This director needs to apologize

Chapter 377 I am unwilling to accept it, so I endure it
As the momentary silence was broken by a certain unpleasant hammer, the two people who were about to meet in the room separated as if they had been electrocuted.

Da Zhuang was certainly not blind. He immediately turned around and tried to run outside, but Chen Yiming's icy gaze froze him in place, and at the same time, also sealed the dirty words that he was about to blurt out.

Chen Yiming cursed inwardly at the dramatic development and signaled Dazhuang with his eyes to come over and sit down so that he could talk about what he wanted to say.

The two had been friends for many years and knew each other well. Da Zhuang was neither pretentious nor playful. He greeted An Xixi, who was trying hard to pretend nothing had happened, and sat down on the empty sofa.

"Master Zhu, let me tell you, if I didn't want to be so different in generation from you, I would have hung you on the wall and worshipped you. What's wrong with your mouth?"

Chen Yiming said unhappily, "Stop keeping us in suspense and get to the point. Do you know what time it is now?"

Da Zhuang was not angry after being criticized, and continued with a playful smile, "Didn't you predict a few days ago that someone would fake the box office in the future? You've been right again this time. The company that was riding on our head got impatient and made a big deal out of it, and now everyone in the circle is laughing at them. And you'll see, the news will soon spread outside the circle, and then it will be even more fun."

Chen Yiming suddenly became interested, and An Xixi also perked up. The inquisitive eyes of the two inevitably made Da Zhuangzhi feel proud.

"In fact, Lao Niu and I felt something was wrong in the second week. The single-day screenings of the top-ranked film were abnormally high. Even after deducting the extra screenings, the calculation ratio didn't add up. When we went to the south to look for theaters, Lao Niu arranged for a few guys to stay in his theaters for two days, and they immediately found something fishy.

Guess what, a theater can schedule 16 shows a day, showing movies for ghosts in the middle of the night, and they are censored versions.

I can only express my deepest sympathy to the theater manager. It is obvious that the KPI set by the higher-ups is too exaggerated, so they have to use this lame method to make up the data.

If it was just a matter of running its own cinema, it wouldn't be too bad. It would just be a matter of paying for electricity and labor, and at most a bit more tax. The Anyue family is big and powerful, so they don't care about such a small amount.

The key point is that we have been catching up very quickly recently, and there are not enough cinemas in Anyue. We can't schedule 24 shows 48 hours a day. All cinemas in the country are connected to the Internet, and the guys who run the special fund are just dazzled but not mentally retarded.

So his manager found Dadi and discussed continuing the previous agreement of renting the theater, not only increasing the rent but also covering all losses, on the condition that Dadi would help them to hold midnight shows.

The two companies have always been very close in South China, so the head of Dadi agreed to it. However, the people in Anyue forgot one thing. Dadi Cinemas had been reorganized, and the relationships within it were very complicated and confusing. You don’t know the result.

Lao Niu was originally from Dadi, and according to him, he can no longer hold back. Who knows, the media may have gotten the news by now."

Chen Yiming understood immediately. Seeing that An Xixi was still a little confused, he explained to her, "An Yue's trick is to schedule more screenings to support the box office. The movie tickets are actually sold through the networked system, and the data is also truthfully uploaded to the special fund office. However, those screenings are all midnight shows after the theaters close, so they are empty.

Since the cinema chains, theaters and film producers are all owned by the same group company, it is just a trick of transferring money from one hand to the other. Apart from having to pay taxes out of their own pockets on the box office revenue, there is no real loss to speak of.

As for contacting external theaters, what needs to be paid is very limited, and it can be easily offset by resource exchange. If the relationship is close, there is no need to sign an agreement.

This time, it was the internal fighting among the allies that implicated Anyue, and it was not the fault of the war. "

Da Zhuang burst out laughing, "Yiming, please stop saying sarcastic things. If you want to laugh, don't hold it back."

Chen Yiming said seriously, "I can't bear it. I'm really grateful to Anyue's boss Lin for showing mercy. If he really wanted to play it ruthlessly, he would have joined forces with other companies to lock our market in the second week. Now, can you and I still laugh?"

Da Zhuang was petrified when he heard this. After a while, he murmured, "That can't be right. This is already suspected of unfair competition. If Lao Lin doesn't take Mo Ying seriously, isn't he afraid that I will block his batch of films?"

Chen Yiming sneered and said, "It seems that you still lack a clear understanding of the magnitude of the impact that a Spring Festival champion will have on Anyue's stock price.

You can check for yourself how much Anyue’s market value has exploded. These days, making movies can’t make money as quickly as playing with finance.

What did Lao Ma say that spell? Repeat it yourself."

Da Zhuang took out his phone and started to check the information. An Xixi asked with a worried look on her face, "Yiming, they won't hate you, will they?"

Chen Yiming patted the girl's hand and replied, "It's okay. Lao Lin is a genuine businessman. He only cares about money and doesn't bear grudges. Maybe he will thank me."

