RPAGF Chapter 21 Mass Explosion, Gu Yuhan's Way of Making Money
Chapter 21 Mass Explosion, Gu Yuhan's Way of Making Money
To be fair, working for a boss like that is incredibly enjoyable; he's generous and never stingy.
His business philosophy has never been about making quick money from one or two movies, but about building a complete film industry chain and creating a sustainable business system.
As soon as she finished speaking, Shi Nansheng nodded vigorously: "Okay!"
Gu Yuhan smiled slightly and said, "We absolutely cannot skimp on necessary expenses. Make sure to create a detailed budget first, and maintain good relationships with all parties involved. We'll have countless opportunities to collaborate in the future. Making a great film and earning money together is a win-win situation, so why not?"
Shi Nansheng nodded heavily once again.
Looking at Southeast Asia and Taiwan today, to be precise, the whole of Asia can be described as a cultural and artistic wasteland. Taiwan is affected by historical factors, Southeast Asia has never developed a mature cultural industry, South Korea and Japan have limited levels, and mainland China is currently in its initial stage. Only Hong Kong has truly taken the lead in cultural export.
Unfortunately, the Hong Kong film industry gradually became stagnant and its market influence declined, eventually being surpassed and replaced by the mainland film market.
Now that he has the good fortune to have traveled to this era, possessing both extraordinary strength and substantial capital, Gu Yuhan is genuinely willing to take up the mantle of promoting Chinese culture.
He not only wants to make excellent films, but also wants to help people in Southeast Asia gradually accept and love Chinese culture.
The enormous cultural influence of films can directly drive sales of various related products and create more commercial value.
Of course, it's too early to talk about these things now, since he only has one notable work to his name, "Happy Ghost".
"Oh, right!"
Gu Yuhan smiled and slowly said, "Now that 'Happy Ghost' has grossed over 18 million, we should hold a grand celebration banquet to avoid being called a stingy person!" As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Yuhan swiftly prepared a grand celebration banquet.
In addition to all company employees, numerous reporters from major Hong Kong media outlets were also invited to attend.
It must be said that Gu Yuhan is an absolute master in publicity and marketing. He is very clear about the importance of maintaining good relations with the media, and he is also very meticulous and resourceful in spending money to win them over.
Even all the reporters present were given a private banquet area arranged by Gu Yuhan.
This gesture surprised and moved the reporters present.
When have they ever received such high-level treatment?
Lei Garden Restaurant, Central.
This is a renowned, long-established luxury Cantonese restaurant. The XO sauce that later became popular throughout the Chinese-speaking world was first created and launched at Lei Garden in 1981.
However, today's Lei Garden Restaurant...
Gu Yuhan booked an entire floor specifically for Huang Baiming's victory celebration banquet.
The Gu family is now steadily moving towards becoming one of Hong Kong's top wealthy families, so naturally they wouldn't be stingy on such occasions. Sometimes, when your status and position reach a certain level, it's not that you want to show off, but rather that your status and position require you to do so.
Cheng Long, watching from the side, couldn't help but secretly click his tongue in amazement.
He's just a nobody actor right now, and he never expected to be invited to this celebration banquet by Gu Yuhan.
Besides Jackie Chan, his fellow apprentices Yuen Biao, Yuen Kwai, and Yuen Wah also came. Most of the Seven Little Fortunes members had already been recruited by Gu Yuhan to his company.
The only one who didn't come was Sammo Hung. He's already quite famous and is a key talent being groomed by Golden Harvest, so he's not someone you can easily poach.
However, this did not prevent Gu Yuhan from poaching some outstanding members from the Hong family stunt team.
Gu Yuhan offered very generous salaries and benefits, and also purchased comprehensive medical and accident insurance for all employees.
Most importantly, Gu Yuhan will provide everyone with a clear career development path and room for advancement, so it's absolutely impossible for them not to be tempted.
Chen Ziqiang whispered from the side, "Ah Long, it seems Young Master Yu is preparing to make a big splash. You'd better seize this opportunity. The boss's meaning is very clear: you're the one the company is going to heavily promote next!"
Cheng Long nodded vigorously.
During this period, Gu Yuhan also gave Cheng Long some pointers several times, discussing with him the creative ideas and performance techniques of action comedy, which opened a whole new artistic door for Cheng Long.
In addition to confirming Jackie Chan as the lead actor, the entire production team has also been assembled.
Now we can officially start filming.
Cheng Long was naturally extremely excited.
According to Gu Yuhan's plan, Cheng Long should first film movies like "The Fearless Fist" and "The Young Master" to accumulate experience and hone his acting skills, and then start filming the "Drunken Master" series when the time is right.
