Chapter 72: Year-End Summary and Plans for 2006

As the Spring Festival approached, Wei Jin Fengliu Film and Television Company held its year-end summary meeting.

This meeting had been scheduled during New Year's Day; Chen Zhiming had approached Wei Jin, stating that the company had been established for three years, and with the rapid development of the last two years, gathering everyone to summarize the past and look toward the future would be very beneficial for building team cohesion.

Wei Jin pondered for a moment and agreed; he also happened to take this opportunity to take stock of his own assets.

Last year, the company underwent a large-scale reorganization, splitting the film and television production department into a television drama production department and a film production department.

Including the Artist Management Department, Distribution Department, and Liaison Department, the main body of Wei Jin Fengliu Film and Television Company possessed five major departments, and with the addition of the subsidiary Shanhe Cinema and Shanhe Sleepy Hollow Special Effects Company, it could be said that everyone was gathered together.

Wei Jin did not call over the investment company and the game studio under its umbrella, as they were not yet considered part of the same system.

It is worth mentioning that the game studio was already developing its first project, and Wei Jin was full of anticipation for this.

Additionally, a financing agreement had been reached with Tudou last month, with Qingtian Capital investing 5 million for a 30% stake; it was not that Wei Jin was unwilling to invest more, but the founding team did not want to give up too many shares in the first round, and Wei Jin expressed his understanding of this, with both sides reaching a priority agreement for subsequent investments.

At the meeting, the directors of the major departments and the heads of the subsidiaries spoke one after another, summarizing the achievements of their respective departments and their plans for this year.

Listening to the summaries from each department, Wei Jin nodded frequently; after three years of hard work, it was finally starting to look like something.

In terms of television dramas, the company's self-produced drama *Lurking* sold for 24 million in its first round, basically achieving profitability, and the subsequent second and third rounds brought in a total revenue of 41 million; moreover, the broadcast rights had time limits, and judging by the popularity of this drama, it would bring the company considerable profit every year in the future.

In terms of investment dramas, those released last year included *Chinese Paladin*, *World's Number One*, *Drawing Sword*, and *Emperor Wu of Han*, among which there were both losses and gains, bringing the company a total profit of 11 million, with fixed income to follow every year.

In terms of films, the box office and copyright revenue for *Those Years* reached over 40 million, and the box office revenue for *Crazy Stone* was over 30 million.

The revenue from *Painted Skin* was even more shockingly high; the copyright revenue alone exceeded 70 million, and the company's share of the box office was nearly 50 million, while the company had only invested 28 million, resulting in a net profit of nearly 100 million, though this portion of the revenue had not yet been received and could only be counted as 2006 revenue.

In terms of cinema lines, after a year of development, Shanhe Cinema already had 42 movie theaters under its banner, controlling over 230 screens, with cumulative revenue exceeding 50 million last year; at present, it could only be said to be maintaining a break-even situation, but the development momentum was good, and many small cinemas had already come to negotiate, hoping to form a cinema alliance.

In terms of artists, the company currently only had Huang Bai, Lei Jiayin, and Qiao Zhenyu signed; among them, Qiao Zhenyu and Lei Jiayin had not yet brought revenue to the company, and Huang Bai had also been busy filming last year, so there were not many commercial performances, bringing the company about 7 million in profit in bits and pieces.

In terms of copyrights, a dozen or so ringtones continued to bring the company over 280 million in revenue last year, though this portion was basically all invested into Shanhe Cinema.

Roughly estimated, the company achieved a revenue of 500 million in 2005, and after deducting various expenses and costs, the net profit after tax was nearly 100 million; this was even without calculating Wei Jin's personal income, and just based on this profitability, it was no wonder that companies in the industry were jealous.

Subsequently, Wei Jin took the stage to summarize the company's development over the past year, affirmed everyone's work performance, and also put forward ideas and prospects for this year's work, calling on everyone to make persistent efforts, grow bigger and stronger, and create new brilliance.

Finally, of course, it was time to distribute bonuses to win people's hearts; Wei Jin was still very generous with money, and everyone, regardless of position, was given an extra three months' salary as a year-end bonus.

At the meeting, Wei Jin also announced the two television dramas that the company would independently produce in the first half of this year: *Temptation of Going Home* and *Beauty's Rival in Palace*; these were both dramas Wei Jin had seen in his past life and were relatively suitable for the current point in time.

After the meeting, Wei Jin and a group of executives moved to a pre-booked hotel, with nearly thirty tables, and this was just for the employees in Beijing; seeing this scene, Wei Jin truly had an intuitive feeling that the company had grown and developed to such a scale without him realizing it.

