The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 185 finished its run in theaters, grossing over 22 billion RMB in Greater China.

"Oops, it's changed again."

""

"Which one is it?"

"Six or seven, I guess."

""

While chatting, Ai Lun and Chang Yuan occasionally glanced at the director.

Today, Li Yitong came to visit the set. She sat next to the director, and when she smiled, her eyes looked like two crescent moons, which was breathtaking.

The actors from Happy Twist have finally seen what kind of life director Shen Qing is living. Fan Bingbing, Liu Yifei, Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and so on, and this year Li Yitong also came. They are all top beauties, lining up to visit the set, ostensibly to see Wang Zhi, but the real story has already spread throughout the crew.

These women are all rumored to be the director's women. The filming lasted for more than two months. These A-list and near-A-list actresses, usually goddesses in the eyes of their fans, felt sorry for the director not having any women around him, so they came here specifically—well, those who know, know.

Yin Zheng was sitting not far from Ai Lun Chang Yuan. Upon hearing this, he also looked towards the director team and unconsciously swallowed.

Ma Li walked over and asked casually, "What are you two whispering about?"

"No, just chatting."

The two quickly denied it.

Ma Li took a small stool and sat down next to the two of them.

The directing team.

Li Yitong whispered in Shen Qing's ear, "I won't ask you to, and I won't actually film it, right?"

Shen Qing smiled but didn't say anything.

She had just finished filming "W - Two Worlds". After the female lead enters the comic book world, the comic book will only end when the plot progresses to a key point, and the female lead can only return to the real world after the comic book plot is completed.

So what kind of plot points are considered key plot points in a comic?

For example, the first kiss between the female lead and the male lead.

In the TV series, the female lead tries to kiss the male lead in order to return to the real world, and she does indeed return to the real world.

The kiss between the male and female leads is a key plot point in "W—Two Worlds," something that can't be cut. Li Yitong requested that the kiss be filmed using a camera trick after reading the script.

Normally, these kinds of kissing scenes should be filmed from various angles—long shots, close-ups, and extreme close-ups—so that the audience can see the kiss from every angle when it airs. Using camera tricks? If you don't want to film it, there are plenty of people eager to do it!

But after Li Yitong suggested using a camera angle, everything went smoothly, and she eventually did indeed use a camera angle.

Li Yitong now suspects that even if she hadn't brought it up, the director wouldn't have filmed it that way.

The man in front of me clearly has a lot of women, but he's incredibly petty.

A moment later, all departments were ready, and filming continued on set.

At noon, when Shen Qing shouted "Cut!", many people in the crew cheered. When the director shouted "Cut!", it meant that lunch boxes could be handed out.

The actors from Happy Twist formed a small circle, eating and chatting casually.

"Do you think our movie can surpass 'Bad Genius'?"

"Definitely. With the director himself starring and directing, it's definitely better than 'Bad Genius'."

"Bad Genius" is $21.5 billion.

"So what?"

At the end of September, "Bad Genius" officially ended its run, with a domestic box office of 21.5 billion yuan, a Hong Kong and Taiwan box office of 1.25 million yuan, and overseas rights of 15 million US dollars.

Some netizens have calculated that the revenue from the Greater China region should be over 9 million yuan. Shenqi Films has a high revenue share for its main films, and after Maoyan Films participated in the distribution, a large portion of the distribution fees also went into their own pocket, further increasing the revenue share.

The company received over 9 million yuan in payments, plus $1500 million in copyright fees.

What is the cost?

Production costs plus marketing and promotion are approximately 1 million.

Gross revenue was over 8 million, plus revenue from GG product placement, plus 1500 million USD, totaling around 9 million.

The ticket subsidies were provided by Maoyan, and after deducting the subsidies, there is still more than 8 million yuan left.

"Not really, it's just—it's already at 21 billion, how much higher can it go?"

The members of Mahua FunAge fell silent.

Making movies has never been a very good business; there's too much uncertainty. Who dares to say that a high investment will necessarily lead to a high box office?

But Shen Qing was the only one who could do it.

Moreover, he can guarantee that high-investment films will also have high box office returns, and he can also guarantee that low-investment films will still have high box office returns.

A while ago, news suddenly broke online that Shen Qing's company had invested heavily in pre-installing apps on mobile phones and supporting creators of news feeds. Industry insiders estimated the investment to be in the hundreds of millions, which caused quite a stir in the startup circle.

These people in the startup circle are making a big fuss over nothing. They're surprised by an investment of one or two hundred million? Our Director Shen can easily fund seven or eight projects like that with just one movie he makes.

According to netizens' estimates, Shen Qing's income from making movies and TV series over the years should be close to 90 billion yuan. This is not the total box office revenue, but the cash back!

It is said that he spent more than 2 billion yuan on stocks. After deducting taxes and various expenses, Shen Qing may still have as much as 4 to 5 billion yuan in cash on hand.

