Hong Kong Stubborn - Chapter 137

By the end of 1997, the number of Hong Kong cinemas continued to shrink significantly, and there were already less than 80 in Hong Kong.

The Jiahe Cinemas have been separated, and only maintain the scale of 5 own theaters. Only Xinbao Cinemas relies on Taiwanese capital for blood transfusions and is still barely maintaining the operation of franchised theaters, but the days to get together are definitely not long.

Luo Junyan felt that Cheng Cheng made sense. This Asian financial storm will not end so soon. There is no need to rush to pick up the order. It is not terrible when the ship is sunk, and it is most dangerous when it is about to enter the water.

Sister Army has already gone to South Korea to inspect the business situation of the complex cinema complex under the Yinxue Building. Before the overall construction plan of the theater is clear, it is impossible to buy a building first. Now, with Jinshan in hand, you can sit and watch the situation.

Luo Junyan refocused his energy on the entertainment business. He is also waiting for the right time to come back, at least until the overall box office of the Xiangjiang Film Market no longer drops sharply. Who can go against the trend.

“Made in Xiangjiang” produced by Tianmu has been finished, and it only sold for more than 1.9 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office. Hua Ge was more unlucky, just in time for the financial turmoil when it was released.

Brother Xing was dragged to make a film this year for favors. On the contrary, his company had no works. The 20 million Hong Kong dollar support fund was empty, but it happened to escape the crisis.

Only Yinhe Image, after receiving the 20 million Hong Kong dollar support fund, was a fish in water and voted for 5 new films.

Except for “The Dark Flower”, which is scheduled to be released in January 1998, all other films have been finished. “The Birth of a Prefix” box office was 3.15 million Hong Kong dollars, “Terror Chicken” was 480,000 Hong Kong dollars, “Two Only Live One”, 1.71 million Hong Kong dollars, and “The Final Judgment” 3.78 million Hong Kong dollars.

According to such box office results, it is estimated that it will be difficult for Du Qifeng to apply for the support fund for the second year. Unless he pays his own money to make up for the shortfall, he will return 20 million to the Ruixue Asia Partners Fund before New Year’s Day in 1998, but it is not a small hole to make up.

In 1997, the Hong Kong film market became more and more sluggish, especially after the outbreak of the financial turmoil, many people behind the scenes were unable to get work.

But Yingqu.com has become more and more prosperous, and many theaters have to cooperate with Yingqu.com in order to grab customers. The theater sold the ticket price to Yingqu.com at a 30% discount, and Yingqu.com sold it at a 8.8% discount through online activities. The interaction between the two parties was quite happy, but the theater’s profits were diluted a lot.

The situation in the South Korean film industry this year was not ideal. Although South Korea did abolish the film review system at the end of last year, local production in South Korea still did not improve. On the contrary, the record companies and brokerage companies that Yinxuewangzuo Entertainment has invested in are profitable, but there is still a long way to go before the stage of waiting for dividends.

Overall, the Ruixue Asian Partners Support Fund is destined to lose a lot of money this year. Luo Junyan has to consider where to get the money back. The money in the Snow Country Entertainment Investment Company’s account is to buy a building to build a theater, and it cannot be used to fund the fund every year.

Luo Junyan is considering whether to come back in 1998, Xiangjiang can look forward to it for a long time, there is no need to stay idle. This matter has to be discussed with Brother Cheng, don’t get the rice in the end.

Luo Junyan has unconditional trust in Brother Cheng, and has not concealed how much money he made this time. Brother Cheng is quite confused now. They are already worth 780 million Hong Kong dollars. How can they be like a poor boy who has had a meal without a meal?

Brother Cheng wouldn’t persuade him. Luo Junyan can start work better. As long as he sells the film, he can at least pay dividends every year. Brother Cheng is now eating his laurels, and every subsidiary does not pay dividends. This year, it is estimated that Hu Xin will be able to open up the bright spot.

Hu Xin is a girl who has mixed up between Hong Kong and the United States, and she is standing on the cusp of a Hollywood movie pandemic. What is commendable is that Hu Xin is not a pig but a fox, big and small, cheap.

Since having a daughter, Luo Junyan has rarely smoked a cigar. He smoked and said: “Master, I also know that the mainland movie market is very large, but it is very troublesome to bring it to the mainland for screenings.”

Brother Cheng dusted the soot and said: “Survival itself is not an easy task. You can’t expect to open your mouth every day. If you expect to make a lot of money in the Hong Kong market as before, then I advise you. It’s better to hibernate for a period of time, then hoard the house and forget about it. You will definitely earn more than making movies.”

Luo Junyan thought for a while, then shook his head, and said, “Master, you know me, I am not used to letting those rules govern. I don’t want to invest in building theaters in the Mainland. I don’t expect to make money by producing movies. , Mainly to promote the development of other companies, especially the theater chain, which needs to be maintained after it is built.”

