Now that we have decided to place the overseas theater chain headquarters in Hong Kong, we must have a theater chain in Hong Kong, otherwise it will be a bit unworthy of its name.
So Zhao Yi found information on the four major theater chains in Hong Kong. The four major cinema chains in Hong Kong are Shaw Cinemas, which belongs to Shaw Brothers Company, Golden Harvest Cinemas, which belongs to Golden Harvest Company, Golden Princess Cinemas, which belongs to the Lei Jiekun family, and Lianhua Cinemas, which is Chinese-funded.
Independent production became popular in the 1970s, but the key to a film's success or failure still lies in distribution and sales. In the early 1980s, most independent production teams were "recruited" by large companies and theater chains, and the importance of theater companies became increasingly apparent.
The production and marketing order based on theater chains has gradually been consolidated, and the companies operating theater chains have become film production teams, providing stable funds for film production.
In the early 1980s, there were about 16 theaters under the Shaw Brothers Cinemas chain in Hong Kong, and their release schedules were mainly filled by films produced by themselves. Shaw Brothers had dominated for many years and was the big brother of Chinese films, from production, distribution, promotion and formation of theater chains. , all handled by one hand, and the box office was once very prominent.
Although Shaw Brothers' status has been challenged by Golden Harvest and Golden Princess, it can still maintain a stable position because of its factory-style system and sufficient film sources without external demand.
According to Zhao Yi's memory in his previous life, Run Run Shaw's business focus did not shift to the television broadcasting industry until 1985, and then the Shaw Cinemas were leased to Debao Cinemas run by Dickson Poon.
It can be analyzed from this that the current Shaw Brothers theater chain has formed its own internal cycle, and Shaw Brothers has not yet planned to shift its focus. There is a high probability that this theater chain will not be able to sell itself, because if the theater chain is missing, other links will Problems may arise, which a wise businessman cannot do.
Jiahe Cinema Line emerged in the 1970s and is owned by Jiahe Company, which was co-founded by Zou Wenhuai, He Guanchang and Liang Feng. Interestingly, these three founders all left Shaw Brothers.
Rumor has it that because Run Run Shaw's confidante Fang Yihua was increasingly employed in Shaw Brothers, Chow Wenhuai, a senior executive, had a grudge, so he left Shaw Brothers and founded Golden Harvest Company on his own, launching a fierce competition with his old employer.
Closer to home, Golden Harvest Cinemas owned 19 theaters in the early 1980s. Golden Harvest's film production output is not as high as that of Shaw Brothers, but its distribution business is very active. It releases an average of more than ten movies every year, and the remaining schedules are used to release films from independent production companies. Golden Harvest Cinema Line can be said to be the release of independently produced films. window.
Of course, the risk is borne by the producer. Since cooperating with Bruce Lee, Golden Harvest has implemented a bottom-line split, giving actors a basic salary and then dividing dividends. This system is also used by Jackie Chan's Weihe Company.
This system only applies to production companies recognized by Golden Harvest. At that time, Bruce Lee's movies were the cornerstone of Golden Harvest. After Bruce Lee died inexplicably at the home of his lover Ding Pei on July 20, 1973, Jackie Chan's production company became Jiahe's other arm.
It can be seen from the above that Jiahe Company is a company founded by senior executives who left Shaw Brothers. Its founder must be a person with a strong character and is currently in the golden period of his career. It is unlikely that he will be acquired by Zhao Yi through normal channels.
In fact, Golden Harvest is considered a long-lived company in Hong Kong. Many companies of the same period later disappeared, including some film companies that rose to prominence.
Golden Princess Cinemas is operated by Golden Princess Entertainment Co., Ltd., founded by Kowloon Bus director Lui Kak-kun and his family. It was formerly known as Lisheng Cinemas. It owns a number of first-class theaters in prosperous areas and is as powerful as Shaw Brothers. and Jiahe. At the beginning of the establishment of Lydia Cinemas, there were only Lydia, Roxy (Chinese theater chain), Kai Sheng, and Hua Sheng (Western cinema chain), and Lydia Cinema was previously leased to Golden Harvest for operation.
The Lei family's main businesses are real estate and transportation, and operating theaters is only a side business.
In the early 1980s, Western movie theaters were in a slump, and Lydia Cinemas was selling Chinese-language films. Lei Jiekun united its four theaters, including Kinmen and Minle, and then leased or linked more than ten theaters through contracts. , in the early 1980s, a Golden Princess Cinema Line was established that exclusively screened Chinese-language films.
