I returned to Beijing on the afternoon of the 11th and went directly to Xu Manyun's home. I rested for the whole night. I still got up early the next day and asked about the company's situation.
"Ya Ning has already obtained the copyrights for the novels you mentioned. Although it doesn't cost much, the group doesn't have much cash on its books anymore."
The copyrights for dozens of various novels are more expensive at 3 to 500,000 yuan, and the cheaper ones are packaged for 7 to 3,500,000 yuan, which adds up to a lot of money.
Coupled with these few months' salary and year-end bonus, Tang An suddenly ran out of money.
Xu Manyun didn't understand why Tang An bought so many online novels. Although "Ghost Blowing the Lamp" is a relatively best-selling novel, it is difficult to pass the photoelectric test with this type of subject.
No matter how a TV series like "Tomb Raiders" is made, as long as it uses this title, it will never be broadcast on TV.
There are also some online fantasy and female romance novels. Although some of them are not expensive to package, they are still money.
As the general manager of the group, unlike the previous small workshop, she now does not do whatever Tang An says, and often has her own opinions.
But after trying to persuade her several times to no avail, she had no choice but to do as she was told.
"Let's just leave it after we've talked about it. We won't need it for now. How's the script of "The Legend of Zhen Huan" going?" Tang An nodded and asked.
"The script is basically completed, and there are only a few episodes left."
"Wait for me to go to the company and have a look. You can just negotiate the cooperation with Zheng Xiaolong. Give them 30% of the investment share and only participate in the first three rounds of sharing."
"I have made an appointment with the Beijing TV Drama Art Center to discuss it. The other party is willing to accept it and is now doing a budget assessment."
"Leave these matters to Zhuang Liqi. You can just follow up. Let Zheng Xiaolong choose the actors himself, but we will give priority to our people, Sun Li, Wang Kai, and Zhao Liying. We will see if there are any suitable roles."
"If we hurry up, the project will probably be established in less than a month. Where will the funds come from, or else part of Huayi's stock will be cashed out?" Xu Manyun suggested again.
"No need to wait for half a year. Huayi's shares should be able to increase a little more during the summer vacation. If "囧囧" is a big hit at the box office in a month, we can also make an increase or a second mortgage," Tang An said, shaking his head.
The same item can be mortgaged twice, as long as the value of the item increases during the second mortgage.
""囧囧" itself has already borrowed 50 million yuan. If "The Legend of Zhen Huan" wants to borrow another 50 million yuan, the box office will be at least 350 million yuan." Xu Manyun couldn't help but advise.
350 million. There are currently only three domestic films in China that exceed this number. Even if she has confidence in the films produced by the company, she does not believe that they can have such a high box office.
"Don't worry, even if you can't get the loan in the end, you can still cash out the stocks. Let's wait until the movie is released."
Tang An didn't blame her for being short-sighted, not everyone could predict the future.
He has no choice. It is much harder to get loans for TV series than for movies, and TV series are still very cheap now. The loan for "The Legend of Zhen Huan" was not very expensive.
In the case of movies, it is easy for top directors to get loans.
Later, "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins" borrowed 150 million from Minsheng Bank, and "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" borrowed 100 million from Beijing Bank. The great directors are still very popular.
But this is not just a profit-based loan, but also advertising for the bank.
China Minsheng Bank has launched an event where you can get movie-viewing coupons when you apply for a credit card. You can get movie-viewing coupons based on how much you spend with your bank card.
And you can see the Minsheng Bank logo in most places where there are posters of "Jinling Thirteen Hairpins".
For banks, one hundred million is just a small number. What really matters is Zhang Yimou's influence and how many customers he can bring to the bank.
In a few years, it will be easier to find investment for big IP projects, without even needing a bank.
Later, Alibaba launched an insurance product "Entertainment Treasure". By purchasing this product, netizens can participate in investing in some popular movies and games and earn profits.
Movies and TV series are divided into 100 yuan each, and games are 50 yuan each. Each person is limited to 10 copies of each item. You can choose the items you like.
In 2014, "Entertainment Bao" raised 330 million in cash and invested in 12 theater movies. The total box office of these 12 movies reached 3 billion.
Including "Tiny Times 3, 4", "Wolf Totem" and other hit movies.
Of course, it was Alibaba who made the biggest profit in the end. Those who bought these insurances also made money, but it was definitely not as high as expected.
Don’t spend a penny, use people’s money to invest
At Tang An's first group meeting back in Beijing, several other executives also mentioned the company's current lack of liquidity.
"Chairman, the group has currently invested a total of 200 million in three movies and one TV series. Should we slow down and at least wait until "囧囧" makes a profit before starting the "The Legend of Zhen Huan" project?"
As the financial director, Wang Wei is still responsible for the group's finances even though Tang An promoted her from the audit department manager.
"囧囧" 50 million, "Painted Skin 2" 30 million, "Edge of Tomorrow" 80 million, "The Happy Past" 30 million.
The 190 million investment in the four projects was basically financed by bank loans. If all failed, the entire group would be almost doomed.
Others had more or less worried faces. From everyone's point of view, this was too radical and there was a possibility of collapse at any time.
This is also a normal thought. If Tang An hadn't predicted it, he wouldn't have dared to do it.
If you risk all your wealth, you are no longer a gambler.
If you gamble too much, you will eventually go bankrupt.
"I also know the concerns of Mr. Wang and everyone, but "The Legend of Zhen Huan" still needs to be filmed. At that time, I will inject part of Huayi Brothers Media's stock cash into the group to relieve the pressure on the group. I also hope that everyone will work together to survive.
After this period of time.”
Tang An didn't insist on having his own way. He just dealt with it first. When "囧囧" hits the box office, he won't have any financial worries.
Even if the entire group belongs to him alone, if you don't listen to a word of advice every time, even if you bet correctly, the people below will not follow you.
This is not the ancient emperor. If you are a dictator, there is no problem with being a tyrant. Anyone who disobeys will be killed.
If someone is not doing well, who will hang out with you unless they really have nowhere to go.
The reason why they are not too pessimistic is that Tang An holds more than 200 million worth of stocks, otherwise someone would probably have found a way out for him and be ready to change jobs at any time.
Then Tang An dealt with all the things that had accumulated during this period and listened to reports from various departments.
At 6 p.m., Bernard Group and Hantang Group, the distributors of "囧", held a premiere ceremony at the Chaoyang store of Bernard International Cinema.
Today is the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, and it will be officially released tomorrow at 30 o'clock on the New Year's Eve.
Although the Chinese New Year is still relatively strong now, and most people celebrate the New Year with their families, there are also many people watching movies, and many families watch movies together, which is very beneficial for movies with themes like "Thailand".
Coupled with the high reputation of "The Lost Way", even people who have not been to the cinema have watched the movie on their computers, so there are many potential moviegoers.
However, it was impossible to reach the original box office of 1.2 billion. When "囧囧" was released, there were 15,000 screens across the country. Now it is only more than 5,500 yuan and less than 6,000 yuan, a gap of nearly three times.