During my years at China Entertainment

Chapter 480 The First Confrontation with Boss Ma

Martial arts movies seem to be a subject that directors from Hong Kong and Taiwan can never avoid.

At the end of last month, when Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Assassin" held a press conference in Taipei, it created a huge fanfare.

Many mainland production companies and directors sent congratulations on Weibo and expressed their expectations. Huayi was extremely generous in praising the leading actress Shu Qi.

In the past two days, the film officially started shooting in Wudang Mountain, and the fanfare was even bigger. Many directors and producers actually went to the scene to show their support.

As a huge fan of martial arts movies, Lu Yang also went there, and when he came back he talked about this drama with Wei Jin.

"Brother, Director Hou is indeed a veteran director, he has so many ideas."

Seeing that Lu Yang seemed to have been fooled, Wei Jin was speechless.

“Not all content is compatible with martial arts.”

As we all know, the decline of pure martial arts films has become an indisputable fact.

Judging from several successful cases so far, the "Blade of the Assassin" series is a martial arts film about officialdom and intrigue, "Flying Daggers of Dragon Gate" is a special effects martial arts film, and the "Detective Dee" series can barely be classified as a detective martial arts film.

But Hou Hsiao-Hsien was very ambitious and tried to create a completely new track through the new concept of literature and martial arts.

However, Wei Jin was not optimistic about this new attempt.

The essence of martial arts is the flashing of swords and the romance between young men and women. It can be compatible with themes such as political intrigue, history, and even detective stories, but it has nothing to do with literature and art.

Because martial arts films are commercial films after all. If they incorporate too many artistic elements, what will it become?

Before Lu Yang could argue a few more words, there was a knock on the door outside the office.

"Boss Wei, there is a banquet invitation from Ali, and you are invited to attend."

"Hmm? What's Lao Ma planning now?"

Wei Jin was a little confused. Ever since his acquisition of Weibo shares was rejected last year, the two companies had hardly had any dealings. Why would they ask him to do anything?
"It is said that many film companies in the industry have received invitations."

The secretary handed the invitation to Wei Jin and then walked out.

"Internet Era + Film and Television Culture Industry Summit?"

Looking through the content, Wei Jin had a strange look on his face. Are the Internet thugs about to come in?
Lu Yang, who was standing by, was a little curious. He came over to take a look and then laughed.

"Brother, this Ahri is really interesting. An Internet company invited people from the film and television industry to a meeting to discuss the development of the film and television industry, but in the end they were the ones giving lectures? Isn't this a typical example of an outsider directing an insider?"

"That's about right. What? Are you interested?"

"Well, Senior Brother, take me to see it. Everyone says that Boss Ma's PPT is well made. Let's see who is better between him and Boss Jia."

"Hahaha, you kid."

This idiot's words made Wei Jin laugh out loud, but this idea was not bad. He also wanted to know who was better between the two masters of deception.

"Okay, let's go join in the fun then."

In the TV drama market, the ratings of "Princess Agents" are still rising. It has been aired for half a month and the plot is not even halfway through, but the average ratings have already exceeded 2.

Both the producers and the TV station are confident about the subsequent ratings.

At this time, another drama produced by Shanhe Media was announced to start filming, and the media gave it a lot of coverage:
"The idol romance drama "Silent Separation", jointly produced by Shanhe Media and Qiao Zhenyu Studio and with an investment of 60 million yuan, started filming in Shanghai today.

The drama is adapted from the best-selling novelist Gu Man's work of the same name, starring popular actor Qiao Zhenyu and first-line actress Yang Rong, with new top four actor Luo Jin and former actress Ni Ni joining in. It tells the story of..."

Looking at the news online, Yang Mi was speechless.

During the casting process, she read the script and thought the play was actually quite suitable for her, but unfortunately the schedule was a bit awkward.

"By the way, Sister Jia, we have an investment share for the remaining "Dragon and Snake Romance", right?"

"Well, Director Jiang said so. 10%."

Zeng Jia nodded. This was the company's rule. If a studio artist starred in a film, he would usually get a 10% share.

If not, this share will be assigned by Wei Jin to other studios. For example, since no studio was involved in "The Romance of Dragon and Snake", it was assigned to Yang Mi.

Thinking of this, Yang Mi felt a little complicated. Although the man was ruthless, he really kept his word and had nothing to say to her. It was a pity that she couldn't get into his heart.

