Wang Zhonglei: Content is always the core of Huayi Brothers, and it cannot become a strong IP company just by looking at the box office

In terms of brand management, in addition to Huayi Brothers brand management, there are also derivatives, consumer goods and other businesses. Including Wanda's recent acquisition of Shiguang. com, we can also see that derivatives are a big cake. Although the market size is still small now, it does not mean that there is no room for the future, but we are the first to start. We have also established a good team in the derivatives field, and there will be a press conference worth looking forward to in September this year.

Original title Huayi Brothers Wang Zhonglei: Markets are turbulent, companies should be more awe-inspiring about content

. After five years of rapid growth, the domestic movie box office market has experienced a "shrinking" phenomenon for the first time this year. Taking July as an example, the overall box office decreased year-on-year. Nearly 2 billion yuan, at the same time, industry chaos such as box office fraud, constant bubbles, and vicious competition are also constantly being staged. As a 22-year-old private film and television company, how can Huayi Brothers survive? Faced with changes in the industry, how will Wang Zhonglei, founder, vice chairman and CEO of Huayi Brothers, respond next?

Reporter: In the past two years, the movie box office market has expanded rapidly and capital from all walks of life has poured in. What impact has this had on Huayi Brothers?

Wang Zhonglei: The shrinking box office in the first half of the year confirms the rationality of the audience. More than 95% of the bubble does not mean that there are no high-quality products. For example, domestic films such as "Chills 2" and "Big Fish Begonia" are all successful from a single product perspective. Objectively speaking, the overall decline in the market is also prompting the industry to enter a period of cooling-off. At this time, it is more important to rely on content to speak. Therefore, in my opinion, the current market situation is an opportunity for Huayi Brothers. Strengthening the core of content is the foundation of Huayi's foothold. Only with high-quality content can there be so-called high-quality products, consolidate the core competitiveness of the brand, and provide driving force for derivative development.

Reporter: Some practitioners believe that the focus of competition in the film and television industry will focus on theater terminals. Will Huayi Brothers strengthen its layout in theaters?

Wang Zhonglei: Competition in the terminal market has been amplified. In the end, the film and television industry will definitely be competition for content, with content driving the upper and lower chains. But at this time, channel competition seems to be more important, so the theater business will be a particularly important layout for Huayi Brothers next, and the next 3-4 years will be a critical period. Affected by the decline in the film market in the first half of this year, the enthusiasm for capital acquisition of theaters has also cooled down. Next, Huayi Brothers is preparing to accelerate its entry into the theater market.

In the future, Huayi Brothers 'theater strategy will not be guided by the blind pursuit of quantity and market share, but will be more focused on the layout of the industrial chain and brand export, taking the high-quality route, and laying out high-quality theaters. Our initial goal is to hope that after 3-4 years of construction, Huayi Brothers can join the front line of theaters.

Reporter: Nowadays, more and more film and television companies hope to achieve new development through listing. In your opinion, what changes has the listing brought to Huayi Brothers?

Wang Zhonglei: Listing has indeed played a great role in promoting the company's development, and Huayi Brothers has been used to this day. First of all, at that time, the film and television industry entered a new turning point and began to develop towards scale and industrialization. Capital has enabled us to quickly expand our layout and establish an industrial chain from content to channels to derivatives. We have also accumulated a lot of talents and resources through this chain. Secondly, the listing has brought Huayi Brothers 'brand influence to a new height. Almost overnight, Huayi Brothers became a household name in cultural brands. Audiences will find that many movies were produced by Huayi Brothers, and that famous directors like Feng Xiaogang and many stars were originally shareholders of Huayi Brothers.

Reporter: How do you evaluate Huayi Brothers 'current layout in the three major business sectors?

Wang Zhonglei: The Internet sector was originally our first attempt at emerging and non-entertainment businesses. At the beginning, it was actually a judgment on this market. We believed that mobile games were a very fresh market with promising prospects. It was quite risky for us to invest nearly 150 million yuan in Palm Technology. It was the largest single investment of Huayi Brothers at the time. Unexpectedly, it would turn into several billion yuan two years later. Later,"movie and game linkage" also began to rise, and everyone was integrating, so Huayi Brothers was still very forward-looking.

Real-life entertainment is actually a process of channelling offline content. Huayi Brothers 'goal is very clear, to become a world-class film and television company, and at present, Disney is the only one we can refer to. It took us six years to prepare for the real-life entertainment sector, and we also encountered a lot of doubts during the process. At that time, many people thought that Huayi Brothers wanted to "de-film" and do real estate, but in fact the real-life entertainment sector was asset-light. There are three outputs: brand, copyright, and management. Up to now, when we sign the contract with Huayi Brothers Film Town with each region, there will be many management treaties including brand management, content engine, etc. Among them, 40% of the content engines must come from film and television, 20% from the mobile Internet, and the rest are feedback from local cultural characteristics. 2017 is the time when it begins to bear fruit, when China's first theme park built with China's original IP will open.

In the final analysis, content is always the core of Huayi Brothers. If you only focus on the box office of movies, you cannot become a strong IP company.

Reporter: From the initial start to the present, how do you define Huayi Brothers 'growth and development over the past 20 years?

Wang Zhonglei: The original Huayi Brothers was regarded as a family business. From its establishment in 1994, it began to invest in film and television in 1998, making film and television its main business. The cultural formation and strategic layout of all companies basically began to take shape after the preparatory period for listing. It was from then on that I really understood how to be a public-oriented company. I think Huayi Brothers 'history can be regarded as a dividing point from listing. After more than 20 years, the most important thing Huayi Brothers has brought to me personally and my team is that we must be the most personalized, principled and attitudinal content creators. Over the past 20 years, Huayi Brothers has also done many business segments. In order to improve the company's viability and profitability, the most important thing is always the core content. Companies must be in awe of content at all times.

Editor: Nancy