……
……
"Distinguished guests, friends!"
Gu Yuhan waved his hand and said with a smile, "I'm very happy to be here with everyone today. Our film 'Happy Ghost' has successfully broken Hong Kong's box office record, and I believe this marks the beginning of a new stage of development for Hong Kong cinema. Let's toast to a brighter future for Hong Kong films!"
Everyone present raised their glasses at the same time.
Gu Yuhan downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, then continued with a smile, "Also present today are our reporters, as well as our company's contracted actors, agents, directors, and stunt staff. Welcome everyone to our celebration banquet!"
Everyone laughed happily.
Gu Yuhan smiled and said, "Huang Baiming, come up on stage for a moment!"
Huang Baiming immediately stood up, strode over to Gu Yuhan, and exclaimed with barely concealed excitement, "Boss!"
He is now the record holder for Hong Kong film box office.
Their status and position are no longer what they used to be.
Huang Baiming felt grateful and respectful towards Gu Yuhan. If he hadn't met this mentor, he didn't know when he would have been able to make a name for himself.
Gu Yuhan snapped his fingers, and immediately two bodyguards, each carrying a large case, walked onto the stage. Gu Yuhan patted Huang Baiming on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Open it!"
Huang Baiming was slightly taken aback: "Open it?"
"Yes, open it!" Gu Yuhan laughed, his tone light and cheerful. "Let's see what's inside!"
Huang Baiming swallowed hard, then opened the box with trembling hands.
The moment the box was opened, Huang Baiming couldn't help but gasp.
The box contained neatly stacked stacks of Hong Kong dollars, all of them brand new cash.
"Boss, this is..." Huang Baiming looked at Gu Yuhan in disbelief, while Gu Yuhan smiled and explained, "There's one million Hong Kong dollars in here. You're a B-level contracted artist with the company. According to the standards for B-level contracts, actors get 5% of the box office revenue, directors get 5%, that's 10% in total, and the screenwriter also gets 5%!"
"Of the total box office of 18 million, the theaters will take 50%. After deducting production costs and taxes, you'll actually receive about 700,000 in profit sharing. However, I'm the screenwriter for this film, so I'll forgo my 5% share as an extra bonus for you. Therefore, your final profit sharing will be a full 1 million Hong Kong dollars!"
In another historical timeline, Huang Baiming was originally the screenwriter of "Happy Ghost," and Gu Yuhan can be considered to have returned what rightfully belonged to him.
Moreover, a mere three or four hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars is nothing to Gu Yuhan.
Why not just give it to Huang Baiming directly? This would also be a good opportunity to win people's hearts and make him work even more wholeheartedly for me.
One million Hong Kong dollars?
Everyone present couldn't help but swallow hard.
Mai Jia, Xu Ke, Shi Tian and others all showed expressions of great envy, and their eyes became eager as they looked at Huang Baiming.
Putting everything else aside, Gu Yuhan is incredibly generous when it comes to giving money.
Moreover, he is very trustworthy; he always pays the agreed amount without ever discounting it.
That's a whole million Hong Kong dollars!
Huang Baiming swallowed hard again, his knees trembling with excitement, almost kneeling down before Gu Yuhan on the spot. One million—what did that mean back then?
Huang Baiming felt like he was dreaming; he simply couldn't believe it was real.
Director + Actor + Screenwriter
The combined 15% of the profits from these three items were all given to Huang Baiming.
Five percent is already the highest percentage of profit sharing that a B-level contracted artist can receive.
Only true top-tier S-class superstars are qualified to negotiate a 50/50 split with the company; even A-class artists can only get a maximum of 20% of the profits.
If you are both the director and an actor, you can receive up to 40% of the profits; if you are also the screenwriter, you can receive up to 60% of the profits.
However, this situation is highly unlikely to occur.
While there are people who can simultaneously fulfill the roles of screenwriter, director, and actor, they are extremely rare.
Most people either write and direct their own stories, or they direct and act in their own stories.
However, in most cases, a person can only play one of these roles.
In addition, if there are too many big-name actors in a production, Gu Yuhan will gradually reduce and adjust their profit-sharing ratio, and will never allow the total share of the director, screenwriter and actors to exceed 70%.
The remaining 30 percent is necessary for the company to maintain operations and profitability.
"Ah Huang!"
Gu Yuhan looked at Huang Baiming and said with a smile, "This is just the beginning. I also have something else to announce: your profit sharing is long-term. That means that for the next three years, all box office revenue generated from 'Happy Ghost' during its release in Taiwan and Southeast Asia will be distributed to you according to this ratio!"
