After chatting at the golf club, Fang Xing basically understood the meaning of the penguin.

Penguin Group's entertainment business group has taken a fancy to the content output of Ark Culture, so it intends to inject capital and hold shares.

In other words, it wasn't Penguin Pictures that took a fancy to "Spirited Away".

"Spirited Away" is an addition to the collaboration.

Penguin Group's entertainment business group includes companies in the cultural industry such as Penguin Video, Penguin Pictures, and Penguin Music.

So far, the content of Ark Culture's output mainly includes songs and TV series.

Especially in the field of music, the performance of Ark Culture has been compared to the giants of the record industry.

The two TV series are also hits.

Therefore, in terms of cultural content, the Ark culture has great potential.

The senior management of Penguin Video and Penguin Music all hope that the group can hold shares in Ark Culture.

Only in this way can Penguin Video and Penguin Music stably obtain the content output of Ark Culture.

In fact.

Since "The Beginning" became popular, companies that want to cooperate with Ark Culture in film and television have flattened the threshold of Ark Culture.

Moreover, there are already film and television companies that have made S+-level big investments, as long as Fang Xing nods, he can start big projects immediately.

Ark culture continues to develop, and Penguin Video may not be able to get the exclusive right to broadcast in the future.

Not only TV series, but also music is equally competitive.

At present, the competition of the three major music platforms in China is mainly focused on the competition for music copyright.

The stickiness of music is greater than that of TV dramas.

Generally speaking, when viewers watch TV series, they usually only watch it once.

The dramas that I particularly like may be brushed twice or three times, but most TV series, the audience will only watch them once.

Music is different, if you like a song, you can keep a single song looping.

After ten or twenty years, when I think of these old songs, I will turn them out and listen to them.

Whichever music platform has these songs, listeners will go to that platform to listen to.

If a music platform wants to get more users, it must have a large enough music library.

Therefore, the competition for song copyright on music platforms is more fierce than that on video platforms.

After several mergers and acquisitions on several major music platforms in China, 99% of the songs are shared by multiple platforms.

The real competition between music platforms is the remaining 1% of the song copyright.

For the three major music platforms, it is not necessary to have exclusive copyrights, but they must have them, otherwise the loss of users will be very fast.

And Fang Xing's new album just released, the total sales have reached 120 million, a proper album sales ceiling.

The current situation is that any music platform that can't get the music copyright of Ark Culture will be pressed to the ground by its opponents.

Therefore, in terms of business layout, many companies in the entertainment business group of Penguin Group hope that the group can take a stake in Ark Culture.

……

This is also the reason why Zhang Changfeng of Penguin Pictures and Xu Guangyi, general manager of Penguin Investment Department, appeared together.

According to the meaning of the senior management of the Penguin Group's entertainment business group, it is hoped that the release of "Spirited Away" will be used as a bargaining chip to get the opportunity to inject capital into Ark Culture.

Of course, if Fang Xing wants to release "Spirited Away", regardless of the conditions, there are film distribution companies willing to distribute it, but it is not easy to negotiate in terms of publicity and distribution costs and distribution shares.

The Penguin Group wants to tie the two things together, so the conditions for the release of "Spirited Away" are very generous, and even the distribution ratio is very low, as long as 10% of the box office is shared.

In terms of capital injection, Xu Guangyi revealed the investment intention of Penguin Group, hoping to inject 100 million yuan, accounting for 20% of the shares.

Moreover, Xu Guangyi also said that the group will not interfere in the specific operation of Ark Culture.

This investment intention is sincere.

If you are a different company and can get investment from the Penguin Group, I am afraid that you can wake up with a smile from your dreams.

Because after the capital injection of Penguin Group, the company gets not only a sum of money, but also a huge network of relationships and countless group resources.

After the first meeting and chat, Fang Xing went back to discuss it with the company's management.

Two days passed.

Fang Xing, Xu Guangyi and Zhang Changfeng officially met once to talk about cooperation.

The last time I was at the golf club, it was an informal meeting to test the willingness of both parties to cooperate.

The formal appointment is to get straight to the point and talk about the specific details of cooperation.

Fang Xing stretched out two fingers and directly expressed his attitude: "I hope to release "Spirited Away" first, and I will pay the publicity and distribution fees in advance, and there are two plans for the distribution agency fee. ”

Zhang Changfeng was a little curious and asked, "Which two plans?" ”

"Since I paid for the publicity and distribution in advance, Penguin Pictures, as the distributor, didn't need to take risks, at most it didn't make money......

