Chapter 666 Stock Price and Salary Limit
[Huayi Brothers] The past two months have been very difficult.
After the [Cell Phone 2] incident broke out, the public was full of suspicion towards Huayi, which was closest to Fan Bingbing.
There are various rumors online. One rumor claims that a certain listed company has major tax problems and its financial personnel have been taken into judicial custody by the police for suspected crimes such as concealing and intentionally destroying accounting documents.
Originally, the two Mr. Wangs of Huayi Brothers did not intend to pay attention to such rumors. After all, it takes only one mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of effort to refute them. However, Huayi is a listed company, and the company's credibility will be directly reflected in its stock.
Huayi then took a series of self-rescue measures, inviting more than 30 institutions to conduct research at the company, sending various lawyers' letters, and issuing statements on Weibo to clarify, trying to restore its credibility in the public's mind. It did not want the reputation of the company that it had been operating for many years to be ruined.
Unfortunately, the real effect is not obvious.
Affected by various negative news, Huayi, as a leading company in the domestic film and television sector, has seen its market value evaporate by nearly 4 billion yuan in the past two months.
On July 27, "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings" directed by Xu Ke was released.
This film is the third in the Di Renjie series and is also a key work that Huayi hopes to boost shareholder confidence.
After all, Xu Ke's martial arts films have laid a good foundation for Huayi to reap box office revenue.
Over the past eight years, the "Detective Dee" series has never disappointed Huayi Brothers.
"Mystery of the Phantom Flame", released in 2010, cost about 130 million yuan and ultimately grossed 286 million yuan.
In 2013, "Shendu Dragon King" was released at a cost of 200 million yuan and the box office was locked at 600 million yuan.
In fact, according to the principle of 3 times return on investment, the first two Di Renjie films were not very popular, but as the producer, Huayi actually made a profit as long as it returned the investment.
First, they earn money from the film's copyright and online broadcasting fees; second, they earn money from the film's reputation and shareholders' confidence, which is reflected in the stock price: a sharp rise!
On September 28, 2013, after the release of "Shendu Dragon King", Huayi Brothers' stock price doubled, completing a qualitative change from 10 yuan to 20 yuan, and its market value doubled.
So, this time after the incident of "Cell Phone 2", when the company's stock price continued to fall, Huayi regarded "Four Heavenly Kings" as a life-saving straw to boost the stock price.
On the 27th, after the release of "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings", the box office on Friday barely exceeded 100 million yuan, and then closed at 185 million yuan in two days over the weekend.
The film grossed 296 million yuan in its first three days of release.
Then in the second week, the film's single-day box office dropped sharply, earning 217 million yuan in 7 days, and the total box office exceeded 500 million yuan in 10 days of release.
This trend is exactly the same as the second part of the "Detective Dee" series, "The Mystery of Divine Capital", but "The Mystery of Divine Capital" was released in 2013, and it has been 18 years now.
Moreover, according to the law of increasing costs of series movies, the cost of the actors and special effects of "The Four Heavenly Kings" is at least over 300 million.
To make a profit, the box office must be at least 900 million yuan. It has only broken 500 million yuan in 10 days. Let alone 900 million yuan, it will not be easy to exceed the 600 million box office of the second part.
Due to the poor box office performance, Huayi has been reluctant to disclose the production costs of "Four Heavenly Kings" since its release, fearing that the negative news would make the already lack of confidence in the stock market even worse.
At the same time, "Dying to Survive", which has been released for a full month, has grossed over 3.2 billion yuan and obtained the key to its release extension.
Of course, judging from the current single-day box office of the movie, the one-month postponement seems more like a formality than a reality, and it is estimated that the final box office revenue will not reach 100 million yuan.
But no matter what, the huge sales of "Dying to Survive" is unquestionable.
A feature film actually achieved a box office revenue of over 3 billion yuan, crushing countless so-called commercial blockbusters. This situation surprised everyone in the industry.
At the same time, many people have also keenly felt the changes in the domestic film market.
In the past, Chinese audiences liked to watch commercial blockbusters with stimulating visual effects, so Hollywood's various special effects blockbusters were able to reap box office revenue in the mainland market and make a lot of money.
Now, after so many years of cultivation, the viewing habits of mainland audiences have changed.
Simple visual stimulation is no longer enough to satisfy everyone.
Take the most typical "Transformers" as an example. When the first one was released, the audience thought that Hollywood special effects were awesome, the robot wars were so cool, and the various fighting and explosion scenes were exciting.
I was still able to maintain a certain level of enthusiasm during the second and third parts.
By the fourth and fifth movies, everyone had become numb and felt that apart from the special effects, the plot of the movie was a piece of shit and they couldn't watch it at all.
The threshold of domestic audiences has been raised, and they are becoming less and less interested in movies that only have special effects and whose plots cannot stand up to scrutiny.
This is also the reason why Hollywood movies have not been able to get high box office in the country in recent years.
