Chapter 338 Development of the Cultural Industry Chain

Chapter 338 Development of the Cultural Industry Chain

Chapter 338 Development of the Cultural Industry Chain
Also in Central, Zheng Zhijie arrived after more than ten minutes.

Yang Wendong said, "Old Zheng, Changxing Film Company wants to build a movie studio. Do you have a suitable location among the properties you currently own?"

Zheng Zhijie looked at Zou Wenhuai and asked, "Mr. Zou, how big an area do you need for this cinema? Are there any location or transportation requirements?"

Zou Wenhuai replied: "Shaw Brothers' filming base in Clearwater Bay is about 66 feet (about 7.3 square meters), and we also need an area of ​​about the same size, or even larger;
The location and transportation cannot be too bad, mainly considering the commuting time of all crew members and actors. If the location is too remote, once a few people are missing, it may affect the time of the entire crew, which will also seriously delay the shooting time. "

"66 square feet?" Zheng Zhijie thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Yang, Mr. Zou, although Changxing Real Estate now has a lot of land and properties, there is really no single piece of vacant land of more than 60 square feet;
However, as long as there is a normal construction demand, you can apply to the Hong Kong government for land on the grounds of this project. As long as the reason is appropriate, the Hong Kong government will generally agree. "

Changxing Real Estate's acquisitions in recent years have mainly been properties, with very few plots of land being pure land. Even if there are some, they will build properties after the acquisition and collect rent. It is impossible for a large piece of land to be left vacant.

In the Hong Kong real estate market, such vacant land can only be found in the New Territories and has little development value.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then it's like applying to the Hong Kong government. We buy land to build a movie studio. As for the location, where do you think is suitable, Old Zou?"

Wrinkle thought for a moment and said, "It would be best to be in the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, such as Kwun Tong, Clear Water Bay, and Kowloon Bay."

"It's not easy to get 60 square feet of vacant land in these places." Zheng Zhijie thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Zou, how about Tseung Kwan O?"

"Tseung Kwan O? That's fine too, the location there is also good." Zou Wenhuai nodded and said.

Yang Wendong asked, "Is there any suitable land in Tseung Kwan O?"

In the past, TVB's studio was located in Tseung Kwan O. It seemed that there was a reason for this. Several early-developed towns on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula probably couldn't afford the space to build a studio, so a location like Tseung Kwan O was the second best choice.

Zheng Zhijie said: "Mr. Yang, do you remember the ranch we were looking for for Carrefour? Our first choice was Tseung Kwan O, but the Hong Kong government disagreed because it was too large and polluted the environment.

If we build a movie city now, there will be no such problem. The movie city does not pollute much and can also boost the economy, which meets the Hong Kong government’s demand for the development of commercial buildings.”

"No." Yang Wendong said, "I plan to build a larger cinema in a larger area and build it all at once. I believe that after the film industry develops rapidly in the future, a 60-square-foot cinema will be far from enough."

Hong Kong films in the 60s can only be said to be in their infancy, far inferior to those in the 70s, not to mention the 80s and 90s.

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie agreed directly and asked, "How much bigger does it need to be? Or do you have any specific requirements?"

Zhou Wenhuai was stunned. The big groups were indeed generous. If it were Shaw Brothers or other companies, to build a cinema, they would have to go through the information from top to bottom countless times, hold countless meetings, and do countless researches. In the end, the boss would cut a little here and there, and it would take several months or even more than a year before making the final decision.

But now, just say it directly.

Yang Wendong said: "You should all know about the news that the Hong Kong government is planning to launch a wireless television station, right?"

"I know." All three of them nodded.

Yang Wendong said: "I am determined to get the TV station, so in the future this film and television city will also be used by the TV station to shoot programs, so the larger the area, the better. Even if we can't find suitable land, we can demolish some of the surrounding villages to compensate."

The future of TVB can now be auctioned two years earlier because of his proposal, and he is determined to win.

Even if an unexpected situation occurs in extreme circumstances, it will not be a loss to hoard more land, and Tseung Kwan O will also be a good area in the future.

