The lonely "May 1st" of the movie theater owner: I reduced the salary of employees by half, and none of them left

  China-Singapore Jingwei client, April 28 (Zhang Yanzheng) In the movie circle, the "May Day Golden File" has always been a hot spot. In the past years, various movie agencies will have to grab the file in early April, make announcements, push Offline road show. For this year's "May 1" small holiday, the movie circle is particularly deserted.

  Recently, a reporter from China-Singapore Jingwei visited a number of cinemas in Beijing and found that some of them were empty and others were only on duty. The setting of the movie theater was fixed on the eve of the Spring Festival of the Year of the Rat and there were no signs of resuming work. At the ticket sales desk of a Beijing theater, a notice board was placed that had not been removed. The "Notice" showed that "the movie" Chinese Women's Volleyball "was renamed" Championship "and was released nationwide on January 25, 2020. This situation, people can not help but sigh, the epidemic has pressed all the "pause button".

   Photo by Zhang Yanzheng, the new latitude and longitude in the notice board of the reception desk of a Beijing cinema

"I reduced the salary of employees by half, and none of them left"

  Baizi Bay on the East Fourth Ring Road in Beijing is dubbed as the "half of the entertainment circle". There are more than 30 film and television companies here, as well as large and small film and television studios. Usually, a group of film directors, screenwriters, producers and other film and television practitioners are gathered here.

  "I don't know when the epidemic will end. This year's 'May 1' movie theater resumes work, which is basically impossible." Xu Weihan said while making "herbal" tea. In a cultural media design and creative park in Baiziwan, the reporters of Sino-Singapore Jingwei met Xu Weihan who had just returned from a business trip in Chengdu.

  Xu Weihan, who has been engaged in the film and television industry for nearly ten years, is now the chairman of an international business design group. The company's main business includes theater planning and design, decoration and construction. In addition, he owns five cinemas in Yiwu, Zhejiang, Chengdu and Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

  Years ago, Xu Weihan had to "fly" almost every five days, preparing for the smooth opening of many film and television projects across the country in the New Year's Eve. According to the predictions of many professional institutions, the total box office of the Chinese New Year in 2020 will break the national record of 6.868 billion yuan in the Spring Festival of 2019. To this end, Xu Weihan is excited to shuttle between the cinemas in major cities.

  On January 21, Wuhan announced that he would cancel all large-scale events and close public gathering places. On January 23, nine films including "Championship", "Liang Mom", "Chinatown Detective 3", and "Jiang Ziya" have been announced to be withdrawn, and the release date is yet to be determined. Immediately afterwards, theaters across the country received notices of closure, and major online booking platforms have shown a "refund wave".

  The advent of the epidemic, like the same bucket of "ice water" poured on Xu Weihan's head, he sent two words "cool" in the circle of friends, and the expression package with the text "As the owner of the cinema, I now smoke on the top of the building to see the scenery . "

  After the closure of the studio, Xu Weihan reluctantly stated that the company must survive in 2020, and now each of his studios has only one security guard and one store manager. "Before the Spring Festival, we recruited a large number of part-time staff, responsible for ticket sales, ticket inspection, cleaning and other tasks, including the cinema operations and other staff have been laid off, the current store manager is not only the theater manager, finance, but also responsible for regular inspection of the computer room And cooperate with equipment manufacturers to do maintenance to prevent equipment from moisture and aging. "

    Photo courtesy of the people in the closed cinema

  Talking about the losses caused by the epidemic to the company, Xu Weihan said that if he does not resume work this year, he will lose an average of RMB 4-5 million per theater. In addition, the "zero box office" of the Spring Festival stalls also means that problems such as the rental of studios, equipment loans, and contract breaches cannot be resolved. "The cost of opening a theater is relatively high, and the cost of recovery depends mainly on the box office revenue of the film. For example, in the early stage, 50 million yuan was invested in the hardware facilities of a cinema. Among them, the theater decoration is about 10 million yuan, and the film projection equipment is tens of millions. Before the Spring Festival, almost all movie theaters and investment companies in the country were purchasing and storing products, and there was no cash at hand. Everyone expected the return of the Spring Festival stall. "

  Earlier, real estate developers such as Wanda said that they would exempt mall tenants from rent for 2 months, and banks also said that loans to SMEs would be interest-free for 2 months. Now, it is the third month of the epidemic, and the financial crisis facing the movie theater is coming.

  Recently, Xu Weihan's headache is that although the five cinemas are not operating, they still have to pay a total of 1 million yuan in rent each month. "Now real estate developers are also having a headache. They have to drive out unpaid movie theaters and need to find other theaters. The reality is that the entire film industry is stagnant and no new film and television companies are willing to take over. So in the next few months Whether the rent is waived or part of the funds paid, we are still negotiating. "

  In addition to the rent of the venue, Xu Weihan also suffered from equipment rent. "Our film projection equipment" go "is an installment loan. The bank said that it has waived two months of interest, and then the principal and interest will be repaid on time. We are still communicating this morning on how to repay this batch of equipment costs . "

  Xu Weihan told reporters from China-Singapore Jingwei that although some cities have issued documents to support the film industry, it is difficult to obtain practical assistance. "Bank loans require companies to mortgage theaters or projection equipment, but the cinema venues are rented and the equipment is paid in installments. These do not meet the conditions for loans. Therefore, it is difficult for Studios to obtain loans from banks to survive this period. time."