Movies that are logical, have good storylines, or can touch the audience at some point are becoming more and more popular.
The most typical one is the "Ex-Files 3" starring Gu Wei and Ni Ni.
The film can only be described as average in terms of plot and shooting quality, but its discussion about love and ex-lovers just hits the mark in the hearts of young people. Coupled with some publicity and promotion efforts, as well as Gu Wei's own fame, the film was able to achieve a box office that far exceeded the quality of the film.
The same goes for "Dying to Survive", and compared to "Ex-Files 3", "Dying to Survive" achieved great success in both box office and reputation.
Now that it has been released for a month, the score has dropped slightly as the number of people rating it has increased, but it is still 9 points.
There are only a handful of domestic films with a Douban score of 9 or above, and each one of them is absolutely a good movie.
The only movie that received such a high rating and was a big hit at the box office was "Dying to Survive".
Gu Wei stayed in Beijing for three days. After shooting the cover of Esquire, he flew back to the mountain city crew that night.
Huayi had invited him to the premiere ceremony of "The Four Heavenly Kings" before its release, but Gu Wei was very busy and it was impossible for him to disrupt his schedule because of trivial matters.
Besides, the relationship between him and Mr. Wang and Mr. Wang is purely one of interests. Huayi is now in deep trouble, so he naturally doesn't want to get involved.
The tax turmoil in recent months has had a huge impact on many media companies and celebrities in the entertainment industry.
The overall environment of the film and television industry has a downward trend.
Capital is most sensitive to wind direction. The hot money that originally poured in has also cooled down. As a result, many film and television projects that were being planned have been terminated due to lack of funds.
Of course, for truly high-quality projects, money is never a problem.
The crew of "Better Days".
After finishing a scene with Zhang Zifeng, Gu Wei sat on a chair in the rest area and chatted with Zhou Ye.
"According to the crew's filming plan, I will be able to wrap up in one day."
"Really? Congratulations! It's summer vacation now, so you can rest for a while after wrapping up."
Although Zhou Ye’s role is the second female lead, she doesn’t actually have that many scenes. The reason why the filming has been able to continue until now is because the shots involving her were not filmed in a concentrated manner.
".Actually, I don't have much to do. The company hasn't assigned me much work at the moment, and I don't know what to do after the filming is finished," Zhou Ye said with a roll of his eyes.
"Why don't you stay on the set? You can learn something from watching you and Zifeng filming every day."
Gu Wei gave her a funny look.
"Okay, if you want to stay, no one will chase you away. There are over 200 people in the crew, and you're not the only one who matters."
"Hehe~"
Zhou Ye narrowed his eyes and revealed a lovely smile.
It's so hard to film with the boss, how can I not try to stay a little longer? I never know when I'll have such a good opportunity again.
"By the way, the ancient idol drama [Ashes of Love] that Sister Yang Zi and Brother Xian filmed together has started airing. Brother Wei, did you know about it?"
Ever since Zhou Ye was brought into Gu Wei's small group by Peng Peng, he has gotten along well with the others, and everyone is paying attention to his recent new works.
"Nonsense, this drama is produced by our company, how could I, as the boss, not know about it?
When preparing for "Ashes of Love", I was the one who decided to cast Yang Zi in the role."
Zhou Ye smiled somewhat awkwardly.
"This drama produced by our company is popular again. I have been following it these past few days. There is a lot of discussion online about 'Ashes of Love'. Sister Yang Zi's acting is really good."
Gu Wei nodded.
"That's normal. 'Ashes of Love' itself was planned and filmed on the scale of an S-level ancient idol drama, comparable to the company's previous productions 'Eternal Love' and 'Princess Agents'.
The story is adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name. It has a rich plot, good logic, and a certain fan base.
In addition, Yang Zi and Li Xian's acting skills are also good. It can be said that all the prerequisites are met for a big hit. Now that the show has started, the good performance is also expected."
Zhou Ye thought for a moment and asked:
"Brother Wei, are you watching it tonight too?"
"I'll occasionally watch it when I have nothing to do. After all, it's a TV series produced by our own company, so I have to pay attention to it."
"Then I'll go to your room tonight and watch it with you, okay?
It’s a bit boring to watch a show alone.”
Zhou Ye mustered up the courage to speak.
Gu Wei looked at her strangely.
"Why don't you look for Zifeng?"
"Er Zifeng Zifeng has been studying at night recently. After all, she is a high school student and the academic pressure is relatively heavy. She uses the evening time to make up for the missed classes while filming."
Zhou Ye's mind worked quickly, and he quickly found a reason that sounded very reasonable.
Gu Wei didn't suspect anything. When he and Zhao Jinmai were filming "The Wandering Earth" together, he tutored each other every day. In his opinion, it was normal for Zhang Zifeng, who was of similar age, to take extra classes after filming.
"It's actually quite hard for these child stars. They have to balance filming with school studies. Guan Xiaotong, who I first worked with in "Left Ear," and Zhao Jinmai, who you know, were both like that.
