January 8 was a Sunday, and that night, Shen Chong disappeared for several hours.

Early in the morning of January 9, he checked out of the Beijing Hotel, and then moved to the guest house of the Film Bureau, where he lived with Liao Yiyuan and others to discuss how to draft a feasibility report on the screening of Hong Kong films in the mainland.

The world is big, and the benefits are the greatest.

Therefore, the first thing to be solved is the problem of money -- when Hong Kong films enter the mainland market, do they sell the film or share the box office?

In order to win over Hong Kong filmmakers, Taiwan regards films produced in Hong Kong as "domestic films" and is not subject to import quotas, so Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest have invested heavily in Taiwan, either as joint ventures or wholly proprietorships, to establish their own cinema chains, and earn a large amount of box office income every year.

What the mainland can now win over are those independent film production companies.

Shen Chong has been in the Hong Kong film industry for more than half a year, and from time to time he instructs his magazines to do targeted research and research, and has already figured out the door of independent producers.

In 1979, the average production cost of independent films was about 8o yuan, while the average box office of Hong Kong films was more than 1oo yuan, and if you calculate this number, you will deduct 17. 5% entertainment tax, 15% travel expenses and 12% publicity expenses, and then split the account with the theater, and finally get 2o yuan, and lose 6o yuan.

An ordinary movie market, 3o million in Singapore and Malaysia, 2o million in Taiwan, 150,000 in Europe and the United States, and other places such as Northern Europe and South America, can also sell for about 1o thousand, and all the income combined, can earn 150,000 to 2o yuan, Hong Kong film production companies, basically operate like this. (Note 1)

Taiwan's population is three times that of Hong Kong, and its economy is also prosperous, so it stands to reason that if you choose to share, your income will be higher, but Hong Kong film companies are reluctant to do this.

Selling film flowers is a one-shot deal, the process is simple, easy to operate, and safe and reliable, no toxic side effects, after the sale, everyone clears, if it is screened, whether it is a bad box office, or a taboo, it has nothing to do with the production company......

Since Hong Kong's opening, selling films has been the main mode of trading for films, and independent producers have relied on it for their livelihood, and if the mainland also adopts this method of trading, as long as the price is higher than that of Taiwan, businessmen will immediately flock to it.

Therefore, Liao Yiyuan, Fu Qi and others agreed to adopt this transaction method, but Shen Chong did not think so, and he strongly requested that the box office account be also written into the body of the report.

In 1979, the economic foundation of the mainland was very weak, the per capita annual income was only 185 US dollars, although the enthusiasm of the masses for watching movies was high, but they were shy in their pockets, and they were still in the era of planned economy, in the eyes of the leaders, the function of the film, one is propaganda, the other is welfare, so many movies are screened free of charge in the open air, even if they are screened in cinemas, the ticket price is very low, in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, the ticket price is only 2 cents, and this price is fixed, any area wants to adjust the ticket price, It needs to be reported to the China Film Industry and Screening Company in advance for co-ordination, and then approved by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Prices before it can be implemented. (Note 2)

Therefore, at this time, the mainland film market seems to be beautiful, but in fact, the total box office is very limited, and the box office is divided into accounts, and it is not enough to share a few dollars, which is far less attractive to independent film production companies than selling films.

"Xiao Shen, I also know that the mainland film market has huge potential, and the future is unlimited. Liao Yiyuan shook his head and said in an old-fashioned manner: "But the model of box office account sharing is very complicated to operate, and there are many departments involved, which is easy to rip off, and it is better to have more than one thing. ”

"Yes, what Liao Lao said makes sense." Chen Jingbo, who has never had any sense of zài, also persuaded: "It's good to have a good box office account, but it will take a few years for it to have an effect, and we can't afford to wait now." ”

"Two old-timers, what you said is old-fashioned, I admire it." Shen Chong put down the pen and said vaguely; "But I think that we Chinese have always put human feelings first, and it is indeed convenient and fast to sell pieces of flowers, but when it is convenient, human feelings are thin, fast, and there are fewer contacts."

He touched his clean beard, which he had shaved last night, and continued; "Although it is troublesome to share the box office account, there are many people to deal with. The situation in the mainland is booming, we are now valued, and we can often communicate with high-level exchanges, there may not be such opportunities in the future, several predecessors are full of children and grandchildren, I remember there is a saying that is good, it is better to keep gold and silver, it is better to leave personal affection. ”

The three old guys, the youngest Fu Qi is also 5o, they are all family-owned, they glanced at each other, they were silent, after half a sound, Liao Yiyuan nodded slowly, and said: "Xiao Shen, you are young, you have insight into the world, you are really a genius, no wonder you can make Minister Situ and Director Chen have blue eyes." ”

"I think so." Shen Chong said with a smile: "In the body of the report, the sale of films is the main transaction method, and the box office account sharing is used as the record, because this model is more complicated, let's select a few representative box office account sharing cases and make an attachment for the leader's reference, what do you think?" ”

"I think that's good." Fu Qi said: "Old Liao, what do you see? ”

"This is good, there are actual cases for reference, and it is more convincing." Liao Yiyuan picked up the teacup and said, "Xiao Shen, we are all old and have little energy, you can write this report, let's do it." ”

"How's that going to work!" Shen Chong hurriedly politely, "I can only do the physical work of writing, theoretical knowledge and practical experience, and I am not worthy of lifting shoes for the three of them......"

