The Yau Ma Tei Theater, which Kang Jianfei bought last year, was renovated in April. The old cinema, which originally had only 500 seats on a single floor, was reinforced and divided into two layers, and then renovated two floors upwards, turning into a modern multi-hall cinema with 6 screening halls and a total of more than 1,300 seats.
Yau Ma Tei is far inferior to Central and West Ring Road, but Kang Jianfei's Yau Ma Tei Cinema is very good. It is located in the center of the old neighborhood. It has sufficient traffic and customer base, which is enough to be used as a leading theater for theaters. Kang Jianfei spent 6 million to buy this theater, but in fact most of the money was spent on buying this land.
Kang Jianfei's other theater in Kowloon, Oriental Cinema, has also been renovated and renovated. It is located on the second and third floors of Oriental Building, with a total of more than 1,700 seats in eight screening halls.
Although there is enough customer base in Yau Ma Tei Theater, most of the audience are grassroots people at the bottom, so the internal equipment of the theater is sloppy. But Oriental Theater is different. The hardware equipment of the eight screening halls is much better than that of Yau Ma Tei Theater, and one of them is a high-end VIP screening hall, with seats, audio and projection equipment all belonging to Hong Kong first-class.
The test film of "God of Gambling" was held in the VIP screening room of Oriental Theater. Jiang Zhiqiang, general manager of New Era Cinema, and more than a dozen shareholder representatives came to participate.
Although Kang Jianfei's movies are box office guarantees, the test film meetings must be carried out symbolically, and the theater production schedule will be facilitated before it can be facilitated.
More than a dozen representatives of shareholders from the theater walked into the VIP screening room and was amazed at the furnishings. The manager of one of the small theaters touched the backrest of the seat and said, "The chairs are all leather, and it costs a lot of money to decorate just?"
Kang Jianfei smiled and said, "The audio equipment is also specially imported. The ticket price of this screening room is almost twice that of an ordinary cinema."
Jiang Zhiwen asked suspiciously: "Will anyone come here to watch a movie?"
Kang Jianfei said: "There is no luxury theater in Kowloon, but there is no shortage of rich people. This VIP screening room has only 200 seats, and I guess it will be in short supply."
Jiang Zhiwen nodded. He has always been in charge of the four cinemas in Anle Theater, while his younger brother Jiang Zhiqiang is more responsible for buying movies in Europe and the United States.
Hong Kong is more up-to-date than Taiwan. In the past few years, it has followed the international trend and opened some new multi-hall cinemas. Compared with traditional single-hall cinemas, the operation of multi-hall cinemas is more flexible and can also reduce operating risks. If a large cinema like Taiping Theater is much more uncomfortable, with more than 2,000 seats on the same screen. If the movies shown are a failure, the attendance rate of 30% means that more than 1,400 seats are vacant, which greatly wastes theater resources.
All the four cinemas of Anle Film Group have single-shops. Jiang Zhiwen also wants to do the renovation of multiple-shops, but he has never spared time.
More than 20 people sat down in the 200-seat projection hall and seemed a little empty. The beam of light emitted by the projector reflected the opening of Oriental Dream Factory. Everyone calmed down and watched the film seriously.
Two hours later, "God of Gamblers" was finally screened, and the applause was very enthusiastic, but Kang Jianfei heard the perfunctory meaning from it.
Finally, a manager of a cinema said: "The gambling movie was very popular on TV two years ago, but it's hard to say it's to be put on the big screen. The gambling movie Wang Jing's most popular one, but it only sold 5 million yuan in the box office... Of course, I'm not saying that Mr. Kang's movie was not good. Zhou Runfa was the male lead, and the box office exceeded 10 million yuan, but the base of viewers who love to watch gambling movies may not be very large."
What this person means is that gambling movies are still niche movies, and no matter how well they are shot, the box office will not be much higher.
Kang Jianfei smiled and said, "Manager Zhou's concerns are purely unnecessary. Just look at the ratings of TVB "King of Thousand Kings" two years ago. In fact, most Hong Kong people love to watch gambling themes."
The manager of another cinema said: "I think this drama is good, with gambling skills, kung fu, and gun battles. The most important thing is the box office appeal of Mr. Kang and Zhou Runfa. We took on "God of Gambling" by Yaohui Theater, which is guaranteed to be the best schedule for the summer season."
Kang Jianfei turned his head and looked at Jiang Zhiqiang. He was the nominal general manager of the New Era theater. As long as Jiang Zhiqiang spoke, things would be easier.
Jiang Zhiqiang nodded and said, "I also think "God of Gamblers" will be sold, this year's summer..."
