Chapter 410 Arrangement Plan
After discussion, it was finally decided to use 1 billion yuan to purchase the land or property needed for the cinema in the future, which was 300 million yuan more than the original plan.

Although the current land price is not as high as it will be in a few years, the funds required to purchase land for building a nationwide cinema chain are still not a small amount, and 700 million yuan may not be enough.

After all, there are about forty or fifty second-tier and third-tier cities in the country, including developed second-tier cities such as Hangzhou, Jinling, Chengdu, and Shancheng.

These big cities have developed economies and are important voting bases in the country even now.

So it is impossible to build only one cinema in these cities, and the land is also not cheap.

Liu Zhou was prepared to do it all in one go. While he had sufficient funds now, he would first buy all the land needed for the cinema chain. If 1 billion yuan was still not enough, he would continue to invest more.

In addition, the plan to build three luxury cinemas in each of the four first-tier cities including Shanghai remains unchanged, and in order to save costs, the construction of these twelve cinemas will start simultaneously after the locations are selected.

Once these twelve cinemas are built, Golden Harvest Cinemas will have a total of sixteen luxury cinemas in the four major box office regions. Together with the ten theaters in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces, Golden Harvest Cinemas will at least be ranked among the top ten cinema chains in China.

Once all the planned cinemas are completed, Golden Harvest Cinema Line will be able to compete with Wanda Cinema Line.

So this time Liu Zhou approved 1.3 billion yuan of funds for the theater chain company, and this is only the first installment. He will continue to invest money in building theaters in the future.

As for how much money will be invested in the future, it is difficult to calculate now, but Liu Zhou is already prepared to continue to invest more than 1 billion yuan.

If we add in the initial investment, including the acquisition of a cinema chain company and the modernization of its ten cinemas, as well as the construction of four luxury cinemas in four first-tier cities,

Adding the more than 2 billion yuan planned to be invested now, the total investment of Golden Harvest Group in Golden Harvest Cinema Line is about 3 billion yuan.

With an investment of 3 billion yuan, it should be enough to build a national cinema chain that covers 50 to 60 cities in the country and has hundreds of directly-operated cinemas, which should be among the top three in the industry.

Therefore, Gao Jun, the general manager of Golden Harvest Cinemas, will have heavy responsibilities and will be very busy.

First of all, the site selection of cinemas in various cities and the negotiation of land purchase are very troublesome matters.

Not to mention the subsequent construction and related matters such as the current operation of Golden Harvest Cinemas and Golden Harvest International.

Gao Jun knew that after Golden Harvest went public, Golden Harvest Cinema Chain would expand, but he did not expect Liu Zhou's ambition to be so big.

Being given an important task is of course good, it means the boss trusts you, but thinking about the fact that he is in charge of the most core cinema and overseas distribution department of Golden Harvest Group, Gao Jun gritted his teeth and said:

"Mr. Liu, if the cinema chain is to expand on such a large scale, I will have to take care of both the cinema chain company and overseas distribution, and I am worried that I will not be able to handle it.

I'm not afraid of being busy, but I'm worried about delaying my work, and that I won't do a good job on both the theaters and the distribution side.

So I want to resign as the general manager of Golden Harvest International and focus on the work of the cinema chain company."

Hearing Gao Jun's words, Liu Zhou couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

I've only heard of people seizing power, but never of people giving it up.

However, Liu Zhou was very happy that Gao Jun was willing to take the initiative to give up the overseas distribution work.

The core departments of Golden Harvest Group are production, overseas distribution and cinema chains.

The first two are Golden Harvest’s core advantages compared to the industry, and cinema chains will also be a key investment sector, and their status within the group will not be low in the future.

Now the production is mainly handled by Zhang Zhao and Chen Guofu, while overseas distribution and theaters are in the hands of Gao Jun, so Gao Jun's power is too great.

Not only can it challenge the authority of Zhang Zhao, the president of the group, but it will also make Liu Zhou feel uneasy.

The human heart cannot stand the test, and Liu Zhou does not want to test others with temptation.

Rather than risking a possible fallout from a power struggle in the future, it is better to nip the risk in the bud.

Liu Zhou originally planned to take it slow and adjust Gao Jun's position at the beginning of next year, removing him from the position of general manager of either Golden Harvest International or Golden Harvest Cinemas.

Now that Gao Jun has voluntarily resigned from the position of general manager of Golden Harvest International, that couldn't be better.

