't pay much attention to him.

Wang Yao later became famous overnight because of the Shiba Gala, but the title of e-commerce upstart had little to do with the film and television industry. It wasn't until Chengtian Entertainment changed hands overnight that he suddenly realized this.

This kid seems to have been involved in the film and television industry all along.

As a parent, the sudden emergence of an outlier among your children is more of a cause for worry than surprise, given that parents tend to be quite controlling.

However, Han Sanping couldn't find a suitable angle to meet with Wang Yao, because although Tianhuo Entertainment had been restructured, it didn't seem to be a company primarily focused on film and television distribution, but rather deeply involved in the cinema industry, so there was no direct overlap.

Moreover, Tianhuo Cinema Line is also involved with Kanpianer.com and Xingmei. Whether it's Hu Mei or Tan Hui, they are both closely connected with him, so he has even less reason to overstep his bounds and form an alliance.

After all, given his status, he needs a reason for everything he does.

This time, because of Fan Bingbing's salary issue, he found a good excuse to have a proper talk with Wang Yao without disturbing Hu Mei and Tan Hui.

After all, "Silicon King" is most likely a joint venture or an imported film, both of which are under his control.

However, before he could find a suitable opportunity, Tan Hui approached him with the film "22.22". Although the film's production team did not have the final say, they still had some say in whether the film would pass censorship.

Tan Hui had discussed investing in Chengtian with Han Sanping beforehand. After all, Xingmei Cinema's full name is "Xia Dian Xingmei," and Chengtian was one of the top ten cinema chains in China at the time. If it were integrated into the Xingmei system, he would have a stronger grasp on the film industry.

But unexpectedly, Wang Yao suddenly appeared out of nowhere, disrupting the investment plan and even persuading Tan Hui to cooperate with the restructuring and merger, making Tan Hui value this young man Wang Yao even more.

After hearing that "22.22" was produced by Wang Yao and then sold to Tan Hui, their attitude became more serious.

"This movie is just average, except that the theme is a bit outstanding and the foundation is good. The narrative style and visuals are just Kwan Kam-pang's old style," Han Sanping commented after watching the movie.

"My opinion is similar, but he said it could become the next 'Lost in Thailand.' Here's what I think: We previously considered packaging Xingmei Cultural Tourism for an IPO to raise funds, but in reality, apart from the film city, it's completely incomparable to Songcheng in terms of cultural tourism."

However, if Xingmei Entertainment were to open up the market with low-budget, high-return films, abandoning the current high-risk model of big stars + big productions, and instead cast a wide net to support new actors and directors, as long as the works are of high quality, coupled with the advantages of Xingmei/Tianhuo's theatrical distribution network, Xingmei Entertainment could actually expand its business significantly.

"It's far less risky than starting a new business. After all, look at the examples of 'Lost in Thailand' and 'Crazy Stone'—these stories can still be told successfully. Moreover, Xingmei now holds a 30% stake in Tianhuo Entertainment, bringing its market value close to 25 billion yuan, and we have a lot more liquid funds on the books. Plus, this way you can cultivate more new talent." Tan Hui explained the company's recently restructured development direction.

Han Sanping narrowed his eyes after hearing this. Originally, Xingmei Cultural Tourism's plan, besides relieving debt pressure through financing, was also intended to leverage the cultural tourism industry to create a new story of 'film and television IP + film city' to rival Disneyland and establish multiple projects.

But he knew perfectly well whether it would succeed. After all, Songcheng had been deeply involved in the cultural tourism industry for more than ten years before it had the opportunity to go public this year, but its valuation was only over 5 billion yuan.

Tan Hui and Xingmei are both novices in the cultural tourism industry, and they only own one film city. Even if they successfully go public and raise funds, the money will still be tied up in acquiring film city assets, which will lead to a cycle of debt-on-debt, since it is a capital-intensive industry.

But the film and entertainment industry is different. After Huayi went public, its PE ratio was close to 80 times, and it had almost no heavy assets. It was all light assets: copyright + artist contracts + film and television revenue.

