Chapter 255: Starry Sky Culture, Rampaging Giant Beasts, and Industry Meetings

As New Year's Day approached, the artists of Shanhe Media received notice to head to the company headquarters to handle contract renewal matters.

This group had joined the company at the beginning of 2006 and had all signed five-year contracts; more than three and nearly four years had passed, so it was indeed time to consider renewals, but they had not expected the company to make such a major move.

Inside the conference room, after Zhang Xu announced the company's decision, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

"Director Zhang, for those of us who are mature artists, it doesn't matter, but isn't it a bit... for the newcomers?"

As the company's big brother, Qiao Zhenyu still had a sense of responsibility; he spoke up to mention the matter everyone was concerned about, and many artists cast grateful glances his way.

"Zhen Yu, where are there any newcomers in the company? Look back—aside from Nazha, who among you isn't an artist at the second-tier level or above?"

Since its first recruitment of artists, Shanhe Media had almost never opened up again; the first batch of signed artists, including the subsequent Bai Bin, had truly seen significant promotions in their status over these past few years.

"Therefore, the group's decision will not affect everyone's development; on the contrary, it is for more refined management, allowing artists to have no worries behind them. Everyone, don't overthink it."

Zhang Xu began to paint a picture; the artists before him were all his future elite troops, and he did not want anyone to be dissatisfied and cause attrition.

"Moreover, this is mainly to expand the agency business and set standards for future newly signed artists..."

After Zhang Xu's explanation, the artists understood that this was the group's decision and they had no way to refute it; what they had to consider now was whether they still wanted to renew their contracts.

At this moment, many artists had already begun to whisper to one another; after all, with artist management being separated from Shanhe Media, resources would inevitably be affected to some extent.

"Xiao Ying, what are you thinking?"

The one speaking was Yang Xue; among the company's female artists, she was the oldest and currently held the lowest status, barely crossing into the second-tier ranks.

"I still plan to follow the company. Director Zhang also said that the group's resources will still lean toward Starry Sky in the future, and even if I don't renew, I don't know where else to go..."

Under the cultivation of Shanhe Media, Jiang Shuying had already stabilized at a second-tier status, and with the hit broadcast of the first season of *Keep Running*, she already had faint signs of leaping to the first tier, so naturally, she was unwilling to leave at this time.

Moreover, the group had already promised that as long as one was promoted to the first tier, they could establish their own star studio, which provided a direction for her next step in development; at least until the company gave up on her, Jiang Shuying would absolutely not have any other thoughts.

"Xue Jie, what about you?"

"I've gotten used to the company's arrangements over these years, and the contract is loose, so I'll probably stay."

Yang Xue did not have a very strong career ambition and felt that her current situation was not bad, so she had no other thoughts for the time being; she herself was clear that if she left, she might not find such a good landing spot.

Watching the other artists discussing, Nazha was a bit dazed; for her, considering these things was too early, as her contract was a long 10-year one.

Sharing similar thoughts was Zhang Yi; this guy had finally managed to hug a big thigh and it was impossible for him to let go.

Seeing everyone discussing spiritedly, Zhang Xu was not in a hurry; he had confidence that with Shanhe Media's status and achievements in the industry, as long as the artists didn't lose their heads, they should all make a wise choice—on the last day of 2009, Starry Sky Culture, which had been established for more than three months, made its first appearance in the industry, releasing the company's first official Weibo post and tagging its artists.

"Welcome Huang Bai, Chen Xiao, Lei Jiayin, Wang Kai, Luo Jin, Zhang Yi, Bai Bin, Yang Rong, Zhang Li, Jiang Shuying, Yang Xue, and Guli Nazha to join our company. May we work hand in hand to create brilliance together."

Because the corporate Weibo account had almost no operation, at first no one paid attention to it, and even if someone saw it, they thought it was a prank; after all, these names were all artists of Shanhe Media, and what right did the newly established Starry Sky Culture have to sign so many second-tier and above stars in one go? But soon, these artists all liked the Weibo post, and the industry immediately knew that this was not a prank, but that Shanhe Media had stripped away its artist management.

At the same time, Shanhe Media and Qiao Zhenyu jointly issued an announcement: Qiao Zhenyu had officially established a personal studio, with Shanhe Media holding a 40% stake; the two sides officially began cooperation and announced the first collaborative project, *Sword Snow Stride*.

Once the news broke, the entire internet boiled over; after a lapse of 6 years, *Sword Snow Stride*, this work hailed as the "Wuxia Bible of the post-Jin Yong era," was finally going to be adapted into a TV series.