However, he suddenly proposed this, and Liu Zhou was not prepared at all, and had not yet found a successor.

"Mr. Gao, do you have a suitable successor?"

Hearing Liu Zhou's words, Gao Jun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that his decision was right, and Liu Zhou should also have the idea of ​​adjusting his position.

Since he has decided to let go, Gao Jun will certainly no longer exert influence on Golden Harvest International.

"No, you may need to find another successor."

"Ok."

Jiahe International is also one of the core departments of Jiahe Group, so it is better to keep it in the hands of our own people.

So after a little thought, Liu Zhou made a decision:
"Since President Gao is busy with the work of Golden Harvest Cinemas, then President Zou should take on the work of Golden Harvest International."

Zou Chongyan was surprised to hear that Liu Zhou actually handed over Golden Harvest International to him:
"I?"

"Yes, it's President Zou. You can be said to be the most senior member of the management team of Jiahe Group. You should also know the company best. I can't think of anyone more suitable than you."

Before Liu Zhou acquired Golden Harvest, Zou Chongyan had been in charge of Golden Harvest for more than ten years and it can be said that he knew Golden Harvest inside and out.

Most of Jiahe's overseas channels were established within the framework of the original Jiahe channels.

Today's Golden Harvest International is simply re-establishing Golden Harvest's previous overseas channels and making certain improvements to them.

Therefore, Golden Harvest International is not unfamiliar to Zou Chongyan. If she were to take charge, things would not be chaotic and it would be much better than finding someone from outside.

As for the issue of her ability, there is no need to worry at all. The fact that she managed to maintain the shaky Jiahe for seven or eight years is enough to prove that she is quite capable.

What's more, Zou Chongyan has worked with Liu Zhou and others for four or five years, and her abilities are obvious to all.

"Since Mr. Liu values ​​me, I will definitely do my best to run Golden Harvest International well."

Of course Zou Chongyan would not refuse this sudden surprise.

The Hong Kong branch of Golden Harvest Films cannot be compared with Golden Harvest International at all. The production center of Golden Harvest Group has long been in the mainland.

The purpose of the Hong Kong branch is to maintain Golden Harvest's influence in Hong Kong and to provide some outstanding film talents for mainland companies.

If it were in the past, when Jiahe was first acquired, Zou Chongyan might have refused because it was too troublesome.

But now, Jiahe Group is managed so well by Liu Zhou that its market value exceeded Jiahe’s original peak as soon as it went public.

Compared to her initial indifferent attitude, she now wants to build a good career in Golden Harvest. "Mr. Liu, if I take charge of Golden Harvest International, who will take over the Hong Kong branch of Golden Harvest Films?" Zou Chongyan asked.

"There's no rush for this. We can recruit someone from outside or promote someone from within the company. Mr. Zou, do you have a suitable candidate?"

This time Liu Zhou was not being polite, and the Golden Harvest Hong Kong branch was not particularly important. Zou Chongyan had worked in Hong Kong for so long, and he really wanted Zou Chongyan to recommend a successor.

"I can't think of one right now, maybe I can ask a headhunter to look for a few candidates."

"Okay, then you can help Mr. Zhang recruit someone to take over your position."

"Ok."

Liu Zhou took a sip of tea and continued:

“Since we are talking about Golden Harvest International, let’s also talk about overseas distribution.

Golden Harvest International now has relatively complete channels in Asia, and Summit Entertainment is responsible for distribution in North America. I think we can start trying to open up distribution channels in Europe.

The reason why the Big Seven in Hollywood are so powerful is because they have strong global distribution capabilities.

Since we are targeting them, global distribution capabilities are also essential for Golden Harvest Group.”

"Mr. Liu, there are too many European countries, and the film industry there has been developing for decades. The structure has been roughly fixed, and it is difficult for outsiders to get involved." Zou Chongyan replied.

Zou Chongyan had some understanding of this. When Golden Harvest was at its peak, it had thought about developing distribution channels in Europe, but found that the difficulty of the operation was no less than establishing distribution channels in North America.

Moreover, there are many countries in Europe, and the film market conditions in each country are different, so it is even more complicated.

In addition, the European market could not bring much profit to Golden Harvest, so Golden Harvest gave up the plan to develop distribution channels in Europe at that time.

“I understand. I am not saying that we should establish the channel right away. Although there are many countries in Europe, the four largest film markets are Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

The film markets of these four countries account for more than 70 percent of the entire Europe. As long as we open up channels in these four countries, there will basically be no major problems with distribution in Europe.