"Okay, I understand." Zheng Zhijie continued, "It's just that when we applied for a ranch before, the Hong Kong government would approve agricultural land. Now for the land of the movie studio, we can only apply for commercial use, and the price will be higher.

Or I can talk to the Hong Kong Government's Lands Department to see if it can be converted to industrial use."

"That's fine." Yang Wendong didn't care at all and said, "The business in Tseung Kwan O is basically not very developed, and the price won't be very expensive. Whether it's commercial or industrial land, take it first and talk about it later."

Hong Kong does not have the attribute of land used for cultural facilities. Even the Tseung Kwan O Film and Television City in the past was specially approved by the Hong Kong government. At that time, Hong Kong's film, television drama and economy were very strong, so there was an exception. It is probably difficult now.

"Okay." Zheng Zhijie replied, "Then I will discuss it with the Lands Department and try to get a favorable price."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But even if we get the land today, it will take some time to build the studio. Old Zou, what are your plans for filming later?"

Zou Wenhuai said, "Mr. Yang, I am going to make two martial arts movies. One is The Legend of the Condor Heroes, which you purchased the copyright for, and the other is a martial arts plot that I created myself."

"Well, I won't ask you how you shoot here." Yang Wendong said, "But I have a principled request, don't make money by selling in large quantities like Shaw Brothers, although this model can indeed make some money.

I hope that our movies, including future TV series, will all follow the path of high-quality content and find ways to make good movies.”

If the film industry were to develop an assembly line, he would not be personally involved. How could the speed of making money be comparable to collecting rent from his own factory or real estate?
The goal is to make quality movies, but he doesn't understand the movies of this era, so he doesn't ask about it, but he still has requirements.

Wrinkle paused and replied, "Mr. Yang, I understand what you mean. In fact, Shaw Brothers and Cathay also thought so in the early days, but the film is too expensive, and sometimes, if you want to shoot an action well, you may need several or even more than ten times.

The cost was too high, and later on, they would just shoot the action once, and if it was not so good, they would just let it go, and that’s how the movie ended up.”

"Film? This thing is indeed expensive." Yang Wendong nodded. Many phenomena of an era have special reasons.

Without electronic cameras, every click, whether shooting a movie or simply taking a photo, cost money.

Zou Wenhuai said: "Yes, they are all imported from Japan. Basically, most of the cost of a movie is film."

"There really is no other way for now." Yang Wendong paused and said, "Since we can't control the camera, we can find a way to control the actors. We can spend some money to find high-quality actors who know real kung fu, and then train them more. This way, we can use less film and make the film faster."

"Okay, Mr. Yang." Zou Wenhuai agreed.

Yang Wendong added: "Lao Zhang, the movie "Calabash Brothers" will be gradually released in Southeast Asia. You also need to find good distributors to sell our stickers and toys there. Cultural derivatives and cultural entertainment themselves complement each other." If only the movie is played but there are no derivative products, people will soon forget the movie or TV series.

Once there are products on the market, they will constantly stimulate everyone’s memory, killing two birds with one stone.

"Don't worry, Mr. Yang. I'm already prepared. Changxing Industrial has already expanded its production capacity." Zhang Zhiyuan replied.

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, that's it. Everyone should do their own thing. In the future, we should cooperate more internally to make our Hong Kong culture bigger together."

"Yes, Mr. Yang." Several people answered.

The film industry is one of the core cultural industries. Not only does it generate huge profits in itself, it is also a platform with great influence and an important base for cultural exports.

When Hong Kong movies were popular in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, Yang Wendong watched them in mainland China and always thought about how nice it would be if he could go to Hong Kong one day. He felt very involved in the movies.

Of course, even more powerful than movies is television station. During its heyday, TVB’s influence was even stronger than that of Hong Kong movies. It’s a pity that TVB was only glorious for a dozen or twenty years, because New Century failed to seize the mainland market and it completely declined.

In this life, Yang Wendong will never let this happen again, but the prerequisite is to obtain the wireless television station license first.

Tuesday, April 4:
Yang Wendong came to the Hong Kong China Building, which was once the first building of the Changxing Group. Now it looks a bit short in the surrounding area of ​​Central.

