Recently, a mainland self-publisher once again mentioned Indochine Media, a media group that has produced blockbusters such as “The Founding of a Nation”, “Iron Man 3” and “The Promotion of Dolla”. The article tells the story of Indigo Media’s entry into the film and television industry in 2009, when it made its first film “The Founding of a Nation”, and how in just a few years it went from being the so-called “No. 1 media stock” to evaporating more than $40 billion in market value and eventually delisting. Moreover, the three main characters (two American) also had different fates, which they probably did not expect when they invested in “The Founding” for the Chinese Communist Party.
Photo: From left to right, Dan Mitzi, Wu Bing, and Xiao Wenge
The Iron Triangle of Indochine Media
If you haven’t heard of Indochine Media, you’ve heard of Iron Man. Yes, this is one of its representative works. As the first Chinese company to cooperate with Hollywood, it has participated in investing in a number of phenomenal works, Hollywood blockbusters such as Iron Man 3, Resident Evil 4, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Exterminator, and The Ring; domestic works such as The Founding of a Nation, The Promotion of Doula, No War in Peking, The Warlords’ Alliance, The The Twelve Hours of Chang’an”, “The Lovers of Clara”, etc.
Photo: Xiao Wenge as He Yingqin in “The Founding of a Nation
According to public information, Wu Bing, one of the three founders, was a national champion in both gymnastics and synchronized swimming, and retired to the United States and Australia as a gymnastics coach before moving to Hong Kong to work as a martial arts actress. In 1993, Wu and her two partners, Dan Mitzi and Xiao Wenge, founded DMG Entertainment Media Group (the predecessor of Indigo Media).
According to reports, someone once told Netflix that Wu Bing and Dan Mitzi are legally married in the United States.
The relationship between Bing Wu and Dan Mitzi was not disclosed after the IPO.
In 2009, Indochine Media entered the film industry, and thus, the first film invested in by a Chinese and two Americans was “The Founding of the People’s Republic of China,” an official Communist Party production to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Indochine Media became the largest investor in “The Founding of the Republic”, and not only did it get a lot of publicity, but it also made a lot of money with its $450 million box office.
Subsequently, Indigo Media began to invest in many European and American films, including American Hollywood blockbusters, the most famous of which was “Iron Man 3” starring Robert Downey Jr. in 2013, when Indigo Media invited the first-class American movie star to Shanghai to co-promote with three of its founders, Dan Mitzi, Xiao Wenge and Wu Bing. In 2014, Indigo Media was listed on the shell of Jingao Food with 600 million yuan of assets, and in less than a year, Indigo Media’s share price soared nearly 40 times.
The company was once known as the first stock of media, the scenery is unlimited, even Huayi, light also have to be second, the market value of 43.1 billion.
The wind suddenly changed “the first stock of media” precipitous plunge
The good news is not long, the first half of 2018, Indigo Media performance began to plunge off a cliff. According to the report, Indigo Media’s revenue in the first half of 2018 was 390 million yuan, down 49.36% year-on-year; net profit was 21.743 million yuan, down 91.89% year-on-year.
What’s worse, the financial accounting report for 2018 was issued an audit report with an unavailable opinion, and the company’s stock touched the delisting risk warning situation.
And the company’s net profit loss expanded to 92 million yuan in the first half of 2019, a sharp decline of 523%.
On September 12, 2019, Indigo Media officially suspended its trading due to the stock price closing below $1 for 20 consecutive trading days.
On November 29, Indigo Media was officially delisted after 30 trading days of the delisting period.
Three founders had different results
Wu Bing was “too ill to return home”: In response to repeated letters of inquiry from mainland regulators, Indochine Media replied to the letter on October 26, stating that “Ms. Wu Bing, as the company’s chairman and general manager, has been working a lot for a long time and her health has been affected by her work. Ms. Wu Bing also went abroad for short-term treatment after work. “
Xiao Wenge became a rogue: Another founder, Xiao Wenge (formerly known as Xiao Wenge), was included in the list of untrustworthy executors and persons with restricted consumption by the court because he owed more than one billion dollars in arrears. Xiao Wenge, a once brilliant tycoon who was known as the first person in Sichuan stocks, ended up as an old scoundrel.
And another Jewish-American, Dan Mitzi, was widely reported as one of the founders of DMG Entertainment and Media Group before the IPO of Indigo Media. After the IPO, he disappeared from the Chinese public eye.
In just 10 years, everything has changed, from the filming of “The Founding” in 2009 to its delisting in 2019.
This is something that the three founders of Indigo Media probably did not expect when they made “The Founding of a Nation”.
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