Chapter 355 Overseas Expansion of Cinema Chains and Film Studios
Chapter 355 Overseas Expansion of Cinema Chains and Film Studios
"Okay, I understand." Yang Wendong nodded.
The peak of six figures is only slightly away from seven figures, but it feels completely different when you say it out loud, just like the annual sales of cars in the previous life, if it reaches 290 million+, then it must reach at least 300 million.
Zou Wenhuai continued, "Next, I will prepare to sell Waifu. According to this data, Waifu can be sold for at least 30 or yuan, and our investment in the film is only yuan.
Counting half of the box office revenue going to the cinemas, plus the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on advertising, we made a net profit of almost HK$1 million.”
"Well, not bad." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "But it's still a lot worse than "Calabash Brothers"."
A net profit of one million Hong Kong dollars is not a lot for Changxing Group, but it is not a small amount either.
Zou Wenhuai nodded and said, "Yes, Calabash Brothers has a lot of stickers, toys and even avatar licenses, but our movies basically don't have any. I have also thought about developing this market, but there is no way."
Yang Wendong said: "You don't have to force it. It's really hard to develop peripheral products for live-action movies. Europe and the United States still have videotapes that can be sold or rented, but Hong Kong doesn't have such conditions. After a few years, when there are more TV sets in Hong Kong, we may be able to try this market, but it probably won't be very high."
Not to mention now, even in the heyday of Hong Kong films decades later, there was no way to make peripheral products. This may be one of the reasons for the eventual decline of the film industry, because the returns are too low. Unlike Hollywood, box office is secondary and peripheral income is higher.
Zou Wenhuai said, "Mr. Yang, I have also studied American movies. Perhaps there is a way to make money that does not involve box office revenue."
"What mode?" Yang Wendong asked.
"Actresses." Zou Wenhuai said, "I've observed that American movie actors also make a lot of money. Their endorsement fees are very high, and the companies behind them, after training them, can also take a cut of their endorsement fees."
"That's true." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "So you want to focus on training movie stars and then arrange for them to take on various commercial programs?"
"Yes." Zou Wenhuai said: "In today's Hong Kong, many brands do not invite celebrities to endorse their advertisements. They just promote them in black and white in newspapers. Even if they are broadcast on Rediffusion Television, they are just voice broadcasts and at most a few pictures.
This was also the case with early American advertising, but later on, celebrity endorsements began to be adopted, and then it became a habit. Film companies and even music and television stations made a lot of money by cultivating celebrities. "
"You have a good idea." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Then from now on, you should select the corresponding stars and train them with all your strength. Especially since our movies will sell well abroad, our stars can also become famous in Southeast Asia and even Japan. In this way, the potential market will be even larger."
Celebrities themselves are actually a kind of traffic and even culture. When many ordinary people in other countries follow celebrities from other countries, it is a failure in the cultural field.
For example, the Korean Wave in mainland China in the past was very crazy, and there were too many people who liked Korean stars; of course, before that, the Hong Kong Wave was also like this. When Hong Kong culture was at its peak, even many people in Japan liked stars such as Beyond, Joey Wong, Vivian Chow, Andy Lau, etc.
In this life, it is hard to say whether these stars from previous lives will appear again due to my influence, but the development trend of the entire cultural industry is moving in this direction.
"That's even better." Zou Wenhuai said with a smile, "It seems I have to work harder on the exterior. I can't just look at the price, I also have to look at the attractiveness."
Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "We can wait for some movies to make no money in a few years, and then sell them to theaters in Southeast Asia at a low price, or even for free. Hollywood movies often do this, but there is a prerequisite, that is, the stars in these movies are famous and worth promoting."
"Okay, I understand." Zou Wenhuai naturally knew this truth.
Yang Wendong added: "Regarding overseas cinemas, I plan to buy some land in Taiwan and build some cinemas myself. The core of this matter is to invest in real estate in Taiwan, but since it involves you, you can also go to Zheng Zhijie to discuss it."
Even if he goes to Taiwan to invest in land, he must have a commercial purpose. Otherwise, if he buys the land but does not develop it, people will be dissatisfied and may even refuse to give him the land. He is not Mr. Li.
Investing in supermarkets and cinemas is a good early stage investment, which is beneficial to one's other industries. The investment is not too much, and one can buy the most land with the least money.
Moreover, the locations of these plots of land are very good, which is also a reasonable reason. Otherwise, if you want to invest in a factory, you have to be on the edge of the center of Taipei City. People are not stupid, so how could they give it to you?
