Editor's note: This article is from Huashang Taolue (hstl8888), reprinted with permission from Chuangyebang.
Author 丨 An Xiaoman
This world has always rewarded people who work hard.
went from an "intruder" halfway through to China's largest film company. "Jiang Ziya" may further consolidate its position.
On November 29, 2012, the box office on the first day of "1942" was lower than expected. Within two trading days from the next day, the market value of Huayi Brothers quickly fell by 1.3 billion. There was an uproar in the industry:
Feng Xiaogang's card surface failed for the first time.
A few months later, a commercial comedy called "Tai囧" ushered in a billion box office era in China. Director Feng, the ace director for more than ten years, won nearly 80% of the box office by Xu Zheng, who was the first director. The production cost of
, a comedy film invested by Enlight Media, was less than 30 million yuan, but in the end it achieved a split box office of 1.267 billion yuan, while the proportion of light sharing accounts was 43%, and the company's equity after split accounts was 90%. Based on this calculation, the light achieved a profit of 490 million, a 16 times profit. The success of
"Thai 囧" has made Guangguang Media's reputation and has robbed Huayi Brothers from the limelight. It has also allowed two companies with different styles and ways to accelerate to different coordinate positions.
▲The film "Tai囧" clip
In 2012, Enlight Media invested, produced, and distributed 12 films, achieving a total of 1.61 billion box office, winning one-fifth of the domestic box office, and the number of films released. Box office numbers have entered the top two in the industry. Even if
starts to lead, the advantage of light is not obvious at this time.
In 2014, two years later, Guangguang's box office market share reached 19%, but Huayi only left 2%. The laurel of "domestic movie box office No. 1" has really changed hands.
is accelerating Huayi's diversification and wants to be a "Chinese Disney" Wang Zhongjun. Obviously he doesn't care about the gains and losses. Looking at the rising stock price of Huayi under the Disney Dream, he proudly declared:
has a market value of 100 billion The goal will be achieved soon.
However, after 6 years, Huayi's market value has not only not reached "100 billion", but has dropped from more than 40 billion at that time to 14 billion now.
Light Media, whose market value was only half of Huayi's at the beginning, has risen from 23.9 billion to 48 billion today, surpassing Wanda Films, Chinese Films, Huayi Brothers, Beijing Culture, etc., to become China's largest film company.
The day when he decided to invest in "Tai囧", Xu Zheng danced and told stories in Wang Changtian's office. This bald head, who has never directed a movie, wants 25 million. The story of
was only told for 20 minutes, and Wang Changtian decided, "without any hesitation." Because: the bald head in front of
is exactly what he wants.
In 1999, Wang Changtian started his career as an entertainment information program; he was involved in movies at the beginning of 2006, but until 2011, when it was listed on the Shenzhen Growth Enterprise Market, Everlight Media was only an escort in the Chinese film market—not available. There is no such a big director as Feng Xiaogang and Huayi did.
Based on the number of films that were released in theaters each year, Wang Changtian made a calculation: China’s film industry is short of about 200Directors, even if they have low level, poor attitude, and old ideas, there are very few directors who can cooperate with Guangxi. So he concluded:
catching a new director is the most effective.
In 2011, Enlight Pictures announced the launch of the "New Director Project"-the discovery and training of 20 new film directors within 3 years. To this end, Wang Changtian has set three channels for digging new directors:
The first type is actors. They have works or are about to have works, and they have created the highest record for Chinese-language movies at the box office. The directors who perform and are excellent; the second type of directors who have transformed from the fields of TV dramas, dramas, and advertising; the third type of directors who study movies, do After some small films.
later, the "first type" director, really opened the door to a new world for light.
Following "Thailand", Zhao Wei directed "To Our Dying Youth" for the first time, Su Youpeng's "Left Ear", Stephen Chow's "Mermaid", Huang Bo's directorial debut "A Good Show", Deng Chao 's "Galactic Cram School"...These new works are full of light behind them. They are not expensive to produce and the themes are fresh, but they almost all create unexpected box offices. Over the years, Light Discovery has cultivated more than a dozen new directors.
At first, Wang Zhonglei was dissatisfied with the fact that Guangguang used actors as directors. Later, he became a little angry:
"Because he poached actors who made money for Huayi."
What made Wang Zhonglei helpless was that he even gave Hua. The director who makes money by Yi is also unreliable. At the end of 2019, after the release of "Only Yun Knows", Feng Xiaogang looked at the celebration poster with a box office of more than 100 million yuan, and thought about his first movie "A World Without Thieves" in 2004, which had a box office of more than 100 million yuan.
▲The movie "A World Without Thieves" clip
is not only the "hero", but also the "golden partner" era of Chinese movies. In 1997, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping joined hands for the first time in "If You Have Something to Say Well", Zhang Yimou is grateful to Zhang Weiping for his trust in him:
doesn't read the account book or the script.