Brother Cheng also felt that the rule of prohibiting Hong Kong-funded theaters was a bit of a nuisance, and said helplessly: “A Jun, even if you don’t plan to go north, at least you have to release the film. You have to worry about our fathers and villagers, and you can’t let the United States. The devil cheated all the money away, and at least part of it can be donated back when we put it in our pockets.”

Luo Junyan nodded and said, “Master, I checked the recent hot events in Cha Heung Kong. At the end of 1996, more than 40 people died and more than 80 were injured in the fire at the Garley Building in Yau Ma Tei. This year, there have been filming companies. It’s a movie, but no computer special effects are used in the whole process. Could you say we can do it?”

Brother Cheng pondered for a while, and thought of the Korean disaster film “Skyscrapers”, which really has a lot of similarities with the fire in Xiangjiang. What’s more, it promotes positive energy, and the humanity in it is shining. This should not be a big problem in the mainland.

Brother Cheng said: “A Jun, then you have to be prepared for another big loss. I can prepare the script for you in the near future. The investment must be quite high and the shooting cycle will be very long. This kind of film will not enter North America. In the market, it’s easy to lose money if you don’t make a dollar.”

Luo Junyan hesitated for a while, and said: “I can show the technical strength of Gemini Digital. As long as the film is guaranteed, I will be satisfied. In addition, I will help sister Xi to become an artist.”

Brother Cheng said: “That’s OK, I will give you the script after New Year’s Day.”

Sister Army returned to Xiangjiang before New Year’s Day, and this trip was considered a worthwhile trip. The experimental Throne Studios are actually profitable throughout the year, but they are all produced in South Korea throughout the year. Now Throne Studios has become a sacred place in the minds of Korean filmmakers.

Sister Army’s evaluation of Throne Studios is also pretty good, and she visited the CGV multifunctional theater jointly built by South Korea CJ and Jiahe, and investigated the sales of properties in the central business districts of South Korea and Japan.

Finally, sister army thinks that it might be unrealistic to buy mall properties by herself. Even after the financial storm, high-quality commercial properties in the hands of chaebols are difficult to obtain, and the prices are still very high.

Buying commercial properties in Japan is even more unrealistic. The price of a square meter of commercial properties in the heart of the Ginza business district in Japan is still more than US$200,000, which is equivalent to US$60,000 per square meter. If you plan to build a 7-hall medium-sized cinema with at least 1,500 square meters, that means building a cinema will cost 90 million US dollars just to buy a building.

In addition, sister army brought back news that at the same time that Xiangjiang suffered a financial crisis, the financial turmoil also swept South Korea and Japan.

The South Korean won is now depreciating wildly, and the exchange rate has fallen to 1 U.S. dollar: 1,500 won, almost doubling. In short, a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan and South Korea have closed down, and the stock market, foreign exchange market, bond market, and property market have all fallen apart, and by the end of the year the decline has become even more violent. South Korean film production companies simply cannot attract investment from chaebols.

Sister Army will never be willing to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She plans to buy vacant land in the sub-commercial district along the subway or in the emerging sub-commercial district to build her own studio.

Many of these small pieces of land are not in the eyes of wealthy chaebols. After the impact of the financial turmoil, the tension of the capital chain of the owners of these lands is much higher than that of large groups, and the selling price is getting more and more. Cheap.

After Sister Army returned to Xiangjiang, she summoned the previously trained theater management talents to her subordinates to form an operation team in advance. It can be seen from this that the determination of sister army to build an Asian theater in five years is great, and this ASC (Asian Snow Country) movie theater plan has ignited the fighting spirit of sister army.

Luo Junyan will definitely not pour cold water on sister army this time. Tolerance and support are all mutual. Luo Junyan played with the “South China Daily” stocks. When Apple Computer was mentioned, the army sister had no complaints and gave her full support. Luo Junyan also wants to open it, isn’t it just for his wife to make money? The big deal is that the 580 million dollars was earned in a dream.

In short, Luo Junyan will never interfere with any decision of sister army this time. But the worrying subconscious that all the savings were spent, made him have to intervene in Hu Xin’s dividend decision this year, and now only this girl is the richest.

After New Year’s Day in 1998, Luo Junyan of other companies had no time to take care of him, only pulling Hu Xin to report on the operation and financial situation. Don’t ask, I don’t know, I’m surprised when I ask.

In 1997, Hu Xin introduced 10 Hollywood movies with an extremely crazy manner, and they can enjoy discounted prices when they buy them in packages. Now, there is no production company owner who does not know Hu Xin in Hollywood. These 10 films cost a total of US$8.2 million in buyout costs, plus the cost of publicity, and a total of HK$72 million was spent.

The Snow Knights issuance company has to pay for operating expenses, and both the support and the office need to spend money. Hu Xin almost spent more than 80 million Hong Kong dollars in the account of the Snow Knights issuing company. When the company’s cash flow was the least, the balance on the account was only more than 2 million.

In 1997, Broadway, Dongfang and Xinbao cinemas all cooperated with Hu Xin. Only two of these 10 films are still in theaters, and all the others have already been finished.

