National Tide 1980.

Compared to his previous life, Ning Weimin's attitude towards the cultural phenomenon of Hong Kong and Taiwan stars and foreign animation sweeping across the mainland is completely opposite.

In his past life, he could have viewed this phenomenon of "outsiders being better at chanting scriptures" with an attitude of indifference.

They believe that popular culture from overseas and Hong Kong and Taiwan is ahead of that in mainland China.

Everyone relies on their own abilities. Since other people's products are better than yours, it's only right that you let them make money.

What ordinary people want is nothing more than relaxation and happiness. If the music is nice, that's enough; if the movie is entertaining, that's all that matters. Who cares who made it or who sang it?
Why bother with all this talk about impact or invasion?

If you're not as good as others, just admit defeat, be humble, and learn from them.

In his previous life, he could have accepted this established fact with a relaxed attitude, enjoyed the happiness of being a loser, and peacefully immersed himself in his longing for the outside world and his curiosity about the affluent life of developed countries.

They wishfully believed that the outside world was wonderful, colorful, and better than China, a paradise in their dreams.

But things are different now, because he now has a level of insight far beyond that of most people in this era. He knows that the gains and losses in the cultural market are matters of national identity and the right to speak in the international community.

It is even clearer that if local culture remains weak for a long time, it may not only mislead many people into excessively worshipping foreign cultures, but also disrupt the values ​​of the next generation and even trigger a crisis in the inheritance of Chinese civilization.

This is not alarmist talk, nor is it just him being overly pessimistic; it is a situation he witnessed firsthand in his previous life, and it is a fact that will happen.

Why did the "toxic textbook" incident happen later?

Why do so many people actively cater to the so-called "special aesthetics" of foreigners, believing that Asians are only beautiful with squinty eyes, flat noses, and dark skin?

Why do so many people believe that American movies will always be superior to those in the world, and that imported goods are always better than domestic ones?

This is actually closely related to how outsiders have been subtly manipulating and psychologically influencing ordinary people through entertainment works.

It's important to understand that entertainment works sometimes do more than just provide simple entertainment; they can also cater to people's inner needs, becoming a kind of distorted reality, a beautiful lie that's hard to resist.

Some outsiders are long-time conspirators who not only hope to disrupt peace but also create turmoil.

Furthermore, they enjoy inciting dissatisfaction with people's original lives, hoping that their audience will begin to doubt themselves and gradually embark on the path of admiring the strong, becoming obsequious and subservient.

Given his clear understanding of the importance of dominance in popular culture, how could Ning Weimin possibly sit idly by and allow the situation to continue to deteriorate?

You know, this is actually his business acumen to some extent.

He's currently working hard to promote Chinese culture abroad.

He also wanted to figure out how to sell domestic films and television dramas abroad to make money, make people fall in love with Chinese culture, and then fleece foreigners.

When he returned, he found his front door wide open, having unwittingly "let the wolf into the house," allowing others to occupy his home. Wasn't this going against the natural order? How could he accept this?
Of course, he would resist with all his might and try to protect his own interests.

The mainland market is his stronghold, and it is destined to become the world's largest entertainment consumption market in the future.
No matter what, he was unwilling to let outsiders benefit from his position, to see others so brazenly reaching into his own pot to scoop up meat.

As a result, he even abandoned his original plan to send "Chibi Maruko-chan" to a TV station for broadcast, then develop related products and profit from the IP.

He preferred to delay the benefits and sacrifice himself rather than make an already bad situation worse.

They are unwilling to further increase the influence of Japanese anime on Chinese children and teenagers, or even win over girls' hearts, when they are powerless to fight back.

After much deliberation, Ning Weimin made a decision: he had to establish an entertainment company in China as soon as possible to fully intervene in the domestic popular culture industry.

The longer it is delayed, the more passive local creators and related practitioners will become in the future.

He can't just do nothing and watch as the mainland's cultural industry, under the "tyranny" of outsiders, repeats the same old path of stumbling and struggling for survival that took twenty years.

Yes, a businessman must be shrewd and must be mindful of timing when entering an industry in order to reap the greatest profits.

But the problem is that he is still a Chinese businessman, and the biggest difference between Chinese businessmen and other businessmen is that they have a strong sense of righteousness.

Integrating morality into business, emphasizing righteousness over profit, and seeking profit through righteousness rather than merely for profit—this is the true nature of a Chinese businessman.

So even though the music industry is currently the only profitable sector in the domestic market, the film and television industry is still not suitable for commercial operations, and could easily result in significant financial losses, Ning Weimin couldn't afford to worry about that anymore.

Even though he knew that entering the market now would require him to spend a large sum of money to train relevant talent, and that there might be no return in the long term, he didn't really care.