There aren't many companies that can come up with that much cash.

"Bad Genius" grossed 21.5 billion yuan at the domestic box office, of which 13 billion yuan was sold through the Maoyan movie platform, reaching 6%.

In this ticket subsidy war, Meituan Movies and Gewara each invested nearly 100 million yuan. However, recently, sources on the Internet revealed that Meituan and Gewara's market share has not only failed to increase, but has actually decreased.

Meituan Movies and Gewara have not yet responded, but sometimes, not responding is also an answer.

If the online reports are true, then the matter is very serious.

Spending nearly 100 million yuan on ticket subsidies, only to see their market share decrease instead of increase, doesn't that mean these two companies are about to fall into a death spiral?

Is it true that the more subsidies a company provides, the more money it loses, and the smaller its market share becomes?

-

Why don't you just close down the business and run away?

Shen Qing saw the relevant reports and called Shen Li to ask if they were true.

Shen Li said it's highly likely to be true.

"Bad Genius" is so popular that it's selling for 9.9 yuan on Maoyan Movies, and 40 yuan on Meituan Movies and Gewara. It would be strange if users of Meituan Movies and Gewara didn't switch to Maoyan Movies.

Besides, no other celebrity in China has as many fans as Shen Qing.

With such cheap ticket prices on your idol's ticketing platform, buying tickets here is both affordable and a great way to support your idol. Why not?

It's perfectly normal for Maoyan Movies to significantly erode the market share of Meituan and Gewara.

Some netizens are already speculating how long Meituan Movies and Gewara can last.

"Meituan Movies and Gewara are in a bad situation; their ticket subsidies are a complete loss, while Shen Qing's ticket subsidies are profitable!"

"Shen Qing's content advantage is overwhelming. Even Meituan and Gewara still need to subsidize tickets for Shen Qing's movies, otherwise they will definitely lose users. Shen Qing's movies are too popular. Any platform that doesn't even sell tickets for this movie should just go out of business. What kind of ticketing platform is it if it doesn't even have Shen Qing's movies? Just having them isn't enough. Maoyan sells them for 9.9 and you sell them for 40? Just see if users will leave."

"The most unsolvable thing is that Shen Qing subsidizes his own movies, and the other two platforms have to follow suit and subsidize Shen Qing's movies as well."

Shen Qing makes more money the more subsidies she receives, while the other two companies are forced to subsidize their competitors' films, which will eventually bankrupt their companies.

"Just you wait and see. Didn't Meituan Movies and Gewara announce that they would also subsidize tickets for 'The Martian'? After 'The Martian' is released, not only will Meituan and Gewara have spent money, but their market share will also decrease further."

"The more money they throw at it, the smaller their market share becomes, which is quite a spectacle in the history of the Chinese Internet."

Then, just as netizens were discussing it, new news suddenly emerged, saying that Meituan Movies was preparing to give up ticket subsidies for "The Martian".

It's not just that they stopped subsidizing tickets for "The Martian," they stopped the entire ticket subsidy program.

I've even heard that Meituan is already looking for buyers for Meituan Movies.

Wang Xing is quite disappointed with Meituan Movies and has no intention of continuing to invest money in this field.

This also indirectly proves the rumor that Meituan's share of the movie market has actually decreased.

Anyone who invests nearly 100 million yuan and ends up with a decrease in market share would likely lose confidence in the product's prospects.

Guevara then issued a statement announcing the official suspension of ticket subsidies, shifting its focus to serving its customers better.

Media reporters interviewed Maoyan Movies CEO Shen Li, who said that Gewara had announced its withdrawal from ticket subsidies and there were rumors online that Meituan had stopped ticket subsidies and was looking for buyers. She asked whether Maoyan Movies would also cancel ticket subsidies.

"Maoyan Movies' large-scale ticket subsidies are a last resort. If we don't subsidize tickets, our competitors will completely erode our market share. If no other company subsidizes tickets in the market, we will naturally stop doing so as well."

The reporter was excited and asked, "Does that mean Maoyan Movies will no longer subsidize tickets for 'The Martian'?"

Shen Li replied, "Investing 2 million yuan in ticket subsidies for 'The Martian' was a plan that the company had announced before. Too many netizens have already seen this plan, and the company cannot cancel it at the last minute. If there are no other companies in the market offering ticket subsidies for films that have not announced a ticket subsidy plan, Maoyan Movies will not offer ticket subsidies."

The meaning is clear: ticket subsidies can be stopped, but ticket subsidies for "The Martian" are now imperative.

Shen Li's response was a consensus reached after a company meeting, and it was only officially released to the public after obtaining Shen Qing's consent.

After the response was issued, there was another wave of discussion on the Chinese internet.

"Meituan Movies and Gewara are already backing down? Don't back down, keep subsidizing tickets, I'm still waiting to watch a movie for 9.9 yuan."

"Exactly, if you two companies stop subsidizing movie tickets, then Maoyan Movies will stop too, meaning there won't be any cheap movies to watch anymore?"

