Chapter 632: The Foundation of Hong Kong’s Entertainment Industry

"Okay, this matter really needs to be done slowly and we can't rush it." Yang Wendong agreed naturally.

In fact, many of Hollywood's peripheral revenues are difficult to achieve success in the Asian market. Due to various cultural, legal, customary and other issues, even Hollywood giants find it difficult to profit from them. The same is true for Hong Kong film peripherals.

Theoretically, during the peak period of Hong Kong movies, TV dramas, and music, it was easy to support tens of thousands of people in the industry, but this is difficult to sustain. After all, it is just one city, and without overseas markets, it is difficult to support so many people in the long run.
After the mainland's reform and opening up, there will be a 20-year period when Hong Kong culture will be at its peak. Although the mainland's cultural industry will certainly rise, it can also be integrated into one. It would be a good thing if the former Korean wave could be replaced by the Hong Kong wave.

Therefore, the surrounding area is very important. After all, the market is ultimately an economic issue. As long as there are economic returns, the industry will be able to prosper, otherwise it will inevitably collapse.

They jointly study the development of markets surrounding Asia, with Hollywood on one side and local Asian cultural consortiums on the other. This can be said to be the perfect combination.

Smith also smiled and said, "Okay, I also hope this can be successful. The Asian market is also very important to us at Paramount and even Hollywood."

In terms of economy, Asia probably won't be able to surpass Europe and the United States in a few decades, but the population is much larger. The population of Southeast Asia alone accounts for half of the world's population.

In the film industry, whether it is box office or peripheral products, they are not expensive commodities. Except for the treasures of a few enthusiasts, all other products need to be sold in quantity. No matter how rich the billionaires in Europe and the United States are, they will only watch a movie once, buy peripheral toys worth a few yuan, etc., and will not spend more money. Naturally, these wealthy people are not an important customer group for Hollywood.

On the contrary, it is a large number of countries and regions with appropriate economic income, lack of culture and large population that are like an island of indigenous people without shoes to a shoemaking company. It is conceivable how big a market Southeast Asia, with a population of billions, will have in a region where the economy is now taking off and the cultural foundation is zero.

Of course, the person in front of him is also a rare cultural enterprise tycoon in Asia. However, Hollywood will not take Hong Kong seriously. They can eat most of this cake, and it is normal for the rest to be taken by local people. People should not be too greedy.

"OK, then in the future, I will introduce some American movies to you appropriately. Let's see the results first and then talk about the follow-up cooperation." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

With the large amount of cinema investment in Asia, it is impossible to only show Hong Kong films. The first reason is that there are not so many wonderful Hong Kong films that can satisfy so many people in Southeast Asia and even Japan. The second reason is that at present, Hong Kong films still mainly target Chinese customers.

Cinema chains themselves are big businesses, requiring heavy investments that require returns, or the ability to make returns, in order to convince banks and allow them to provide sufficient funding to support their expansion. Naturally, they will need to bring in many exciting films from around the world, including those from the United States.

In the future in Asia, American films and Hong Kong films will be certain competitors, but they are not yet. He will not limit the development of his own business for the sake of things that will happen in a dozen years. No one knows what changes will happen in the future.

In any case, with enough movies, he can spread his cinemas across Asia. In this way, unless the government suppresses him, thousands of overseas cinemas will continue to bring enough revenue to Hong Kong films in the future. In addition, he will certainly do the same thing in the mainland in the future, which will ensure the smooth development of Hong Kong films and the continuous supply of talents in the long run.
In addition, if this road is opened up, Hong Kong and even mainland films in the future will benefit from it.

Smith said with satisfaction: "Okay, I will arrange for someone to select suitable movies to be shown in Asia. I hope that we can have long-term cooperation in the future."

Let’s not talk about the future. Yang Wendong has already opened 1000 cinemas in Asia, covering hundreds of millions of people. With the strong local capital, he will continue to expand the cinemas. Just based on this, Paramount or any Hollywood company will not ignore it. No one can resist money. “Okay.” Yang Wendong agreed.

After Smith left, Yang Wendong said to Zou Wenhuai, "Old Zou, in the future you need to learn all kinds of business models from Hollywood and strive to increase the revenue of the Hong Kong film industry. They have been in this market for nearly a hundred years and have rich experience. Learn more from them."

"I understand, Mr. Yang. In fact, I have already sent people to conduct investigations in the United States several years ago. However, on many levels, the reason why the United States has done a good job is because its laws are very strong in suppressing various types of piracy. However, in Asia, it is difficult to implement." Zhou Wenhuai explained.

Yang Wendong said, "I know this too, so we should try to ensure that the wealthy people in big cities use genuine products. In addition, we should cooperate with some local forces and give them a portion of the revenue from genuine products, so that they can crack down on the few arrogant and large-scale pirated products. We should do as much as we can."

It is unlikely to completely suppress piracy, but it is possible to suppress some of the piracy that accounts for a very high proportion, especially now that many Asian countries have developed their economies, in order to do business with Europe and the United States, many industries have to implement "patent and copyright" laws;

In this matter, it is mainly to take care of the interests of large European and American companies, but as long as the law is introduced, some companies in Hong Kong will also have the right to enjoy this treatment. Perhaps the execution will be a little worse, but it is reasonable that some big cities and big supermarkets will still abide by the rules. In this way, it is also good to be able to take over part of the market first.

Wrinkle said: "Okay, then we will start with countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. After the template is built, it will be easier to promote it."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

The film industry is special in that it can be exported on a large scale like industry, unlike finance and real estate, which can only circulate within Hong Kong and the wealth will be concentrated in the hands of a few people;

Historically, at its peak, the number of people employed in the Hong Kong entertainment industry reached 30,000, ranging from directors and actors with annual salaries of one million to extras with ordinary wages. These are countless positions, and foreign funds can also indirectly boost the service industry.

This is also an industry that Yang Wendong intends to leave for Hong Kong in the future. As long as this industry is done well, it will not care about the high wage costs in Hong Kong. Compared with the manufacturing industry, it can exist forever.

In fact, it almost succeeded in history, but it failed to capture the mainland market. During its peak period in the 90s, Hong Kong dramas even overshadowed the Spring Festival Gala, forcing the mainland government to begin restricting Hong Kong dramas. Many Hong Kong dramas in the 00s also performed well. TVB, Tangren, and Zhouyi were known as the three major television giants, but 10 years later, there was a complete talent gap. The fundamental reason was the rise of mainland culture and the lack of a market for Hong Kong's entertainment industry.

Of course, Yang Wendong is not saying that he wants to compete with mainland entertainment giants for the market. The best outcome is to integrate and compete with each other to create better quality products. Especially considering those domestic garbage TV dramas around 2020, if the Hong Kong entertainment industry had not been severely disrupted, it might have had the opportunity to occupy a certain mainland market in history.

But this is something that will happen a long time in the future. What he is doing now is to build the foundation of Hong Kong's entertainment industry. The foundation of the film industry is the cinema, and the foundation of the TV industry is the various TV stations. It's just that it's difficult for foreign capital to control this aspect, so they can only seek cooperation, such as making variety shows well.

As for the final music, it depends relatively on one's own strength. Even without capital support, good songs can become famous.

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(End of this chapter)

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