China Entertainment’s rescue plan is hard to come by

Chapter 742: The First Part of the Profit Sharing Dispute and the Flight to Europe
In September, a piece of news suddenly broke out that New Picture Pictures blasted the domestic film market for unfair revenue sharing and the greed of theater chains.

As the person in charge of New Picture, Zhang Weiping emphasized in an interview that with the development of film shooting technology in recent years and the sharp increase in various props including the salaries of star actors, the cost of making a movie has increased several times compared to early years.

However, the ratio of 43% for producers and distributors and 57% for cinema chains at the beginning of the film market reform is no longer applicable.

In his opinion, Chinese film producers have been "oppressed" for many years, and for the future of Chinese-language films, theater chains should take the initiative to reduce their share. At least it has reached 2 percentage points, so that the film producers' share ratio can reach %.

At the same time, he also thoughtfully found a way out for the theaters, which was to transfer the "two percent" loss to imported blockbusters.

The Ministry of Commerce has just completed negotiations with the United States. Starting next year, the number of Hollywood blockbusters imported into the Chinese market will increase from 20 to 34 each year.

This large number gave them a good opportunity.

Anyway, theaters have always liked to show American blockbusters, so they can definitely make back the "two percent" through quantity.

Objectively speaking, there is nothing wrong with what Zhang Weiping said.

But as Zhang Guoshi's "The Flowers of War" has already started partial screenings, one cannot help but think deeply about his true purpose.

But even if we know this, Lao Gou is just trying to kill two birds with one stone.

Not only does he pretend to be a leader for the industry and act like a warrior, he also promotes his own movie.

There's nothing you can do.

It's a very conspicuous conspiracy.

If we can really get this "two percent" right, it will be a good thing for all production and distribution companies.

Sure enough, several companies including China Film, Huayi, Bona, and Guangxian successively expressed their support.

Since someone has taken the lead, there is no problem in following suit and cheering.

Just when Sun Yi was considering whether Xingkong should follow, Mr. Han came directly to him.

The two met at a very elegant teahouse.

Sun Yi first poured tea for Han Sanping, and then spoke first.

"Boss, this wave is not the one you asked me to sign at the beginning of the year, right?"

He still remembered that at the beginning of the year, Han Sanping had the idea of ​​negotiating with the theater chain to redistribute the profit sharing ratio, and at that time he asked him, who was "playing two games at once", to sign.

Half a year has passed, but there has been no follow-up news until Zhang Weiping suddenly popped up this time.

Han Sanping was a little embarrassed by Sun Yi's question, and he didn't know how to explain it to Sun Yi.

He frowned, held the teacup in both hands, rubbed it back and forth for a long time, then let out a long sigh.

"This matter, yes, it can be said that it is not, and it is not."

Sun Yi was confused by what he said, and he looked at Mr. Han with suspicion.

I thought, we are just talking about business, this is not fortune telling, why are you trying to be so witty with me?

Han Sanping looked at the teacup in his hand, smiled bitterly, and sighed, "As people get older, their hearts become softer."

"You're probably kidding me if I tell you this, but I originally thought that China Film Group would take the lead on this matter, but unfortunately, it was not passed at the first internal meeting."

"First of all, the China Film Group's cinema chain is not happy about this and needs to think about it in the long run."

After hearing this, Sun Yi finally understood.

China Film Group cannot make any breakthrough in this operation.

Although China Film Group is the "leader" of the domestic film and television industry, it was originally formed by the merger of multiple departments. Not only are its internal subsidiaries fragmented, but they also have their own aspirations.

This is especially true for cinema chains, many of which were reorganized from former local cinema chains, and the concept of local protection has not yet been completely cleared out of their minds.

In addition, although China Film Group participates in the production and invests in many movies every year, theater revenue is actually the largest part of the entire group.

Wiping out two percentage points at once is no less than cutting one's own flesh and blood. It would be strange if the heads of local cinema companies agreed to it immediately.

From Han Sanping's slightly indifferent tone just now, it is not difficult to see that although he is the top leader, he does not want to do those things of "forcing the cow to drink water", and still wants to make internal coordination.

So this matter has been delayed.

Of course, the rumor must have spread a long time ago, otherwise Zhang Weiping of New Picture would not have seized the opportunity and taken advantage of it to carry out a wave of publicity.