Many book fans could not suppress the excitement in their hearts and flocked to leave comments under Shanhe Media's official Weibo and Wei Jin's personal Weibo.

"Boss Wei, I suggest you film it yourself; others won't be able to grasp it."

"Wei the dog, if the adaptation isn't good, watch out, I'll send you razor blades..."

"When will it start? So looking forward to it!!"

"Is there a character vote? Do it like you did for *Chinese Paladin 3*."

Browsing the comments on Weibo, Wei Jin was somewhat stunned; the netizens really dared to think, wanting him to film a TV series?

However, thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem impossible; if one required a TV series to have the texture of a film, the quality of the entire production would likely be sublimated. —Time entered the second decade after the new century.

Just after New Year's Day, *Inception* chose to end its run, with the domestic box office fixed at 746 million, pushing the domestic box office record forward by nearly 100 million again.

The industry did not expect that the 378 million record held by *Painted Skin* two years ago had been constantly refreshed in just over a year, and now it had actually been pushed up by more than 300 million; the market was developing too fast.

Unfortunately, before they could ponder it, *Avatar* was released.

Thanks to Wei Jin's reminder, many of the cinemas newly built by Shanhe Cinema Line over the years were all equipped with 3D screening halls, and they gave it an ultra-high screening schedule right from the start.

The film's opening day box office was over 40 million; although it was very good, the industry's threshold had already been raised quite a bit by Wei Jin, so there was no excessive shock.

On the second day, the box office exceeded 50 million, which was somewhat terrifying; one must know that this film had almost no promotion in the country, relying entirely on word-of-mouth fermentation and recommendations from fans.

Zhao Feng of Shanhe Cinema Line had been very proud recently; for *Avatar*'s 3D tickets, no matter the session or the seat, as long as they were released online, they were all snapped up instantly. The cinema line was making a fortune, but scalpers were making even more; it was said that the price of a single ticket had been hyped up to over a thousand yuan.

"Boss Wei, can we film a movie like this?"

Zhao Feng took the opportunity while reporting on work to ask a question; in his view, if Shanhe Media could produce this kind of film, wouldn't the group make a fortune?

"The gap is too big. *Avatar*'s lead is all-encompassing. Didn't you see that *Inception* also had to use someone else's production team? This shows that even in North America, this is top-tier technology. Our film industry is too far behind; without the push from above, it's hard to accomplish..."

Wei Jin gave a rare explanation; *Inception* won more on its plot, and the 3D part could at most be considered eye-catching and creating surprises. *Avatar* was different; it was an all-3D production, bringing complete shock.

*Avatar*'s data was truly somewhat terrifying, with daily box office figures stable at over 50 million.

Films released in December that hadn't been out for many days were all wiped out, and those released in the same period in January were directly reduced to cannon fodder.

The entire film and television circle was in a panic, with a feeling that the wolf was coming.

If future Hollywood films were all like this, the domestic market would likely end up like Taiwan and South Korea, played into a mess. Wei Jin was not worried; it would be good if one such film could come out every seven or eight years, so he would leave it to the big shots above to worry about.

It was just a pity for *Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame*, with its box office pinned at 270 million and unable to move; Xu Laoguai's dream of being a 300-million director was shattered. —The final data for *Inception* came out: a global box office totaling 1.041 billion USD, with 280 million USD from the Asian region, 416 million USD from North America, and 345 million USD from other regions.

According to the agreement signed at the time, China Film Group and Shanhe Media split the revenue from the Asian region; the producer's share of the box office in this part was approximately 110 million USD.

According to the 2.5:1 ratio with China Film Group, Shanhe Media could receive 71.5%, with earnings approaching 80 million USD, while China Film Group could receive over 30 million USD.

The distributable portion of the box office in other regions was approximately 150 million USD; according to the investment ratio, Shanhe Media could receive 25%, with earnings approaching 38 million USD, and China Film Group could receive 15 million USD.

Shanhe Media invested a total of 62.5 million USD in this film, with total earnings reaching 118 million USD and a net profit of over 55 million, a profit margin exceeding 80%.

Summit Entertainment's situation was not much different from Shanhe Media's, with earnings of about 80 million in North America and about 38 million in other regions, another 55 million in net profit.

Calculating it all, a single *Inception* brought Wei Jin a net profit of at least over 100 million USD.

Of course, China Film Group also made a big profit, with a 25 million USD investment yielding a net profit of over 20 million USD, which could be called China Film Group's largest single gain this year. —Han Sanping's call was within Wei Jin's expectations; he could not skip the industry meeting organized by the General Administration.