Fang Xing first mentioned Penguin Pictures' advantages in this cooperation, and then continued: "In the first plan, the distribution agent is divided into 5%, but you can sign a guaranteed distribution agency fee of 20 million.

"If Penguin Pictures fails to make 20 million in this film distribution in the end, I will personally pay 20 million to pay the distribution agency fee."

When Zhang Changfeng heard this plan, he felt Fang Xing's courage.

In the current film industry, the distribution company's share ratio is usually between 5% and 15%.

However, in fact, very few issuers will have a split ratio as low as 5%.

In this case, it can only be that the producer is very strong, and the movie to be released is a big IP sequel, and you can make money with your eyes closed.

In this case, the issuer will reduce the proportion of the issuance share and strive for cooperation.

For example, the series of movies that dominate the Lunar New Year file every year can easily make billions of dollars at the box office, and this kind of movie has the strength to reduce the distributor's account sharing ratio to 5%.

Fang Xing dared to mention such a low distribution share ratio because he gave Penguin Pictures a distribution guarantee agency fee of 20 million.

Regardless of whether "Spirited Away" makes money or loses in the end, Penguin Pictures can make at least 20 million on this project.

Zhang Changfeng naturally heard the meaning of Fang Xing's words, and continued to ask, "What about the second plan?" ”

Fang Xing replied: "The issuance share ratio is 10%, and there is no guarantee. ”

Zhang Changfeng smiled and nodded: "It seems that Mr. Fang is full of confidence in "Spirited Away". ”

In fact, the two account-sharing schemes are actually a big gamble.

Bet on whether the total box office of "Spirited Away" can exceed 450 million.

If according to the 10% distribution and account sharing ratio, the total box office of "Spirited Away" reaches 450 million, after deducting business tax, and then offsetting the publicity and distribution costs, the amount that Penguin Pictures can get in the end is about 20 million.

That is, two distribution agent split schemes.

The watershed is the 450 million box office.

If the box office is less than 450 million, then Penguin Pictures will sign a 5% account sharing ratio + 20 million guarantee, which will make a lot of money.

If the box office is higher than 450 million, it is better to sign a 10% account sharing ratio.

In fact.

The senior management of the Penguin Group's entertainment business group did not plan to make money on the project "Spirited Away".

It is a cooperation project that is completely used as a capital injection for Ark Culture.

After listening to the two plans, Zhang Changfeng praised: "Mr. Fang really has courage, in case the box office of "Spirited Away" is not ideal, but it will lose more than 100 million." Mr. Fang made all the money on the album, but he lost it all. ”

"It doesn't matter, the money is lost, and you can earn it again." Fang Xing said this, but his expression was full of confidence.

Zhang Changfeng thought about it and asked, "So which plan does Mr. Fang want to sign?" ”

In fact, the current view of film companies on the animated film market generally feels that it is difficult for an animated film like "Spirited Away" to leverage the box office of 450 million.

Many movies with an investment of one or two hundred million yuan dare not say that they can reach this box office.

And the production cost of "Spirited Away" is only 30 million.

Therefore, if Zhang Changfeng is asked to look at it from a professional perspective, Penguin Pictures signs a 5% account sharing + 20 million guarantee, which is the plan to make sure that you don't lose money.

It's just that in this way, it will increase the loss of Ark Culture.

If Penguin Group has just invested in Ark Culture, Ark Culture will lose more than 100 million, which is not good news no matter how you look at it.

Zhang Changfeng glanced at Xu Guangyi and motioned for him to speak.

Xu Guangyi asked in a calm tone: "Regarding the matter of Penguin Group's shareholding in Ark Culture, how did Mr. Fang think about it?" ”

"Intent can be determined. However, my idea is to wait until the release of "Spirited Away" is over, and then talk about the specific shareholding plan. Fang Xing has already considered it and is ready to accept the capital injection from the Penguin Group, but the specific shareholding ratio is ready to wait for the release of "Spirited Away" to be discussed.

Xu Guangyi nodded and thought about it.

In fact, from his point of view, he also wants to wait for the release of "Spirited Away" before injecting Ark Culture.

Judging from the current situation, if Ark Culture really wants to spend 100 million yuan on the publicity and distribution of "Spirited Away", then this project will most likely lose.

If the project loses, the valuation of Ark Culture will definitely be lowered.

When the time comes, if you inject more capital, you can use less money and get more shares.

To put it simply, it's a big gamble.

Fang Xing bets that the box office of "Spirited Away" will exceed 450 million, while Penguin bets that the box office of the movie will be less than 450 million.