"Wait a minute," Jiang Zhiwen suddenly said, "Anle Cinema has already arranged this summer vacation."
The unhappy look on Kang Jianfei's face flashed and he asked with a smile: "What are the arrangements Manager Jiang has? Why not tell me what you want to learn."
In the past, Jiang Zhiqiang was responsible for purchasing films, and Jiang Zhiwen was responsible for operating the films. After Anle Cinema joined the New Era Cinema, Jiang Zhiqiang became the general manager of the New Era Cinema, while Jiang Zhiwen continued to operate his Anle Cinema, but the job of purchasing films was replaced by others.
Jiang Zhiwen said expressionlessly: "Anle Cinema has made the summer schedule and is preparing to release "Mr. Dus" in July. "God of Gambling" can only be ranked after "Mr. Dus" is lost."
Anle Cinema only screened western films. Seeing the rise of Hong Kong films, Jiang Zhiqiang agreed to join the New Era Cinema, hoping to take the opportunity to make more money.
Due to the different locations of production, Anle Theater can get a higher box office share when the Western films are released. Compared with the two, if "God of Gambling" and "Mr. Duss" have the same box office, then the release of "Mr. Duss" will make Anle Theater earn more.
Another thing that made Jiang Zhiwen unhappy was that his younger brother Jiang Zhiqiang was responsible for buying films in the past. As a result, after the establishment of the New Era theater, Anle Film Company's film purchase business was delayed. Because he changed people to buy films in Europe and the United States, he was not familiar with the business, and the Hong Kong screening rights of "ET" were actually stolen by Shaw Brothers Pictures, and he sold a box office of 20 million yuan during the Spring Festival.
Jiang Zhiwen has always been upset about this. If he does not join this new era theater, then "ET" will definitely be screened by Anle theater.
Although "Home Imperial" screened by Anle Theater at that time was more box office, it was divided by more than ten shareholders, so how could it be comfortable to eat alone? If "ET" was screened in Anle Theater, due to the insufficient number of cinemas, its box office would definitely be sold for two or three million less, but with the long flow of time, Jiang Zhiwen could make millions more.
"Mr. Duss" ranked third in the North American box office list last year, second only to "ET" and "Home Imperial". Jiang Zhiwen finally bought the Hong Kong screening rights for this movie. He had great box office expectations, so he did not give Kang Jianfei any face and insisted on screening "Mr. Duss" in the summer.
Jiang Zhiqiang's expression was quite awkward at this time. He had a good personal relationship with Kang Jianfei, but on the other side was his brother, so he really didn't know how to smooth things over.
Other small cinema merchants looked at Jiang Zhiwen with dissatisfaction. Because Jiang Zhiwen bought western films, they basically only had a single meal, and even if they were asked to come, they would only give a small share of the money, so most hospital merchants had a poor impression of Jiang Zhiwen.
Kang Jianfei glanced at Jiang Zhiwen with a cold look, then said with a haha: "Since Manager Jiang has made arrangements, I won't force it. After all, everyone who signed the temporary theater agreement had the right to choose freely."
This is the difference between bandits and regular troops. When fighting a smooth battle, everyone may be able to kill the official army. But once there is a difference in interests, each mountain will act on its own and it will be great if it doesn’t fight each other.
The Golden Princess Cinema is a regular army, and the New Era Cinema is a bandit alliance.
Jiang Zhiwen didn't want to offend Kang Jianfei completely. He remedy: "Mr. Duss should be painted at the end of July, and I will arrange for the release of "God of Gambling" immediately after that."
Kang Jianfei smiled on his face and said, "It's easy to say, Manager Jiang can arrange for release at any time. But let's make it clear first, Anle Cinemas cannot get the discount for copy money."
The Copy Gold preferential plan was a measure used by Kang Jianfei to protect the profits of small theaters when the new era theater chain was first established. Copy rent decreased according to the decrease in attendance rate.
If Anle Theater released "God of Gambling" at the end of July, then the attendance rate of other theaters will definitely be insufficient for nearly a month later. Kang Jianfei's failure to admit his promise of copying gold will greatly increase Anle Theater's screening expenses, which is both a warning and a revenge.
Jiang Zhiwen's face looked a little bad, but she didn't say anything. She just said a few words before saying goodbye.
Jiang Zhiqiang stood there and sighed. His brother and Kang Jianfei had a grudge this time. Although he did not break up on the spot, he would definitely not be able to work closely in the future.
The rest of the people discussed the screening and publicity plan initially, and then they dispersed. As for the specific operations, they would discuss them gradually another day.