At the beginning, we can seek cooperation with European distribution companies, as long as they can ensure the stable distribution of mainland films to Europe, and then slowly establish our own distribution channels.

Or we can buy a film company with distribution capabilities in Europe, just like we did in Hollywood, which would save time and effort, and just cost a little more money. "

"Okay Mr. Liu."

"You can take your time with this matter. There is no rush. After you hand over your work to President Gao, first familiarize yourself with the company's situation and stabilize the distribution in Asia, then learn about the situation in Europe."

Then Liu Zhou looked at Gao Jun and said:
“Boss Gao, you and Boss Zou will hand over the work of Golden Harvest International. I also have a requirement for the expansion of the cinema chain, which is that Golden Harvest Cinema Chain must be fully established within five years.

So you need to buy the land as soon as possible and then make a subsequent plan for the construction of the cinema. I don't care how you do it, and you don't have to worry about funding.

But I hope to see a brand new Golden Harvest Cinema Chain in five years, covering third- and fourth-tier cities in China and owning hundreds of theaters.”

From now on, Golden Harvest Cinema Line will be the key investment business of Golden Harvest Group. However, even if the total investment is 3 billion, another investment of about 1.2 billion will be needed in the next five years.

If the investment is spread over five years, it would only be 2.4 million per year, which is not a big pressure for Jiahe Group.

"Okay, Mr. Liu, I will ensure that the task is completed." Gao Jun nodded seriously.

After arranging Gao Jun and Zou Chongyan, Liu Zhou turned his gaze to Zhang Zhao:

"Boss Zhang, you are still the general manager of Golden Harvest Films, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you should give up this position first, and then go to the headhunting company to find a suitable successor."

"Ok."

Zhang Zhao didn't care much about being removed from his position as general manager of Golden Harvest Films, because this company mainly deals in TV drama business.

Although Golden Harvest's TV dramas are well-known, their output is relatively low, and they mostly collaborate with outside production teams. Golden Harvest Film and Television is mainly responsible for investment and distribution.

Compared with the strong production capabilities of Golden Harvest Films, Golden Harvest Films' TV drama production capabilities are not that strong, and the profits it creates are far less than those of Golden Harvest Films.

In fact, Zhang Zhao had wanted to resign from this position a long time ago, but because there was no suitable candidate, he had been holding the position concurrently.

“In the future, we also need to pay more attention to the TV drama business and place it on the same level of importance as movies.

We will also significantly increase our investment in TV dramas and build up the production team of Golden Harvest Films to be able to produce three large-scale TV dramas at the same time.”

"Mr. Liu, is it necessary to attach so much importance to TV dramas?" Zhang Zhao couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, not only will the domestic film market be expanding rapidly, but the entire entertainment market will also be expanding rapidly. TV series will become more and more important and more and more profitable."

In the era of traffic, the quickest way to become a top star is to star in a hit TV series.

Moreover, due to the fierce competition for copyrights among video websites, the copyright prices of TV series have been greatly raised, especially TV series involving popular stars, which can be sold at sky-high prices.

Moreover, after the mask incident, the film market fell into a slump, but the TV drama market is still thriving.

Even Zhang Ziyi, who claimed that she would never act in a TV series, and Chen Kun and Liu Yifei, who stopped acting in TV series after switching to the film market, have started to act in TV series.

Therefore, in the future, TV dramas will not only make a lot of money, but also promote celebrities. There is no reason for the Golden Harvest Group not to pay more attention to the TV drama business.

Judging from Zhang Zhao's attitude towards TV dramas, he obviously doesn't take them very seriously. This is normal. After all, in everyone's mind, movies are indeed much more important.

Not only actors think so, but many people working in the industry also think so.

Therefore, Zhang Zhao is obviously not suitable to continue as the general manager of Golden Harvest Films.

In the future, the business of Golden Harvest Films will be busier, and the work of the Golden Harvest Group will be even busier. Zhang Zhao not only needs to manage the entire group, but also has to manage Golden Harvest Films.

Removing him from the position of general manager of Golden Harvest Films would not leave him too overwhelmed.

"Mr. Liu, if that's the case, I think we can acquire a film and television company that specializes in producing TV series. It just so happens that a well-known film and television company is in trouble right now."

“Oh, which company?”

"Zhou Yi Film and Television!"

(End of this chapter)