Xingmei does have some weaknesses in terms of artists and copyrights, but it has advantages in theatrical distribution. However, due to its weak film and television revenue and low net profit margin, the market is not optimistic about it, and its PE ratio is less than 5, which is far below the average level of the cultural and entertainment film and television industry.

If Xingmei PE can truly achieve results in the field of 'low cost and high return', it will have at least four times more room for growth, and its market value will be close to 10 billion yuan.

It's far more reliable than starting a new cultural tourism project and robbing Peter to pay Paul.

"Your strategy is not bad, but this film doesn't feel as good as 'Lost in Thailand.' At least Xu Zheng and Bao Qiang have some popularity and box office appeal. The main actors and supporting actors of '22.22' are all newcomers. Even if Guan Jinpeng carries it, it will be difficult for the box office to reach 40 million. If the return on investment is not ten times, it won't be sensational enough," Han Sanping said with a frown.

He has watched countless films. He wouldn't dare say he has uncanny foresight about the market, but he definitely knows it inside and out, and he can judge whether a film will be a big hit.

“These girls are all newcomers that Wang Yao is heavily promoting. The second and third female leads are tied to his two clothing brands. Since he dares to say that, he must have made preparations. You should know this kid’s public relations and marketing skills,” Tan Hui said with a smile.

Han Sanping nodded upon hearing this. He had naturally heard of Wang Yao's public relations and marketing cases in the entertainment industry, and just the fact that he had developed Kanpianer.com to its current state showed that Wang Yao was capable. However, hearing Tan Hui say that the reason for cultivating celebrities was to drive sales was quite surprising to him.

Indeed, the younger generation surpasses the older; I never knew there were so many ways to express oneself in filmmaking.

"How did you two meet?" Han Sanping asked with a smile.

Tan Hui embellished his acquaintance with Wang Yao and took the opportunity to complain about Lu Chuan and Feng Xiaopao: "The more I think about it, the more speechless I feel. They are also considered cultural workers, but I didn't expect them to be unable to even respond to a simple poetry game. I am a science student and I can't even respond to one."

"What kind of artists are they? They just watched a lot of movies when they were young and were born in a good era where they could start from scratch," Han Sanping scoffed.

"So I've temporarily put my investment in Lu Chuan's 'The Banquet' on hold. I'm a little hesitant to spend 100 million on him," Tan Hui said, pursing his lips.

Since becoming partners with Wang Yao, he suddenly realized that film and television investments don't necessarily have to follow the market rhythm. So he stopped his second investment in "The Banquet" and planned to wait and see how things went after "22.22" was released. If all else fails, he would also see how Wang Yao's variety show collaboration with Bona went.

I feel that any of these risks are lower than investing in Lu Chuan.

"That project must have cost a lot of money, it's a bit of a waste to stop it like this." Han Sanping said with some surprise.

"Stop the loss, that's a new takeaway we got from the acquisition of Chengtian with Wang Yao," Tan Hui laughed.

"It seems you think highly of this kid." Han Sanping said thoughtfully.

"Young people are quick-witted and capable. Most importantly, they come from the internet industry, and their thinking is a complete game-changer for us old guys."

"Look how much Le's stock price has soared recently. Is it because of film and television? Copyright? No, it's entirely because we're going to make mobile phones and build an ecosystem. I'm making film and television to make money, so I have to seize the opportunity and embrace the trend," Tan Hui said seriously.

Han Sanping looked at Tan Hui in surprise: "It's really unbelievable. You're starting to sound like those internet people who brag all the time."

He had known Tan Hui for over a decade, but today felt like only three days had passed since they last met. It seemed that Wang Yao had indeed had a significant influence on him.

"You're never too old to learn, Lao Han," Tan Hui chuckled.

"As long as we don't lose money, that's fine. By the way, what's the relationship between that kid and Fan Bingbing? What's going on with the recent inflation in film salaries?" Han Sanping changed the subject and inquired.

“There must be some connection, otherwise, based on my understanding of Wang Yao, he wouldn’t have invested so much. But I heard that Fan Bingbing’s contract stipulated that the company would take 90% of the profits, so the actual amount she received would be less than four or five million.” Tan Hui lowered his voice.

"So that means raising her value and boosting the company's revenue?" Han Sanping narrowed his eyes and immediately understood the cause and effect.

