Super Zoo-Chapter 560 - 555 Asian Film Market

The domestic screening ratio is not out yet, so Suming has no way to know the specific details. But without using much brainpower, anyone could guess that next week's arrangement will surely rise to another level, as this week's box office has already proven that "Terror Animal City" is a profitable film. The theaters have no reason not to provide a good environment.

What he's actually considering now is overseas distribution.

Huaxia has become the world's second-largest box office, with annual domestic box office revenue second only to North America. The days when Xiangjiang films uniquely dominated and drove the development of the entire film industry in Southeast Asia are long gone. Back then, the rights for overseas distribution of Xiangjiang films were often priced higher than the local box office itself and did not require splitting profits with theaters, significantly contributing to the income of film production companies.

Even though times have changed, and the mainland film market has grown, the portion of total revenue from overseas distribution rights has decreased, becoming negligible for some films. However, Suming still harbors certain expectations for the overseas distribution of "Terror Animal City."

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For one thing, every little bit counts—even if the gigantic productions with hundreds of millions in costs wouldn't care about a few million in overseas rights, for a small film with a budget of ten million, the profit from overseas distribution rights is not to be underestimated.

Secondly, his confidence in "Terror Animal City" itself;

Thirdly, the global annual box office is close to 35 billion US dollars, with North America accounting for 11 billion and Huaxia about 6 billion. Just as foreigners are starting to see the Huaxia market as a piece of cake not to be ignored, for Huaxian filmmakers, the overseas market represents an even bigger cake. Breaking into the overseas, especially the North American market, the revenue potential is self-evident. Even if "Terror Animal City" doesn't sell for much, it represents the first step towards the international scene.

Judging by the current domestic box office of "Animal City," Suming is bound to delve further into the film industry in the future, making it necessary for him to understand the workings of overseas distribution.

After the distributors from the Philippines and the Treasure Island came to Yangchuan City, Suming had indeed had some contact with them. At the dinner where he was hosting them, they had once had a brief conversation about the distribution rights.

It was after this conversation that Suming decided to put the negotiations for overseas distribution rights on hold until after "Animal City" had finished showing nationwide and the total box office was tallied. Then he would focus on negotiating the distribution rights.

Because the prices offered by these two distributors were so low as to be laughable—combined, they amounted to just over one million Huaxia Yuan.

Though not expecting to make a fortune from overseas distribution, such low distribution prices were psychologically unacceptable to Suming.

Besides, there might be other countries or even North American distributors interested in negotiating in the future; settling for too low a price now would be detrimental to later negotiations.

"Animal City" earned over sixty million in box office revenue in its first week, and Long Wu from Xiangjiang was the first to call and congratulate him. Through the video call, Suming could clearly see the usually poker-faced Long Wu wearing a very obvious smile.

Long Wu made a good profit this time. Taking into account only this week's box office, his share of the earnings would exceed ten million. Ten million is not an amount to be overlooked, especially since he had almost no costs, merely having assisted Suming by setting up a platform.

He initially intended to repay the favor owed from last time at the Horse Club by helping Suming; he didn't expect it to bring him a considerable return.

"I was just afraid you'd feel bad, I barely did anything, and yet I'm taking nearly half of your domestic earnings," Long Wu said with a laugh.

"If Brother Ten speaks like that, it feels too distant. You help me, I help you, we all make money together," said Suming, waving his hand with a laugh. Money is something one person can't earn alone; those who bring benefits to their friends will have more friends and thereby earn more money.

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Seeing Suming's stance, Long Wu did not dwell on the topic and changed the subject, "I looked into the overseas distribution rights and those two companies weren't deliberately underpricing you. The current situation of the Southeast Asian film market isn't good."

"Brother Ten, could you give me an analysis? I'm completely clueless about this, and you're the expert," Suming said.

The Vieshow Company from Treasure Island is backed by one of the island's top-tier corporations; as for the Philippines, it's one of the earliest countries in Asia to engage in independent film production, and its film industry should be developing quite well. It puzzled Suming that the two companies could only offer a combined copyright fee of just over a million.

Deciding to temporarily halt contact doesn't mean giving up on the overseas distribution rights; on the contrary, Suming plans to use this time to thoroughly understand the intricacies of overseas distribution and prepare to ask for a suitable price in the future.

Long Wu gave a brief overview of the situation.

The Philippine film industry, although early in development, has progressed slowly, with an annual box office of less than 2 billion Huaxia Yuan—a relatively small market.

Due to its history as a former colony, the Philippine film market is primarily dominated by Western blockbusters. Long Wu found data from last year showing that 78% of the box office was taken by imported films.

Furthermore, like the mainland, the Philippines struggle with severe piracy. Most people in this country live below the average standard of living and aren't in the habit of paying for movie tickets in cinemas.

Add on top of that, the hefty taxes. In the Philippines, 30% of a film's revenue goes to taxes, with an additional 12% value-added tax. This means that almost half of a film's income is taken away in taxes. The film practitioners in the Philippines unanimously view the exorbitant taxes as the culprit behind the weakness of their film industry—the taxes kill directors' creativity and producers' courage.

In such circumstances, it's natural they wouldn't be able to offer a high price for importing Huaxia films.

"You did the right thing. There's no need to waste words with the Philippines," laughed Long Wu. "With your current net worth changing by hundreds of thousands in minutes, negotiating prices with Philippine distributors is simply a waste of life and time."

"What about Treasure Island?" Suming asked. He remembered Treasure Island as a big market for films, notoriously for being moneyed and foolish. The golden decade of Xiangjiang cinema in the last century was backed by the wealth of tycoons from Treasure Island.

"Wow, your information is outdated by decades; that was before the handover. Things are different now; the mainland has risen," Long Wu said, shaking his head with a smile.

Before the signing of the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010, Treasure Island films entering the mainland market were treated as imported films, competing with Hollywood and other Western blockbusters for the annual quota of 20 imported films.

After the agreement, the number of films allowed was no longer limited by the quota. As long as they passed the approval of relevant authorities, they could be distributed and shown.

To protect its film industry, Treasure Island has always had restrictions on the import of mainland films, limited to ten per year. Although there has been some relaxation after the cooperation agreement, the number is still limited and cannot be unrestricted.

Luckily, "Terror Animal City," a film completely devoid of politics and nationality issues, would have no problem passing the review of the relevant departments in Treasure Island.

However, being allowed to be distributed doesn't necessarily mean that the distribution rights can be sold at a high price.