"Gewara only raised 4 million yuan in total, which is simply not enough to cover ticket subsidies. Meituan's focus is not on online ticketing, and Meituan only has money at most; every dollar spent on ticket subsidies is a dollar lost. Shen Qing is the most powerful content producer in the country; no matter how much ticket subsidies he spends, he can make it back from the movies. How are the other two supposed to compete?"

"The most outrageous thing is that these two companies were holding their noses and saying they would also subsidize 'The Martian'. Subsidizing the movie of their biggest competitor would be so novel, but now they've changed their minds."

"It seems that Maoyan Movies' status as the online ticketing giant in China is about to be confirmed. Money alone is definitely not enough to shake Maoyan Movies' position."

"It also depends on how much money you have. If it were Alibaba, they could subsidize all the movies on the market except for Shen Qing's. No matter how great Shen Qing's content is, it might not work in the face of absolute money."

"Apart from BTA (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), I feel like no one can threaten Maoyan Movies anymore."

Meituan's Wang Xing met with Tencent's Liu Zhiping to seek Tencent's acceptance of Meituan's movie business. Tencent internally discussed the matter in a meeting and finally concluded that Maoyan Movies' content advantage was too great to be overcome by money alone. Of the 21.5 billion yuan box office of "Bad Genius," 13 billion yuan was sold through the Maoyan Movies platform, which speaks volumes.

Moreover, although Shen Qing's money is not as much as BTA's, it is by no means small either.

Going head-to-head with Maoyan Movies is neither necessary nor a sure thing.

Furthermore, Tencent has also invested in Maoyan Movies; shareholders can't afford to do anything detrimental to the company.

Therefore, Wang Xing's plan to sell Meituan Movies to Tencent naturally fell through.

Following the meeting, a consensus was largely reached within Tencent that they would no longer develop their own ticketing platform. Shen Qing's Maoyan Movies had too great an advantage in terms of content, and it would be difficult for Tencent to gain an advantage even if it entered the market directly. Therefore, they would continue to invest in Maoyan Movies to expand their presence in the ticketing sector.

At this time, Tencent only held 2.5% of Maoyan Movies' equity, but by the time of the Series B round, it should have held more than 10%.

As for when Maoyan Movies will receive its Series B funding, it's hard to say, because Shen Qing, this entrepreneur, is too special; he doesn't lack money.

Almost simultaneously, Alibaba announced the establishment of Taobao Movies.

Meanwhile, an insider close to Alibaba revealed that Alibaba's assessment of Maoyan Movies' huge first-mover advantage and content advantage is that Alibaba has no upper limit on ticket subsidies.

The news caused a huge stir.

Alibaba is a behemoth, and now they're saying there's no cap on their ticket subsidies!

"Alibaba has no upper limit? Can Shen Qing hold on this time?"

"This time it's really dangerous. No matter how strong Shen Qing's movies are, they are limited in number. Alibaba can easily bring all the remaining blockbusters into its own lineup."

"If Shen Qing's movie becomes a huge hit, and Taobao Movies doesn't subsidize tickets, they'll lose a lot of users. If they also subsidize tickets, it's like paying Shen Qing. Will Taobao Movies subsidize Maoyan Movies then?"

"Supplement! But only supplement the one or two most popular ones. Let's give Shen Qing money if we want. Even after giving money, Alibaba's funds will still crush Shen Qing's company."

Maoyan Movies held an emergency internal meeting to discuss Alibaba's entry into the market. The final conclusion was that the future competition between Maoyan Movies and Alibaba would be a truly cutthroat, life-or-death struggle.

A reporter interviewed the head of Alibaba's Taobao Movies, who did not deny the claim of a cap on ticket subsidies. The reporter then contacted Shen Qing, who was filming "Goodbye Mr. Loser" in Liaoning Province.

"No upper limit? Wouldn't it be better to just buy Maoyan Movies outright? Although it might be very expensive, Alibaba doesn't set an upper limit, right? Don't worry, Maoyan Movies' prices definitely won't be unlimited."

C

Shen Qing said it as a joke, but clearly some people didn't take it as a joke.

Tencent representatives immediately came to Maoyan Movies, requesting that they launch a Series B funding round.

Six months ago, Maoyan Movies was valued at 60 billion yuan during its Series A funding round. Now that Maoyan Movies' market share has further expanded, shouldn't its valuation also increase?

Is a Series B valuation of over 100 billion?

There were many such cases; under normal circumstances, Tencent might have given up.

But now, Tencent is a little afraid that Maoyan Movies will be sold to Alibaba.

Tencent can choose not to develop its own online ticketing service, but it cannot tolerate Alibaba dominating this field.

Enlight Media is also a shareholder of Maoyan Movies, holding a 2.5% stake in Maoyan Southeast Asia. Wang Changtian is hesitating whether to invest in Maoyan.

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