"It's good to let Zhang Weiping make a fuss. We can help him stand up for him. As long as we work together, I don't think the theater chain can do anything to us."

"It also lets those cinema companies know that it is not so easy to make money without doing anything."

Hearing what Director Han said, Sun Yi's expression changed a little, "Director Han, it's not easy for a theater company either."

"Oh, I forgot that you have a large cinema chain under your Starry Sky, and it's a listed cinema chain."

"I know it's difficult for you, but there's nothing I can do about it. Just don't help me."

Sun Yi sighed and started drinking tea.

What could he do? This was difficult for him, and the key thing was that it came so suddenly, without any preparation, and he was about to go abroad.

I don't have the time to take care of this.

Han Sanping probably saw Sun Yi's embarrassment and took the initiative to change the subject.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I'm going to lead the team to Venice soon. How about it? Do you have confidence this time?"

Sun Yi put down the teacup in his hand and replied softly: "I still have confidence, but the final result is hard to predict."

"Yes, there was a time when the Venice Film Festival was always a blessed place for Chinese films. From Zhang Yimou in the 90s to Jia Zhangke's "Still Life" in 06 and Li An's "Lust, Caution" in 07, all of them won the Venice Golden Lion. But in recent years, our Chinese films have indeed fallen behind. Not to mention winning awards, there are very few nominated films."

Han Sanping suddenly felt a little emotional, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Since the market-oriented reform of the Chinese film industry, the past few years have seen the fastest development of commercial films. A large amount of hot money and film and television talents have been invested in commercial films. Correspondingly, the investment in literary and artistic films has been much less.

Even fewer can actually achieve results.
The two drank tea in the teahouse for an afternoon. In addition to chatting about recent domestic films, Han Sanping also mentioned an unwelcome request.

That is his daughter Han Jianu, who just graduated from the directing department of Sun Yi's alma mater, Beijing Film Academy, last month and is looking for an internship at a company.

Now that things have come to this, how could Sun Yi not understand what it meant?

At that time, I patted my chest and said that I would let my junior sister come to Starry Sky directly, as the company happened to still need manpower.

Han Sanping was very happy and thanked Sun Yi immediately.

I don’t know if it’s because Sun Yi is on the mainland rich list, but when Han Sanping was chatting with Sun Yi today, he was very kind the whole time and didn’t put on airs at all.

After finishing afternoon tea with President Han, Sun Yi just returned to the company when Gao Xilan came to him.

"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry? Why are you making Sister Lan so anxious?"

In the company, it is rare to see the financial manager like this. He always looks serious and calm.

"It was someone from Star International, the theater alliance, who contacted me and asked what our attitude was towards the theater chain giving up two points of profit."

"Has the theater alliance expressed their unified opinion?" "No decision has been made yet. They just said that several companies hope to resolve the issue through negotiation as much as possible, so we need to ask Star International for its opinion now."

Thanks to the rise of 3D movies, Star International has developed very rapidly in the past two years and has firmly become one of the "Big Six" cinema chains in China.

In addition, Sun Yi has unparalleled influence in the film and television industry, so the first thing these theater bosses thought of was to ask Xingkong, that is, Sun Yi, for his opinion.

Sun Yi thought for a moment, then instructed Gao Xilan:

"Sister Lan, your reply is because this is an industry matter. We at Star International are also part of the industry. If other theaters have made a decision, we will follow suit."

"Ok."

Starry Sky is more difficult. We have our own production and distribution and theaters, and we also have corresponding cooperation. For example, on the production side, we just finished producing "Gravity" with several companies.

Neither team is very good.

The China Film Corporation hadn't even really charged forward yet, but they were standing behind and shouting a few times with their men. The people in the cinema chain became a little restless and wanted to take the initiative to negotiate.

Come on, this really is possible.

It’s just a pity that the internal opinions of President Han have not yet been completely unified. Otherwise, they could really take advantage of this opportunity to take over the theater chain group in one fell swoop.

This is what Sun Yi guessed, and the actual development was almost the same as he guessed.

Within two days, news came out that the theater chain had indeed taken the initiative to negotiate.

But this object is very intriguing.

