The Refinement of Yaolai Film and Television Empire: Low-ticket price strategy, specializing in large projects, and cutting into the upper reaches of film and television

where did Yaolai come from? This fast-growing film and television upstart, its studio has repeatedly ranked first at the national box office since its opening six years ago, and has completed its marriage with the A-share capital market. Open Yaolai's commercial territory and the road of development, what we can see is the low-key rise of a dark horse with extraordinary strength.

the original title unveiled the distribution business of Yaolai Film and Television Empire. "the first show": 500 million guarantee "I am not Pan Jinlian"

in late autumn and winter, after a cold summer vacation and a warm National Day, the Chinese film market became as dry and hot as a sword in November. Since filming began at the end of last year, Feng Xiaogang's masterpiece "I am not Pan Jinlian", which was released on November 18, has experienced sensitive themes, overseas awards and a sudden shift, resulting in twists and turns.

on the first day of release, the film's director Feng Xiaogang publicly challenged Wang Jianlin, and Wang Sicong responded that "I am not Pan Jinlian" has become a national entertainment topic. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most eye-catching movie of the year. For several days in a row, the whole country suddenly appeared in the middle of the night at the same time, pushing "I am not Pan Jinlian" to the forefront of the storm.

and at the beginning of this controversial film, the second sign with "Dragon" seen after "Dragon sign" is the film's producer, Yaolai Film and Television. Where did Yaolai come from? This fast-growing film and television upstart, its studio has repeatedly ranked first at the national box office since its opening six years ago, and has completed its marriage with the A-share capital market. Open Yaolai's commercial territory and the road of development, what we can see is the low-key rise of a dark horse with extraordinary strength.

from the super luxury business to the film and television box office Nuggets, what is the logic of Yaolai's industrial layout? What role do Jackie Chan and Huayi Brothers, who work closely with Yaolai Cinema, play in it? What kind of capital map does QiJianHong have as a low-key tycoon in Yaolai? The outside world is full of imagination about the low-key Yaolai. On the occasion of the release of "I am not Pan Jinlian", reporters interviewed in many ways in order to objectively present the Yaolai asset map.

A movie ticket costs less than 20 yuan, with free popcorn and ice cream. It's a sea of people waiting in line. " Some viewers are still shocked by the scene witnessed six years ago at Wukesong Store of Beijing Yaolai Jackie Chan International Cinema (hereinafter referred to as "Yaolai five Pine Store").

under the combined effect of low-cost tickets, luxury cinema and Jackie Chan brand, Yaolai Studios became famous in the first World War, and the film projection business also laid the foundation for the expansion of Yaolai's film and television empire. Unlike Huayi, which started with production, and Boehner, who started with distribution, Qijianhong, the boss of the luxury goods industry who single-handedly created the "Yaolai system", chose to start with the studio, which is quite a test of financial strength. When expanding to production and distribution, he also made bold moves, specializing in "big-level projects" such as Jackie Chan and Feng Xiaogang.

in the past two years, ST Songliao, a cultural assets holding company with the background of state-owned assets in Beijing, has acquired Yaolai Studios, and the listed company has changed its name to "Wen Tou Holdings". "it has always been Mr. Jackie Chan's wish to be a movie city with ticket prices close to the people. It is also Yaolai's business philosophy. At the bottom of our hearts, we always have a dream to build a cinema that is' worthy of the common people'. " An executive of Wentou Holdings, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said in an exclusive interview with every film and television.

in the view of the executives of the above-mentioned Wen Investment Holdings, 500 million yuan won the right to guarantee the distribution of "I am not Pan Jinlian", and it was also the "first show" of Yaolai's film and television layout distribution business.

and the film business from production to screening, "recruit" Yaolai has grown step by step, closely linked with Jackie Chan and Huayi Brothers, two "veterans" of the film and television industry.

< strong > low-price ticket strategy < / strong >

A film by Zhang Yimou was released at that time, and the lowest ticket price was 30 yuan. Yaolai Wukesong Cinema still adopts the ticket price of 10 yuan each, with the other 20 yuan subsidized by the cinema itself.

Wu Hehu clearly remembers the apprehension in his heart before completion. In 2010, as the first movie city of Yaolai, five pine stores of Yaolai opened, and the cinema joined Shanghai Lianhe Cinema chain. Wu Hehu, former deputy general manager of Shanghai Lianhe Cinema, once inspected the location of the studio. "next to the West fourth Ring Road in Beijing, I thought at that time that this area was not central, and that the cinema had to be so large. Will it work or not? I'm not sure. " Wu Hehu told reporters, "but now it seems that this cinema has become the annual box office champion in cinemas across the country."

although it is a film and television company that frequently plays chess cloth in pan-entertainment sectors such as production, distribution and projection, and performing arts agents, for most audiences in Beijing, the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to Yaolai is the cinema.