Fortunately, their grades seem to be good, especially Xiaotong, who scored 552 points in the college entrance examination."
Zhou Ye listened to Gu Wei's words and nodded like a chicken eating rice.
"Then I'll go tonight."
"Just come over. 'Ashes of Love' airs two episodes in a row at 7:35 PM and ends a little after 9 PM. You can watch it in my room."
With Gu Wei's permission, Zhou Ye smiled even more brightly.
"I'll bring you something delicious tonight."
Gu Wei nodded slightly.
The two were chatting when Yang Dan came over.
She held a few pages of stapled A4 paper in her hand and handed them to Gu Wei.
"Boss, this is a document that was just released by the General Administration. A lot of the content in it is related to us."
Gu Wei took it with some surprise. On the white paper was a title in large characters: [Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Radio, Television and Online Audiovisual Art Programs].
He looked through it carefully and found another document at the back: [Opinions on Promoting the Strengthening and Improvement of Radio and Television Broadcasting Institutions in the New Era].
There are a lot of things written, most of which are empty words and clichés. The essence is the "salary cap order" for celebrity artists officially issued by the government.
Notices and opinions must clearly indicate:
The comprehensive channels of various TV stations must report the names of guests, salaries and other information on the variety shows they broadcast to the General Administration in advance.
The total remuneration of all guests on the program shall not exceed 40% of the total cost, and the remuneration of the main guest shall not exceed 70% of the total remuneration of the guests.
TV series: The remuneration of all actors in each TV series shall not exceed 40% of the total cost, and the remuneration of the leading actor shall not exceed 70% of the total remuneration.
The single group salary (including tax) of a single actor shall not exceed 1 million yuan, the total salary (including tax) shall not exceed 50 million yuan, and the total salary of variety show artists shall not exceed 800,000 yuan.
Taking Gu Wei’s current film and television drama quotes as an example, his most recent foreign drama was "The Story of Minglan" which he co-starred with Zhao Liying last year.
At that time, the total remuneration was 65 million yuan, equivalent to 1.3 million yuan per episode. This income obviously exceeded the General Administration's opinion that "the salary of a single group shall not exceed 1 million yuan, and the total salary shall not exceed 50 million yuan."
Not only Gu Wei, but also the female lead Zhao Liying's total salary of 54 million also exceeded this range.
In fact, because the producer of "The Story of Minglan" is "Noon Sunshine", the pay of Gu Wei and Zhao Liying is so low. According to their current fame and popularity, the actual market quotation is much higher than this number.
For example, in the TV series "The Rise of Phoenixes" that Ni Ni filmed before, she and Chen Kun received a total salary of 150 million yuan, Dabaobei received 80 million yuan for "The King's Woman", and Yang Mi received 80 million yuan for "Legend of Fuyao".
Currently, the remuneration of every first-line star in the domestic entertainment industry far exceeds the regulations of the General Administration.
The top stars have such high pay, and the pay of other second- and third-tier stars is also not low. This has caused the cost of film and television dramas in the current market to rise steadily. The bulk of the money for filming goes to the actors, and a small part is used for filming, resulting in shoddy and low-quality film and television dramas.
This is also the reason why the General Administration issued the "Notice and Opinions".
"What's wrong?" Zhou Ye looked over curiously.
Gu Wei had just finished reading and handed the document in his hand to her.
“New regulations.”
Zhou Ye took it and flipped through the pages.
"It turns out it's the 'salary cap order', which doesn't seem to have much to do with me."
She is a complete newcomer and has only filmed two films so far, "Go Brother" and the current "Better Days".
She is not famous, and she only plays supporting roles, and her pay is not high, so the "salary cap order" is still far away from her.
As she spoke, she looked up at Gu Wei and said with some concern:
"Brother Wei, is this rule very disadvantageous to you?"
Although Zhou Ye didn't know the details, but according to the simple logic that whoever is more famous will have a higher salary, there is probably no star in the entire entertainment industry who has a higher salary than Gu Wei.
Then this "salary cap order" is the most inappropriate for him.
Gu Wei spread his hands.
“It seems so, but it doesn’t really affect me.
As for the dramas I have taken on so far, they are either produced by the company or part of the salary is converted into investment shares.
The actual money you get is not much.
In fact, the official intention is good, but the extent to which the "salary cap order" can be enforced remains to be seen."
"Would anyone openly violate this?"
"In the final analysis, our entertainment industry actually follows the most basic business principles. The high salaries of stars are also due to the hot market. Producers can earn high incomes by using stars to film dramas and variety shows, so they are naturally willing to pay stars high salaries.
Even if the government has set a mandatory upper limit on film remuneration, producers will still try to pay more in order to invite big stars. If they can't pay in cash, they will compensate in other ways. In short, they can always find a way without violating the "rules".
Ultimately, the domestic market is too large, and everyone is interested in profiting. If we want to truly reduce star salaries, the entire domestic entertainment market must be further improved."
(End of this chapter)
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