Studio worker delivering food： After waiting for more than 100 days, I finally see the light of day
China News Service client side ******* on May 22 (Ren Siyu) from January 23 ****** Festival film files have been withdrawn s***ar, the cinema has been closed for more than 100 days.
In the halls of many cinemas, there were also posters promoting the Spring Festival movies. During this period, a few cinemas were temporarily open and closed, and some cinemas said goodbye forever. Countless filmmakers were confused and anxious, staying and waiting, or leaving as soon as possible?
A movie theater manager who goes by the online name "Don’t Character Xiaosheng" made a video of his daily delivery life. One of his common phrases is to wait for the spring flowers to bloom. When someone asks why he is still waiting for the spring flowers to bloom now that it is summer, he said, "It is waiting for the spring flowers that belong to us filmmakers."
Source: Video screenshots
Cinema under the epidemic
On May 19, Wu Xujie had been delivering food for a whole month. But he was a little depressed that day because he met a store that was not honest. The weight of the goods was written as 1 kilogram, but when he arrived, he found that it was several large boxes of bayberry, with a total weight of nearly 30 to 40 catties.
A few days ago, he and his colleagues visited a movie theater under construction in Xiangshan County, Zhejiang Province during the day. At night, he switched from formal clothes to takeaway clothes, and completed the task of delivering 5 orders a day after 10 o’clock, subtracting 3 yuan in insurance premiums. A total of 29.9 yuan was earned.
Source: Video screenshots
Wu Xujie is the store manager of Ningbo Yuyao Wanda Cinema, which generates about 20 million box office output each year and ranks among the top three in Ningbo. But since January 23, the theater has not been open for 119 days.
In early 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic shut down the film industry. Wu Xujie and his colleagues had invested considerable energy in preparing for the Spring Festival, setting up the atmosphere, preparing food, arranging films, and recruiting and training many part-time college students, but they did not expect that they ushered in a long "holiday".
Data map: Pedestrians pass by the out-of-home advertising of a movie theater in the Wangjing area of Chaoyang District, Beijing. Photo by China News Agency reporter Hou Yu
In recent years, China’s film market has been booming. In fact, cinemas that rely on box office revenue are not as good as they seem. Under normal circumstances, the box office revenue generated by a film needs to pay 5% of the national film industry development special project funds and 3.3% of taxes and fees. The remaining 43% of the net box office goes to the producer, and 57% goes to the theater and the theater chain. The share of the theater and the theater chain depends on the specific situation.
In the case of revenue interruption, the theater has to face a number of expenses, including rent, labor, equipment, publicity, maintenance, cleaning… On the days when the theater is closed, the staff also need to turn on the equipment for maintenance.
In mid-to-late March, cinemas in some parts of China tried to resume work. Wu Xujie and colleagues also submitted applications, but they encountered "sudden brakes" before they could open. At the end of April, the National Film Administration estimated that due to the impact of the epidemic, the annual box office loss will exceed 30 billion yuan. Tianyancha data shows that 2,799 cinema-related enterprises have been cancelled or revoked in Quarter 1 in 2020.
In order to recover costs, many cinemas have launched takeaway services, dealt with hoarded popcorn sausages at discounted prices, and turned cinemas into "wedding studios", but compared with the pressure of rent and labor costs, these incomes are only a drop in the bucket.
Data map: Chengdu Pacific Studios Wangfujing Store Ticket Office. Photo by Yang Yudi
Under the anxiety, many filmmakers tried to "change careers", some made masks, and some delivered express deliveries in the same city. Wu Xujie also realized that he could not be influenced by decadence for a long time. He planned to deliver takeout and make videos of his daily life, hoping to show a positive attitude and cheer up his equally anxious colleagues.
Most of his colleagues were born in the 1990s and 1990s. "As a store manager, doing this can also set an example for other friends." On the other hand, he also wanted everyone to understand the real life of movie theater and studio workers.
When filmmakers "switch careers" to deliver food
In the past month, Wu Xujie has delivered supermarket goods, large-scale seafood, and expensive digital products. He has also sent them to the wrong place many times. When grabbing orders, he is "not brave enough". "They all say that delivering food is a hard job. In addition to strong winds and rain, they also have to face the sun and high temperature, which can only be realized when doing this job."
After two weeks of delivery, Wu Xujie earned a total of 772.85 yuan on the three platforms. Compared with the electric car bought for 2,600 yuan and the professional raincoat bought for 99 yuan before, it can be said that "it is not enough to make ends meet", but he is not discouraged. "I think being able to stick to one thing, or being very happy and positive about the current work, is a good life exercise."
Source: Video screenshots
Taking advantage of the opportunity to deliver takeout and shoot videos, he came into contact with ramen shop owners, online car drivers, driver drivers and other people from all walks of life, a takeaway brother joked with him, business will be better after college students start school, and business will be better when the studio resumes work. Because of the pandemic shutdown, people from all walks of life are delivering takeout, and it has become particularly difficult for them to grab orders.
