In the past 2024 Spring Festival, two women won hemp.
One is Jia Ling who appeared on the screen, and the other is the producer Chen Zhixi who is hidden behind the screen.
As of February 25, the total box office of the Spring Festival stalls has exceeded 10 billion, setting a new box office record for the Spring Festival stalls in Chinese film history.
Among them, "Article 20", "Flying Life 2", "Hot and Hot" and "Bear Infested: Reversal of Time and Space" ranked in the top four, sharing 95% of the box office. And among the producers of these four films, the same company name appears - Ruyi Pictures.
When it comes to Confucian Films, what cannot be avoided is its core decision-maker, Chen Zhixi.
From Xu Zheng's "Thai Embarrassment", Dapeng's "Pancake Man", Chen Sicheng's "Detective Chinatown" to Jia Ling's "Hello, Li Huanying", behind these works, Chen Zhixi's boost is inseparable.
Born in the second generation of the rich, he earned the first 3 million in his life at the age of 18, acted for a few years with the title of "Little Liu Xiaoqing", and then changed his career to become a producer, winning 10 billion box office.
Compared with many movies that Chen Zhixi has participated in, her story may be more exciting.
In the first month of 012024 year, Ruyi Pictures released a big news:
Chief Executive Officer Chen Zhixi announced his resignation.
This year is her 9th year of joining Ruyi. In 2015, with "Thai Embarrassment" and "Pancake Man", two movies that broke 1 billion, 33-year-old Chen Zhixi was invited to join Confucianism and serve as the general manager.
Before Chen Zhixi, Confucianism had produced works such as "Small Times 4", "Langya Bang", "The Legend of Miyue", and planned the explosion of the song "Little Apple".
After Chen Zhixi joined, Ruyi developed rapidly in just five years with his keen investment talent.
In 2020, Ruyi Pictures will be listed on the Hong Kong stock market and will soon become the film and television media company with the highest value in Hong Kong, far surpassing the second place Ali Pictures by nearly 5 billion.
The hit movie "Disappearing Her" in the summer of 2023 and the year-end topic work "Annual Meeting Can't Stop" are also co-produced by Confucianism.
Stills from the movie "The Annual Meeting Can't Be Stopped" Because of this, when Chen Zhixi announced his resignation, many people expressed puzzlement. After all, as a key leader in the company, Ruyi's growth is closely related to her.
Soon, everything fell into place.
On January 29, 2024, half a month before the official start of the Spring Festival movie, Wanda Film announced that Chen Zhixi was appointed as the new chairman and president of Wanda Pictures.
In the six months before that, Wanda was in a gambling crisis, and Wang Jianlin had to sell his assets many times, including his former favorite Wanda movie.
It was Ruyi Pictures that decided to "take over" Wanda Films and save Wang Jianlin from fire and water.
In the second half of 2023, Ruyi successively spent 4.4 billion yuan to acquire the shares of Wanda Investment in two installments, and finally indirectly held 20% of the shares of Wanda Film.
This also means that China Ruyi has become the largest shareholder and actual controller of Wanda Films, and Chen Zhixi has become the new navigator of Wanda Films.
At the same time, he is also the youngest chairman in the history of Wanda Films.
Chen Zhixi In the past for a long time, what Chen Zhixi is best at is selecting good directors and works, and pushing them into the public eye.
Now, she has decided to take the stage herself.
02 Chen Zhixi has never shied away from being a standard rich second generation.
When she was 18 years old, she was admitted to Chinese opera and came to Beijing to study, and her mother bought her a house.
Chen Zhixi is a family lover, and often buys a ticket to fly back to Harbin on Friday and back on Monday.
In life, Chen Zhixi has never refused to accept the wealth of her family, but in her studies, she has never tried to break the rules with money.
Because his mother likes art, Chen Zhixi was sent to Harbin Children's Palace to learn vocal music, dance and calligraphy since he was a child, and when he was 6 years old, Lin Qingxia and Qin Han came to Harbin to shoot "Rolling Red Dust", which required 2 young actors, and Chen Zhixi was also selected by the director to act.
Dancing until the age of 12, the High School Affiliated to Beijing Dance Academy came to Harbin to enroll, and there were only two places, one of which was won by Chen Zhixi.