New Art City Pictures Co., Ltd., founded by Mai Jia, Huang Baiming and Shi Tian in September 1980, was established with the support of Lei Juekun and is affiliated with Golden Princess Entertainment Co., Ltd. It was originally just a simple theater system, but it ended up getting involved in film production.
New Art City is a legend of Hong Kong movies. It was popular for ten years from 1980 to 1990. During its heyday, it forced the established oligarchs Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest to join forces to fight against New Art City.
For example, in 1982, Golden Harvest's "Qi Men Dun Jia" and "Eight Colors Lin Yazhen" made an exception and were scheduled to be released in Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers theaters at the same time. Unfortunately, the box office was still not as good as New Art City's "The Best Partner" and "Brothers in Need", and John Woo was also angered by Golden Harvest's decision to terminate his contract due to the box office failure of "Eight Colors Lin Yazhen" directed by him.
In the late 1980s, the three giants of New Art City were fighting on their own. Mai Jia re-used Lam Ling-tung to shoot the "Wind and Cloud" series. The popularity of violent realistic films made Mai Jia smile. Huang Baiming's family New Year comedy was also very popular.
Only Shi Tian set up his own creative team, and his films such as "The Goonies" failed miserably, so he began to think about quitting. By the early 1990s, "New Art City" finally disintegrated.
Now that the Golden Princess Cinema Line has such a prosperous production company, the Golden Princess Cinema Line, which was originally the most likely acquisition, has become unpredictable.
They are also worried that if they sell the theater chain, New Art City, which already has tense relations with the other two production companies, will never recover. This is a real money bag.
The last theater chain is Lianhua Cinemas, which is composed of Nanyang, Nanhua, Yindu, Guobin, Huadu and other theaters as its backbone. It is a Chinese-funded system and mostly shows movies produced in the mainland.
This is a national-level theater chain and has other responsibilities, so it should not be something Zhao Yi can get involved with.
After understanding the information of the four major theater chains in Hong Kong, Zhao Yi believes that any of them is difficult to acquire. Of course, if the price is very high, much higher than their expectations, I believe someone will sell it, but just for such ten reasons. Some theaters charged too high a price, and he thought it was not worth it.
These theaters are all old-fashioned film screening halls, and they are often single halls, that is, a huge theater with only one screening hall. Not only are the facilities outdated, but they are also not conducive to minimizing losses when films fail.
After acquiring such a theater chain, he still needs to invest a lot of money to upgrade and transform the theater into a multi-hall projection mode, and the film screen projection system cannot be used.
It will be changed to a digital projection system developed by Polaris Company, and it will also be an IMAX-3D screen. Only in this way can the screen fully take advantage of special effects blockbusters.
Adding up the two items, it seems that the investment is very large, and Zhao Yi is considering whether it is worth it. If you can't acquire an existing theater chain at a relatively low price, you might as well build one yourself.
Having made up his mind, Zhao Yi asked people from the trading company to assist Lin Hexia and contact these theaters to test their true reactions.
The results were indeed not optimistic. The other three companies didn't even offer a price, but politely sent them out, meaning don't take this idea.
Lei Juekun of the Golden Princess Cinema Line offered him a sky-high price, doubling the actual value of the theater chain. He also made a series of excessive demands, including unconditional screening of Xinyi City's movies. wait.
If you agree to such conditions, you will be a stick.
Helpless, Zhao Yi could only ask the trading company to cooperate with Lin Hexia to build his own theater chain in Hong Kong.
In the future, Time Cinema will be under the unified management of Lin Hexia. In addition, the personnel of the trading company will be allowed to go around the world to acquire or build their own theaters to form a global distribution channel.
The reason why the trading company is involved in the acquisition is because the trading company has accumulated rich acquisition experience in the process of acquiring retail channels. In addition, the trading company has its own offices around the world, so it will be very convenient to handle this matter. .
It is now the end of March, and it will be April soon. The development of the intelligent film and television special effects production system was almost completed in August. During this period, after the personnel of Qing Ning Entertainment Company are recruited, the production of the first special effects movie "The Legend of Pangu" will begin. .
It is expected that the original painting shooting task will be completed by the end of this year, and then there will be post-production, including film editing and special effects production. It is expected that the entire process will be completed by February next year, by which time the film shooting and special effects production will be completed.
These theaters will be needed by then, so time is very tight.
Considering that Pangu is a Chinese mythological figure and has a certain influence in the Chinese cultural circle, but is not well-known in Western countries, trading companies are given priority to acquire or build their own institutions in countries and regions such as RB, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. line, and if there is spare time, we will establish theater lines in Western countries.
These theater chains not only have to be established when the movie is about to be released, but also have to be renovated. This workload is not unreasonable. (End of chapter)