I’m a Director, I’m Not Bad

Chapter 819 816. You don’t have to have me, you must have me!

"Brother, let's discuss something."

"What?"

"After all...you are also a public figure. From now on, can we please stop taking nude photos of this and that...haven't you suffered enough because of your mouth? Mr. Pure Love God of War."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

look.

Sometimes Wang Sicong's brain circuit is so strange.

Xu Xin was talking to him seriously about the matter of "lack of control and leaky teeth".

He actually laughed out loud.

It made Xu Xin even doubt...did I really tell a funny joke?

However, he did not continue, but asked:

"Nicholas Tse has his own special effects film company?...I haven't heard anything about it..."

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of it before. Wheels are the most deceptive thing. Did you know? "Dongfeng Po" was made by Nicholas Tse's company. They have also made many movies. According to the information they just handed me, , what a long list.”

"...Wheel's "Dongfeng Po" MV had special effects done?"

Xu Xin was stunned.

He's seen the MV, and it seems like there's nothing that requires the use of special effects, right?

"I did it. The data shows that it was 2010...eh?"

"..."

At this time, Wang Sicong himself realized that something was wrong.

"Why is it classified as a movie?"

"..."

Xu Xin was even more speechless. He entered his studio and turned on the computer directly.

While asking:

"Let's not talk about their works. What is the size of his company?"

"The headhunter said that the company's scale is very good, and they have a group of very stable customers in Xiangjiang. I looked at the orders, and they can cooperate stably with Standard Chartered, HSBC, and TVB for some advertisements. The headhunter also dug through some channels. Their revenue last year. In 2010, they paid nearly 40 million Hong Kong dollars in employee wages alone. Although the financial report is not transparent, what is certain is that if converted in proportion, their project revenue in 2010 should be between 70 million and 70 million. Between 85 million. But..."

Having said this, Wang Sicong paused before continuing:

"Old Xu, this turnover seems to be very high, but... the profit point of special effects is very low."

"Well, I know that. On average, it's probably between 5 and 7 percent."

If the conversation between the two people was heard by an outsider, they would probably laugh out loud on the spot.

What kind of international joke are you kidding?

Special effects often cost 10, 20, 300 to 500 million. Based on your profit point, if you invest 10 million, the profit will be only 500,000?

But this is the actual situation.

What is needed for special effects production?

Just two points.

One is the special effects artist, and the other is the equipment.

The equipment is dead and may be a one-time investment, at least within two to three years. As long as it is damaged and runs stably, at most it will cost you some software payment and electricity bills every year.

As for the special effects artists... just pay them normal wages and that's it?

No matter how you look at this kind of production cost, the 5% profit seems like teasing fools.

Totally impossible.

If an industry does not have a profit of 10 to 20%, then it will be fine just waiting to lose money.

5 percent?

Dogs don’t do either.

But in fact, Xu Xin's words were not adulterated in the slightest.

For example, the special effects part of "Scorching Sun".

In the last police and robber chase scene in his film, a green screen was used to shoot the high-altitude chase scene.

If it were shot in real life, it would be like putting your head on the waistband of your pants.

No one is Cheng Long, how could he risk his life like this for you?

In this film, Xu Xin calculated the shots that required special effects before handing them over to the editor.

A total of 1 minute and 17 seconds.

As for this 1 minute and 17 second scene, let’s not talk about the production costs of Hollywood. Based on domestic special effects production, his psychological price range is between 300,000 and 500,000.

After all, this scene only needs to simulate high-rise buildings and the busy traffic downstairs when Duan Yihong is being pulled by Xin Xiaofeng.

It's actually very simple.

It's just a background.

When it comes to the production stage, although Xu Xin doesn't care about it, Xue Yong and Li Haiping will first conduct the bidding for the project.

After this project is sent out, special effects companies will naturally come to bid.

Just like doing engineering. Regardless of factors such as relationships and favors, after getting the bid document in hand, first look at the company's qualifications.

Whichever company is cheaper and whichever company has strong qualifications will be selected directly.

After being selected... there will be an interview.

If there is no such thing as "kickback", then the director thinks the price of 500,000 is reasonable. I save money for the director. Can you do it with 450,000?

If you can't do it, then go to the next one.

look.

This is the market process of special effects companies.

It is not charged by the second or the number of frames, but by project packaging.

"Scorching Sun" project, 1 minute and 17 seconds. 500,000, the whole package is packaged for you.

And if it is a fantasy movie such as "Painted Skin" and "The Legend of White Snake", one company may not be able to make it, so it will find multiple companies to cooperate.

But no matter how many companies cooperate, the budget for this project is here.

I don’t care whether you lose money or make money. In short, I give you the money and you just have to follow my requirements to achieve results.

Do you think this is the end?

