Chapter 242 Entertainment Godmother
Jiang Heng does not have a branch in South Korea, after all, this is the world of chaebols.

As for the distribution of a series of films, we are cooperating with CJ Entertainment.

Speaking of this company, it has a quite impressive background. Its founder is Lee Mi-kyung, the granddaughter of Lee Byung-chul, the founder of Samsung Group.

This woman is no simple person either. When the company was first established in 95, it invested heavily in DreamWorks under her leadership and became the distribution agent for DreamWorks films in South Korea.

The more common CGV cinemas in mainland China are owned by the CJ Group.

The cinema chain was founded in South Korea in 1996 and entered the Chinese market in 2006, opening its first CGV cinema in Shanghai.

However, this time, CJ Group chose to go north and wanted to open its first cinema in Beijing.

The reason is that I was influenced by Jiang Heng. In recent years, I have cooperated a lot with China Film Group, iQiyi and Tencent Video for the distribution of films.

In addition, because of Jiang Heng's words, China Film Group introduced CJ Entertainment's "Memories of Murder", which made them inexplicably earn an unexpected fortune and their favorable impression of Jiang Heng increased dramatically.

This time, they were planning to enter the Chinese market and invest in building cinemas, but they came to pay a visit to Jiang Heng first.

Beijing, Kempinski Hotel, Longyuan Chinese Restaurant.

Jiang Heng and Li Meijing sat opposite each other, eating and chatting.

"Congratulations to Director Jiang. Pacific Rim 2 has grossed over billion U.S. dollars worldwide. It has also set a new box office record in Korea. Congratulations!" Lee Mi-kyung said, picking up her glass of red wine.

Jiang Heng also picked up the cup, smiled and said thank you.

After taking a sip, he said, "President Li, you came here not just to say thank you, right?"

Li Meijing put down her chopsticks. "Of course, I came to China this time because I am optimistic about the development of the film industry here and want to invest in building a high-end cinema. I wonder if Director Jiang has any suggestions for me!"

Jiang Heng was stunned when he heard this, and then he laughed. This is really like a pillow when you are sleepy!

He is currently planning to shoot a 3D version of "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons", and one of the most important problems he faces is the lack of 3D screening rooms in high-end cinemas.

If there are not enough 3D theaters, the number of people watching 3D movies will be very small, and it will be difficult to form a positive effect of word-of-mouth communication.

When "Avatar" was released in the previous life, how many people scrambled for 3D movie tickets!

Therefore, the renovation and upgrading of cinemas is also crucial.

Currently, he can influence two cinema chains, China Film Group Corporation (CMC) and Shanghai Film Group Corporation (Shanghai Film Group). However, because successful 3D films have not yet been released, the transformation projects are progressing very slowly.

In a fit of rage, Jiang Heng invested a huge amount of money to acquire a small cinema chain company and has already sent people to promote the renovation of the theaters.

But overall, high-end 3D theaters are still too rare, and it would be great if CGV could get involved.

In addition, the CJ Group in its previous life was very successful and was the fifth largest film investment company in the world, with a market share of over 50% in South Korea.

Strengthening cooperation between the two sides will also be beneficial to Jiang Heng.

"I don't know, has President Li ever learned about 3D technology?"

Li Meijing was stunned for a moment, then said, "I heard that director James Cameron seems to be making a 3D movie. However, there are currently no very successful 3D movies in the world. Is Jiang Heng optimistic about this?"

Jiang Heng smiled, "Indeed, I am very optimistic about it, and I also plan to invest in a 3D movie."

Jiang Heng was not afraid that Li Meijing would leak the news. After all, both filming and post-production took time. The schedule of "Avatar" was almost fixed and difficult to advance. Li Meijing's eyes lit up when she heard this, as if she had heard a very important business secret, and even her voice trembled a little.

"You said you were planning to make a 3D movie?"

This reaction stunned Jiang Heng, but he immediately realized, damn, at this moment CGV was not yet the number one cinema company in South Korea. She must have found a way to surpass her competitors.

Just as Jiang Heng had thought, Li Meijing came up with the idea of ​​"differentiated" competition and found a way to surpass other cinema companies.

If it were just James Cameron shooting a 3D movie, then the renovation of cinema halls might need some further discussion.

But Jiang Heng is also involved and wants to shoot a 3D movie, so in Li Meijing's opinion, this is something worth gambling on.

The question is, does she dare to gamble?
How daring!

Lee Mi-kyung is short and slightly plump, and doesn't look impressive, but she is the big shot behind the Oscar-winning Korean film "Parasite" and is also a super academic.

After graduating from Seoul National University in the 80s, she first studied for a master's degree in East Asian studies at Harvard University, and then completed a doctorate in Chinese history at Fudan University. During this period, she also studied at Formosa University and Keio University in Japan, and is fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and English.

Later, when he went to work in the United States, he often brought DVDs of Korean films to visit major Hollywood film companies: Warner Bros., Universal, Fox, etc. This enthusiasm was later described by the Hollywood media as "like a believer in Korean films."

However, at that time, South Korea had no internationally renowned directors and no classic works recognized overseas, so everything she did was basically in vain, and then she decided to use money to pave the way.

First, he tried to bring Spielberg together with Samsung's then leader Lee Kun-hee, and reached a $9 million cooperation to establish the "DreamWorks".

After the cooperation failed, she signed a contract with Spielberg again on behalf of South Korea's CJ Group the following year, exchanging US$3 million for a 10.8% stake in DreamWorks and the exclusive distribution rights of its films in Asia (excluding Japan). She is indeed a powerful person!

After reaching a cooperation with Spielberg, another focus of Lee Mi-kyung's work is to build a chain of high-end cinemas with her brother Lee Jae-hyun.

At the moment, we are making steady progress, but from Jiang Heng's words I can sense a new opportunity, which I will not miss.

First, I asked Jiang Heng about the difference in audio-visual effects between 3D movies and 2D movies. Of course, I was referring to the audio-visual effects of new 3D movies, because the audio-visual effects of 3D movies at this time were really average.

After listening to Jiang Heng's description, Li Meijing's heart was pounding.

But as a business tycoon, she naturally would not make a decision immediately. She only said, "Don't worry, Director Jiang, I will order the team to study this project carefully. If it is feasible, all CGV theaters in the Republic of Korea will be converted into 3D theaters!"

Jiang Heng smiled and said, "I'm just making a suggestion. Whether to rebuild or not is up to you!"

Li Meijing said: "I understand, but I believe that in the next decade or so, 3D movies will be an important reason for the explosive growth of the global film market."

Jiang Heng said: "I think so. After all, you can only see the essence of a 3D movie in a theater. This cannot be replaced by DVDs!"

"Yes, so, I really appreciate Director Jiang's advice. It was the right decision to come to visit you first during my trip to China!"

Jiang Heng smiled: "You're welcome!"

Li Meijing asked, "Director Jiang, is there anything you need help with? Let me know."

Jiang Heng smiled and shook his head, because the essence of this matter is mutual benefit, and everyone benefits.

But Li Meijing was always very polite. Jiang Heng thought for a moment and said, "Then help me find someone!"

(End of this chapter)