Huayu: Starting from managing the Mahua FunAge Theater Troupe

More than an hour later, it was December 25th, around midnight on Christmas Day.

Shen Feiyang drove Li Xiaolu, who was slumped in the back seat and soaking wet, back to the city.

We found a five-star hotel nearby, the Beijing Great Wall Hotel.

We booked a luxury suite.

"It's stuck to the ground."

Upon entering the room, Li Xiaolu, who was covered in sweat, complained as she removed her equipment.

"Let's go take a shower together."

"Hehehe..."

Li Xiaolu chuckled a few times, her meaning clear, and pushed Shen Feiyang into the bathroom.

……

It took another hour or so to figure it out.

Around 3 a.m., Li Xiaolu, unable to stay awake any longer, nestled in Shen Feiyang's arms and quickly fell asleep.

Shen Feiyang also fell asleep instantly.

When he was reborn a year ago, he found that his sleep quality was better than ever before. He hadn't dreamed for a year and could get enough sleep after five or six hours of rest.

Shen Feiyang didn't know the principle behind it either.

Since rebirth has already occurred, it's normal for some strange phenomena to occur.

……

It was a little past nine in the morning.

Li Xiaolu heard the sound of the room door opening and closing.

She groggily opened her eyes.

Shen Feiyang was no longer by her side.

Li Xiaolu didn't mind, turned over, and continued sleeping.

What she cares about is the feeling.

Last night was better than ever before, and that's enough.

……

It's past ten o'clock.

Shen Feiyang arrived at the company.

He walked straight to the reception room.

Ning Hao was sitting on the sofa in the reception room, smoking and flipping through the script of the stage play "Crazy Stone".

bang bang bang

I heard a knock on the door.

Ning Hao said, "Go in."

Shen Feiyang pushed open the door and walked into the reception room.

Upon seeing Shen Feiyang arrive, Ning Hao quickly stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, stood up, and smiled at Shen Feiyang: "President Shen."

Shen Feiyang waved his hand: "Sit down, sit down, don't be so polite, we're friends."

Ning Hao sat down again, looked at Shen Feiyang, and once again solemnly thanked him: "President Shen, thank you so much for your investment of 200,000 yuan, but to be honest, 'Green Grassland' may not be able to recoup its costs."

"It's nothing. I can still afford to lose 200,000 right now."

Shen Feiyang got down to business: "However, to make 'Crazy Stone' into a film, I'm afraid a few hundred thousand yuan won't be enough, right?"

Ning Hao nodded: "I did the math, and even with the cheapest digital photography technology, it would cost at least six million. Besides, I can't guarantee we'll break even."

Shen Feiyang thought for a moment and then asked a different question: "If a movie wants to be released on a large scale, it will need to buy a lot of copies, right?"

Ning Hao nodded, carefully considering his words: "That's right. To have a large-scale release, you need to print enough copies. For example, for the recently released 'A World Without Thieves,' they prepared four hundred copies, three hundred of which were film copies and one hundred were digital copies. Film copies cost about ten thousand yuan each, and digital copies cost about one thousand yuan each."

Ning Hao further explained: "Although digital copies are cheaper, most cinemas in China have not yet built digital screening rooms. According to data released by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television the day before yesterday, only about 146 cinemas nationwide have built digital screening rooms. In other words, there are only about 146 digital screening rooms nationwide, while there are more than 2,000 film screening rooms."

Ning Hao quickly added, "One film print can cover at least three theaters within a half-hour time difference, while one digital print can only cover one theater. One theater covers one screen, and one screen covers hundreds of seats. In other words, one hundred film prints can cover at least three hundred screens within an hour. Therefore, to achieve a large-scale release, at least one hundred film prints are needed. Mr. Shen, do you understand?"

Shen Feiyang digested the knowledge points Ning Hao had presented.

Simply put, 100 film prints can be distributed to 100 multi-screen cinemas. These 100 cinemas are the main cinemas in major box office cities, which are the main sources of box office revenue for the film.

Like "A World Without Thieves," which involved producing 300 film prints and 100 digital prints, meaning it was distributed to at least 300 cinemas. If each cinema has an average of four screens, that would cover 1200 screens and 1200 screens.

Compared to the more than 2000 theaters and screens mentioned by Ning Hao earlier, "A World Without Thieves" accounted for at least half of the market share.

No wonder "A World Without Thieves" had such a high box office.

After roughly clarifying the relationship between the number of film prints and box office revenue, Shen Feiyang asked Ning Hao curiously, "If there are enough prints, will theaters allocate screenings?"

"It's not that simple..."

Ning Hao picked up the teacup on the coffee table, took a sip, and said with a sense of helplessness, "There are too many intricacies involved. The most important point is that the distributor you're backing needs to be strong enough to distribute the copies to cinemas nationwide and ensure that there won't be large-scale piracy of the full movie in the short term; at most, there will be pirated versions. Only with a strong enough distributor can you recoup your box office revenue."

"As far as I know, there are two main revenue models for domestic films released in domestic cinemas. One is box office revenue sharing. There are already relatively clear regulations. Of the total box office revenue that can be shared, about 30% goes to the production company. For a film with a production cost of 600 million, the total box office revenue needs to be 2000 million to break even."

"What is the other revenue model?" Shen Feiyang picked up the teapot on the coffee table and refilled Ning Hao's teacup.

"The cinemas buy out the copies. For example, with 'A World Without Thieves,' some cinemas can offer more than one million yuan to buy out a single copy. If all three hundred copies are sold, they should be able to make more than twenty million yuan."

Ning Hao picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and continued, "The advantage of this model is that it doesn't require waiting for box office revenue sharing, allowing for rapid capital recovery. Generally speaking, the revenue sharing process only begins after a film's theatrical run, and it can take anywhere from six months to two or three years for the production company to receive its share."

Ning Hao continued, "But 'A World Without Thieves' follows a box office revenue-sharing model because its distributor is China Film Group, the most powerful distributor in China. China Film Group monopolizes the import business of foreign films, and most domestic cinemas rely on imported films for profit. In order to obtain legal film sources from China Film Group, cinemas in various regions have to give China Film Group face..."

Shen Feiyang listened and thought at the same time.

He had read many gossip stories about Ning Hao in his past life. He remembered that after Ning Hao made "Crazy Stone", he couldn't find a suitable distributor.

It was Andy Lau who showed the finished film of "Crazy Stone" to Han Sanping, the head of China Film Group, which ultimately led to China Film Group's distribution of "Crazy Stone".

Since Shen Feiyang is going to be in charge of this project, he naturally won't participate in King Liu's "Asian New Star Director" program.

How can I get in touch with Han Sanping?

Shen Feiyang pondered it over.

We still need to contact Benshan about this.

Zhao Benshan has been performing in Beijing with a group of apprentices these past few days. I'll ask him about it next week when we have some time to talk about "Country Love".

Having made his plans, Shen Feiyang asked Ning Hao one last question: "Director Ning, can the production company advance the funds for purchasing the film prints?"

Ning Hao thought for a moment and replied, "It should be possible. Generally speaking, the cost of printing the film is covered by the distributor, but if the production company can voluntarily cover the printing costs, the distributor should be quite interested."

"Okay," Shen Feiyang said decisively. "You go back and start preparing the script and other things, I'll handle the investment. Let's grow and become stronger together!"