"Fortunately, the investment project also needs a few months to advance, and the "Spirited Away" project can be carried out first." Xu Guangyi agreed to the plan.

The conversation turned back to the movies.

Zhang Changfeng asked: "The issuance plan is basically determined, and the details can continue to be discussed." Mr. Fang has any other requirements for film distribution? ”

Fang Xing thought about it for a while and said: "I hope Penguin Pictures can win more than 20% of the film schedule for "Spirited Away" in the eleventh schedule. ”

"This ......"

Zhang Changfeng was stunned for a moment and replied, "This is very difficult. ”

The eleventh schedule is the most important movie schedule in a year, except for the Chinese New Year and summer holidays.

There are many special effects blockbusters that choose to be released on the eleventh schedule.

This also means that the competition for the eleventh schedule is very fierce.

And in the eleventh schedule of this year, two heavyweight special effects blockbusters have been confirmed.

Two heavyweight special effects blockbusters must eat at least 60% of the scheduled films.

For the rest of the films, it is indeed very difficult to get 20%.

Even if Penguin Pictures is very strong, it is not confident that it will be able to get so many films.

"So Mr. Zhang, how many films do you think you can get?" Fang Xing asked in a calm tone.

Zhang Changfeng thought for a moment and replied: "Only 5% of the film schedule can be guaranteed, unless the film is released and the reputation is very good, it is possible to increase the film schedule in the later stage." ”

5% of the scheduled films, just looking at the number seems to be very low, but for an animated film, it is actually okay.

After all, with a production cost of 30 million, there is no star to carry the box office, and it is not directed by a famous director.

In all aspects, there are no signs of a box office hit.

Penguin Pictures can guarantee 5% of the film schedule, which is already doing its best.

However, Fang Xing was not satisfied with 5%.

This initial film schedule is still too few, even if you rely on word-of-mouth to increase the film schedule in the later stage, it is difficult to counterattack at the box office.

For many audiences, watching movies during the eleventh long holiday and making a decision when they arrive at the cinema.

This kind of audience is basically watching whatever movie happens to be scheduled.

Therefore, the proportion of film scheduling has too much impact on the box office of the movie.

Fang Xing was not satisfied with the 5% film schedule, and asked: "I asked for more films." ”

Zhang Changfeng shook his head and replied: "It's not that I don't want to help, but I really can't help." 5% of the film schedule is already doing its best. ”

Fang Xing nodded and said, "Don't worry, I won't embarrass Mr. Zhang." I considered screening in advance and using word-of-mouth to change the film schedule. ”

When Zhang Changfeng heard this method, his eyes couldn't help but widen.

Movies are screened in advance, which is nothing new.

Early screening is a small-scale screening before the movie is released.

Audiences can watch the movie in advance, but the number of screenings is relatively small.

After the screening, the audience who has watched it will naturally give feedback to the movie.

Especially film critics, after watching the screening, they will definitely write a film review.

This makes it possible for the movie to form a word-of-mouth before it is officially released.

However, the results of the screening are not necessarily positive.

If a bad movie is screened in advance, after the audience watches it, they will angrily spray the bad movie on the Internet.

Then the movie has not been officially released yet, and the word of mouth is rotten.

It is conceivable that when it is officially released, the box office will definitely hit the streets.

Movie theaters are to make money, if the movie is a bad movie, no audience is willing to buy tickets, and naturally they are not willing to arrange more shows, and the film schedule will naturally be reduced.

On the contrary, if the movie is screened in advance, the audience will say that it is good, and the word of mouth will rise.

Audience feedback is the most authentic.

As long as the reputation is good, in order to make money, the movie theater must take the initiative to ask for more movie schedules.

Therefore, early screening is a double-edged sword.

Zhang Changfeng heard that Fang Xing was going to screen it in advance, and said with a smile: "Mr. Fang's courage is admirable. Penguin Pictures can indeed arrange screenings, and it can already invite many film critics to watch the movie. As long as Fang always has confidence, there is no problem.

However, once the audience feedback is not good, even 5% of the film schedule cannot be guaranteed. Are you sure you want to do the screening? ”

Fang Xing's expression was very firm, and he nodded and replied, "I'm sure to do the screening, and the sooner the better." ”

Penguin Pictures didn't have to take a risk on this project.

So Zhang Changfeng didn't have any pressure, naturally Fang Xing did whatever he wanted.

"Yes, then follow Mr. Fang's plan. We fully cooperate. Zhang Changfeng readily agreed.

After the two sides negotiated, the release plan of "Spirited Away" was immediately launched, and the publicity and screening were carried out at the same time, and a big gamble kicked off.