"There are more and more new buildings around here?" Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Qin Zhiye said: "Yes, now many large real estate companies are developing nearby, including Changxing Real Estate. We also have two buildings nearby that belong to our internal group."

"Well, when the scale gets bigger in the future, we will move to a new building." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Changxing Real Estate has been developing in a normal mode for most of the past few years, and because Yang Wendong knows the future of the real estate market, it can be said that he is more bold in increasing leverage than other peers.

Therefore, except for the properties that he had personally ordered to be acquired, the rest of the time it was all Zheng Zhijie's own work and Yang Wendong's final review, and the development speed was also extremely fast.

Of course, we have already started to put the brakes on this year, and by next year or the year after, we will put the brakes on for the full force.

Qin Zhiye smiled and said, "Okay, thank you Yang Sheng."

Yang Wendong asked again: "Has the Hong Kong government confirmed the time for the auction of the TVB license?"

Qin Zhiye replied: "It's settled. It will be on the 11th of next month."

Yang Wendong asked: "Who or what companies are applying for licenses now?"

Qin Zhiye said: "In addition to us, there are six other consortiums participating in the auction, including the Lee Family in Causeway Bay, the British Capital Investment Company, the Zhang Real Estate in Mong Kok, the British Independent Television, and the American Broadcasting Corporation."

"Foreign capital is also involved?" Yang Wendong frowned and said, although Chinese capital won in history, this matter cannot only refer to history.

I personally replied: "Yes, but I heard that the Hong Kong government is not going to give the license to foreign companies. Let them come, just want to participate, propose the transaction price and optimize some plans."

"The Hong Kong government is getting interesting too." After listening, Yang Wendong asked, "Who is our strongest competitor?"

"It's the Li family." Qin Zhiye said, "The current head of the Li family is Li Xiaohe, who is also a top figure in Hong Kong. He has good financial resources. This time, he is backed by the Jardine Matheson Group, Hutchison Group, and Shaw Brothers Film Company.
In particular, Shaw Brothers Film Company promised that if Li Zhong won the bid, his cinema could be rented to TV stations at a very low price.

"Don't worry about the movie studio." Yang Wendong said, "I have asked Changxing Film and Changxing Real Estate to apply to the Hong Kong government to build a larger movie studio, which can then be used by TV stations."

Qin Zhiye nodded and said, "Okay, I will give the Hong Kong government another set of information, but in terms of time, it is impossible for the cinema to be built, and I don't know if it will be useful."

"Just build good relationships with some officials." Yang Wendong added: "As for the capital behind us, we also have HSBC and Wheelock behind us, and it's similar in this respect."

Yang Wendong had discussed with HSBC a long time ago about cooperating in setting up a TV station, which was equivalent to winning over personal connections, and later he contacted Wheelock.

This is also because there are almost no major business conflicts between Changxing Group and Wheelock except for shipping, and shipping is a super large market, and everyone is eating the cake in it, so they do not affect each other at present.

"In that case, it depends on the bidding price and the business plan," said Qin Zhiye.

"Everyone's business plan should be similar. They are all consortiums, so they are not weak in this aspect." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "So in the end it all comes down to price. It all depends on what their bottom line is."

Qin Zhiye smiled and said, "Then compared to capital, the Li family is still a little behind us."

"Well, I am determined to get this license plate." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

For most people, the significance of a TV station is to make money, but for him, this is only secondary. This is already a very unfair comparison at the economic level.

But this is also the most important step in the entire cultural industry chain that I have created.

With a TV station, when satellite technology is developed enough in the 80s, it will be possible to transmit signals in Southeast Asia via satellite, so that there will be hundreds of millions of potential viewers, especially in the mainland.
Secondly, only if you own a TV station can you continuously invest in shooting various TV series. As long as you are willing to invest, and expand your channels, you will have high-quality content with a large market. There is a high probability that Hong Kong version of TV series will become popular in Asia.

Historically, Hollywood impacted Hong Kong movies, but American TV series did not. In the early 21st century, Korean TV series were still popular all over the world, including in mainland China. This shows that there is at least a great opportunity in the TV series market.
It's May 5th soon.

The auction for Hong Kong's TVB license was held in a building on Des Voeux Road.

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)