After playing a few balls, Zhang Changfeng stretched his shoulders and returned to drink tea under the awning.
Xu Guangyi, General Manager of the Investment Department of Penguin Group, who was standing next to him, poked his head and chatted with him for a few words. They were talking and laughing, and they were very harmonious.
Fang Xing met two of them today, both of whom are senior executives of the Penguin Group. Coming to the club so leisurely was obviously not as simple as playing ball.
the other side.
Li Xueying was carefully wiping her clubs, then putting on gloves and a sunhat. She was very skillful in her movements, and she obviously came here often.
Fang Xing walked over and chatted: "Mr. Li often comes to play golf?"
Li Xueying smiled and replied: "This is a way of socializing in business, and you have to learn it sooner or later."
Fang Xing glanced sideways in the direction of the awning and asked, "Are we just talking about movies today?"
Li Xueying showed a playful smile and said: "I am just responsible for introducing you to each other. What you want to talk about is not my business. However, I do hope that we can cooperate in depth. Your two dramas have been of great help to me.
So if you need any help in the future, just ask."
Fang Xing looked at her thoughtfully and said tentatively: "Don't tell me that you know nothing about today's game."
Li Xueying raised her eyebrows and replied: "Okay. Let me give you a thorough explanation. In fact, your Ark culture has always been the focus of attention in investment banks. However, you have no signs of financing, and the company's operations are...
There really is no big funding gap.”
Ark Culture’s capital chain is too healthy. After all, its main revenue comes from songs and TV series.
These only require an initial investment, and all will be profits later.
Moreover, the songs and TV series produced by Fang Xing have extremely high yields, making Ark Culture's continued profitability very strong.
When Fang Xing heard what she said, he probably guessed something.
In fact, even if she didn't say it, Fang Xing probably knew it in his heart.
After the group finished playing golf, they returned to the VIP room of the club and continued to drink tea and chat.
Several bosses even lit up cigars and tried to invite Fang Xing to taste them together.
Fang Xing always waved his hands and refused, joking that he didn't plan to change his voice for the time being.
Professional singers really shouldn't smoke in order to protect their voices, so this is a very good reason.
After chatting for a while, Zhang Changfeng started to talk about movies: "Fang Xing, let me see it this way. I sent you your movie. What are your requirements for distribution agency fees and publicity fees?"
"this……"
When it came to talking about money, Fang Xing couldn't speak on his own.
As an agent, Qiao Yinghong naturally picked up the topic when it came to talking about money: "Mr. Zhang, when we talk about cooperation, let's just say what we want to say, and put it clearly and clearly, one by one, with the numbers.
We need to talk clearly, and we can’t be muddled.”
"Of course, it depends on what you think." Zhang Changfeng is not in a hurry, and now he just expresses his willingness to distribute "Spirited Away" as an agent.
As for whether cooperation can be reached in the end, everything is possible before a contract is signed.
In fact, if we were talking about cooperation normally, Zhang Changfeng would not express his willingness to be an agent for distribution from the beginning.
The reason why I showed my willingness to cooperate before the negotiation was actually because I was optimistic about the Ark culture, not because I was optimistic about the movie.
Qiao Yinghong glanced sideways at Fang Xing before answering: "We hope that the publicity fee will be more than 100 million, and the issuer's share will not be higher than 10%. This is not an opening price, but a floor price. The boss doesn't like to mess with numbers."
Zhang Changfeng frowned and shook his head: "A publicity fee of 100 million is unlikely."
The publicity fee is 100 million, which is indeed very high.
Generally speaking, publicity and distribution expenses account for 20% to 30% of the total cost of a film.
In other words, if the publicity and distribution fee is 100 million, the total cost of the movie is usually more than 300 million.
If the film studio wants to recover the cost, the box office usually needs to reach three times the cost.
In other words, a publicity fee of 100 million would have to reach 1 billion at the box office of the target movie.
Zhang Changfeng had previously heard that Fang Xing's expected box office was one billion, and he originally thought it was the young man's ambition to break into the big screen.
Now that we are talking about the details of the cooperation, I am sure that the expected box office that Fang Xing mentioned before is really that much.
Zhang Changfeng did not show an inappropriate expression, and said with a smile: "As far as I know, the production cost of your movie is only 30 million."
The investment is indeed 30 million.
However, Fang Xing was given the script and was responsible for a large part of the directing work, and he was not paid for this part of the effort.