“Lost World-Jurassic Park” has a box office of 58.23 million Hong Kong dollars, which is more than 13 million more than Longge’s local box office champion film “A Good Man”. It will definitely be the annual box office champion.

Other films, “Multi-faceted Duo” at the box office of 30.05 million Hong Kong dollars, “Black Super Special Police Group” at the box office of 29.5 million Hong Kong dollars, “Titanic” at the box office of 26.85 million Hong Kong dollars, “Mr. Sweetheart” at the box office of 17.9 million Hong Kong dollars, and “101 Dalmatians” The box office was 17.73 million Hong Kong dollars, the box office of “Air Prison” was 16.95 million Hong Kong dollars, and the box office of “Sniper Professional Killer” was 9.43 million Hong Kong dollars.

“Air Force One” and “The Fifth Element” are still in screenings, but the box office has all exceeded 10 million Hong Kong dollars, and the attendance rate is still good.

After Hu Xin monopolized Hollywood films, he went to negotiate with various theaters and asked them to make profit. In view of the fact that the box office of local productions was really weak, in order to compete for the source of Hollywood films, the three theaters finally gave up two points of box office support for promotional support. Snow Knight Publishing Company accounted for 47% of the box office share.

Snow Knight’s current box office revenue is 97.12 million Hong Kong dollars. After deducting profits tax, the company’s net income is 93 million Hong Kong dollars. There are two other films that have not finished, and the net profit is already more than 21 million. In a sluggish market, this result is indeed eye-catching.

Hu Xin didn’t agree with the dividends, she still thought about going to pack and buy the film.

Luo Junyan is more resolute this time. Hollywood’s asking price for the buyout fee is getting higher and higher. Although the package purchase seems to have brought down the overall price, the movies that people are not optimistic about have also virtually doubled the price. What if Hollywood films suddenly get cold in the Xiangjiang Market? All the money earned in the past few years will be lost.

Luo Junyan’s advice to Hu Xin is that qualified film distributors should cultivate their eyesight instead of rushing to promote their products. In short, he asked Hu Xin to buy at most 3 Hollywood films in 1998, so that she could check her professional standards.

“Air Force One” and “The Fifth Element” will be finished years ago. Luo Junyan asked Hu Xin to determine the amount of dividends in 1997 based on the final box office revenue. In fact, the math can’t divide the money, but Luo Junyan can’t let Hu Xin hold too much money, otherwise she will definitely spend it out of her own way. This girl is a shopaholic.

After the New Year’s Day holiday, the Ruixue Asian Partners Support Fund recovered the support fund for 1997, and only received a total of 132 million Hong Kong dollars. It lost nearly 80 million at a time. After replenishing the shortfall, only 32 million Hong Kong dollars remained in the Snow Country Entertainment investment account at the beginning of 1998.

In fact, most of the shareholding companies are losing money, but in order to maintain the qualifications for applying for the support fund quota in 1998, the bosses have to find money to make up the difference. The Milky Way image is not in this list. I lost too much in 1997, and it is impossible to make up for it, otherwise I won’t even have a bite to eat.

In 1998, among the participating companies that applied for the support fund quota, the Lu family was a South Korean company, three were Japanese companies, and one was a Taiwanese company.

There are many companies in Xiangjiang who want Luo Junyan to participate in shares, but South Korea’s Silver Snow Throne Entertainment has also been affected by the financial turmoil, and the landlord’s surplus is also limited. The asking price of the Hong Kong entertainment company was so high that it was far less cost-effective than taking a stake in a South Korean company, so it was tactfully rejected.

By the end of January, the last two Hollywood films were released. The box office of “Air Force One” was HK$18.74 million, and the box office of “The Fifth Element” was HK$18.44 million. The Snow Knight issuance can receive a box office share of 17.47 million, and the net profit after tax is 14.7 million.

After the year’s later, if the box office share is received, there will be 105 million Hong Kong dollars deposited in the account of the Snow Knights issuing company. Hu Xin, under the intimidation of Luo Junyan, decided to distribute 50 million Hong Kong dollars in 1997, of which 47.5 million of the profits attributable to the parent company were transferred to the account of XJ International Entertainment Media Group. Hu Xin received 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

Luo Junyan can no longer withdraw money from the subsidiary. It is either a large accountant occupying the liquidity or is in the stage of the investment period, and the profit is too small to be able to pay dividends. For example, Snowman Century Entertainment has only more than 57.4 million in the company’s account, and its two-year profit is less than 10 million. The investment in small productions has made Brother Cong tired enough.

This time XJ International Entertainment Media divided the money, Luo Junyan and his wife received 40.37 million, Cheng Ge received 4.75 million, and Luo Meizi received 2.38 million.

Luo Junyan felt that this little money didn’t help, but somehow the funds in their husband and wife’s private account increased to 180 million. Paying land taxes everywhere and paying American companies is embarrassing if you can’t get in.

This guy has never thought that his assets are close to ten billion, but it is not appropriate to call him an iron cock, he is more like a brave.