Chapter 337 New Studio Plan

After hearing this, Zhou Wenhuai was also a little shocked and asked, "Mr. Yang, the cost of building a cinema chain in Southeast Asia is probably unimaginably high."

"I know this, so this will be a long-term plan." Yang Wendong nodded.

Although Hong Kong's economic development is not bad at this time, the gap compared with other countries is far less than that 20 years later. Therefore, Hong Kong's financial groups are nothing overseas. According to the current economic ratio, even the top financial groups in Hong Kong cannot carry out such a large cinema project overseas.

But Yang Wendong knows the future. In just ten years, with the boom in Hong Kong's real estate, the wealth of Hong Kong consortiums will grow at an extremely fast pace and become even larger in scale.

More importantly, Southeast Asia in the 1970s and 1980s was mostly Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s. Investing in real estate could also take advantage of the economic development of Southeast Asia, killing two birds with one stone.

But no matter what, the investment is huge, and we have to take it step by step.

Zou Wenhuai reminded him again: "Mr. Yang, investing in fixed assets in Southeast Asia is not just about money. Local connections are also needed. Otherwise, it will be difficult to make a business that competes with local financial groups for money.

Even the Shao family had to operate in Southeast Asia for decades before they were able to stabilize their situation.”

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will also look for partners. I am not stupid to invest alone. A powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake."

Not to mention Hong Kong, even when the United States was at its peak, American companies that went overseas to invest were often ripped off by local companies and governments, like Ah San.

Even if the US military is powerful, it is impossible for it to stand up for so many companies. If it does not involve strategic resources such as oil, large minerals, etc., the US government will not step in.

In the past, the mainland was able to become a world industrial giant. In addition to its heavy industrial base, average population quality, infrastructure maniac and other characteristics, the central government's strict prohibition on defrauding foreign capital was also one of the reasons for its success.

"This is the best." Zou Wenhuai said with a smile: "I was too worried."

Yang Wendong went on to say: "I am responsible for the commercial investment, but I don't know how to operate the film industry, so I also hope that Zou Sheng can join us. Together, we can make Hong Kong films the best in Asia. This is my goal."

"No. 1 in Asia?" Zou Wenhuai fell silent after hearing this. This goal was really too attractive.

Yang Wendong added: "As for the salary, the salary I will give you will be three times what you earned at Shaw Brothers, and there will also be a generous year-end bonus. If you achieve better results in the future, your salary will also increase. I mean what I say. If you don't believe me, you can also check the salary of Changxing Group's senior executives."

A large group has its own stable salary system. There is a range of salaries for different positions, which is determined based on the market and company performance. This is also to ensure the stability of the company's employees. This is the most important thing.

Although Zou Wenhuai's salary at Shaw Brothers Film Company was low, Yang Wendong would not just add a little bit to it. There was no point in saving a few thousand a month. It would be better to give him what he deserved, let him settle down and create a hundred or even a thousand times more wealth for him.

Zou Wenhuai smiled and said, "Of course I believe what Mr. Yang said."

In fact, only Shaw Brothers is so weird. For a company of this size, as the third-in-command, he would definitely earn HK$70,000 to HK$80,000 a year.

However, there are very few film companies in Hong Kong, and there are only two large-scale ones. Cathay is directly controlled by the Lu family and does not tolerate outsiders. Talents in the film industry such as Zou Wenhuai and Li Hanlin are trapped in Shaw Brothers and have no way out unless they start their own business.

"Can you decide now, or do you want to go home and think about it?" Yang Wendong asked again.

"This..." Zou Wen thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Yang, could you lend me a phone? I need to discuss something with my wife."

"Okay." Yang Wendong then called over the assistant who had been waiting in the distance and said, "Take Zou Sheng and go to the conference room next door to make the call."

"Okay." The assistant then said, "Mr. Zou, please come this way."

After a while, Zou Wenhuai was brought back by his assistant and said, "Mr. Yang, there is no problem here."

"Okay, I'll arrange for the head office's HR to contact you about the specific details of your employment." Yang Wendong then said to Zhang Zhiyuan, "You can also contact Mr. Zou about the matter of Waifu."

"Okay." Zhang Zhiyuan stood up again, shook hands with Zou Wenhuai and said, "Mr. Zou, please take care of me in the future."

"Mr. Zhang, you are too polite. You should take care of me." Zou Wenhuai said with a smile.

Yang Wendong added: "Mr. Zou, although Calabash Brothers has not been removed from the shelves, we have roughly known its box office performance, and foreign negotiations are about to begin;

You need to leave Shaw Brothers as soon as possible. If you can’t, please give me some guidance in your spare time. The salary will be calculated the same way. "

"No problem." Zou Wenhuai agreed.

"That's fine." Yang Wendong said with a smile, "After you join the company, we will set up a film company."

Without professionals, Yang Wendong usually would not rush to set up a company. At most, he would try out a related business first. This time, "Calabash Brothers" was a two-birds-at-one deal, as it not only established his own IP, but also created a good foundation for the establishment of a film company.

