On October 27, 2022, Huayi Brothers issued a "Notice on the Company's Publicity and Distribution Business and Personnel Adjustment", announcing that the company will streamline the publicity and distribution team, that is, lay off employees.
The key to the success of a film lies in the operation of the publicity team. They are responsible for the warm-up of film word-of-mouth, film scheduling, posters and screenings.
Just like "I Am Not the God of Medicine", a number of screenings were held before the release, which triggered an emotional outburst of the audience, set up many unsolved mysteries, and greatly whetted the audience's appetite.
After the release of the movie, word of mouth continued to rise, and finally achieved a box office result of more than 3 billion.
Huayi Brothers cut off the publicity and distribution team, which is equivalent to cutting one of the wings of the main film business.
Since 2018, Huayi Brothers has faced multiple crises such as stock price ** and film deregistration after falling into a financial deficit.
Four years have passed, and Huayi Brothers seems to have failed to effectively save themselves, and even has a deteriorating trend.
Huayi Brothers, once known as "China's No. 1 Film and Television Entertainment Stock", was once an entertainment empire and once a blockbuster.
Is the situation we are facing today struggling in front of a building on the verge of collapse, or is it a feat of reversal in the face of adversity?
Perhaps, we can get a glimpse of its more than 20 years of development history.
After breaking his iron job in 1985, Wang joined Yongle Culture Development Corporation, where he worked as an advertising manager for three years.
He went to the United States again in 1990 to study, during which time he worked and Xi.
Wang Zhonglei also successfully completed his university studies in the same year.
While in college, Wong's most hobby was watching movies, and he fantasized about becoming a salesman in a video store in the future, where he could enjoy Hong Kong for free every day.
After graduating, Wang Zhonglei wrote a letter to Wang Zhongjun in the United States.
How about we set up our own film and television company?
Wang Zhongjun has been honed in society for ten years, and he replied rationally and restrainedly.
* Money to come?After being poured a basin of cold water, Wang Zhonglei had no choice but to look for a job.
Wang Zhongjun worked hard in the United States for 13 hours a day, earning $100 a day.
After several years of struggle, he managed to save $100,000. In 1994, with this start-up capital of 100,000 US dollars, he returned to China to found Huayi Advertising Company.
At the beginning of the company's operation, it encountered great difficulties, so the old man of the Wang family used the contacts and resources accumulated over the years to assist Wang Zhongjun to successfully win the standardization project of the Bank of China.
Wang Zhongjun completed a very good deal and lived up to his father's expectations. Subsequently, with this success, Huayi Advertising reached strategic cooperation with Huaxia Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, State Power and other enterprises.
Wang Zhonglei failed to start a business, so he joined Wang Zhongjun's advertising agency.
It took only 3 years for Huayi Advertising to become one of the top 10 advertising companies in China.
In 1998, Wang Zhongjun met Liu Xiaoling, who had worked together in an advertising company before, on the road. Over the years, Liu Xiaoling has been active in the TV drama circle and knows the profit model of TV dramas well, and she unreservedly shared the know-how of making money with Wang Zhongjun.
Wang Zhongjun became interested in the TV series "Psychological Clinic", so he chose to invest with the mentality of giving it a try. Although he is not good at filming, he is proficient in the art of publicity.
Driven by his publicity, "Psychological Clinic" has achieved extremely high ratings, and at the same time, it has also brought 100% returns to Wang Zhongjun.
Wang Zhongjun tasted the sweetness of film and television investment for the first time and found it more profitable than simply advertising, so he was ecstatic.
On December 18, 2000, Huayi Advertising changed its name to Huayi Brothers Taihe Film and Television Investment Company, officially setting foot in the film and television industry.
However, to become a leader in the industry, you need people like Feng Xiaogang.
Feng Xiaogang already had a number of masterpieces at this time, and his popularity was flourishing, such as directing "Beijingers in New York", "Party A and Party B" and "See You or Leave", as well as "The Story of the Editorial Department" as a screenwriter.
Wang Zhonglei specially watched the movie "Party A and Party B", and deeply admired Feng Xiaogang's talent. He then discussed with Wang Zhongjun and planned to invite Feng Xiaogang over.
They offered very attractive conditions to Feng Xiaogang.
Although Feng Xiaogang was moved, he didn't dare to pin all his future on the insecure Huayi Brothers.
So, he raised the olive branch thrown by Huayi Brothers and asked Gao Jun, the owner of the Forbidden City Pictures, for a higher price.
If you give me an annual salary of 2 million, I am willing to work with you all the time.
Gao Jun obviously underestimated Feng Xiaogang's impact on box office appeal, so he did not agree to him, and as a result, Feng Xiaogang did not hesitate to switch to Huayi Brothers.
That Feng Xiaogang is definitely the "finishing touch" of the dragon, if the two brothers Wang Zhongjun are dragons.
After the three got together, Huayi's funds and Feng Xiaogang's talent repeatedly triggered drastic chemical changes in the film market.
They have 50 million box office in their pockets, which is the result of "Endless" after testing the waters in the market.