After 15 years, the two have been regarded as the perfect combination of business and art, invincible. In China, similar "golden partners" also include Feng Xiaogang and Huayi, Jiang Wen and Ma Ke, Jia Zhangke and Zhou Qiang...
As an industry in China, such a bundling is both deformed and essential. "The director is the center of the network. You can change anyone, you can't change the director." A producer once said frankly.
Nowadays, with the excavation and bold launch of new directors by the light, the era of "golden partner" in the Chinese film industry is gone. This is a business model modification.
As Wang Changtian once said, what he wants to do is a businessman, and the light wants to hatch a "hen laying eggs." This "hen" must be able to continuously explore new directors, train new producers, new screenwriters, and new actors, and have the ability to continuously "lay eggs".
In 2015, after the abolition of the TV division of the Guangguang, a large-scale replacement of new blood began, every year the school recruits-Wang Changtian wants to train 20 film and television producers. The newcomers recruited by
first undergo company training, and then set up a production team with 3 to 4 people to follow the project. Guangguang controls more than a dozen projects every year, and newcomers grow and learn as they follow up. After a few rounds of
projects, someone will stand out, watch projects, buy IP, recruit screenwriters, build crews, and become independent producers. If there are more people in this way, it is a mature team.
In 2018, in order to train more head screenwriters and directors, Guangguang established the Screenwriting and Director Affairs Department.
In terms of actors, Guangguang signed Guan Xiaotong, Zhang Ruonan, Hu Xianxu and other new stars. "Left Ear" and "Who's Youth Isn't Lost" both feature a large number of new actors.
This makes the basic disk of light film more powerful.
But Wang Changtian's film goal is more than that.
On October 1, 2020, the box office of "Jiang Ziya" broke the 200 million mark on the first day of its release, breaking the box office record of the first day of Chinese film and television animation held by "Nezha: The Devil Boy".
In 2019, "Nezha" exceeded 5 billion at the box office, becoming the second largest box office in the history of Chinese movies and ushering in a new era of Chinese animation movies.
The creation of "Ne Zha" and the surprise of "Jiang Ziya" enabled the producer Fang Guangguang Media to win another core position in the film industry.
▲The movie "Nezha's Devil Child Comes into the World" clip
For 40 years, domestic animation from "Black Cat Sheriff" and "Gourd Brothers" has become "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf" and "Bears Haunted". Although state-owned art and film studios are quiet, more than 6000 animation companies have gradually emerged (2010 data), but even listed companies such as Aofei Entertainment cannot make money by pointing to animation.
Self-deprecating in the industry:
The main business of Chinese animation companies is stock trading.
People have seen that Tian Xiaopeng, the director of "The Return of the Great Sage", registered an animation company in Hebei not far from Beijing, and his employees were paid less than 3,000 yuan; the directors of "Big Fish and Begonia" Zhang Chun and Liang Xuan used crowdfunding The way to raise start-up funds for the film; "Nezha" director Jiaozi, "nibbled" his mother's pension. After three years, the animation company can barely maintain it by relying on outsourcing business...
According to the situation at the time, if it is not subsidized by the government And the hot ideal, almost no large-scale private film company will do animation.
In 2013, relying on the reputation and reputation gained from the release of "To Youth", Wang Changtian decided to lay out the animation.
For the entire year of 2014, there was only one employee in the Light Animation Department-Yi Qiao. After learning about Wang Changtian's plan, he took the initiative to ask Ying to become the person in charge of Light Animation, and accepted Wang Changtian's only request:
to find the best animation director in China to make the most imaginative film.
, the post-80s polished commander, the only job that year was to constantly look for directors of flash and animated short films.
He first touched all the good animation companies in the industry at the time, and then spent only 20 to 30 million to invest more than a dozen of them-each company accounted for 30% to 40% of the shares, and finally opened the order The film project invested in the market and directors, and soon 15 directors were circled.
In 2015, Guangguang officially established the animation company "Caijoya", bought 13 animation studios in one go, and released 22 animation lists.
Wang Changtian is very ambitious and wants to turn "Cai Tiao House" into "China's Pixar".
But in the second year, only 2 of the 5 animations were successful: "Big Fish and Begonia" had a box office of 565 million, and the imported Japanese animation film "Your Name" had a box office of 576 million.
Fortunately, the success of the latter has made Caitiaoya win the favor of its overseas counterparts. World-renowned animation companies Ghibli Studio and Toho Co., Ltd. have come in and reached cooperation.
From 2017 to 2018, Caitiao House entered a gap period without large investment and large production.
But the light itself is not pessimistic. From a business logic point of view:
is more important than stable output, creative burst.
So in 2019, everyone witnessed the emergence of "Ne Zha".
