Becoming Rich with Daily Scavenging APP-Chapter 433: Groveling at the Speed of Light
"Do you know the movie ’Moon Solo’? I bought the script, had Shen Teng star in it, invested several billions into this sci-fi comedy.
This movie was filmed a long time ago, and it’s been in post-production ever since. I’m thinking about getting the special effects done in time for the Spring Festival holiday and offering it for free for everyone to watch."
The cinema manager talking to Chen Yiyang had the speakerphone on.
So Chen Yiyang’s words reached the ears of all the cinema managers, word for word.
The cinema managers couldn’t sit still.
If free short films only pose a possible threat to cinemas,
then putting a high-quality cinema-level film online for free is absolutely devastating to cinemas.
The last person to do this was the director and actor Xu Zheng, who first broke the domestic box office ten billion mark.
After he did it, all major cinemas secretly boycotted him for several years.
And his film’s quality was just average.
Now, Chen Yiyang says he intends to put online for free a movie starring the king of comedy.
Just the thought of this happening really hits the cinemas hard. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Several cinema managers immediately wanted to kneel and cling to Chen Yiyang’s thighs, begging him to reconsider.
"Oh, and Nezha’s sequel is already in production, but it definitely won’t make it for the Spring Festival release. I’m looking at whether it can be put online for free during the National Day release." Chen Yiyang’s voice came again.
These cinema managers’ hearts started pounding with fear.
Stop talking, bro, stop talking.
The cinema managers were already considering changing jobs.
’Moon Solo’ would be manageable, even comedy kings can stumble.
But Nezha’s first film grossed over sixty billion at the box office domestically.
As an animated film, the second one, even if of average quality, would fetch at least fifty billion.
If the quality is somewhat better, even seventy billion is possible.
You don’t come across such a level of film in years. It’s the kind of film that genuinely makes cinemas profitable.
Now Chen Yiyang says he wants to put such a movie online for free.
That would definitely cause a nationwide cinema collapse.
If someone else said that, these managers might not take it seriously.
Because doing so would see the film’s investors losing massively.
But with Chen Yiyang, it’s not certain.
The cinema managers all know Chen Yiyang is wealthy, investing in films purely as a hobby.
This guy can really handle losing billions.
After hanging up, Chen Yiyang didn’t know how the cinema managers felt.
Zhang Yuling was curious enough to ask Chen Yiyang, "Are you really going to put the films online for free?"
"No," Chen Yiyang replied without turning his head, "I’d be crazy to do that.
The logic behind free releases is earning through ad fees, but ad fees are limited. Advertisers have a fixed budget annually, and the more free products and films there are, the less money each film can get.
In the long run, everyone will tend to make cheap garbage to feed the audience because advertisers rather than the audience are the ones paying.
Authority only answers to its source, and a work’s quality only answers to the paying consumers.
If the works are free, then figuring out how to get more money from advertisers is clearly easier than figuring out how to improve the quality of the works.
If this develops further, it might even bypass audience and consumers altogether; AI can generate works with one click, then fake click rates and hot searches to finally get money directly from advertisers.
After all, the executives in charge of ad funding can be bribed, while readers and viewers cannot."
"Then why did you tell them you would put the films online for free?" Zhang Yuling asked, puzzled.
"Isn’t it these cinemas acting despicable first?" Chen Yiyang propped his chin, estimating how many hours until these cinema managers called him.
Originally, Chen Yiyang thought it would be at least a day later.
Unexpectedly, that evening, bosses and investors of various cinemas indirectly contacted Chen Yiyang, asking what had offended him.
These senior executives can only be described as brilliant minds.
After going back to calculate, they promptly realized Chen Yiyang was deliberately targeting them.
And this kind of targeting seemed real.
After all, Chen Yiyang’s layout in the short film industry is real.
If really free released two movies to support the free short film app Qingguo, it’s not impossible.
A billion-dollar investment is within Chen Yiyang’s acceptance range.
So they hoped Chen Yiyang would quickly state his terms and stop being so scary.
Everyone was counting on the Spring Festival schedule for business; they couldn’t possibly be preparing their funeral during the holidays.
"For the screening of Earth Wandering 2, give the allocation it deserves, nothing else, just fairness."
Chen Yiyang directly stated his intent on the phone.
"No problem, no problem, we’ll adjust the schedule right away," the cinema managers did not dare to argue.
Compared to directly entering a cinema winter, everyone waiting around to die, it’s better to earn a little less during the Spring Festival.
"No other conditions." Chen Yiyang originally wanted to suggest these cinemas lower ticket prices for the Spring Festival.
But this condition would offend people without any guaranteed success.
So he gave up.
"Nothing else?" The cinema manager in charge of negotiating with Chen Yiyang was surprised. That’s all he asked for?
"Nothing else," Chen Yiyang earnestly replied.
Actually, this whole thing cost him just a few tens of millions from beginning to end.
Consider it as advertising for Earth Wandering 2.
So he just wanted fairness.
After the cinemas adjusted the schedule, Gong Fan immediately called.
"Say no more, this year I’m definitely going to your place for New Year’s, you’ve put up such a big show just to get me a screening. You’re a real bro."
"Uh, is it a big show?" Chen Yiyang really didn’t feel that way.
"Once the news broke that you’d offer two major films online for free, the entire film circle was shaken. They’re all discussing whether you’ve discovered some new business model.
Many people even reached out to me, but I dared not tell them you’re doing it just to help request a screening, as I’m afraid they won’t believe it!"
This time, Chen Yiyang really underestimated his impact.
Although he hasn’t created a top-tier brand like Rice, Hua Wei, or Tengxu.
His investment legends make people in the circle pay close attention to his every move.
If Chen Yiyang delayed reconciling with the cinemas, it’s likely that many investment bodies would consider following him into free films.
That’s why the cinemas apologized and kneeled on the very day.
And Chen Yiyang, after finishing the call with Gong Fan, checked his phone.
A long-missing investment scoop unexpectedly appeared.
