Chapter 286 Royal Film Studio
No matter which country, there is a phenomenon, which can be abbreviated as "one sentence from above, and the people below will run around".
What does it mean? It may be an idea from the top of the country, which will cause a large number of relevant personnel in the middle and lower levels to run around.
Especially for a monarch with huge power like Arthur, Arthur's words can even make the whole of Australasia move.
This is actually a double-edged sword. If this power is used well, it is possible to push the country in a stronger direction.
But if the person who uses this power is only for his own selfish desires, it is very likely to push the country into the abyss and there is no way back.
The good news is that Arthur has basically thought carefully about all the orders he issued, and if there are uncertainties, he will convene the cabinet government or other officials for discussion.
Although Arthur has various experiences from later generations, he is just an ordinary person after all, and he may make mistakes.
However, as the head of a country, Arthur has a large number of subordinates and government officials to discuss. These officials are originally doing this, and Arthur is quite handy in using them.
With Arthur's decision to vigorously develop sound films, the three major film studios in Australasia and related scientific researchers quickly moved, and hundreds of literary practitioners including various writers, novelists, writers, historians and even artists were all gathered together.
They had only one task, which was to compile stories about the Australasia nation to promote national unity and national culture.
The stories could refer to relevant historical facts or be made up by themselves, as long as they looked more real.
As long as they followed the general background of national unity and national unity, Arthur allowed them to make some fictions about national stories, or even make up stories.
Anyway, Australasia had the final say in this area of Australia, and no country would come to compete with Australasia for the right to explain the history of this area.
The experts who were summoned attached great importance to this task, because they had received news that the stories they compiled would not only be adapted into sound films and broadcast throughout the country and even the world, but even the better ones would be selected and added to the textbooks of Australasia.
These experts might also be remembered for thousands of years in Australasia with the stories they compiled.
After all, they have chosen to join the nationality of Australasia. Who doesn't want to have a good reputation in this country?
Sydney, Royal Film Studios.
Royal Film Studios is the film studio with the largest holdings of the royal consortium, with a shareholding ratio of 100%.
Of course, the other two major film studios, Victoria Film Studios and Australasian National Film Studios, have the background of the royal consortium. It can be said that in terms of film studios, the royal consortium is the big boss behind the scenes, and the three major film studios are actually the internal struggle of the royal consortium.
However, this kind of competition is allowed, and some commercial competition can also make the development of the industry smoother.
It's better than a single company dominating the market and causing the quality of the film and various services to decline!
Karen is a professional film projectionist at the Royal Film Studios. The so-called film projectionist actually brings the equipment for projecting movies to small cities or rural areas without cinemas to show movies to those people.
At first, it was because the film company went to the countryside and small cities to promote movies and expand its own channels.
After a long time, some people have become accustomed to this way of entertainment. When people in some villages have money, they often pool their money to invite projectionists to show a movie.
In Australasia, not many people can watch movies. If they can pay projectionists to show a movie in their village, the villagers will brag about it for a year.
But for those projectionists, small cities are okay, at least the transportation is very convenient. It is particularly troublesome to show movies in some remote villages. After all, the belongings of projectionists in this era cannot be pulled by a carriage. Going to a small village is just asking for trouble.
But there is no way. This is the strategy of film studios to expand the market and the job that these projectionists rely on for survival.
Fortunately, the price of showing a movie is not cheap. Even if the travel expenses and expenses to remote areas are included, the cost of showing a movie is equivalent to the income of an ordinary worker in Australasia for more than half a year.
This is also the reason why most villages and small cities choose crowdfunding when showing movies. There is no way. The screening of any movie costs more than 30 Australian dollars, which is almost close to the average annual income of Australasia.
It is for this reason that movie projectionists like Karen don’t have a very good business.
Although a movie screening can earn them at least two or three months’ income for ordinary Australasians, the problem is that for small cities and villages, movies may only be screened once or twice a year, or even once every few years.
This has led to Karen’s business being open once every two or three months, and the combined income is only around the average income level of Australasian.
If Karen hadn’t occasionally found an opportunity to show a movie in the city square, attracting hundreds of people to watch and earning a little extra income, I’m afraid Karen’s annual income would be about the same as that of ordinary people.
But despite this, Karen still doesn't want to lose her job. Although the current job of a projectionist is not easy, the overall income has been on an upward trend.
In the past few years, projectionists like Karen could not even find a screening opportunity for most of the year. Occasionally, I would secretly screen it in city squares, and I was worried that I would be reported by the movie theater people for stealing business from the city’s movie theaters.
Under the premise that the total film market has been on an upward trend, Karen is naturally unwilling to give up her career.
What's more, coupled with the income from secretly showing movies in the city, Karen's annual income is almost twice the per capita income. Such a high-paying career is nothing more than a bit of hard work, so why would Karen be willing to give it up?
Karen, who had just finished a movie and was about to take a good rest, suddenly received a notice from the Royal Film Factory, requiring all film projectionists to gather at the Royal Film Factory as soon as possible. There was an important announcement.
This news made Karen frown. After all, in addition to new films for them to pick up, it was also when the rent was settled that they would all be gathered at the Royal Film Studio.
Yes, these projectionists basically rented equipment from the Royal Film Factory. Half of the proceeds from a movie screening were given to the Royal Film Factory to fund the rental of equipment.
But the good news is that after 20 consecutive years of handing over 50% of profits, these film projection equipment truly belong to the film projectionists. They only need to pay the rent of the films to the Royal Film Studio and do not need to pay for the rental of the equipment. .