"Big Names" and "Mobile Phone" have successively achieved a box office of 40 or 50 million, while "No Thieves in the World" and "Night Banquet" have won 100 million yuan at the box office respectively.
In addition, "Assembly Number", "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb", "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb 2" and "Tangshan Da**" have set box office results of 200 million, 300 million, 400 million and 600 million respectively.
The films they shoot are usually released during the Spring Festival, shaping the concept of "Lunar New Year" films and consolidating the status of Chinese New Year films.
Huayi Brothers has become a leading enterprise in the film and television industry and has firmly established the first position.
The company has signed hundreds of actors, and all of them are high-profile popular movie stars, including "Sidan Shuangbing", Chen Kun, Zhou Xun, Huang Xiaoming, Chen Daoming, Carina Lau, Liang Jiahui, Xia Yu, Zhang Guoli, Huo Siyan and others.
It has a total of ten TV drama studios, which have produced many TV series such as "Soldier Assault" and "My Team, My Regiment".
In addition to team cooperation, Wang Zhongjun's capital operation ability has played a vital role in the growth and development of Huayi Brothers.
Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei did not hesitate to put all their net worth on the bank and borrow funds to shoot in order to make a movie. Due to a lack of funds, they had to make such a decision.
At the time of filming "Assembly", the company's budget was 80 million, and Wang Zhonglei and Wang Zhongjun used real estate and vehicles as all mortgages to complete the filming of the film.
When he needed funds the most, Wang Zhongjun followed Jack Ma's advice and began to use the power of capital. They pledged 45% of their shares in exchange for 25 million in cash.
Every time they stake, they are rewarded handsomely.
2009 witnessed the glorious moment of Huayi Brothers, when the company was successfully listed and became a leading enterprise in the field of film and television entertainment in China, with a market value of nearly 90 billion yuan.
Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei are about to usher in the moment when high-rise buildings rise from the ground, and they will begin to enjoy the glory and pleasure brought by money.
02 Unstoppable.
Huayi Brothers has cultivated a group of stars and made them a lot of money, but the most successful ones belong to the Wang Zhongjun brothers.
The residence of the mansion owner, Wang Zhongjun, is a two-storey European-style villa with more than 7,000 square meters of garden area and an indoor swimming pool.
The welcoming pine trees planted outdoors are more than 100 years old, and the flowers and trees are even more rare.
Wang Zhongjun has always dreamed of becoming a painter, but unfortunately his paintings have not attracted attention, so he chooses to use the funds to collect other people's artworks.
His mansion is full of masterpieces by popular oil painters, which can be seen in every corner. If the paintings couldn't fit in, he also created a dedicated art gallery to house art.
In 2005, Wang Zhongjun purchased the painter Chen Yifei's work "Juanjuan", which cost 4.18 million.
This figure is equivalent to one-tenth of the box office revenue of his movie "Big Shot", but Wang Zhongjun did not feel that the cost was too high, but thought that he had picked up a bargain.
In 2014, Van Gogh's oil painting "Daisies and Poppies" ended with 3The ** of 7.7 billion yuan was auctioned by Wang Zhongjun.
He came up with another 1 in 20158.5 billion yuan to purchase Picasso's oil painting "Sitting Portrait of a Woman with Hair in a Bun".
He spent 20.7 billion yuan bought the hand-me-down "Bureau Post", which was from Zeng Gong's hand.
He even cashed out to maintain his hobby, once cashing out 500 million at once, and then used 400 million of it to buy paintings.
Wang Zhonglei's attitude towards hobbies is completely different from that of his brother, and he is more inclined to get pleasure from the jealousy caused by female stars.
Li Bingbing kissed him.
Help Zhou Xun put on the necklace.
Wang Zhonglei may just be improvising when interacting with these female stars, but the relationship with Huo Siyan seems to be a little delicate and unclear.
When night fell, the news of going to the nightclub came, and he must be accompanied by Huo Siyan.
When Huo Siyan took a photo with the stars, although she was only in the coffee position, she was able to stand in the C position, which obviously benefited from Wang Zhonglei's status.
Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei have enjoyed the success and happiness of their lives, but they may not realize that seemingly solid achievements can also be in danger of overturning.
Huayi Brothers has grown up with a number of controversies, which are bound to cause huge losses to Huayi.
Over-reliance on him is the first controversy with Feng Xiaogang.
Feng Xiaogang has made great contributions, and Huayi Brothers can become a big name in the industry, because he has participated in almost all the high-quality movies produced by Huayi Brothers.
After Feng Xiaogang finished filming "No Thieves in the World", his contract with Huayi expired, so he planned to set up his own company.
Wang Zhongjun offered an annual salary of 4 million and 3% of the equity to retain Feng Xiaogang, which eventually contributed to the emergence of "Tangshan Da**" and "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb".
In 2015, Huayi firmly made Feng Xiaogang work for 10500 million yuan ** acquired his newly established media company and signed a VAM agreement.
Feng Xiaogang lost because he didn't make enough money within the stipulated time, and as a result, he lost 2300 million yuan. However, in fact, Huayi's loss was even more heavy, it spent 1 billion but only got 2300 million.