Kang Jianfei drove to the crew of "The Strategy of the Five Blessings" to visit the crew. Zhong Chuhong took on two dramas some time ago, but now he finally felt a little relaxed. Zhang Jianting's "Seven Days of False Love" has been completed and is about to be released in early June. The box office of this small-budget movie is probably scary to many people by then.
Oriental DreamWorks has already lost two movies this year, including "The Seven Heroes of the Ghosts" directed by Yu In-tae for 7.6 million yuan, and "Into Love Street" directed by McDonald Jet for 9.2 million yuan.
Since Yu In-tae has been with Kang Jianfei for two years, his film concepts and techniques have become much more advanced. In addition, better schedules and ticket prices have increased, the box office of "Chasing the Ghosts" is more than 3 million yuan higher than the original time and space. "Into Love Street" has two actors and actresses, Chen Huimin and Li Yanshan, and the plot of the film is great, and with better promotional filming, the box office is more than twice that of the original time and space.
The two consecutive movies of DreamWorks made the company very energetic, because the more profit the company makes, the more bonuses everyone will pay at the end of the year.
"Happy Ghost 4" produced by Zeng Zhiwei and directed by McDonald Jet has also entered the preparation stage and plans to continue to use Li Lizhen and Ng Junru as the starring roles, while the other girls choose newcomers. This move can keep the audience fresh and reduce the film's pay. After all, the original "Happy Ghost" girls increased a lot after becoming famous.
McDonald's brother McDonald's Bear also officially withdrew from the TV production department and gave up his original position to Xu Xiaoming. He will specialize in making movies in the future.
McDonald's ambition is greater than Xu Ke and Chen Xunqi, and even surpasses Hong Jinbao, Mecca and others. The previous few people made movies either because of their ideal interests or simply because they made more money. McDonald's ambitions are very clear. He wanted to establish his own movie kingdom like Zou Wenhuai and Kang Jianfei.
Moreover, based on McDonald's market vision and film talent, he has the ability, but unfortunately his business talent is insufficient.
McDonald Bear lacks money to start a company. Li Shaoxia, who provided him with funds in parallel space, has stopped making movies this morning. Kang Jianfei does not intend to open a bunch of satellite companies like Jiahe, nor does he intend to invest in countless small companies like Princess Jin. After careful discussions with McDonald Bear, he decided to open a McDonald Bear movie studio.
McDonald Bear Film Studio is responsible for administrative expenses. When filming, it applies for a budget at DreamWorks. How the box office is divided depends on the situation, which is more free than Xu Ke's studio.
After the establishment of the McDonald Bear Film Studio, Xu Ke also discussed with Kang Jianfei, and his treatment was changed to be consistent with the McDonald Bear Studio, which was more flexible and fair than before.
The McDonald Bear Film Studio was just established and immediately took out the planning plan for "Detective Bald Girl". After Tang Shuxuan approved it, he immediately developed the script and shooting plan, and now he has gone to Zhou Mingfang to apply for budget funds.
In parallel space, "The Detective Bald Girl" is not prominent in the box office in Hong Kong, but due to the effective operation of McDonald Bear, the film was sold to more than 80 countries around the world, making McDonald Bear a big profit.
What is even more rare is that there are no major Hong Kong companies that can help operate. The biggest contributor to selling films in so many countries was the famous Hong Kong film producer and publisher Zhang Jiazhen.
Zhang Jiazhen was the distribution director of Debao later, and made Yang Ziqiong famous. Wu Yusen's "The World" and "The Change of Face" were both producers.
And such a powerful character is the only employee of McDonald Bear Film Studio at this time, and he is even a naughty young man who knows nothing.
In another time and space, after McDonald's "The Detective Bald Girl" was filmed, he didn't know anything about it and went to France to sell it. At this time, international video transactions were paid in US dollars. He foolishly exchanged Hong Kong dollars for US dollars and US dollars for francs. When he finally found something was wrong, he ran to exchange it for US dollars.
Awesome people also need to train and grow. When Kang Jianfei knew that Zhang Jiazhen had become an employee of McDonald Bear Film Studio, he also wanted to dig up this famous figure in later generations. After some contact, he found that this person knew nothing, and was even worse than ordinary employees of DreamWorks Distribution Department, so he didn't have much intention to poach people.
After all, McDonald Bear is nominally helping Kang Jianfei make money, and the subordinates of the collaborators are really unauthorized. At worst, McDonald Bear trained Zhang Jiazhen before hiring him over with a high salary.
Chapter completed!