In 2015, Yi Qiao caught the director Dumpling's work "Hit, Hit a Big Watermelon", and flew to Chengdu to discuss cooperation.
Yi Qiao asked Dumplings: "Can you stop all the outsourcing on your hands and return the money. Let's spend three or five years together to make a big ticket?" Dumplings agreed without hesitation.
Color Strip House and DumplingsIt only took one afternoon to reach a cooperation. But before the release of "Nezha", the script was changed to 66 editions, and it took two full years to run in; the production took another three years. When
"Nezha" was on fire in the summer, many media came to interview, Dumpling couldn't help feeling: "I made this movie to give more hope and warmth to those young people who are pursuing their ideals." The
media sighed. : The world of
has been rewarding people who work hard.
Isn't this a true portrayal of Wang Changtian?
In 2013, Wang Zhongjun said in an interview with the media: "I think that entrepreneurs nowadays, making friends is the first productivity, higher than all other productivity."
Huayi's guest list includes Ma Yun, Ma Huateng and Liu Chuanzhi. , Feng Lun and other industry tycoons, Huayi Long Sleeve is good at dancing in the art circle, the entertainment circle, and the entrepreneur circle, and because of this, it quickly made its prosperity.
But seven years later, the Caixin reporter asked Wang Zhongjun again: Huayi will delist if it loses money this year, how can it maintain its listing qualification? Wang Zhongjun has recovered:
's energy is mainly focused on creating.
For more than ten years, Wang Changtian is almost the opposite of Wang Zhongjun: he does not make friends with celebrities, does not go to wine tables to discuss business, and does not bring hostesses to meet customers.
He came from an ordinary family. From entering the Fudan Journalism Department to entering the system to become a reporter, to jumping out of the system to start his own business and lead the light to achieve a breakthrough, Wang Changtian always believed that he was not a dark horse, but a "camel"-long and slowly Accumulate physical strength and take the most stable every step. Although
is over half a hundred years old, Wang Changtian demands that he keep his life young: "I want to understand the young people around me, get in touch with them, and know what they are thinking, doing, and what they don’t like. ...You can discover a lot of new things, keep up with the trend of development and stand at the center of the trend."
Because, more than ten years of calm observation, this camel is very sober: At present, China's entire economy and society, all walks of life, basically Driven by young people. This is different from any other country. Unlike European and American societies, which are relatively stable, they are not so urgent for development and change.
In June 2017, "Kai Rinpoche" won a box office of about 100 million yuan. Chinese filmmakers have been enthusiastic:
is a great breakthrough for art films.
Everyone remembers that "1942", which had a dismal box office five years ago, was not only not a bad film, but was even hailed as "Feng Xiaogang's best movie." But the reality proves that not so many young people are willing to pay for such a serious film with calm and restraint.
But from "Tai囧" to "To Youth" and then to "Nezha", from the fresh sense of humor, fresh nostalgia, to the outspoken "burning", all of them are in line with young Chinese Appetite.
Movies are art, but making movies is business.
Wang Changtian, who regards Murdoch as an idol, has always said that he is just a media businessman: "Wang Zhongjun's entire company operation is one word-people. And the way of light is the model. We strongly emphasize whether it can be industrialized in the future. "The idea of
is fully embodied in "Nezha". The success of
"Nezha" is regarded by many as the turnaround of Chinese animation films. But what people don’t know is that, compared with the mature industrial production of Hollywood, it is not produced in accordance with the normal process of an animated film.
"Nezha" was released on July 26, 2019, but the film was completed only 20 days ago. Participated in the production, there are more than 60 production teams, more than 20 special effects teams, more than 1,600 people.
This labor-intensive production model makes even the box officeAs high as 5 billion, many of the production companies involved are still losing money or making no money at all.
Obviously, the industry needs to integrate leading companies, establish industry standards, and improve bargaining power.
In order to train the producers, Caitiaowu has integrated and invested in two three-dimensional production and two two-dimensional production companies in order to concentrate the main links of different animation films to them. For example, for the next "Jiang Ziya", 70%-80% of the production volume is delivered to these companies.
▲The movie "Ginger Ziya" fragment
also forms a set of "light patterns."
, in accordance with the plan of the Light Color Strip House, will produce products in the first five years and industry in the second five years. The output of 2-3 works will be stabilized each year, and the animation film will account for about 15% of the total box office.
This fully reflects Wang Changtian's "camel character", on the one hand acting steadily, on the other hand being prepared in times of danger, and planning ahead.
From cutting off TV and moving to movies, to boldly launching new directors, opening up commercial genres, to launching live-action movies and laying out animations, Wang Changtian always leads the light to the forefront of the industry.
"I never wanted to become a galloping horse. I think camels are good. So today I am still a camel, but I may change from a camel to a group of camels." It is enough to fatten the hump, while still busy looking for new lush pastures.
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