Huang Baiming's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he stared at Gu Yuhan in disbelief: "Boss, are you saying I'll get a share of all the box office profits from 'Happy Ghost' for the next three years?"
"What else did you think?" Gu Yuhan smiled and continued, "However, future profit sharing will be settled annually!"
Huang Baiming immediately replied excitedly, "No problem, no problem, absolutely no problem!"
"Promise me one thing!" Gu Yuhan gently patted Huang Baiming's shoulder and said seriously, "Never get involved with drugs or gambling!"
Huang Baiming was slightly taken aback, then immediately said firmly, "No problem, I promise I will absolutely not get involved with these things!"
Everyone couldn't help but laugh. Afterwards, Maggie, Shi Tian, Eric Tsang, Tsui Hark and others began to secretly calculate in their hearts that Huang Baiming had just received a million dollars. If the profit sharing was really based on a 15% ratio...
Add to that the box office revenue from Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and the total profit will be quite considerable, with a final net of three to four million Hong Kong dollars not being a problem.
Since "Happy Ghost" was able to break Hong Kong's box office record, breaking the box office record in Taiwan and Southeast Asia is definitely not difficult. As long as Gu Yuhan is willing to invest money in promotion, there is nothing he cannot do.
Huang Baiming really made a fortune this time.
Shi Nansheng knew in her heart that this was only the beginning. Gu Yuhan also used the image of Zhu Jinchun, played by Huang Baiming in the movie, to produce a batch of plastic doll merchandise.
To this end, Gu Yuhan even opened a factory in Tiu Keng Leng, recruiting a large number of local workers for production, which can be considered as solving part of the local employment problem.
These plastic dolls look clumsy, cute, and even somewhat adorable.
Gu Yuhan placed these dolls at the entrance of the movie theater specifically to sell to students, and even advertised that wearing the doll would grant him Zhu Jinchun's secret protection and guarantee that his exam scores would improve steadily.
If you are bullied at school, Zhu Jinchun will also step in to help you teach those bad guys a lesson.
This seemingly absurd claim is actually believed by quite a few people.
Many parents even firmly believe this.
Gu Yuhan sold a plastic doll that only cost two or three yuan to produce for fifteen yuan, more expensive than a movie ticket. It was outrageous.
But it is precisely this inconspicuous little thing that has attracted a lot of people to buy it.
Even though the price is higher than movie tickets, people are still willing to pay for them.
With the film's huge success, these related products also sold like hotcakes, with total sales reaching over four million Hong Kong dollars. The profits from this were even greater than the film's box office revenue.
Not long ago, Gu Yuhan even specially pulled Cheng Long to pose in a few classic drunken boxing stances.
He plans to create a set of Drunken Eight Immortals figurines based on Jackie Chan's poses, and start selling them when the movie is released. He also intends to fool students by saying that this is the authentic Drunken Fist manual.
Even more audacious, Gu Yuhan even plans to release a series of comics themed around Drunken Fist.
For a film to truly make money, it can't rely solely on box office revenue; the development of film merchandise is equally crucial. Take "The Wandering Earth 2" as an example; its crowdfunding for merchandise alone exceeded 100 million yuan. If the merchandise sells well, the profits from box office revenue are negligible.
This merchandise development for "Happy Ghost" was just a small experiment, and it has proven to be a very successful business model. Gu Yuhan plans to further expand this model to Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
This complete business operation model was all learned by Gu Yuhan from Marvel.
It must be said that the United States is indeed a good teacher in this regard. Since this method is effective, we should naturally continue to work on it. Moreover, Gu Yuhan is not worried at all about the merchandise not selling. After "Happy Ghost 1" is finished, there are still "Happy Ghost 2" and "Happy Ghost 3" waiting to be filmed.
Shi Nansheng was very clear that Gu Yuhan didn't really care about the box office revenue. She also greatly admired Gu Yuhan's business acumen and long-term vision.
As long as we can retain excellent actors and creative talents and make more and better movies, there will be plenty of opportunities to make money in the future.
The film industry's profit potential extends far beyond box office revenue; the development of related merchandise is also a huge opportunity.
Shi Nansheng was truly impressed by Gu Yuhan's methods. Not only could he make his subordinates work for him wholeheartedly, but he also made a fortune in the process.
Of course, for Gu Yuhan, these were just small amounts of money, nothing more than a minor scramble.
To reiterate, what he truly wants to build is a complete film industry chain.
This is vision, a truly grand vision!