Don't worry.

Let’s take “Fierce” as an example.

This special effect of 1 minute and 17 seconds was rendered by 10 special effects artists with a salary of 15,000 yuan for a month and 20 computer special effects.

The electricity bill for these 20 server-level computers and the non-stop rendering for a month is at least 10,000 yuan, right?

The cost of computer software is calculated based on the cost of 500 per month, which is also 10,000 yuan.

There are 10 employees.

One hundred and fifty thousand.

The cost is currently 170,000.

This does not include venue rent, model design, etc. costs.

Get it in front of Xu Xin... If Xu Xin is satisfied, then the order will be profitable. But what if you are not satisfied? For example, he was not satisfied with what needed to be modified, or the height difference in the visual creation...

This is not because Xu Xin is picky, but it is something that will definitely happen.

Any project is actually a process of mutual communication between Party A and Party B.

However, the communication of computer special effects must be based on the finished product. Until we get the finished product, no one can tell whether it will work.

If Xu Xin is not satisfied, then change it.

It took three days to communicate, two days to redesign, and ten days to render.

Another half month has passed.

The cost was directly raised to 250,000.

Are you satisfied?

good.

Satisfied this time.

Perfectly earned the remaining 250,000.

Without considering taxes, if the company's business is running well and there will be a next project soon, that's fine. But if there is a window period, then you still have to pay employee wages, rent, software fees, etc. for the 250,000...

And these are still the most ideal ways.

The actual situation is that a film of 1 minute and 17 seconds took 20 computers to render in one month?

For a movie with 50-cent special effects, the minimum team size must be more than 30 people.

Therefore, doing special effects may seem like a large project, but in fact the profit is really low.

It is normal that employees, computer equipment, software, plus time costs will eat up more than 90% of the entire project profit.

After Wang Sicong heard Xu Xin's words, he responded:

"Yes, it's very low. That's why Nicholas Tse doesn't want to do it anymore. He opened a branch in Shanghai in 2009, and it was only in 2010, last year, that he moved the company from the basement to the office building. But His current office building in Xiangjiang is not big. It is divided into two floors. The upstairs and downstairs combined are less than 500 square meters. The Xiangjiang side is currently only undertaking business, and the special effects have been transferred to the Magic City. There is no way, the mainland is cheaper... …”

"When did he start this company? Is the business sound? Is there any problem?"

"That's not true. The headhunter said that he also had the idea of ​​"revitalizing Chinese special effects" at the time. It seems that he started working on it because he was not satisfied with the production effect of one of his MVs."

"Well...it's a good starting point."

"Yes, almost the same as you. I have to admit that he has indeed achieved scale. But again... Xiangjiang Film is almost finished, and the company has reached its ceiling. If there is no strong investment injection , then his scale will only be what it is now.

The headhunter said that he has been actively looking for a move in the past few months... but it is not ideal. Xiangjiang's current film resources no longer support him doing this. On the mainland... everyone knows that special effects profits are low, and Koreans are very aggressive in grabbing the market... They have the foundation, and if we want to catch up, someone has to take advantage of us. Big investment, low profit output. And you also have to face poaching from other special effects companies..."

Wang Sicong's words may be distressing to others.

But for Xu Xin...

Just right.

"Is his company definitely developing in a healthy way now?"

"I'm sure, although he can't get the financial report, he is still looking for investment companies through headhunting. These business information are transparent~"

“What’s his company’s valuation now?”

"I estimate... 200 million is as high as the sky."

"..."

Xu Xin's mouth twitched...

"Only 200 million? Such a well-run special effects company only has 200 million? Are you sure?"

"Brother, 200 million is just for now. If you really make the acquisition... I estimate conservatively that the additional equipment and venues alone will cost you at least 100 million. Then you want to attract business, right? You need to expand channels. Right? You want to recruit, right? At his current scale, the annual employee salary is 40 million.

You've added hardware and recruited personnel, so why can't you double the cost? With an operating cost of RMB 80 million a year, how do you ensure revenue in the special effects market? How do you ensure that your business continues to run smoothly and you don’t lose money? This is what keeps investment companies away. In the long run, as long as the scale increases, this is a project that must be compensated. This is the real dead end. "

Although Wang Sicong's words were no different from the two people's usual chatting and bragging tone.

But the meaning between the lines is the cold reality.

Losing money is a given.

And no one knows how much it will lose.

What are the prospects?

Unless the Chinese-speaking market gets better and better, it may never turn around in its lifetime.

And... a special effects company is the same as opening an Internet cafe.

Your equipment is out of date, even if it is depreciated and cashed out, it is not worth anything.

After all, the Chinese-language film market is not Hollywood.

The various conditions that a special effects company must be equipped with are... very demanding.