As for the management of the film company, he actually didn’t care much about it. He just wanted to lay a good foundation. If Hong Kong films wanted to take off, it would probably take at least until the end of the 60s, and it would take someone else. April 4, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, Shaw Brothers Film Studio.

"You want to resign?" Shao Yifu asked in surprise when he saw the resignation letter handed in by Zou Wenhuai, "Why?"

"The money is too little." Zou Wenhuai said directly. This reason was impeccable.

"." Shao Yifu was speechless for a moment. After a while, he said, "Lei Meng, everything can be discussed. Now that Shaw is developing so well, it is the time to make use of you. Why do you have to resign because of some trivial matters?"

"Of course it's a small matter for you, but not for me. I'll leave in a week." Zou Wenhuai was too lazy to argue anymore.

This was not the first time that people had discussed salary with Shao Yi-fu. Not only him, but others as well, and naturally nothing came of it.

Shao Yifu asked again: "You want to start your own business? Do you have the capital?"

"Don't worry about that." Zou Wen raised his head without replying: "I will sort out the information I have as soon as possible."

"." Shao Yifu looked at Zou Wenhuai with a gloomy expression.

Such a farewell, and so sudden, must have been an unexpected event.
On Monday, April 4, Zou Wenhuai officially joined the Changxing Group. Yang Wendong immediately ordered him to set up the Changxing Film Company and transferred 22 cinema properties under Changxing Real Estate to the film company. Only the cinema in Changxing Commercial Plaza remained under Changxing Real Estate.

Afterwards, Zou Wenhuai immediately started what he was good at, conducting commercial negotiations with overseas theaters to sell "Calabash Brothers" overseas.

On April 4, Zou Wenhuai and Zhang Zhiyuan came to Yang Wendong's office together.

"Come, sit down." Yang Wendong also said with a smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Yang." Zou Wenhuai said, "Mr. Yang, we have already negotiated the price with the four countries in Southeast Asia. Here is the price list."

"Oh, so fast." Yang Wendong said in surprise.

Zou Wenhuai explained: "Because the foreign prices are basically calculated based on the box office in Hong Kong, and there are certain ratios between different countries;
Another thing is to look at the historical performance of the film company. We don't have that, so we just use the algorithm of the new film to calculate it directly. Zhang Sheng has talked with them for a long time. After I took over, I just made some minor revisions. "

Zhang Zhiyuan said with a smile: "Mr. Zou, you are too modest. Now that you have taken over, you have directly raised the price that I couldn't negotiate for half a month before by 20%."

Zou Wenhuai said: "That's also because of Mr. Yang's contribution. They also know Mr. Yang's reputation. Now that Changxing Group has entered the film industry, they also need to consider long-term cooperation in the future, so they made concessions in some aspects."

"Okay, you all have contributed, there's no need to talk about this anymore." Yang Wendong finished reading the list in his hand and said, "The total amount of money from these four countries is 4 Hong Kong dollars. If it's a movie from Shaw Brothers or Cathay, how much can it be negotiated for?"

Zou Wenhuai said: "Based on the Hong Kong box office, we can probably negotiate for 25 to 30. We are a new company and this is an animated film, so foreign buyers will be more conservative. It is also because of Changxing's reputation. Otherwise, we might not even be able to sell it for 20."

"Okay, let's sign these four companies first." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Once the results of these four companies come out, we will talk to other countries."

Foreign films are not sold all at once. There are so many countries in Southeast Asia, and they are all selective about the films. For some films, it may take one or two years for Foreign Films to sell all of them.

In an era of slow information transmission, Hollywood movies will be released in different countries at different times, unlike in the past, when they could basically be released simultaneously in multiple countries around the world.

"Okay." Zou Wenhuai also said: "The theaters in other countries will also wait for the next batch to purchase foreign theaters."

"Well, that's it for the exterior of Calabash Brothers." Yang Wendong asked again, "How is the preparation of Changxing Film Company going?"

Zou Wenhuai said: “Mr. Yang, the company has been registered, and we have also taken over the theater chain of Changxing Real Estate. I am also recruiting personnel, including actors;
But now there is another problem, that is the shooting location."

"Filming location?" Yang Wendong nodded and said, "You mean the movie studio?"

Zou Wenhuai said: "Yes, nowadays movies are mainly about ancient costumes and modern films, so they all need new filming locations. Shaw Brothers has a studio base in Clearwater Bay, and Cathay Films has a base in Taiwan."

"What about ordinary small film companies?" Yang Wendong asked.

Zou Wenhuai said: "Generally, film companies either rent Shaw's studio or rent a piece of wasteland and build some simple houses. No matter which one, the cost will be extremely high."

"So you want to build your own cinema?" Yang Wendong asked.

Zou Wenhuai replied: "Yes, we want to be a large-scale film company, so we must control every link ourselves and cannot rely on others. Cinemas are like theaters. If we lack them, the film company will not be able to develop."

"Okay, I agree to this." Yang Wendong nodded, and then said to his assistant: "Ask Zheng Zhijie to come over."

(End of this chapter)

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