Karen's dream is to earn enough money to open a cinema of her own in a big city like Sydney.
I heard that cinemas in Sydney earn tens of Australian dollars for every movie shown, and hundreds of Australian dollars are brought in every day, which makes Karen and many movie projectionists envious.
With some worried thoughts, Karen came to the Royal Film Studio early in the morning. With a slightly uneasy mood, he waited for the door of the office area to open.
"Karen, are you here so early?"
After waiting for a while, Karen's friend and colleague Trick came over and greeted Karen with a familiar face.
"Yes, Trick. I want to know early why the film studio called us here. I hope it won't be any bad news." Karen responded to his friend with a wry smile.
"I hope so, Karen. But judging from the current development of the film industry, I don't think it is bad news. If it is bad news, the film studio can just notify us directly. Why call us here?" Seeing that his friend was a little frustrated, Trick comforted him.
"Maybe you are right, Trick." After hearing what his friend said, Karen felt better, and he and his friend waited for the arrival of others.
After waiting for a while, most of the movie projectionists around Sydney had arrived and were gathering in twos and threes.
Finally at eight o'clock, the door to the office area was officially opened. Frank, the head of the Royal Film Studio, came out with a smile on his face. He looked at everyone in the film studio and said straight to the point: "Gentlemen, I want to tell you some good news. , Royal Film Factory will continue to expand its market size and plans to build more cinemas in big cities like Sydney and Melbourne. Of course, cities with a population of more than 100,000 will have the opportunity to build cinemas, and you may become the person in charge of these cinemas. ”
Frank's words were like a soothing drug, causing the somewhat nervous movie projectionists to immediately quiet down and look at Frank expectantly.
"I know you are curious about why so many cinemas are suddenly being built. I can tell you some news. Talkies were born some time ago. Your Majesty decided to vigorously develop talkies and the film industry, and has invested a lot of money in us." Frank Explained with a smile.
Frank did not mention that two other film studios also received the same funding.
After all, such an occasion is to cheer up the employees under his command, so it is natural to highlight the importance of the Royal Film Studio.
Hearing that Arthur was very optimistic about talkies and wanted to vigorously develop the film industry, all the film projectionists present couldn't help but burst into excitement.
His Majesty the King is going to vigorously develop the film industry. Are they still worried about losing their jobs?
No! Ambitious film projectionists like Karen were already looking forward to positions as directors of cinemas in the city.
Although these newly built cinemas belong to the Royal Film Factory, as the persons in charge of the cinemas, on the one hand they can get in touch with cinemas early and develop their own abilities, on the other hand they can also earn higher income and prepare themselves for opening cinemas on their own in the future. Lay a good foundation.
"Currently, we have been vigorously researching and developing sound film technology. We believe that within half a year at most, we should be able to start shooting sound films. In other words, there is only more than a year until the sound film is released, and this year is also An opportunity for all of you. During this period, we will build at least ten cinemas and hire more than 20 film projectionists. Both cinemas and film projectionists have only one responsibility, which is to show a large number of what we film to the society. Free movies for the vast majority of Australasians to see with their own eyes.”
"Director Frank, do you mean free movies?" someone asked.
You know, they all make money by charging for movies. If the movies are suddenly changed to free, where will their income come from?
"Yes, the main direction of the Royal Film Studio in the future is to shoot public welfare movies about our nation and country. The so-called public welfare movies are naturally free to all Australasians. But don't worry, these public welfare movies are all shot with the support of His Majesty the King. Whether it is the cinema or the projectionist, every time a public welfare movie is shown, they will get their due income." Frank nodded and explained.
The cost of showing a movie is not small at present, and it can easily be as high as dozens of Australian dollars.
Therefore, this also gave rise to a problem, that is, even if the film studio produced a movie about national and national unity, the number of people watching would not be too large.
After all, watching a movie is also a burden for the people. Even if Arthur can rely on his own appeal to let most villages play a movie, it is definitely not worth the loss.
Therefore, after repeated consideration by Arthur, it was decided to play these national and national movies in the form of public welfare.
As for the cost and expenses of the broadcast, it will be borne by the government and the royal consortium. According to the agreement between Arthur and Prime Minister Walter, the government will reimburse 40% of the cost of these films, and the remaining 60% will be borne by the royal consortium.
Even if all the cities in Australasia, big and small, are added together, they can only play 10,000 movies a year at most.
Is it expensive to play 10,000 movies? According to the cost of 30 Australian dollars per movie, 10,000 movies will only cost 300,000 Australian dollars, which is not much.
Even if there are more movie shows, it is affordable for the finances of the government and the royal family.
After changing the way of playing movies to free public welfare, more people can be attracted to watch these specially shot movies, and the role these movies can play will be higher.
Apart from anything else, the name of free movies alone is enough to attract most villages and individuals to watch.
After all, it is a free movie. Even if it is based on the spirit of "if you don't take advantage of it, you are a bastard", it can make a large number of small cities and villages invite those movie projectionists to show a movie.
Of course, the cost of a movie is not just about showing the movie, but also includes the shooting of the movie, the writing of the script, etc.
But these are not big costs after all, especially for the relatively rudimentary film industry, the cost of filming is not high.
Moreover, it can also help the three major film studios expand their own film market with the help of public welfare films.
The more markets there are, the higher the profits of the film studios will be, which is of great help to the three major film studios in achieving independent profitability and development.
After hearing Frank's explanation, many film projectionists breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, everyone needs to support their families. If they lose income because of public welfare films, they will really have to find a place to cry.
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