"By the way, Mimi, there seem to be some bad rumors recently about Director Guo and that actor who was poached back. Anyway, you'd better stay away from them."

Zeng Jia reminded that the entertainment industry is too chaotic and there is nothing you can do when encountering these eye-catching things.

"Jia Jie, you think too much. Apart from work, I won't have much interaction with them. Besides, don't you think it's safer this way? Haha."

Yang Mi responded with a smile, and then a hint of pride appeared on her face.

"Besides, I am a partner of Shanhe Media. No one would dare to cause trouble for no reason. Just put your mind at ease."

It has only been a few days since Dong Bailian’s incident, and no one dares to bring bad luck to Shanhe Media.

In addition, Yang Mi is also very clear-headed. How the director plays is his business, and you just need to ignore it. Even if you accidentally see it, just pretend you don't know.

"Well, what you said makes sense, but we still have to be careful. We are not afraid of trouble, but we encounter something disgusting."

Yang Mi nodded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Yeah, it's a bit disgusting. I'll keep an eye on it."

Wei Jin had no idea about the gossip that Yang Mi and Zeng Jia were discussing, as he was currently attending Ali's summit with Lu Yang.

The year 2012 can be described as a "boom" year for e-commerce. Statistics show that Taobao and Tmall's sales in the first three quarters of this year approached 1 trillion yuan.

What does this mean? This sales volume is equivalent to 5% of the total retail sales of consumer goods in the country during the same period.

In other words, Ali is rich, very rich, even so rich that he spent nearly 20 billion to complete the privatization and delisting of the Hong Kong stock market.

Therefore, almost no one in the entire film and television industry refused the invitation to today's summit.

But Lu Yang felt a little regretful now. Compared with Boss Jia who "suffocated for his dream", Boss Ma was too rational.

Everything is about data analysis, as if formulas can be used to apply to everything, including making movies.

This made him feel not passionate or romantic at all.

Wei Jin feels it’s okay. Internet companies basically all use this method.

At this moment, he was chatting with Lao Wang beside him. "Brother, do you think this Ahri is going to enter the arena?"

"Haha, Brother Wang, since investing in Huayi, Ali has never concealed his optimism about the film and television industry, but he probably won't enter the market directly for the time being."

Wei Jin's words were just a wild guess. In his impression, the Internet entered the market after the release of "So Young", and began to make such youth films one after another, which directly dominated this type of subject matter.

Wang Changtian nodded, and then seemed to remember something.

"Brother, speaking of Huayi, are you really not going to participate in what they initiated?"

"No, Brother Wang, I advise you not to get too involved and help others get out of trouble. Zhang Dapao's previous experience is a lesson for us."

Seeing Wang Changtian's thoughtful look, Wei Jin stopped talking.

November is almost here and the Lunar New Year box office is about to begin. Huayi, leading several distributors, wants to negotiate with theaters to modify the box office sharing model.

Shanhe Media is the leading production company with the highest output and highest profitability in the domestic entertainment industry. It also has distribution business and its influence cannot be ignored. Wang Zhonglei called Wei Jin two days ago.

Although Wang Zhonglei plays around a lot, he has a lot of ideas on his mind. He keeps saying all kinds of flattery, hoping to get Wei Jin to take the position, make him the leader of the distribution alliance, and take the lead in negotiations with theaters.

Unfortunately, Zhang Weiping, the leader who negotiated with the theaters last time, has disappeared. How could Wei Jin fall into the trap so easily?
More importantly, according to their plan, they will bundle together 10 Lunar New Year films including "", "The Great Shanghai", "The Guillotine", "Chinese Zodiac", "Gravity", "Lost in Thailand" and "The Grandmaster" as bargaining chips in negotiations with theaters.

The ultimate demand is to increase the basic ratio of 43% to 45%.

For Wei Jin, this is simply a waste of time. Isn't the gambling model he signed with the theater chain more cost-effective than this?

He even had to use the two movies as bargaining chips and work hard for others. Boss Wei is not that great.

In addition, the so-called alliance seems to be a gathering of bigwigs, including the five major distributors: China Film, Bona, Fiber Optic, Huayi, and Star Media, but in fact they all have their own interests. Wei Jin does not believe that they can unite as one.

What's more, with the example set by Zhang Dapao last year, the theater chains only need to split up one or two of them, and this loose distribution alliance will fail directly and will never be able to achieve anything.

