Chapter 1397 1499. Dilemma
Many of the conveniences that Huayi had in the past were taken care of because of Nie Wei's relationship. Take movie theater arrangement as an example, Fanxing Cinemas and AMC Cinemas actually have no relationship with Huayi. They are Nie Wei's personal The assets purchased through investment belong to Nie Wei's own assets.
Huayi's films are taken care of in the schedule, on the one hand because the quality of the films is good enough, and on the other hand because of Nie Wei's personal care.
But now that Nie Wei and Huayi have made a split and no longer hold shares in Huayi, this kind of care is naturally gone.
In addition, Lei Technology and Fanxing Weibo, which are convenient for film special effects production and publicity channels, have also left Huayi with Nie Wei's departure.
What also troubles Wang Zhonglei is the resignation of some staff within the company.
In less than a month, the number of people who have resigned from the company has reached 300, accounting for almost one-tenth of the total staff of Huayi Company.
The key is that these resigning personnel are also technical personnel who are particularly important to the company.
The largest number of them are various film and television talents, many of whom are elites with more than ten years of experience in the industry. Their names may be just unknown people in the hearts of the public, but in the industry, they are all great figures.
These people are actually the most valuable assets of a film and television company, but now even these assets are leaving Huayi.
Wang Zhonglei promised high salary, and also persuaded, begged and even threatened these people, but in the end not one of them changed their mind. The day after they resigned, all of these people joined Fanxing Group.
Wang Zhonglei felt bitter and complained, but he understood to some extent.
Because they all grew up with Nie Wei, they are Nie Wei's most trusted partners, and they also admire Nie Wei the most.
Wang Zhonglei regretted why he gave Nie Wei such rights in the first place. Wang Zhonglei thought he had taken a big advantage in the original division and rule. But now he understands that Nie Wei has a much longer-term vision than he does.
Huayi's market value is still falling. Although it is not as avalanche-like as it was at the beginning, the decline cannot be hidden at all.
The market is obviously not optimistic about Huayi, which has lost Nie Wei. If Huayi cannot prove itself with works as soon as possible, then this downward trend will not stop.
For this reason, Wang Zhonglei invited Ning Hao, Lu Chuan, and Director Feng to come over and talk to them specifically.
"I believe everyone is aware of Huayi's problems. We are in urgent need of a work to prove the company's strength. We want the public to have confidence in us, so I would like to apologize to everyone here and put the vacation aside for now. Huayi needs you now," Wang Zhonglei said very sincerely.
These are Huayi's three best directors at present. Ning Hao's films follow the line of black humor. The seemingly absurd and uninhibited plots actually reflect on society and people's hearts. Lu Chuan is good at one. A master of narrative, he prefers works with realistic themes.
As for Director Feng, he is a top director in China. He was indispensable for Huayi's successful transformation from an advertising company to a film and television company.
Director Feng is actually good at many genres. He has filmed not only the large-scale war-themed movie "Assembly", but also the disaster movie "Earthquake", and the "1942" with heavy historical themes. However, Director Feng is best at celebrating the New Year. comedy.
This is Wang Zhonglei's biggest hope at the moment.
In the first few years of Huayi's development, all the company's benefits were actually concentrated during the Chinese New Year period, because this period was when Director Feng's movies were released.
But later, as Nie Wei joined and changed his career to become a director, the expectations of Huayi's top brass gradually turned to Nie Wei. But now that Nie Wei has left, the good things of the past have resurfaced in Wang Zhonglei's heart. The person he has the most high hopes for is Feng Zhonglei. It’s a New Year’s film directed by Huayi. As long as the box office goes up, Huayi will be able to stop its decline, and it’s very possible that it can even stage a desperate counterattack.
After all, where is Huayi's previous fame?
Just when Wang Zhonglei was thinking about his own counterattack and leading Huayi back to its peak, Director Feng frowned and replied with some dissatisfaction: "Mr. Wang, are you kidding me?"
"It's definitely too late for the Lunar New Year holiday. Our Spring Festival is in February next year, which is only four months ago. Excluding the review, it takes one month, and the time left for us to shoot is only three months, but we don't even have a script. How can this be done in time?"