Without giving a long speech before the banquet, the guest host Liu Yan gave a simple opening statement, announced Wei Jin's year-end bonus plan, which drew cheers from the employees below, and then announced the official start of the banquet.

"Lao Chen, how are things going with the variety show team?"

Watching the *Super Girl* talent show being held in full swing, Wei Jin could no longer hold back; in the second half of last year, he had already instructed Chen Zhiming to contact the variety show teams of major television stations, wielding the hoe to poach talent.

"General Manager Wei, I have already contacted several teams, but there is no clear answer yet."

Chen Zhiming was also in a difficult position; the boss had just given an order to do variety shows, but the company had no production experience in this area, and when contacting major production teams, very few people were willing to come, after all, you hadn't proven yourself in this industry.

"Hmm, I didn't think it through. I'll find a way after I'm done with the film matters after the New Year."

Wei Jin also understood the crux of the matter; venturing into an unfamiliar field rashly, it was inevitable that others would not be optimistic about you; it seemed a stepping stone was still needed.

"By the way, the screenwriting department needs to be set up this year; I really don't have that much energy to write scripts anymore." Wei Jin also felt that although he had endless energy, there wasn't enough time; there were so many young actresses waiting to get ahead, he really couldn't bear it.

"It's already being contacted, and there will be formal hires after the New Year; Qidian and Jinjiang are also very welcoming of this type of cooperation."

Speaking of this matter, Chen Zhiming felt quite relaxed; after all, Wei Jin's reputation as a gold-medal screenwriter was there, and being able to join his screenwriting team was a credential that could save face.

"Boss, can we consider expanding the Artist Department this year? Our projects are basically all casting externally; from the perspective of resource allocation, it's too wasteful."

The person speaking was Zhang Xu, the man who had joined the company for more than two years and was finally promoted to Director of the Artist Management Department this year, but looking at the only three artists under his command, he really couldn't help but complain to the boss.

"Hmm, how about this: after the New Year, you arrange for people to go around the major art schools to see if you can find some good talent; in addition, our company can also put out the word that we are officially developing artist management."

Wei Jin looked at the entire annual meeting scene, with only three artists like Huang Bai; damn, they couldn't even put together a performance program, and the key was that they were three men, which Wei Jin didn't like to watch either; he still had to sign some actresses, at least for the sake of appearances.

"Okay, General Manager Wei, leave this to me, you can rest assured."

Zhang Xu looked excited; he had a lot of names on his list who were interested, but before, Wei Jin's attitude had never been supportive, so he hadn't dared to agree.

"Don't just sign anyone; it's best if they are clean. I don't want the company to be cleaning up people's messes every day."

Wei Jin added another sentence; it was really the case that stars in the entertainment industry generally did not have high educational backgrounds, and many people didn't even know basic legal knowledge; their quality was terrifyingly low.

"I understand, General Manager Wei; I will arrange for background checks before signing."

Zhang Xu also knew that Wei Jin was afraid of trouble; it was hard to get him to loosen up this time, and if something happened in the future, it was not guaranteed that the entire department would be cut, so he also planned to prioritize caution.

"General Manager Wei, what do you think about the cinema alliance?"

It was a rare opportunity, and people from various departments and subsidiaries asked Wei Jin for instructions on their work one after another; the one who spoke this time was Zhao Feng, the person in charge of Shanhe Cinema, whom Wei Jin had poached from Xingmei Cinema Line.

"It can be done, but pay attention to screening the partners; if the environment and conditions are too poor, then don't do it. We are building a brand."

Shanhe Cinema currently followed a boutique route, and the environment and equipment were top-notch in the industry; it couldn't be held back by the alliance.

"In addition, be careful to limit the scale; you know, the nail that sticks out gets hammered."

"Understood, General Manager Wei."

Zhao Feng also knew that Wei Jin was keeping a low profile; if a private cinema alliance really reached the number one spot in the market, it would truly become a target for everyone.

"By the way, Lao Wang, how are the props and special effects design for *Time-Space Cohabitation* coming along?"

Wei Jin was asking Wang Ke, the person in charge of the special effects company; this film contained many futuristic technological products, which were handed over to the special effects team to handle.

"No problem; I wouldn't dare say we can reach the level of Digital Domain, but it's definitely no worse than South Korean special effects companies."

After more than half a year of learning, Wang Ke absolutely believed in the team's strength, and facing the boss's inquiry, he naturally expressed it with full confidence.

"Alright then, this time it's up to you all."

The new book is on the shelves, I kindly ask all book friends to reward me with subscriptions and collections, thank you all!

(End of this chapter)