One day, he was chatting with a colleague, Ah Wei, whose wife works in film distribution, and both of them were "unemployed" during the epidemic. In order to make a living, Ah Wei first went to a restaurant street to work part-time, which cost 17 yuan an hour, and was busy from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm every day. Later, he found a manual job near his home, and cooperated with his mother and wife on the assembly line. If the speed was fast, he could earn more than 400 yuan a day.
"You have to keep yourself busy every day, otherwise you won’t be able to maintain a good working condition." A Wei’s thoughts were the same as Wu Xujie’s, preparing for the resumption of work in the studio in the future.
On the way to deliver food, Wu Xujie can always think of all kinds of work in the theater. One day, he received an anonymous reward of 18.88 yuan from a customer. The customer service told him that it may be because of the better service attitude. He thinks this should be related to the work in the studio. Every time he delivers an order, he will say "Happy dining" and "Please take it well. Thank you." Just like in the past, he and his friends will always patiently answer customers’ questions and say to them, "I wish you a happy movie viewing."
Five years ago, Wu Xujie first entered the studio to work. That year, the domestic film market was very lively. What made him remember deeply was that in the past, audiences often left before the end of the main film, but when "Detective Chinatown" was released, even if it was an evening show, the theater was full of guests, and they had to wait until the subtitles were completely over before leaving.
Five years later, the material for "Detective Chinatown 3" is still in theaters, but I don’t know when it will be released. Every week, Wu Xujie and his colleagues will go to the theater on duty. One day, he recalled in a video the pomp of the release of "Avengers 4" last year: "It was the biggest and hottest zero-point show I’ve ever seen. There were people in front of the ticket machines, and the sales area was full of fragrant popcorn. Now these scenes are gone. It’s very cold here, but I believe that the spring of filmmakers will come."
Source: Video screenshots
At the end of April, he and his studio colleagues went hiking, all wearing T-shirts around the movie, standing on the top of the mountain and shouting: "We are filmmakers, see you tomorrow, because tomorrow will be better!" Wu Xujie cried as he edited the video.
Like many filmmakers who are on the job, he is looking forward to hearing the news of the resumption of work in the cinema, even if it is just a point in time or a signal, at least to be mentally prepared.
I’ll be waiting for you at the theater
Wu Xujie often said in the video, "It is not because there is hope to persevere, but because of perseverance to see hope." Now, with the domestic epidemic prevention and control situation gradually improving, filmmakers have finally waited for a glimmer of hope.
On May 8, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Doing a Good Job in the Normalization Prevention and Control of the COVID-19 epidemic", which mentioned that under the premise of implementing prevention and control measures, reservations and limited viewership can be taken to open closed entertainment venues such as theaters and amusement halls.
Wu Xujie also saw the news at the first time, "After waiting for more than 100 days, I finally saw the dawn." In the WeChat group, the practitioners were excited and also expressed various worries.
The next day, he attended a meeting organized by the local government department to discuss some of the difficulties the studio is currently facing and the preparations for its future opening. After the meeting from 50 or 60 kilometers away, Wu Xujie coincidentally received a tailwind order, which ended near his home. In order to maintain professionalism, he hurried home and changed into a takeaway suit before delivering it. "When the cinema officially opens, I will wear a shirt and welcome everyone."
Source: Video screenshots
On the 13th, the Chinese poster of the Oscar-winning film "1917" was exposed, "Meet the cinema, still together". For the Chinese film market, such a poster release has been too long.
On the 14th, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued tax and fee support policies for film and other industries, involving reduction and exemption of value-added tax and cultural undertaking construction fees; the Ministry of Finance and the State Film Administration issued an announcement that Hubei Province will be exempted from the national film undertaking development special project funds from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020; other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities will be exempted from the national film undertaking development special project funds from January 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020.
Recently, Guizhou Province, Guangzhou City, Kunming City and other places have successively issued guidelines and opinions on the resumption of work, making it clear that under the premise of implementing prevention and control measures, they will open theaters by appointment and limited viewership.
With the idea of resuming work, it is still unknown when the theater will actually open, what movies will be shown after opening, and how many people will come. Recently, Wu Xujie was still working part-time to deliver food, and the mantra in his video changed from "waiting for spring flowers to bloom" to "believe that tomorrow will be better."
On May 18, Mr. Wu waited 15 minutes for a 30-minute meal at the door of a restaurant, but he was not angry because he saw a line of small print under the rider’s pick-up area: "We are grateful for every time you wait." Thinking of the many people recently asking about the opening of the cinema and saying they missed the cinema, he said, "I also want to say to the customers waiting for the movie, every time you wait, we are grateful."