"Didn't you say that you already have an idea for "If You Are the One 3"?"
"An idea is an idea, and a script is a script. Besides, even if I have a script, doesn't it take time to find actors? Now that the company has left so many film and television talents, it will take time to form a crew that suits my needs. And Movies need to be shot, and the crew also needs to budget for food, clothing, housing and transportation.”
"I don't even count the several times I spent with actors and actresses, as well as investors, sponsors... there are so many things, and it can't be figured out in a short time."
"Anyway, if you ask me to produce "If You Are the One 3" in four months, I won't be able to do it." When Director Feng made this conclusion, Wang Zhonglei's face was terrifyingly gloomy.
It’s not that he thinks Director Feng is trying to shirk the blame. As someone who has been in this circle for more than 20 years, he knows very well that what Director Feng said is indeed the truth, but this is just a normal thing. Now that Huayi is facing a crisis, it should be special. It's a special case.
"Director Feng, I know this matter puts you in great danger, but the company will fully support you. No matter how much investment you want, the company will satisfy you. No matter what support you want, the company will fully support you. I believe that if we work together, we will definitely be able to create this miracle."
"And you are also a part of the company." Finally, Wang Zhonglei did not forget to emphasize this point.
Director Feng has shares in Huayi. He did not buy them, but as a veteran of Huayi, the company gave him a reward of 2% in order to tie up this great director.
But don't underestimate 2%. At the peak of Huayi's market value, this 2% was worth more than 1 billion. Of course, it has depreciated a lot now, but it is also worth nine figures.
Director Feng looked embarrassed because he felt that he could not do it, but Wang Zhonglei's words were not wrong. The shares in his hands did make him and Huayi prosper and suffer together.
What Director Feng regrets most now is that he did not listen when his wife advised him to cash out part of the shares, otherwise he would not be so embarrassed now.
"Let me think about it." Director Feng did not answer directly.
"No problem, but it must be quick. You know that every minute of our time is precious now. It would be best if you can give me an accurate answer within three...two days." Wang Zhonglei said.
He did not force Director Feng to agree on the spot. For some things, as long as they are not explicitly rejected, it is actually fine, because hesitation means inner wavering.
After sending Director Feng away, Wang Zhonglei talked to Lu Chuan and Ning Hao in turn. Basically, they all said the same thing. The company encountered difficulties, and then they hoped that these directors could come up with a work as soon as possible.
Wang Zhonglei placed great hopes on these big directors, and did not give up on small hopes.
Nie Wei seemed to have taken a lot away from Huayi Company, but in fact he also left a lot of valuable wealth, such as HELLOGIRLS, the most popular idol group in China, which nominally belongs to Huayi.
Although the group will disband in more than half a year, there are many things worth doing in this half year.
The first thing Wang Zhonglei thought of was the concert.
Not for anything else, but because for those who make music now, only concerts are the most profitable.
Originally, HELLO GIRLS' farewell concert was planned to be held in the last three months of the group. At that time, 11 concerts across the country would be held in the hometowns of each member, which would be a perfect ending for the group.
But now Wang Zhonglei, who is a little crazy about performance, can no longer care about these.
All the well-made plans were abolished, and the concert was held.
"Isn't there a female singer in Hong Kong who held nearly 50 concerts across the country in a year? And in your own plan, isn't it also to hold 11 concerts in three months? Why can't you do it when I give you three more months and ask you to add ten more concerts?"
Faced with the euphemistic refusal of HELLO GIRLS's agent, Wang Zhonglei said angrily.
He can hold his temper in front of big directors such as Feng Dao, Ning Hao, and Lu Chuan, but he can't suppress his inner irritability in front of these agents and little idols.
Looking at Wang Boss's embarrassed face, the agent's face was also very embarrassed.
After considering the tone, the agent explained: "Boss, we can't calculate it this way. Eleven shows in three months is a reasonable plan we made considering the girls' physical strength. In the last three months, we have cleared all the girls' other work, which can ensure that they can perfectly complete the work of eleven concerts in three months."