If the production cost is strictly calculated, it is more than 30 million.
According to industry standards, a movie with a production cost of 30 million yuan usually only costs 10 million for publicity and distribution.
The box office needs to exceed 100 million to recover the cost.
Of course, now after the movie is released in theaters, it can also be released on video platforms, and there will be subsequent profits.
Therefore, even if the box office does not reach three times the total cost when it is released in theaters, there is still hope of recovering the money.
even so.
It is not easy for an animated film to earn a box office of 100 million.
Don't forget that every year there are several movies with a box office of more than 1 billion, but what the public sees are the movies at the top of the pyramid. Under these movies, there are countless unseen movies buried under them.
Therefore, a box office of over 100 million is already an unattainable dream for many movies.
As an agent, Qiao Yinghong, of course, has to speak for her company. She laughed and said: "Mr. Zhang, our boss put in a lot of effort when producing "Spirited Away". He did all the work of screenwriting and directing, but for a penny
I didn’t take it. If you want to calculate the production cost, it’s not too much to convert it to 20 million.”
With Fang Xing's current net worth, it is indeed reasonable to spend so much energy on this animated film, converting it to 20 million.
After all, if you put all your energy and time into making music, you can easily earn this amount.
Zhang Changfeng nodded without refuting, and continued: "Even if the production cost is 50 million, the publicity and distribution ratio will not reach 100 million. I am afraid that no domestic distribution company will agree to your request."
As the president of Penguin Pictures, even if he really wants to establish a cooperative relationship with Ark Culture, he does not want to lose money on a film project.
According to the publicity and distribution standards, it is indeed impossible for an animated film with a production cost of 50 million to be given a publicity and distribution fee of 100 million.
Because if the publicity and distribution expenses are spent, they will need to be recovered through the box office.
If Penguin Pictures really spends 100 million on publicity and distribution expenses, then the animated film Ark Culture must have a box office of more than 300 million to have any hope of recovering the publicity and distribution costs.
According to the bill sharing ratio of theaters, theater chains, film producers, and distributors.
First, a 3.3% special business tax and a 5% national film industry development special fund must be deducted.
The remaining 91.7% is the divisible box office that can be used to divide accounts, that is, the net box office.
Next, theaters and theater chains must first share 57% of the box office, and the remaining 43% belongs to the film studio and distributor.
However, 43% is the ideal account sharing ratio.
In fact, the box office that the film producers and distributors can actually account for is usually less than 40%, probably between 35% and 40%.
The more popular the movie, the closer the box office split will be to 40%.
The specific proportion of account sharing that can be obtained depends on the strength of the issuer.
Generally speaking, people in the industry will roughly regard one-third of the total box office as the split box office that the film studio and the distributor can get.
However, the split box office is not the money that the film producers and distributors will ultimately get.
Because, publicity and distribution expenses also need to be deducted.
In the sub-account box office, publicity and distribution fees need to be paid back first.
In other words, the publicity and distribution cost for a movie is 100 million.
The final total box office was 300 million, and the split box office was 100 million.
Then this 100 million will be used as priority for publicity and distribution expenses.
In other words, the film studio will not get a penny, and the 100 million box office share will be used to offset the publicity and distribution expenses.
In other words.
Fang Xing asked for a promotion fee of 100 million for "Spirited Away". If the box office after the movie is released is less than 300 million, the distributor will not only not make a penny, but will also lose money.
For this reason, no publishing company is willing to distribute "Spirited Away" as an agent.
After all, a box office of 300 million is not something that can be achieved casually.
Just hearing about this publicity and distribution fee scared away many film and television companies with distribution capabilities.
Zhang Changfeng also felt that the publicity fee was unreasonable, but as the boss of Penguin Pictures, he did not show too exaggerated expressions.
"We still need to discuss the publicity and distribution expenses. For an animated film, such a high publicity and distribution expense is actually inappropriate. It will also make it more difficult to recover the cost."
Fang Xing's attitude was very firm: "Actually, I don't plan to ask the issuer to advance this publicity fee. We will pay this 100 million publicity fee ourselves."
When Zhang Changfeng heard this, a surprised expression flashed across his face.
usually.
Publicity and distribution expenses are usually paid in advance by the issuer.
It seems that there is a risk in advancing the publicity expenses.
However, after the movie is released, the box office will have priority to deduct the publicity and distribution expenses.