The General Administration was making a big fuss this time; there was no way around it, *Avatar* was like a fierce tiger charging into a flock of sheep, and the key was that you had to endure it until it was full and stopped; they had to think of some countermeasures, even if it was just for show.

Early in the morning, a large number of vehicles gathered outside the General Administration.

Major film companies, producers, and directors in the industry had all come.

After Huayi went public, the Wang brothers were riding high, and there was no shortage of people wanting to curry favor with them; at this moment, Wang Zhonglei was surrounded by many people, all wearing smiling faces.

Wei Jin's appearance did attract quite a few gazes, but everyone knew his temperament, so a greeting from afar sufficed.

Ning Hao had also come, though his state was not very good, with rather serious dark circles under his eyes.

"Is Na Jie still squeezing you? You really should know when to stop, Senior Brother."

"What are you thinking? I was up all night working on a script; I just kept thinking of *No Man's Land*, and then I had insomnia."

Wei Jin couldn't respond to that; Ning Hao's tactics were quite something, occasionally taking different versions and submitting them, not to pass censorship, but just to disgust those in charge of it.

Just as one was sent back, he would resubmit another; in any case, it was a case of 'if you won't let me have an easy time, don't think you'll have one either,' just grinding you down to death.

Before they had chatted for long, the big directors in the circle had also arrived: Zhang Yimou, Chen Shiren, Feng Dapao, and a few directors from Hong Kong.

Soon, the meeting began, and the venue could be described as packed to capacity.

The first row was naturally occupied by the bigwigs from state-owned enterprises and government units, such as Han Sanping from China Film Group and Ren Zhonglun from Shanghai Film Group.

The second row was for top private companies and industry-leading directors; Huayi, Enlight, Wei Jin, Ning Hao, Zhang Yimou, and others were all in this row.

Companies like Xiaoma Pentium, which had just stepped into the film industry, were further back.

Director Tong began to speak, his approach quite shrewd; he threw out a problem right from the start.

"According to current market forecasts, *Avatar* breaking one billion is a high-probability event."

Once these words were spoken, the whole room went silent; the record of over 700 million just set by *Inception* was about to be rewritten immediately.

The key was that this box office had nothing to do with them; many film companies present had films currently in theaters, and they were all victims.

"According to last year's film industry calculations, *Avatar* accounts for nearly one-seventh."

It was rare that the leader's speech didn't ramble, but went straight to the point: he wanted all companies and filmmakers to strive to catch up.

But how to catch up? The leader soon provided a plan.

"Encourage film and television companies to actively go public, provided they meet the corresponding qualifications."

"Fully open up the financial industry to enter the film and television production sector and provide sources of funding."

"Encourage and support film companies to create high-quality blockbusters and improve comprehensive competitiveness."

Everyone understood: the industry was about to enter the fast lane, and hot money was coming in; previously there were policy restrictions, but if they were fully relaxed now, it would mean an endless stream of money.

Quite a few companies were starting to get ideas, especially the few companies currently preparing to go public.

But Wei Jin was clear that while the policies given from above were good, how those below would use them was hard to say; perhaps it would push the entire circle toward the behemoth of finance, or perhaps capital and the circle would join forces to harvest retail investors and fans. After the meeting ended, Wei Jin and a small number of people were asked to stay behind.

"Wei Jin, what is your take on *Avatar*?"

"Director Tong, actually, there is no need to worry too much. Just looking at its global box office, you know it is a behemoth, indeed unstoppable. But the growth of a behemoth often takes time. It took Cameron ten years to sharpen his sword to achieve such an effect. How many Camerons are there in the world? And how many ten-year periods can Cameron sharpen his sword?"

Wei Jin was telling the truth; even in ten years, there wouldn't be a film as despair-inducing as *Avatar*. This actually made the people on the scene perk up a little.

"Though that may be so, it is still not a good look on the surface. How is your *Passengers* coming along? Do you have any expectations for its box office?"

This question was too blunt; the implication was that the heavy responsibility of reclaiming the box office record was to be handed to him. Wei Jin couldn't shoulder that, at least not right now.

"Director Tong, post-production is still underway, and it will probably take another two or three months. I haven't seen the final cut yet, so it's hard for me to estimate."

"You still need to have some confidence. The box office record for domestic films is in your hands, after all. Keep at it, I believe in you, haha."

When a leader speaks, they have a certain level of skill. What could Wei Jin do? He tearfully indicated he would strive to reach new heights.

Second update of the day (End of this chapter)