"But if we add ten more shows on this basis, I'm worried that the girls' physical strength will not be able to keep up. It's like running 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. Although it only increases the distance by 5,000 meters, the consumption is actually much more difficult than running from zero to 5,000."
"Besides, these girls have the least work. They have been fully booked for a month. If they want to hold a concert now, they will be too busy to handle it. "
"Then why can the female singer from Hong Kong Island hold 50 concerts a year, but you can't even hold 20 concerts in half a year? How are our Huayi artists worse than her?"
The boss is unreasonable, and the agent feels bitter. He can only answer aggrievedly; "Her company is black-hearted, and they do this to exploit artists."
"Do you mean I am also black-hearted?"
"No, no, boss, I absolutely don't mean that." The agent hurriedly denied, but in his heart he quite agreed with Wang Zhonglei's suspicion. He felt that this boss Wang was really a bit black-hearted.
"Boss, please listen to my advice. The schedules of the members of HELLOGIRLS are already full. They are actually overloaded with work. If they are asked to do a concert at this time, they can't do it. You know, a concert from rehearsal to stage takes a lot of effort and energy. The girls are already fully scheduled with their daily work. Where do they have time to do this?"
"This is your business. I don't care about the process, I just want the result. Three months, ten concerts, not one less." Wang Zhonglei didn't listen to the advice of the agent at all.
In Wang Zhonglei's view, HELLOGIRLS is an emergency card, and it is time-limited. Anyway, there are only more than six months left before disbanding, so it is natural to squeeze the surplus value of this group to death.
"By the way, is Zhou Duoduo still in school?" Wang Zhonglei suddenly thought of something and asked immediately.
"Yes." The agent replied in a muffled voice.
Wang Zhonglei's eyes lit up. He didn't dare to retaliate against Nie Wei, but it seemed good to embarrass her sister a little and let out a bad breath.
Thinking of this, Wang Zhonglei immediately ordered: "Go to the school to bring Zhou Duoduo back to the company and let her continue working."
Upon hearing this, the agent's expression suddenly changed.
"Mr. Wang, this is not good. We agreed with Mr. Nie that Zhou Duoduo would not have any work arrangements except for the follow-up farewell concert work..."
"You didn't understand what I said, did you?" Wang Zhonglei interrupted his manager and said with a cold face: "Is Zhou Duoduo an artist from Huayi?"
The agent's face looked a little ugly, but he still nodded. He couldn't deny this.
"Since you are an artist from Huayi, you should work for Huayi. How can you take Huayi's benefits and study on your own? In short, bring people back to the company first. She is still the captain of your idol group, taking the lead. If you don’t work, no wonder you are all so laid-back.”
The agent walked out of the office door and let out a long sigh.
He felt in his heart that Wang Zhonglei was doing this, regardless of whether it was against the rules or not, but at least he was too petty and did not dare to confront Nie Wei overtly, so he could only vent his anger on his sister secretly.
But who makes him the boss?
The agent reluctantly took out his cell phone and dialed Zhou Duoduo's phone number.
When she received the call from the agent, Zhou Duoduo had just finished her self-study and was reading in her dormitory. She was surprised to see the call from the agent. Firstly, the time was wrong. It was almost nine o'clock in the evening. Secondly, she didn't have much work. , I have no contact with my agent on weekdays.
"Duoduo? I am Wei Changhong."
"Hello, Sister Changhong." Zhou Duoduo said hello, but she was complaining about the new manager's name in her heart, which sounded auspicious.
Wei Changhong hesitated for a moment, then said: "Let me tell you something. I just talked with Mr. Wang. He wanted you to interrupt your studies temporarily and return to the company to work first."
"Why!" Zhou Duoduo exclaimed, frightening Xiang Yixing who was opposite.
"What's wrong?" Xiang Yixing asked silently.
After Zhou Duoduo was surprised, she quickly calmed down, shook her head towards Yixing, and then said: "Sister Changhong, please don't worry about this matter for now."
When Wei Changhong heard this, he felt in a dilemma.