Moreover, film distribution companies must be optimistic about a movie before they choose to distribute it through agents, and will calculate a reasonable publicity and distribution cost based on the quality of the movie.
Therefore, if the issuing company advances the publicity expenses, it will generally not lose money.
If the distribution company really loses money, the film studio will not get a penny, and the production cost of the film will be completely lost.
Of course, in the film industry, the distribution company does not have to pay the publicity and distribution expenses in advance.
The specific situation still depends on how the contract is signed.
It’s just that the industry standard cooperation model is indeed an advance payment by the issuer.
Now, Fang Xing has offered to pay the publicity and distribution expenses himself, which means that if the box office of "Spirited Away" does not reach 300 million, then it will be himself who will lose, not Penguin Pictures.
Therefore, it was only then that Zhang Changfeng became convinced that Fang Xing really believed that this animated movie had the ability to earn more than 300 million in box office.
Of course, most film and television companies are very confident when they hit the big screen, but in the end, many fail.
Therefore, just having faith is not enough.
"Mr. Fang, are you sure you want to advance 100 million in publicity and distribution expenses? It would take a total box office of 300 million to have any hope of recovering the publicity and distribution expenses. This does not include the production cost of the movie." Zhang Changfeng felt that Fang Xing might not be able to.
Very knowledgeable about the film industry.
If calculated based on the promotion cost of 100 million and the film production cost of 50 million.
If you want to recover all the costs, it's not just a box office of 300 million. You also need to deduct the distributor's share. The box office needs to be at least 500 million to recover the cost.
Fang Xing looked very sure, nodded and replied: "Yes, I'm sure."
Zhang Changfeng glanced meaningfully at Xu Guangyi who was standing aside, and the content in his eyes was very complicated.
actually.
Zhang Changfeng’s original idea was to act as an agent for the distribution of Ark Culture’s animated film and spend 10 million in publicity and distribution expenses.
In this way, if the box office reaches 30 million, the publicity and distribution expenses can be recovered.
Even if you don’t make a penny from agency issuance, you can still accept it.
However, there was a big gap between Fang Xing's expectations for this animated movie and his thoughts.
The only reason why he was still willing to sit down and continue talking was that Fang Xing planned to advance the publicity expenses himself.
In other words, if Penguin Pictures releases this animated film, it does not need to advance funds, and Penguin Pictures will not lose money no matter how much the final box office is.
The worst thing is not making money.
Of course, if this animated movie fails at the box office, Ark Culture will lose money.
Zhang Changfeng did not continue talking about the movie and said: "Let's put the movie aside for a while. Mr. Xu has another project he wants to talk to you about."
Xu Guangyi stretched out his hand to shake Fang Xing's hand and said, "Mr. Fang is young and promising, and now domestic investment banks are watching you."
"I dare not take it seriously." Fang Xing said modestly.
Previously, Dingsheng Capital wanted to invest in Ark Culture and gave it a valuation of 250 million.
With the huge sales of Fang Xing's new album, this valuation has soared and has doubled.
For a company founded more than two years ago, with a valuation of 500 million, the development speed is simply appalling.
If any investment company had invested in Ark Culture, the return on investment would have been astonishing, and it would have become a legendary case among investment banks.
It's a pity that Ark Culture itself does not require large sums of money to develop. It relies entirely on songs and film and television dramas, so there is no need for financing.
Xu Guangyi said with a kind smile: "Is Mr. Fang willing to accept the capital injection from our group? As long as we become a family, we will naturally cooperate more harmoniously in the future."
When Fang Xing heard these words, he knew that what he had expected from the beginning had finally happened.
In fact, Fang Xing had predicted it long ago.
Since Dingsheng Capital took the initiative to request investment in Ark Culture, investment companies have continued to offer olive branches.
However, Fang Xing does not need large amounts of capital, so he is not interested in these capitals.
However, when a company develops to a certain level, it will encounter many difficulties and bottlenecks.
It is almost impossible for one company to break through these bottlenecks.
These difficulties and bottlenecks will be easily solved as long as there is a big backer to support them.
Fang Xing considered many strategies.
The solution is simply to accept capital injection from a large group, or to find a strong local government as a backer.
Fang Xing had also expected that as long as Ark culture continued to develop, these solutions would come to his door automatically.
Now, Penguin comes to visit.
The matter of capital injection cannot be settled in one meeting. Fang Xing was not in a hurry and continued chatting with Xu Guangyi to find out Penguin's attitude.