But my mother insisted that cultural lessons were the most important, so she turned down the opportunity. It wasn't until the year of the college entrance examination that Chen Zhixi was admitted to Beiying and Chinese Opera at the same time with a score several tens of points higher than the cut-off line, and her mother finally agreed to her to embark on the road of art.
Chen Zhixi's old photo In 2000, she came to Beijing from Harbin and entered the ** Drama Academy, taking the first step to become an actor, and at the same time, her talent for investment began to appear.
When she was three or four years old, her mother would tell Chen Zhixi about her experience in the business field, and after a long period of immersion, she has a strong sensitivity and decision-making ability to numbers since she was a child.
Soon after entering college, 18-year-old Chen Zhixi took 200,000 yuan from her mother and invested in a project to make mobile phone CRBT value-added services - she signed a contract with Warner Records for the copyright of 100 popular songs, and every time a user uses these songs as a ringtone, she can get a share.
With this investment, Chen Zhixi earned 3 million in one year.
After Chen Zhixi graduated from Chinese opera, she starred in works such as "The Criminal Officer of the Great Song Dynasty" and "Empty House".
has some fame, and some ** began to call her "Little Liu Xiaoqing", Chen Zhixi didn't like it, and publicly said in the interview**: I am me, not 'Little Liu Xiaoqing'".
gradually changed from a supporting role to a leading role, and Chen Zhixi began to realize the dilemma of the profession of actor:
When you are not famous, you will worry about your livelihood, and if you have a little fame, you need to keep filming and maintain **, and if you really become a star, you are worried that if you regress one day, will you be abandoned by fans. ”
At the same time, she also knows that as an actor, she is not the top in terms of appearance or acting skills.
Chen Zhixi in the TV series "Da Song Ti Criminal Officer" Chen Zhixi is spinning around in a predicament, and the outside world is also changing.
Around 2007, the TV industry became thriving, and the rules of the industry were gradually broken, and actors needed connections in addition to acting skills.
Actors accompany investors to eat frequently.
Chen Zhixi didn't like this kind of rule, she never attended any dinners, and she refused to show favor to people with a purpose, and gradually, the scripts delivered to her began to decrease.
's mother also proposed that the family could invest in Chen Zhixi to make a few works, but she felt that the idea was wrong
I'm a person who wants fairness, and if I do, I'm the one who breaks fairness again. ”
Chen Zhixi and his mother couldn't find a solution for a long time, and after thinking about it, around 2010, Chen Zhixi decided to transform into a producer.
In her opinion, instead of being the person who is being planned, it is better to be the producer herself and become a "planner".
03 Nowadays, when people talk about Chen Zhixi, most of the keywords mentioned are "nobles" with accurate vision, decisive shots, tens of billions of producers, and many new directors.
But at the beginning of the transformation from actor to producer, no one was optimistic about Chen Zhixi, and even her mother did not think that this profession was suitable for her daughter.
This is also one of the reasons why Chen Zhixi has become a "rookie director excavator": "Other big directors don't cooperate with me." ”
In those two years, Chen Zhixi's friend Xu Zheng was also questioned.
At that time, Xu Zheng planned to transform into a director, and he took a script called "Thai Embarrassment" to solicit investment everywhere, but was frequently rejected.
In the eyes of film investors at that time, only famous directors such as Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, and Chen Kaige were the "box office guarantees" that could make money, and no one dared to invest too much money in cross-border new directors.
In 2010, she co-starred with Xu Zheng in the TV series "Li Wei as an Official 3", and at that time she found that Xu Zheng's thinking was closer to that of a director than an actor.
After Xu Zheng and Chen Zhixi in Li Wei became an official 3", she not only took out her savings to invest and offered to be the producer of "Thai Embarrassment", but also ran around, and finally brought in Guangguang Media as the main investor.
Talking about this, Chen Zhixi said:
I still can't figure out why those bigwigs don't dare to vote, who are the best comedians in the Chinese film industry now? Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, Wang Baoqiang, put the three together, you don't dare to bet that he can sell 200 million, so what else to play? You don't have to do a movie. ”
At the end of 2012, "Thai Embarrassment", which cost less than 30 million yuan, was released, and the box office reached 38 million on the first day, and finally sold nearly 1.3 billion, becoming the first Chinese film in China with a box office of more than 1 billion.