on a weekday morning in October, every film and television reporter came to the Yaolai five pine store. In a large shopping mall on the west fourth ring road of Beijing, the store has won the top spot in both box office receipts and cinema attendance for the fifth year in a row. In non-prime time, the studio, which has watched more than 1 million movies in half a year, is not surrounded by a huge passenger flow. The electronic screen of the ticket office shows the membership price discount information of "as low as 25 yuan".

apart from the civilian price, what distinguishes this cinema from other cinemas is the almost ubiquitous Jackie Chan element. The most prominent advertising space is a large poster of Jackie Chan's new film "Escape of the Jedi", and the showcase of Maotai Jackie Chan also occupies the wall of the main cinema aisle. Jackie Chan personally promoted the VCR of Dolby Sound in the cinema and toured the movie trailer.

speaking of the low-cost ticket to win the world for Yaolai Cinema, Wu Hehu feels that this seemingly simple and rude method is direct and effective. "I attended several of their business meetings, and their goal was: the number of people! Number of people! Number of people! Administration and Management! Administration and Management! Administration and Management! The number of people is more important than the box office, even if you post money, you have to attract popularity. At that time, it aroused the strong dissatisfaction of some colleagues, but for Yaolai cinema, only in this way can it show its advantage over other cinemas. "

especially from 2010 to 2011, e-commerce and group buying have not yet entered the film market on a large scale, and film ticket prices across the country generally remain high. Yaolai Studios took the lead in playing the low-price card, and now it still looks quite forward-looking. "the idea of low-price tickets was put forward by Mr. Jackie Chan." "this is also Yaolai's business philosophy," said an executive at Wen Investment Holdings. At the bottom of our hearts, we always have a dream to build a cinema that is' worthy of the people'. "

however, "maximum price" and "minimum price" have always been games with each other. Wu Hehu said: "at that time, there was a limit of no less than 30 yuan for a film by Zhang Yimou. Yaolai five pine stores adopt a ticket price of 10 yuan each, which obviously does not meet the minimum ticket price. Then the cinema itself will subsidize the 20 yuan. Attract the audience at a low price, as long as the audience comes, they will know that this is one of the largest cinemas in Beijing, with a hall of 660 seats and 17 halls. And there's Jackie Chan's sign on it. After coming here once, they are not afraid that you will not come, so they insist on taking the route of low-cost tickets. "

the semi-annual report of Media Investment Holdings shows that in the first half of 2016, the average ticket price of Yaolai Cinema was 33 yuan, slightly lower than the industry average, while the average attendance rate was 20.45%, much higher than the industry average attendance rate. the resulting large number of people provide support for the studio's derivatives sales and advertising revenue.

as Yaolai Studios wishes, the revenue from sales that is much higher than the attendance of its peers is the focus of the benefit. As of the first half of this year, Yaolai Studios had 39 studios across the country.

< strong > the big project "Love" < / strong >

in June, Wu Yifan, a popular entertainer, officially signed a contract to act as an agent for brokerage affairs in China, comprehensively expanding his development in the fields of music, film and television, performance, commercial endorsement, etc.

another trump card of Yaolai Film and Television is Jackie Chan, of course.

in 2015, Yaolai Movie and Television starred Jackie Chan's film "the Master of Heaven" reached the top 10 at the box office of the whole year. And the amount of investment in this film is staggering.

"in terms of investing in film content strategy, Yaolai adheres to the front-line strategy and strengthens its close cooperation with Jackie Chan, Feng Xiaogang and other big names." Wen Tou Holdings executive said, "the company currently does not have investment in small and medium-cost films, and plans to have some layouts in the future." As for cooperation with Hollywood, the mainstream way for Chinese companies is to buy Hollywood companies, but we have a unique way to set up a joint venture with two well-known Hollywood directors, which means that Yaolai has Hollywood director resources. in-depth layout of film content production. "

although Yaolai Film and Television has always kept a low profile from top to bottom, operating the film and television entertainment business in the spotlight, Yaolai Film and Television has inevitably become the focus of public opinion many times. On June 14, when Wu Yifan, a popular post-90s star, was caught in a whirlpool of negative news, the official Weibo of Yaolai Pictures and Television suddenly announced that he had signed Wu Yifan and issued a lawyer statement to defend Wu Yifan's rights.

Wen Tou Holdings said in its 2016 semi-annual report: "in June, the company formally signed a contract to represent artist Wu Yifan's brokerage affairs in China, comprehensively expanding its development in music, film and television, performance, commercial endorsement and other fields."

as for the number of years of cooperation in Wu Yifan's brokerage contract, it is not mentioned in the announcement of Wentou Holdings. And why did this new star, who combines topical and commercial values, choose to join Yaolai Film and Television? Chen Huanzong, deputy general manager of Huanya Film, analyzed: "if artists recognize their brokerage team, then they must have corresponding contacts and resources in the industry that artists value."