Shen Chong's single-minded desire to promote a box-office sharing system is not for the benefit of Hong Kong's independent film companies, which he doesn't care about whether they live or die.

Of course, it is even more impossible to benefit the network resources of his children and grandchildren, he is only 2o years old, and as a crossing party, he is clear who he should befriend, and there is no need to use the small profits of box office sharing to win people over.

His purpose is to break the monopoly of Chinese film companies.

Two months ago, on August 1o, the Film Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, together with the Bureau of Culture and Education of the Ministry of Finance, jointly formulated the "Implementation Plan of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance on Reforming the Management System of Film Screenings".

The way China Film Company works is to buy out - at a price of 7o yuan per feature film, it is purchased from major film studios.

This price seems to be good, but mainland film studios are constrained by the system, inefficient, and costly, and it is difficult to make a living at this price, let alone make a profit, while on the other hand, the mainland film market is in full swing and full of excitement.

There is an ancient poem: After picking a hundred flowers into honey, for whom is it hard and for whom is it sweet?

The studio worked hard to make a big cake, but he could only watch China Film Company feast, and he was naturally angry, Shen Chong heard Wei Baoguo say that some time ago, the director of Beijing Film Studio personally wrote to the central government, asking for reform.

This situation is very beneficial to Shen Chong.

There are now two monopolistic film companies in the mainland, one is a Chinese film company and the other is a newly established Chinese co-production company, however, there is still a big name that has not appeared......

In the later generations, China Film Group was full of anger, in addition to the advantages of screening, it also held a big killer - the only company in China Big 6 that has the right to import films.

In the beginning, this right was not China Film Company, but China Import and Export Company, but throughout the 8O years, the mainland was the world of domestic films, and this company had no reputation and unknown role, so it was later merged into China Film Company.

This company has not yet been established, but according to Shen Chong's recent information, it is very likely to be established before the end of the year. (Note 3)

Just look at the name, if Hong Kong films want to enter the mainland, they must go through this company.

And Shen Chong didn't mention the word "country" in front of Chen Bo, but just built a Hong Kong film to enter the Cantonese-speaking "Guangdong region" screening, asking for a sky-high price, sitting on the ground to pay the money, his psychological expectations are actually very low, as long as he can be screened in Shenzhen, he will be satisfied......

Before coming to Beijing, Shen Chong had already learned from Jiang Zhiqiang that Shenzhen welcomes Hong Kong businessmen to invest in operating cinemas.

China Film Company is the agency responsible for the national screening, screening in Shenzhen, it is not considered the whole country, playing a side game, avoiding policies and regulations, and Shenzhen is now just a small fishing village, with a population of more than 3o and small profits in the land of projectiles, China Film Company may not care, even if it cares, the ** resistance will not be very strong.

Shen Chong's plan to build his own cinema in Shenzhen, and then borrow the skin of the China Import and Export Company to settle the box office in the form of film account sharing.

With Shenzhen's exhibition, Shen Chong believes that in two or three years at most, the number of box office accounts will be able to make the directors of mainland film studios stand up and rebel.

Only when the monopoly position of China Film Company's unified purchase and sales is destroyed, can the mainland film market really survive, otherwise, in the shadow of monopoly, any prosperity will eventually be in vain.

Shen Chong dared to do this, but also seized the blank period of national transformation at the beginning of reform and opening up.

Ten years of turmoil, so that the mainland lost a large number of talents, and at the same time destroyed many industries of the old rules and regulations, so at the beginning of the reform and opening up, many industries are in a blank to rebuild order, at this time, an expert, it is possible to determine the fate of an industry in the next ten years or decades.

Although Shen Chong is young, he rose like a comet in Hong Kong, started from scratch, earned tens of millions a month, and broke the box office record of Hong Kong movies, and so on, giving him the coat of a business wizard and a film expert.

This is the so-called era dividend!

For example, Li Kaiyuan in Shenzhen, claiming to invest 1ooo million Hong Kong dollars, in fact, only invested 2ooo in the early stage, so that the provincial leaders can personally attend the groundbreaking ceremony, and in a few years, let alone 1ooo million, it is 100 million, and if it is invested in Shenzhen, it will not even make a splash.

After the turmoil, the film industry is basically operating in accordance with the rules of the 5O era, and it is completely unable to keep up with the needs of the times, so whether it is a senior leader or a low-level worker, there is a strong willingness to reform.

Therefore, at this time, Shen Chong seemed to be a construction merchant standing on a ruin......

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Note 1: See Zhuo Pak Tong's Hong Kong New Wave Cinema.

Note 2: See History of Contemporary Chinese Cinema, Volume II.

Note 3: China Film Import and Export Corporation was established on December 3O, 1979.

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