The market value of its main investor, Guangguang Media, has increased by billions in just one month.
Huang Bo, Chen Zhixi, and Wang Baoqiang's "Thai Embarrassment" created a new model, and capital began to realize that in the film market, a combination of low-cost and new directors can actually make a lot of money.
In the years that followed, more and more investment flowed into the film market, and more new directors began to get opportunities.
In the year when "Thai Embarrassment" won a big victory, a young man named Dapeng made a drama called "Dick Silk Man" in Sohu.
After Shen Teng and Dapeng filmed for three seasons in a row, Dapeng tried to shoot his first work, and in 2014, he met Chen Zhixi under the introduction of a friend.
Before meeting, Chen Zhixi watched all three seasons of "Dick Silk Man", and immediately decided that Dapeng had the ability to become a director:
The procedures of online dramas and movies are the same, and Dapeng has experienced the links that movies should have. ”
Betting on movies is gambling on people in the end, you bet on whether the director will succeed or not, you bet on the project, and the project is still done by people. ”
Although Chen Zhixi and Dapeng have an average reputation, in business, "Pancake Man", which cost only 50 million, finally received a box office of nearly 1.2 billion.
The successive successes of "Thai Embarrassment" and "Pancake Man" made Chen Zhixi famous in the industry, and someone sent a text message to Chen Zhixi:
I used to think that you were a rich second-generation lady who was playing in the circle with money, but this time I realized that you are really working hard. ”
Later, Chen Zhixi produced Chen Sicheng's first directorial work "Detective Chinatown", and also won the right to shoot in the square in front of the Grand Palace in Thailand for the movie.
Although the box office is not as good as "Pancake Man" and "Thai Embarrassment", but now, the "Detective Chinatown" series has become a "box office guarantee" on the Chinese New Year stalls.
Chen Zhixi at the filming site of "Detective Chinatown" In 2015, at the invitation of Chairman Ke Liming, Chen Zhixi joined Ruyi Pictures as general manager.
In the following years, Ruyi Pictures successively produced films such as "Animal World", "Warm", "Sewing Machine Band", "Lonely on the Moon", and the title in front of Chen Zhixi's name also began to change from 3 billion sister to 4 billion sister and now 10 billion producer.
In 2020, Ruyi Pictures was listed in Hong Kong, and in the same year, it launched two high-reputation and high-box office film projects, "Send You a Little Red Flower" and "Hello, Li Huanying".
In the movie "Hello, Li Huanying", people finally put aside their prejudice against Chen Zhixi and admitted a reality: becoming the eldest lady does not conflict with being capable enough to create a career.
04 Although he is labeled as a "10 billion producer", he is good at "making a big deal with a small one", and often leverages hundreds of millions of box office at a cost of tens of millions.
But after many years in the industry, Chen Zhixi refuses most industry entertainment, she does not smoke, does not drink, and never participates in any dinners.
A friend around her once described Chen Zhixi as: "Although she grew up in a superior environment, she does not have that kind of hypocrisy and squeamishness." ”
My friend Dapeng even called it his engine and sense of security: "Because of Xixi, I became a film director." ”
Chen Zhixi officially announced that he became a director of Wanda, and Dapeng congratulated others in the impression that Chen Zhixi, who appeared in front of the public, always wore high heels and full makeup, and seemed to not need to sleep, always enthusiastic, professional and energetic.
The most important thing is that although he has more and more power to speak, Chen Zhixi has always insisted on fairness.
Once, at the filming site of a movie, Chen Zhixi accidentally learned that the hotel where the leading actor and the supporting actor were staying were different, she immediately became angry and asked the production team to arrange the same accommodation for everyone at once.
"I've experienced those injustices, so I'm never allowed to be in my group," she said. ”
After Chen Zhixi's "Thai Embarrassment" became popular, many big projects with hundreds of millions of dollars approached Chen Zhixi and invited her to be a producer, but they were all rejected. Chen Zhixi understands what kind of crew is his own "field":
It's like choosing a boyfriend, I didn't feel this guy when I saw him for the first time, so why should I go deeper? Everyone has a different perspective, don't force yourself to agree. ”
In the film and television industry, Chen Zhixi's status is getting higher and higher, but when she encounters a talented but unambitious young director, she will still stand up and help: "I'll help you do your next project, you don't have to pay, I'll figure it out." ”
Because he always puts the director's ideas first, Chen Zhixi often fights with others because of his work.
