Super Zoo-Chapter 771 - 750 Ruthless

The reputation isn't as good, the venues aren't as good, the effects aren't as good, and the content shown is exactly the same. If the ticket prices are also similar to theirs, it's blatantly obvious which cinema the audience will choose.

If they don't raise the ticket prices and instead play the low-price card, it's a bottomless pit that can never be filled.

They earned money and constantly updated their equipment with better ones. Changhe Cinema fell behind one step after another. Even with the initial investment from Taoyuan Group, it would still end up in the same dire situation as now.

"So, the key point lies in those four words you mentioned: be innovative and unique."

Suming said, "We can't compete with them in terms of money and luxury; we can't build reputation quickly either. The only thing we can change right now is the content we show. Changhe's current equipment is good enough to support most movies' effects. There's no need for a big investment at the moment."

Moreover, Suming had an unspoken reason.

What Hou Longtao said was realistic; bad movies can make a lot of money, but does that mean good movies can't make money?

Could it be that because cinemas only offer one choice to the audience—bad movies—audiences have no choice but to pay for them. What if they want to watch better movies but have nowhere to watch them?

There's also another situation: the domestic market's consumer groups are complex, with varying age groups, standards of appreciation, and diverse preferences. Some like sweet, others prefer spicy. The 'bad movies' in Suming's eyes have their audience, and likewise, those good movies should also have a significant audience.

Changhe Cinema isn't a cinema chain but just a single cinema. It doesn't need millions or tens of millions of audience, just a portion, even a small one willing to accept it is enough for the cinema to turn losses into profits.

Shen Yan and the statistics team, in cooperation with Cai Liming's market research team, had been conducting a collaboration. According to direct box office figures, over the past few years, the domestic box office's overall trend had been rising. However, the growth rate decreased noticeably last year and this year, especially this year. During the three golden periods—Spring Festival, summer, and National Day—the number of so-called 'commercial films' released surpassed that of last year by 20%, and the total screenings nearly reached 1.3 times that of last year. Yet, the total box office remained on par with last year.

Cai Liming's market survey concluded that this was somewhat similar to Xiangjiang's film industry right before the burst of the movie bubble in the 1990s—an era considered the golden age of film. Xiangjiang movies entered a golden period in the early 1990s, where big investments and high prices could be secured simply on the basis of having famous directors and actors, even without a script, leading to a rush in the film industry and a proliferation of bad films.

By the mid to late 1990s, the quality of Xiangjiang films fell to an all-time low. The patience and confidence of the local audience were squandered away, and along with some political factors, the film bubble burst, severely damaging the movie market. The local film industry's winter has lasted to this day.

The mainland is encountering a similar situation now, ever since the so-called Hollywood-level production 'The Promise' began. Bad movies kept lowering the audience's standards time and again. At first, there was an attempt to interpret the content of movies from different angles: "It's not that I am poor quality, it's that you don't understand." But later on, it turned shameless, boldly claiming "any movie that makes money is a good movie".

Meanwhile, a segment of the audience has grown from the ordeal of enduring bad films. They no longer rush to the cinema just because they hear a famous director is involved, the investment is over a hundred million, or there are 3D effects. More and more audiences have become selective in their movie-watching, unwilling to pay for purely hype-driven bad films.

Including 'Terror Animal City' and 'Great Saint Returns', several domestic films' high box office is proof of this.

Therefore, Cai Liming analyzed that the domestic movie market might have reached the peak of its bubble, and a burst might be imminent.

Suming's view, however, is relatively conservative.

There definitely is a bubble, and it's large, but because of the vast population base in mainland China and various viewing groups, any type of movie, even the so-called 'bad films', have their own market.

The so-called bad films vary from person to person; what you consider a beautifully made drama, I might find poisonously bad.

So, whether the bubble will burst is uncertain, but Suming believes that good-quality films will surely find their place to exist.

Perhaps the winds of the film market were also changing imperceptibly.

...

After leaving Changhe Cinema, Suming added 'fuel to the fire' for Wu Decheng by publicly announcing plans to acquire cinemas and actually inspecting two other cinemas in Yangchuan City with poor performance.

True to Suming's expectations, Changhe Cinema's owner, Wu Decheng, did not hesitate to choose his own interests over the 'face' of a former colleague and superior.

The tactics of an astute capitalist were fully displayed at this time. The "Wu" who was always smiling at all the employees, never saying a harsh word, and even appearing somewhat weak and vulnerable, showed a mix of softness and firmness. With a watertight approach, he had already signed a contract with Suming and completed the transfer of the cinema in less than a week.

Of course, this was on the condition that all the old staff were dismissed.

As for how Wu Decheng dismissed these people, Suming had no way of knowing nor was there a need to know. These people had no direct relationship with Taoyuan Group, and any disputes would be between them and Wu Decheng.

Given the swift and efficient way Wu Decheng operated, Hou Longtao suggested that Suming rehire Wu Decheng to participate in the management.

After all, he was an old hand here and knew the ropes.

Hou Longtao had his strengths and weaknesses; his weakness, plainly speaking, was that he had less worldly experience and sometimes his considerations were relatively superficial.

Since Suming had decided to 'create splendor even if it meant spending a fortune', he was prepared to mentor this roommate and didn't mind explaining things to him in detail.

Wu Decheng was capable and had his methods, but he applied them in the wrong places. Before the acquisition, he couldn't swallow his pride, allowing those old hands to loaf around in the cinema, which showed a lack of resolve; as soon as it involved his interests, he became ruthlessly efficient, dismissing all the old staff in a short time, which demonstrated his mercilessness.

For businessmen, being ruthless is not bad, but it must be channeled properly. Had Wu Decheng decided to reform the cinema's atmosphere years earlier, Changhe Cinema might not have ended up as it is today.

Back when Changhe Cinema was his own property, he behaved in such a way, let alone now that it had become someone else's.

Such a person, if employed, might play the nice guy during peaceful times, offending no one, just biding his time; but once a corporate crisis hit, Wu Decheng, for his personal gain, could become ruthless, turning into a wolf that cannot be tamed.

Moreover, Wu Decheng was the former leader of these employees; his personally firing them and then remaining with the cinema would turn his conflict with the old staff into a conflict between the cinema and the old staff.

Without Wu Decheng, even if the old staff were dissatisfied, the new Changhe Cinema could legitimately ignore them. But if Wu Decheng continued to work there, it would be problematic—people would seek him out for past labor issues, and Suming would be helpless.

"At that point, if those old employees came to the cinema to make trouble every day, they'd nominally be targeting Wu Decheng, but the impact would be on the cinema's normal operations," Suming said.

"Damn, I wouldn't have seen through all these layers if you hadn't pointed it out. It's too complicated," Hou Longtao inhaled sharply, realizing he had almost made a big mistake out of good intentions after hearing Suming's analysis.

"As for the depth of the water, there's always a bottom to it," Suming chuckled, patting Hou Longtao on the shoulder. "You don't have to be too anxious. It's normal to be temporarily unaware of these matters when you haven't dealt with them before, but as you encounter more situations in the future, you'll naturally get used to it."