Seeing An Xixi blinking with a puzzled look on her face, Chen Yiming smiled and said, "Smart bankers try to make money from both ends. The prosperity alone doesn't mean anything. Fluctuations are opportunities.

If there was no "The 13th Floor", Anyue would definitely be the only one dominating the Spring Festival period this year, with all good news and no bad news, making it difficult for Boss Lin to absorb shares.

Selling all his holdings? How could a banker do that? This tangle of forces was most favorable to him. The more market sentiment fluctuated, the more advantage the banker who had first-hand information would have.

Just wait and see. Even if the news gets out, Anyue’s midnight shows will still be on. There won’t be any restraint. There might be more trouble later. Just wait and see.”

Da Zhuang put down his phone and nodded in agreement, "As long as the higher-ups don't give a clear order, Anyue really has no reason to stop. But Yiming, do you really not mind losing the Spring Festival championship?"

Chen Yiming smiled and shook his head, "Forget it, it's better not to fight for this kind of championship. It's not that I'm pretending to be noble, but it's meaningless and unnecessary.

What's the point of competing for a championship worth just over 10 billion? It will only make future generations laugh at you."

An Xixi was concerned about something else. She was very surprised by the two brothers' coincidence. She asked, "How is it possible that they continue to fake things after being discovered?"

Chen Yiming felt that since An Xixi had made up her mind to become a director, it would not hurt for her to know some of the intrigues in that circle, so he explained it to her in detail.

"If we don't consider goodwill and brand, illegal operations are just a cost at the macro level. Do you understand what I mean?"

An Xixi shook her head and nodded hesitantly, and her cute look made Chen Yiming laugh out loud.

“Not to mention that selling more tickets than the theater’s seat capacity is not illegal in the first place, after all, long-distance buses are allowed to sell standing tickets, and our country’s relevant regulations in the film field do not regulate this at all.

And as for locking the theaters that I just mentioned, the film producers reach a package agreement with the theater chains and use a deposit to lock in the screening rate within a certain time limit. This is a legitimate business behavior and the Film Bureau has no reason to intervene.

Suppose, and I am assuming here, that a regulation has been issued by the higher authorities that locking the venue and holding midnight shows are prohibited violations, but can this prohibit the above-mentioned behaviors?

Obviously not. A law without punishment is just a law. A law without punishment that does not fit the reality is also just a decoration. Unless the fine is large enough to cover the market value gain, is that possible? How much power does the Film Bureau have to issue such a large fine?

It is profitable to test the edge, and if you are caught, you can argue about it. The worst that can happen is a fine of tens of millions or millions. For projects with box office revenue of hundreds of millions or billions, and market value fluctuations of billions, this amount of fine is not even a drop in the bucket.

Then they fired a few temporary workers who took the blame, issued a few earnest apology statements, and turned around and acted like law-abiding citizens. After all, the spirit of the law is that you should not be punished twice for the same offense.”

An Xixi was speechless and retorted unconvincedly, "But this is not the right way after all. The media and fans will not let it go. If the reputation is ruined, there will be no subsequent audiences. You can't recharge all the box office revenue yourself, right?"

Chen Yiming shook his head and sighed, "That's true, but it's a pity that it doesn't necessarily work out that way in reality. Movies are a special commodity where you buy the ticket first and then experience it, and you can't get a refund if you're not satisfied with the experience.

In short, it is a one-time deal. If repeat purchases are not considered at all, the most effective means of promoting a film is to deceive, using every possible means to lure audiences into the cinema.

Starting from this point, let us analyze Anyue’s best strategy at this stage. This wave of negative public opinion is not a crisis at all, but an opportunity to increase box office revenue.

From the Spring Festival to now, Anyue's 3D fantasy blockbuster has already attracted the basic audience base, and the film itself does not have much basis for second or multiple viewings. If it still wants to survive at this time, it has to amplify the volume as much as possible to lure in audiences who had no interest in the film before, or ordinary people who didn't even want to go to the cinema.

It is obviously not enough to rely on praise, so we can only do the opposite and rely on scolding.

It is hard to say how much actual effect it will have, but it is definitely better than the current situation where the voice is divided and the company is weak. The potential audience affected by this wave of public opinion will at least not go to watch "The 13th Floor" out of revenge just because they hate Anyue's fraud.

For Anyue, this is enough. If doing something will not be worse for himself and no better for his opponent, then it is worth doing.

At least now, as Anyue's opponent, I will be embarrassed when asked about the box office fraud by reporters tomorrow, because no matter what I say, I will be flattering Anyue.

You see, in this case, the so-called word of mouth has limited effect or even has a counterproductive effect?"

An Xixi asked, "If you lose the box office championship like this, Yiming, are you willing to accept it? At least you should express your strong condemnation!"

Chen Yiming and Dazhuang looked at each other and smiled bitterly. It was precisely because they were unwilling that they had to endure it.

(End of this chapter)