Before the release of "Detective Chinatown", someone asked Chen Zhixi to persuade Chen Sicheng to cut the ending and shorten the length of the film, which was more conducive to scheduling the film, but Chen Zhixi refused:
I know my director, the last minute is what he wants. ”
It turns out that the end of "Detective Chinatown" is the highlight of the whole work.
The movie "Detective Chinatown" is on Weibo, and Chen Zhixi is always quick to talk and does not shy away from being involved in the scolding war. So when she announced that she would become the new director of Wanda, some netizens commented half-jokingly and half-seriously:
Sister, don't quarrel with people on the Internet in the future. ”
One of the most famous events is that when Pan Yueming was caught in a marriage turmoil, she spoke out for her friends on Moments and Weibo many times.
In 2005, during the filming of the TV series "The Mayor of the Town", Chen Zhixi and Pan Yueming met, and because they chatted well and had a good personality, the two became friends.
Pan Yueming and Chen Zhixi in the movie "The Mayor of the Town" In 2012, Dong Jie's divorce statement portrayed Pan Yueming as a gambling and irresponsible husband, and his career also fell to the bottom overnight.
Seeing that his friend was becoming more and more decadent, Chen Zhixi served as Pan Yueming's agent to help him pull resources and find opportunities.
She also invited Pan Yueming to star in the movie "Detective Chinatown", in which she subversively played a "daddy" who works in a dilapidated car park and is always unkempt.
Pan Yueming in "Detective Chinatown" stepped on this scene, Pan Yueming got the opportunity to star in the online drama "Chasing the Murderer in the White Night", and fought a beautiful turnaround battle.
Pan Yueming in "Chasing the Murderer in the White Night" Some time ago, Chen Zhixi celebrated her 42nd birthday, and Pan Yueming also prepared a dinner party for her.
Chen Zhixi posted on Weibo: "Long live friendship, family affection is priceless, with my brother, I can always laugh like a child, this is also the twentieth year we have passed, and we will all get better and better." ”
At the beginning of 052024, after the official announcement of his appointment as Wanda's chairman, Chen Zhixi posted a Weibo.
She thanked the directors she had worked with, and also thanked the times and the industry, and finally she said: "Everything hasn't changed, it's just a different label." ”
At this time, it has been 14 years since Chen Zhixi decided to transform from an actor to a producer.
It is undeniable that Chen Zhixi has indeed caught up with an era of rapid development of the film industry, and she has made the right choice at many extremely critical junctures.
Before the release of "The Wandering Earth", many people were not optimistic about this domestic sci-fi blockbuster, after all, before that, there were too many examples of failure in China.
Chen Zhixi promoted "The Wandering Earth" at his film press conference, calling its content "something that goes to Hollywood".
As it turned out, she was indeed right.
Chen Zhixi Chen Zhixi rode the wind and also made the wind.
From Xu Zheng, Dapeng, to Chen Sicheng and Jia Ling, Chen Zhixi's support for new directors has created a benign industry ecology, and also equated the word "new director" with "more possibilities".
Time has passed, and Xu Zheng, the former "new director", has also begun to discover more new directors as a producer.
For example, he has supervised the production of "I Am Not the God of Medicine" directed by Wen Muye, and "The Myth of Love" directed by Shao Yihui, which have become phenomenal works of Chinese films in recent years.
In addition to the film industry, Chen Zhixi has also invested in dessert shops, fashion smart watches, beauty salons and other industries, with only one starting point - what he likes.
On the other hand, Chen Zhixi is not a typical "career-oriented woman", she calls herself a little princess, and often fantasizes about returning to the age of 18, thinking that career is not as important as family and lovers, and the most ideal state of life is:
No matter how hard I rushed, suddenly one day I hit the wall, and someone would pick me up at any time when I turned around. ”
Fortunately, Chen Zhixi never pursues something too big, whether it is for career or life, she only picks out what she likes and is suitable and goes all out, so it doesn't matter if she loses.
Being prepared to fall may be the secret of Chen Zhixi's "win".