  In fact, on the eve of the Ching Ming Festival, movie theaters in some provinces and cities have begun to resume work. Xu Weihan said that he was also preparing for the resumption of the Zhejiang Yiwu Theater at the time. "According to the requirements for resumption of production and production, we have purchased disinfectant, set up a separation line, etc., and have not yet opened the door, and were urgently stopped by the National Film Administration."

  In Xu Weihan's view, the opening of the cinema in May is not realistic. "The theater can be opened in May, but where does the film come from? The films such as" Winning the Championship "have not been released, and the producers are also reluctant to put them in the early stage of the resumption of work. The attendance rate is not high. During the fixed screening period, they won Will greatly reduce the benefits. "

  It is worth mentioning that in addition to having 5 theaters, Xu Weihan also has business lines such as theater design. As a light asset, the design business can work online, but it is also affected by the epidemic. Xu Weihan introduced that in terms of design business, the company probably undertook nearly 60 projects last year, with revenue of more than 10 million yuan. "In the first quarter of this year, the company has signed more than a dozen theater design projects. This year, there can be up to more than 30 projects. The revenue is expected to be five or six million yuan, which will be reduced by half from last year."

  The reporter of China Jingxin Jingwei noticed that there are only three or five employees in the company's large work area. Xu Weihan said that the Beijing company had resumed online work in the first ten days of the Chinese New Year, but the efficiency was very low. In early April, the company's more than 20 employees have all returned to Beijing. As it is still in the epidemic period, the company still advocates remote office.

  "Now the business volume has been reduced by half. After accounting, if the company is to continue to operate, it is necessary to reduce various costs. So, during the epidemic, the company announced that everyone's salary will be reduced by 50% on the original basis. I thought there will be some Everyone resigned, and everyone agreed, and no one resigned. ”Xu Weihan said with a sigh. For the film and television industry, more than 2,000 film and television companies have closed down this year. Everyone knows that resignation is equivalent to unemployment and a pay cut. It's better than no income.

  As a film and television company with multiple business lines, Xu Weihan can still rely on the projects in his hands to carry this period of time. "We now have about a dozen cinema design projects, mainly responsible for cinema space planning, including air-conditioning decoration, fire engineering design, construction area of ​​each screening hall and investment budget."

  Xu Weihan said that at this stage of the epidemic situation, this is also a good time to bargain. "Who now has spare money can take advantage of low rents and get some theater projects." He also pointed out that the epidemic also made many theaters aware of the importance of avoiding risks through design layout. "If a movie theater is 10,000 square meters, according to the functional area, we can design 4000 square meters as a cinema hall, and the remaining 6000 square meters can be used for commerce, such as catering, cultural and creative. By increasing the sales category, we can enrich the theater format and resist risks. , Can also help investors get the most benefit. "

"I have been idle for two months but still get paid, so I panic"

  Downstairs of the headquarters of a film and television media company, the main entrance is completely closed, leaving only one side door for entry and exit. Usually, there are coffee shops downstairs and other locations, and now only three or four customers are negotiating.

  "I have been idle for 2 months. Every day I come to the company to watch movies, drink coffee, and then pack up the documents and go home." Lu Wen, 30, said to the reporter of China and Singapore Jingwei with a smile, he finally passed Living without a job can get a salary, but my heart is not easy, but panic. "I always feel that if these days go by, our entire company will not be far from layoffs."

  As the distribution staff of the film and television media company in North China, before the May Day holiday, Lu Wen should have cooperated with the film side to do the resident distribution execution work, maintain the distribution channels of theaters and theaters in the region, and deal with pre-sales, ticket supplements, and spot mapping. Waiting for communication and negotiation for activities, now he can only sit in front of the computer, looking forward to the news that the cinema will resume work.

  "Our salary is still paid as usual, but the previous part of the salary subsidy has disappeared since February." Lu Wen said that the company is now in a semi-stagnation state. During the epidemic, crowds are forbidden and film shooting cannot be carried out; the movie theater is closed, Propaganda and distribution cannot be started.

    Zhang Jingzheng, the new latitude and longitude in the promotional materials of the Chinese New Year film

  When talking about any self-help measures to deal with the epidemic, Lu Wen shrugged and said frankly, "There is no better way." In Lu Wen's view, as a large-scale film and television production company, the management does not bother to invest in "Internet big movies", etc., and even relies on traditional distribution channels in its promotion and distribution methods.

  Lu Wen also realized that relying on years of operating accumulation, the company can carry a period of time in terms of cash flow, but if the cinema still does not resume work for 6 or 10 months? At that time, the film and television industry will be "dead in the dead", and no one is spared. Although the salary is still paid normally, the salary for the next month is not yet known. It is also worth noting whether the salary will be in arrears after 3 months. "I even secretly read recruitment information from other industries on the recruitment website. The guilt and worry caused by doing nothing do more torment than busy work."

  "In the past two months, today the department has finally called us to a meeting to discuss the placement of short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou to prepare for future releases. This excites me." Lu Wen introduced that he always wanted to try Combining distribution and marketing, this epidemic may not be a starting point for changing the industry. (Sino-Singapore Jingwei app)

  (Xu Weihan and Lu Wen in the text are pseudonyms at the request of the interviewer)

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