They went to talk to Zhang Weiping.

Seeing this, Sun Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he thought it would be better not to talk to him at all.

As expected, Zhang Weiping is really thick-skinned and very selfish.

He didn't care at all about the friendly competitors who supported him.

Seeing that the management of the theater alliance had sent people to find him, he started negotiations privately.

He also unilaterally agreed to the conditions of the theater.

When "The Flowers of War" is released in the future, the theater alliance will give it the greatest help and make certain arrangements in terms of theater scheduling.

At the same time, in the first week of the movie's release, the producer and distributor will share 45% of the profits, but after the second week, the share ratio will change back to 41%.

The difference between the two is four percentage points.

But because movies generally have the highest box office in the first week, so from this perspective, he can also gain more indirectly.

Actually it’s not that much. How much is one percent of a box office of 100 million? One million.

Even if it grossed 3 million in its first week, the extra 2 points would only be million.

In the next few weeks, Sun Yi could ignore the 2 points he missed.

For the sake of a mere six million box office, he offended everyone. I really don't know what he was thinking.

Sure enough, after learning that Zhang Weiping had signed an agreement directly with the theater chain, Han Sanping frowned.

Even if I surrender, I won't be as quick as you!
Other film and television companies were even more vocal, all of them cursed Zhang Weiping of New Picture.

We just stood up to hold the line with you, and you suddenly retreated. You are such a dog!
The first revenue-sharing war between the distributor and the cinema chain ended in such a trifling way.

Judging from the benefits alone, it seems that only Zhang Weiping from New Picture has gained it.

But don't forget that he has already kept both sides in mind.

The distributor felt that he betrayed his teammates. He also suffered from the cinema chain because he was the first to come out.

If this kind of person takes a wrong step, no one will help him, and his path will become narrower and narrower.

After this farce ended, Sun Yi no longer paid attention to it.

As he started packing, he was about to head to Italy to attend the 68th Venice Film Festival.

In order to be able to travel with Sun Yi, Liu Yifei specially notified the "Voice of China" crew to speed up the recording as much as possible.

Finally, before she left, all the main competitions were recorded.

According to the schedule, the game can be broadcast until October, and then the final battle will be broadcast live.

As of now, Instructor Liu still has two students left, one is Zhou Shen and the other is Liang Bo.

Yes, it’s that low-key boy with small eyes.

He joined mentor Liu Yifei's team in the final stage. With his excellent singing skills, stage presence and strong on-site appeal, he won the first place in mentor Liu Yifei's group.

She is now one of the favorites to win this season of "The Voice of China", and is basically on par with Yao Beina from Liu Dehua's team in terms of popularity.

There are also Guo Bichen from the Princess team, Jin Zhiwen from Yu Chengqing's team, and so on, a total of 8 contestants, waiting for the final showdown.

Before leaving, Liu Yifei took a day off to meet with Liang Bo and Zhou Shen, gave them some final guidance, and urged them to prepare well and strive to win the championship this season.

Of course, there were also instructors when she was away. They were two senior professors invited by Wang Jingtian from the Conservatory of Music at her own expense, who were responsible for the specific guidance work.

After arranging everything, the two of them, along with several Starry Sky staff members and assistant Zhang Xin, boarded their own Gulfstream G550.

It was the first time I started an intercontinental trip on my big baby.

The entire flight takes about ten hours, with no stops or transfers, and it goes all the way directly, which is many times more convenient and faster than taking previous airline flights.

The staff were all resting in the reception area of ​​the front cabin, while Liu Yifei and Sun Yi stayed in the rear cabin which was reserved for the two of them.

This place was originally designed as a private space for two people.

"Ah, ah~ It feels different to be in your own private jet."

Liu Yifei stretched out her hands, formed a "big" character, and rolled around on the bed, stretching her arms and legs hard.

There is no restraint at all, I am so happy.

Sun Yi was about to take a shower and go to bed when he suddenly realized that Liu Yifei's design for the bathtub was very prescient.

It's very spacious and can easily accommodate one, two or three people.

"Xixi, come quickly, it's time to take a bath and go to bed."

"Let me make it clear first, it's just a shower?"

"Don't worry, it's just a shower."

"Then I won't go."

“Hey~~!!”

(End of this chapter)