Cao Haitao, an investor in the cultural field, said that after the star signs a brokerage contract with the film and television company, the film and television company can help the star undertake the business externally, and the internal film and television company can let the star in the film and television project starring the company at a relatively controllable cost.

not only Wu Yifan's brokerage service. In 2014, Yaolai Pictures relied on its subsidiary Yaolai Pictures to vigorously expand its artist brokerage business, Wen Investment Holdings said in a note released in March 2015. Yaolai Film and Television provided brokerage services for Jackie Chan, Feng Xiaogang and Zhang Guoguo to attend the large-scale variety talent show "I see you have a chance" broadcast by Zhejiang Satellite TV in February 2015.

according to the development plan of Yaolai Cinema, it is planned to raise 2.5 billion yuan this year through the non-public offering of China Investment Holdings, of which 2 billion yuan will be used for the construction of 95 new studios in the next few years. As a result, it ranks among the top five of the comprehensive strength of studio operation and management within three years. Another 500 million yuan is used to invest in new films, including films starring Jackie Chan.

the executive of Wen Tou Holdings revealed that Yaolai Film and Television's goal in production is to become a domestic first-tier film and television production company. For example: light Media, Light Media's cumulative box office in the first half of 2016 was 4.34 billion yuan. Yaolai Film and Television hopes to achieve an annual box office of 3 billion yuan to 5 billion yuan in its production business. "Film is a high-risk industry. Yaolai adheres to the concept of financial investment in film investment while constantly pursuing film quality. Establish a film portfolio ('film portfolio') to increase the scale of investment and reduce the overall investment risk. "

< strong > cut into the upstream business of film and television < / strong >

the first bucket of money in the film investment and production business comes from participating in the project led by Huayi Brothers and the film "Private customization" directed by Feng Xiaogang.

compared with film and television production and distribution, the income from Studios seems to be relatively stable and controllable, but the location, operation, and cooperative relationship with commercial real estate are all areas where novices are easy to step on mines. And with the film and television industry to establish networking resources, from ideas to project guidance and cooperation, but also cross-border film and television bosses miss the pursuit of unavailable. However, Yaolai Studios has innate advantages in these aspects.

"Yaolai started to cut into the film and television industry from the downstream studio business." "Yaolai operators had rich experience in the luxury business in the early days, that is, 'luxury brands need to work with stars, and stars also have to endorse luxury brands', so Yaolai operators have accumulated good contacts in the entertainment industry," a senior executive said. "

in addition, Kaixing Film City involves moving into the mall, while the international luxury brands represented by Yaolai Group in the early days have already formed a good cooperative relationship with large shopping malls.

from the point of view of selecting the targets of mergers and acquisitions, Wen Investment Holdings, the background of state-owned assets, also frankly stated the logic of acquiring Yaolai Studios at the beginning. The main business of Wen Investment Holdings in the film and television industry now includes channels and content. Relatively speaking, the risk of channel and studio operation is on the low side. "

after three years of studio business accumulation in 2010-2013, Yaolai Pictures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yaolai Studios, began to cut into the content side. Yaolai Film and Television's first bucket of money after entering the film and television investment production business came from participating in the project led by Huayi Brothers and the film "Private customization" directed by Feng Xiaogang, which brought more than 14 million yuan in box office revenue to Yaolai Film and Television in 2014. Such a starting point can not be achieved by any film and television company.

as we all know, Feng Xiaogang has always been a core competitiveness of Huayi Brothers in production. At the end of last year, in order to bind Feng Xiaogang, Huayi Brothers spent 1 billion yuan to acquire 70% of Feng Xiaogang's 99% stake in Dongyang Meila. Dongyang Meila also signed the "betting Agreement" and made a corresponding performance commitment.

if Yaolai Film and Television were only investment participants in Huayi Brothers and Feng Xiaogang films, then when it came to "I am not Pan Jinlian", it took control from Huayi Brothers.

Wen Tou Holdings executive explained that the film "I am not Pan Jinlian" was led by Huayi Brothers in the early stage, and Yaolai Film and Television invested about 15% as a co-producer. In the later stage of film development, Yaolai Film and Television won the global guaranteed distribution right of the film with 500 million yuan, and further improved the distribution business layout. At the beginning of this year, Yaolai Film and Television established a joint venture with Weiying era to set up a film distribution company. "I am not Pan Jinlian" is the first major project led by the film distribution company.

in fact, before the above two films, Huayi Brothers and his star partners have successively reached an equity partnership with Yaolai Studios. In September 2013, Yaolai Studios transferred a 20 per cent stake to Huayi Brothers Mutual Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huayi Brothers, for 210 million yuan. In less than a year, Huayi Brothers sold for more than 400 million yuan. At the same time, the "old shareholders" of Huayi Brothers, such as Feng Xiaogang, Zhang Guoguo, Li Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming, participated in the private offering of Dingzengwen Investment Holdings through an investment company called Junlian Jiarui. Jun Lianjiarui, an investment company founded in 2014, holds a 9.41% stake in Wen Investment Holdings.

"Yaolai and Huayi Brothers have always been close in business cooperation. Many projects of the two sides participate in each other. " Wen Tou Holdings executive said.

Edit: nancy