With the current market size...

too difficult.

And this is the most embarrassing part.

Do you want to do this?

If you do, be prepared for long-term losses.

But for Xu Xin...

Don’t do it?

Failure to do so means falling behind and being beaten.

Personal ambitions and pursuits, at this moment, are so worthless in front of this cold money...

From the market to the environment to various factors... they all told Xu Xin the same answer:

"Right now, it's not a good time to develop special effects."

The person who once had the same ambition as you is now starting to back down.

Are you coming out to take over at this time?

This is not called bargain hunting.

This is called blood loss.

After thinking for a while, Xu Xin asked:

“What are the investment advisors saying?”

"It is not recommended to acquire. In the long run, outsourcing is the best choice. It is recommended to finance holdings and wait and see in the short term. The prospects are not clear."

"What's your suggestion?"

"I don't care."

Hearing Xu Xin's words, Wang Sicong's tone was very relaxed:

"If you want to do it, my buddy will help you do it. It doesn't matter whether you make money or not. The important thing is... we are doing something."

truth.

Xu Xin's heart felt warm.

And he also clicked on his mailbox and downloaded his paper from it.

The scroll wheel slid for a while, and after he found a paragraph in his paper, he said to Wang Sicong:

"Aren't I writing a doctoral thesis recently? I'll give you some data, and then tell you why I'm confident that even if it doesn't make money, it won't lose too much."

"Well, you say."

"The original words of my paper are: There is no doubt that the production cost of Hollywood blockbusters continues to rise every year, and the increase far exceeds the inflation rate. According to the data in Figure 1, in the 10 years from 1995 to 2004, the production cost exceeded 1 There were 60 Hollywood movies that grossed US$100 million. However, in the next six years from 2005 to 2011, this number surged to 113. (Note 1)

I asked people from the company to help me find this information one movie at a time.

My point is, if Hollywood doesn't lower the cost of filming and keep up with inflation, it's bound to implode. I will take a picture of this picture and send it to you later. You will know after looking at the graph. Its growth is too exaggerated. Inflation is the fundamental measure of the value of all items, and in the United States, it is not only the theater box office share, but also DVDs.

However, its recycling process is too long, and I have to ask a few economists to talk about this part. Haven't started writing yet.

But my point of view is actually very simple. After the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, Hollywood's film investment increased more than inflation, combined with our country's attractiveness as the world's factory... I believe that the country's destiny will be reflected in ours. within this industry. In the future of Hollywood, there will definitely be a large number of outsourced projects that leave the United States and move to other places... Guess where this other place is? "

"..."

Wang Sicong was silent for a while, and then said:

"You still need to ask? You have already said that we are the world's factory. As long as we have sufficient conditions and policy support, these black-hearted capitalists will definitely treat us as the cheapest labor force..."

"And what we can get from these cheap labor is..."

At this time, Wang Sicong didn't think at all and answered without thinking:

"The entire Hollywood industrial system."

After saying that, he fell silent again.

yes.

What do special effects companies lack most?

Model library, experience, technology...

And if Hollywood projects are outsourced... then, as long as the company is large enough and the cost is low enough...

So for this NIKE company, isn't it the most suitable "Putian"?

And when "Putian" grows to a certain extent...

what happens?

Need to ask?

My own "shoes"!

Let everyone not have to wear barefoot shoes on rainy days!

And wearing these shoes...

The world is so big, where can’t we go?

After understanding this, Wang Sicong felt his blood pressure rise suddenly.

"Lao Xu! It's done! Let me tell you, we will go to Xiangjiang after New Year's Day! This matter can definitely be done! If Nicholas Tse doesn't do it, we won't do it, let's do it!"

"OK."

It was as if their positions had been swapped.

Wang Sicong also forgot that he was the one who called Xu Xin to go to Xiangjiang in the first place.

Xu Xin also forgot that it was Lao Wang who invited him.

He looked at the data in his paper, and after agreeing, he said as if talking to himself:

"Something has to be left behind...right?"

"Um."

Wang Sicong responded:

"That's right. You have to leave something behind for those who come after you!"

Success does not have to be mine.

The success must be mine!

Thinking of this, he felt that his blood was getting hot!

(Note 1: The content of this section is excerpted from [Fan Film Weekly] "Box Office Isn't the Top 1 Revenue? Cost, Revenue and Profit Analysis of Hollywood Blockbusters", author: Fan ink. Please note that it is not original. However, his article There are 197 movies in it, and the time is from 2005 to 2015. But in fact, after Hollywood produced 34 movies with a box office of over 100 million in 2011, in the second year, Spielberg and others proposed "internal "Explosion" industry worries, Hollywood began to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Therefore, the number 113 may not be accurate, but it is similar. Please don't take it seriously.)