If the company really takes 90% of the revenue, that's equivalent to directly generating $700 million in revenue—that's like artificially inflating sales figures! But this project is a collaboration with Fox. How did Wang Yao convince them to take it?
Young people these days really have wild ideas.

Even if Fan Bingbing earns $80, it far exceeds the level of top-tier female artists in China and is comparable to Zhang Ziyi.

"Someone came to you to complain?" Tan Hui raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Xia Dian is going to formulate next year's film schedule. If they really follow Fan Bingbing's standards, the budget will have to be increased by at least 50%, which is equivalent to reducing the number of films produced by half. That kid may be happy, but he has caused me a lot of trouble," Han Sanping said with a frown.

"Market competition depends on ability. When they were throwing money at people, did they not think about this day?" Tan Hui sneered.

"Do you think the existence of Tianhuo is a good thing or a bad thing for the entertainment industry?" Han Sanping asked, frowning.

"Anyway, it's definitely a good thing for me and Xingmei," Tan Hui said with a smile.

"Really?" Han Sanping frowned.

"If they can't afford to make the film, they can seek investment from Xingmei or Tianhuo. Survival of the fittest and natural selection are normal, aren't they?" Tan Hui said with a smile, but a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

Han Sanping frowned upon hearing this.

If the average production budget in the industry increases significantly, then there will indeed be some gaps in the market, and companies with advantages in funding or actors will have the opportunity to stand out and seize more opportunities in the market.

Wait a minute, this strategy sounds familiar...

"Is this the internet model?" Han Sanping was taken aback.

"You finally realized it." Tan Hui laughed. "Didn't you notice that a lot of new capital has entered the film and television industry this year? There's Wanmei, Sohu, Leshi, and even rumors at the time that Alibaba and other companies were preparing for the development of an interactive entertainment sector."

These are all internet companies. Not only do they have money and distribution channels, but their strategies will definitely crush the traditional film and television industry. Lao Han, you should also prepare to embrace the trend. In the future, it won't be as simple as personal connections that matter in this industry.”

Upon hearing this, Han Sanping fell silent and began to think.

"I'm leaving. Please submit the film for review. It will be released on September 9.6th." Tan Hui patted him on the shoulder.

"So soon? Wait a minute, in September there are Zhang Yimou's 'Under the Hawthorn Tree,' Huayi Brothers' 'Detective Dee,' 'The Legend of Chen Zhen,' and 'Dragon and Phoenix Shop,' oh, and there's also the imported film 'Inception,' no, it's super popular now. In addition, there are four or five other movies being released. Your film doesn't have any big stars to begin with, are you just throwing it in as cannon fodder?" Han Sanping was stunned for a moment.

September is the peak season for the film market, with a large number of blockbusters. The film "22.22" was already weak, so choosing this unlucky time period was tantamount to courting disaster.
Wang Yao is indeed skilled in publicity and marketing, but he doesn't deserve such arrogance.

"I have a brilliant plan," Tan Hui said, feigning profundity.

"Showing off." Han Sanping rolled his eyes.

"Old Han, times have changed, we need to embrace the trend," Tan Hui repeated before leaving.

After seeing him off, Han Sanping had someone submit the film directly to the higher authorities for review. After smoking two cigarettes, he reviewed the revenue report of Kanpianer.com again. As of now, the box office generated through online ticket purchases has reached 10 billion yuan, which is close to 12% of the entire box office market share. How long has it been developing?

Recently, due to the listing of Le's, he has received a lot of news about smartphones. In the future, with the popularization of smartphones and the promotion of the Skyfire Cinema Alliance, more and more people will definitely buy tickets online, because it is indeed convenient and allows for advance seat selection.

So how much of the market will online ticketing account for next year?

20%? Or 30%?

The stimulation and influence of internet technology on audiences is undeniable.

The landscape of the entertainment industry will also undergo further changes due to the entry of internet giants such as Perfect Corp., Sohu, and even Alibaba.

Tan Hui is right, times have indeed changed.

Han Sanping stubbed out his last cigarette and sent a text message to several old friends who had been complaining about him recently.

(End of this chapter)