Zou Wenhuai asked, "Mr. Yang, the cinema in Taiwan has some connections with the underworld. Would it be bad for us to get involved? And the laws there seem to be restrictions, right?"
"I know. So nominally, all of this was invested by a partner of mine in Taiwan. He is also very influential in Taiwan." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
"Okay, in that case, we will be more secure in Taiwan." Zou Wenhuai nodded and said, "Cathay's movies were not as good as Shaw Brothers' before, but because Cathay has a very good relationship with Taiwan's cinema chains, it is still doing very well." "Well, if there is a chance in the future, I will expand into cinema chains in other Southeast Asian countries." Yang Wendong said again.
The economies of Southeast Asian countries will basically take off in the next few decades, so investing in cinema chains there can be considered killing two birds with one stone. And if we want to promote Hong Kong culture, we must control the cinema chains in Southeast Asia, otherwise, everything will be ruined when the Jurassic comes.
"That's even better." Zou Wenhuai paused, and then said, "Mr. Yang, I have already negotiated with the Hong Kong government about the Tseung Kwan O Film and Television City we talked about before. At present, the Hong Kong government is willing to give us 12 square feet of land, but it cannot be commercial land, only industrial land."
"No problem. The price of industrial land is also cheaper." Yang Wendong said, "But is this area enough? We have to consider the TV station in the future."
The Hong Kong government is not stupid. They also need to control the land transfer. Otherwise, who would bid for their land? Therefore, most of the land with nominal uses will not be given commercial land attributes.
Zou Wenhuai said, "It's enough. I know Mr. Yang wants something bigger, but the Hong Kong government also has auditors. They will also refer to Shaw's existing film and television cities or overseas ones. Our request is too big and will not be approved."
"Okay, let's follow the rules." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "How much is the price per foot?"
Zou Wenhuai said: "The land in Tseung Kwan O is not expensive. Industrial land is 3 Hong Kong dollars per square foot, totaling 36 Hong Kong dollars. With the various buildings and dormitories on it, the total cost is estimated to be around one million Hong Kong dollars."
"The money earned from The Legend of the Condor Heroes is enough." Yang Wendong smiled and said, "After The Legend of the Condor Heroes, what kind of movie do you plan to make? Or another novel by Jin Yong?"
Zou Wenhuai replied: "Yes, we are preparing to shoot The Condor Heroes. Now that The Legend of the Condor Heroes is famous, we will release The Condor Heroes next. There will definitely be a lot of people watching it.
However, due to the increase in funding and staff, I am planning to make two more films, both of which are martial arts films, similar to the style of Shaw Brothers. "
"Okay, then you guys figure it out on your own." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "But be careful not to infringe on Shaw Brothers' copyright, or we'll get sued. And if we want to develop better, we have to find ways to be original.
Find excellent screenwriters throughout Hong Kong, increase their income a little, and attract the best talents to join our company."
In any cultural industry, if you want to achieve success, you have to rely on your own originality. If you imitate others, even if you are serious about it and do a high-quality imitation without breaking the law, you will never achieve great success.
Besides, the movies produced by Shaw Brothers were not that good, and Yang Wendong just didn’t like them.
"Okay." Zou Wenhuai agreed.
A few days later, on July 7th.
Zou Wenhuai came to Yang Wendong's office in Changxing Building with a large drawing.
"Mr. Yang, we have already acquired the land for the film and television city in Tseung Kwan O." Zou Wenhuai said, and then he opened the blueprint in his hand and said, "This is the blueprint I plan to build the film and television city. Please take a look."
"Let me see." Yang Wendong took it with great interest.
Zou Wenhuai then introduced: "Let me introduce it to you. The entire film and television city is divided into 12 parts, namely ancient city buildings, modern buildings, streets from the Republic of China, prop warehouses, and some dormitories.
It basically covers our current filming needs. Once it is built, we don’t have to worry about the location constraints when filming movies, and we don’t need to spend a lot of money to build a lot of props for each movie. "
"Well, OK." Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Is the budget about right?"
Zou Wenhuai said: "Yes, the budget is 71, which is a little higher. The main reason is to add a dormitory. This is also taken into consideration. Sometimes when shooting night scenes, after shooting, everyone does not need to go back, otherwise the road is dangerous and easy to delay time."
"Okay, let's do this." Yang Wendong agreed and said, "I'll go take a look after the film and television city is built."
PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)