The second controversy is "de-cinematization".
Huayi Brothers' 20th anniversary celebration was held in 2014, and Wang Zhongjun officially put forward the slogan of "de-cinematization". It is worth noting that the film industry has always been the main business of Huayi Brothers, and "de-filmization" will cause great harm to the company, which is equivalent to extracting its vitality.
Since this slogan was proposed, Huayi Brothers has invested funds in the development of film and television entertainment, brand licensing and live entertainment.
With new directors emerging one after another, Feng's humor seems to have fallen into a fixed pattern, causing the audience to lose the point of laughter and, consequently, interest in his films.
In 2019, Feng Xiaogang's movie "Only Yun Knows" only achieved a box office result of more than 100 million.
Wang Jinghua's departure sparked a third controversy.
Wang Jinghua led dozens of artists to leave Orange Sky Entertainment in 2005, including Chen Daoming, Carina Lau and other well-known artists.
Wang Jinghua's departure has damaged Huayi's vitality to the outside world.
Wang Zhongjun has a different view on this, he frankly admits that he doesn't think Wang Jinghua's departure from Huayi is a big deal, and even thanks her for leaving.
Wang Zhongjun believes that Huayi should develop towards an international and collectivized management model, but Wang Jinghua adopts a nanny-style and first-class approach in artist management, which conflicts with Huayi's long-term planning.
After Wang Jinghua left, Huayi cultivated 7 agents comparable to Wang Jinghua, including Huang Xiaoming, Wang Baoqiang and other signed artists, who are enough to support Huayi's glory, as Wang Zhongjun said.
The competition for resources among celebrities constitutes the fourth controversy.
Feng Xiaogang is the top director of Huayi Company, and many stars are eager to act in his films, but unfortunately the opportunities are limited.
Luo Haiqiong once said in "If You Are Honest, Do Not Disturb" that she is ready for a lifetime and is willing to perform in the movie directed by Feng Xiaogang.
Tang Yan once said in the movie "Assembly": "Even if it is just to get a glimpse of Mr. Feng Xiaogang, I am willing to take a 4-hour flight." ”
Celebrities are not the only ones working silently, and the same is true for Mingdou.
According to rumors, Huang Xiaoming missed the press conference of the movie "The Wind" in 2009.
Rumors have it that he was dissatisfied with the company's efforts to support Deng Chao, and at the same time was dissatisfied with the company's attempt to let Feng Shaofeng take his place, so the company temporarily hid him.
In order to compete for the position of the first sister, Fan Bingbing had to leave Huayi Company, and then Zhou Xun and Li Bingbing began to compete for this position, resulting in the division of the pro-Li faction and the pro-Zhou faction within the company.
In 2018, Fan Bingbing and Feng Xiaogang were in trouble due to the "yin-yang contract" incident, which caused a huge negative impact on Huayi, causing the company's stock price to continue to decline.
The company turned losses into profits in this year, with a loss of more than 900 million yuan.
Wang Zhongjun, who once bought famous paintings in a high-profile manner, is now starting to do so in a low-key way to fill his financial holes.
Even start ** real estate.
Wang Zhongjun had been retired for a long time, but he had to re-emerge and make a high-profile comeback, but under the circumstances at that time, he failed to reverse the decline except by selling paintings.
In 2019, Feng Xiaogang's movie "Only Yun Knows" performed poorly at the box office, causing his enthusiasm for movies to greatly decline, lamenting that "heroes are old" and feeling depressed.
Huayi's loss in this year was as high as 40400 million yuan.
In 2020, the movie "Eight Hundred", which was forced to be postponed due to sensitive themes, finally met the audience and contributed 3.1 billion box office revenue to Huayi, but at this time, the epidemic broke out.
Huayi suffered 10A loss of $7.5 billion.
Huayi's only masterpiece "Hello, Li Huanying" has achieved a box office result of 5.2 billion in 2021.
Huayi's loss for the year reached 2$2.6 billion.
In the past four years, Huayi has accumulated losses of more than 6.3 billion yuan.
In 2022, except for "The Wandering Earth 2", which is expected to contribute to the rescue of Huayi Brothers, the popularity of other movies is not high, and there is still great uncertainty about whether they can be released smoothly.
Wang Zhongjun deeply felt the cold of the world, because the bank urged the money again and again.
Huayi Brothers failed to rely on the reputation and connections it had accumulated to get out of trouble.
The Wang brothers may be facing a back-to-back battle, and their decision to lay off the staff may be to get the last chance, but it is not optimistic to win.
The story of the rise of Huayi Brothers is a microcosm of Chinese film history, and after the glory, it is necessary to stop and think and clarify the direction of future development.
The decline of Huayi Brothers also represents the reshaping of the film and television industry and the contention of a hundred schools, because the audience's aesthetics and pleasure are constantly changing.
Whether Huayi Brothers can reproduce its former glory is not only solved by the injection of a large amount of funds, but also requires the decision-makers to accurately grasp the market.