To put it bluntly, the quality of the movies cannot be guaranteed. Otherwise, if a company like Shanhe Media can drive the entire market and generate billions of box office revenue every year, the theaters will naturally give it face.

Boss Ma on the stage was still speaking eloquently and forcefully.

As Wei Jin guessed, Boss Ma said that Ali currently has no experience and will not enter rashly, but is willing to provide funding and promised not to participate in the production and operation of the project.

This statement aroused the interest of many filmmakers at the scene. After all, film and television projects do cost money, especially large-scale productions, which often require hundreds of millions of dollars in investment. With Ali's support, it can indeed disperse a lot of risks.

However, Wei Jin didn't believe what Boss Ma said at all.

Just participating in the investment without intervening or taking control will result in too small a return on investment. Will Boss Ma be interested in this?

The morning summit ended and it was time for the banquet.

Most of the bosses of film and television companies surround Boss Ma, like the moon surrounded by stars, enjoying unlimited glory.

"Brother, this is usually how you are treated, right?"

Fiber Optic is a listed company and is not short of money. He came here today just to give face, so he sat with Wei Jin and chatted while eating.

"Haha, that's fine, I'm happy and at peace"

Wei Jin was telling the truth. Apart from women, he was not too interested in other entertainment activities, and he was basically too lazy to participate in various gatherings in the circle.

It’s just that Wei Jin doesn’t want to care about others, but others care more about him.

Just a moment later, the slim boss Ma came over with a glass of wine.

"Mr. Wang, long time no see. Mr. Wei and Director Lu, this is the first time we meet, right? You are young and promising!"

As he spoke, Boss Ma sat down naturally, and the people around him dispersed tactfully. He really had the temperament of a leader.

"Mr. Ma, you're welcome."

At this moment, Boss Ma was not so arrogant and his words were not pretentious, so Wei Jin didn't mind giving him a smile.

"Boss Wei, Ali has always been optimistic about the development of the film and television industry. Is there any opportunity for cooperation?"

"Mr. Ma, there are many companies in the industry and countless projects. A large number of high-quality companies are waiting for Ali to invest, hehe."

Wei Jin is very wary of Internet companies. He uses a series of tactics such as cooperation, investment, holding and expulsion, but he does not intend to make close friends with them.

"Boss Wei, Shanhe Media is different. Every project they take on is of the highest quality in the industry. Ali really hopes to cooperate with us, and a premium is fine."

Honestly speaking, Wei Jin felt that what he had just said had been very clear. Even Zhang Zhao at the time, after being politely rejected, simply said goodbye and left or changed the subject.

I can only say that Boss Ma is worthy of his name, and his ability to swallow his pride is very strong.

In view of this, the Wei and Jin dynasties were no longer polite.

"Mr. Ma, the film and television industry is still too small. I am optimistic about Internet finance. Taobao and Alipay, both owned by Ali, are quite good. Is there any opportunity for cooperation? It doesn't matter if the valuation is a little higher."

Boss Ma was stunned, obviously not expecting Wei Jin to say this. However, he was a self-made tycoon after all, so he quickly controlled his emotions, smiled and shook his head.

"Mr. Wei, you are joking. This is Ali's core business, and we are not short of money."

"Haha, Mr. Ma is joking too. Content creation is also the core business of Shanhe Media."

Having said that, Wei Jin paused and the smile on his face faded.

“Besides, I’m not short of money.”

It was rare to see Wei Jin showing off his edge, and Wang Changtian was quite surprised. However, Boss Ma still showed the spirit of swallowing his pride and laughed at himself.

"Mr. Wei is right. It was Mr. Ma who was abrupt. However, Mr. Ma's promise is always valid. No matter Mr. Wei's project or company, as long as he opens his mouth, Ali will never bargain."

This time, Boss Ma left tactfully, leaving only Wang Changtian and Lu Yang giving Wei Jin a thumbs up.

"Brother, that's awesome!"

After the banquet, the media began to report extensively.

"Ali has made a big move and reached cooperation agreements with many production companies in the industry and will invest in dozens of movies."

People in the industry are discussing that with Ali's size, once he enters the film and television industry, he will definitely be a giant.

But Wei Jin is not worried. His layout over the years has been effective. Shanhe Media has almost formed a complete ecological closed loop from production to distribution, to theaters, and even long video websites.

No matter how big Ali is, he cannot pose a threat to Shanhe Media!

(End of this chapter)