Because he was willing to be a modern-day Prometheus, he only hoped to light some bonfires for local cultural creators, to give people hope and ward off the cold, and to speed up the revival of local culture.

Fortunately, he wasn't entirely overestimating his abilities or trying to stop a chariot with his bare hands.

Because he not only has ample financial resources and domestic connections, but he can also hitch a ride with his Japanese wife.

They can directly adopt the advanced experience, techniques, and even talent development models from the Japanese entertainment industry.

And most importantly, he has a knack for cashing out, and he owns many businesses.

Never forget that investing in the film and television industry is both a money-burning business and the best way to balance your finances.

As for his business in China, it will focus on tourism in the future, covering almost every sub-sector of food, drink, entertainment, clothing, housing and transportation. He also has his own advertising company and even has many luxury brands as his top advertising clients.

It can be said that a perfect closed loop has been formed in terms of business model, which is an advantage that others can hardly match.

He thought about it carefully and realized that what others were destined to lose money on might not necessarily happen to him.

What other worries does he have?

To put it bluntly, now that he has reached this level, he is actually like the emperors of ancient China. He no longer pursues personal enjoyment, but is more willing to pursue achievements in life and seek the realization of self-worth.

This is true financial freedom.

So, in addition to registering Daguo Tourism Agency in Hainan, Ning Weimin also finalized another plan to register an entertainment company upon his return.

The first person he thought of to collaborate with was Chen Peisi, currently the most famous comedian in China.

What Ning Weimin valued, besides the good relationship they had maintained and the initial collaboration they had established, was Chen Peisi's reputation, talent, diligence, and independent creative ability in the comedy field.

It's important to know that comedy is the most commercially viable film genre.

The investment is not too high, the technical requirements are low, but it is easy to gain market recognition and audience favor.

Putting aside other factors, once the domestic film market truly began to commercialize, whether it was Feng Xiaogang, Xu Zheng, Shen Teng, Jia Ling...

Which of these people who once created box office legends and broke box office records didn't start out with comedy?
Therefore, having Chen Peisi direct a comedy to test the waters in the market is the best entry point.

In addition, Ning Weimin also knew that Chen Peisi was the first person to register a film and television company in Hainan, so it wouldn't be difficult to find him as a partner.

Of course, Ning Weimin was also aware that Chen Peisi, as the first independent film and television producer in the country, did not have a good ending. It was as if he did not get to eat the crab, but instead got pinched by the crab.

But that's okay. Like I said, the situation is what it is, but it all depends on how you handle it.

He was confident that as long as he was in charge of the company's operation and cashing out, and Chen Peisi was in charge of filming and production, even if they didn't make a lot of money in the short term, they wouldn't lose much money either.

He would absolutely not let Chen Peisi lose everything again, ending up dejected a few years later.

As expected, with the aim of promoting national culture and creating high-quality comedies, the two hit it off almost immediately.

In particular, the mutual trust between the two sides was built up over many years, and the terms were negotiated very smoothly. The matter was settled almost immediately after a short period of discussion.

Ultimately, the two decided to register a film production company in Hainan.

The company has a humble name, "Yixiao Dafang Film Company," but its conditions in all aspects are anything but ambiguous.

In terms of funding, Ning Weimin contributed 9.8 million yuan, and Chen Peisi contributed 200,000 yuan.

The total investment raised was ten million, which can be said to be the highest in China.

That's not all. At the beginning of its establishment, the company also owned the copyrights to all of Chen Peisi's previous film works and sketches, as well as the two courtyard houses used for filming the "Father and Son" series. It can be said that it has a solid foundation in terms of hidden assets.

As for the specific cooperation model, in addition to contributing capital and holding a share, Chen Peisi also contributed technology as equity.

As the company's general manager and producer, as well as director and lead actor, he will be responsible for most of the management and filming work, and therefore will hold a 30% stake.

Comparatively speaking, Ning Weimin's responsibilities are much lighter.

Since he also had to go to Tokyo, his job was simply to promote the work overseas.

At the same time, as a major investor, it holds as much as 70% of the shares.

It can be said that both of them got what they deserved and were very satisfied with the distribution of responsibilities and the division of duties.

Even in the early stages of a company's development, there's no need to worry about what to film next.

In fact, Chen Peisi already had two new scripts that he was quite optimistic about at this time.

One is called "Earn Ten Million," and the other is called "Comedy Star."

Chen Peisi was originally planning to go somewhere to beg for alms, then make a film and release it.

Now that they've started a company together, funding is no longer an issue.

It would only cost around a million to film both now, so why would they need to make any further choices?
The only thing they need to seriously discuss next is that after the company is established, Ning Weimin will inevitably need to assign a trustworthy person to act as an agent for the newly registered company.

So, who should we choose?
You should know that this position is quite important.

In addition to overseeing the company's finances on behalf of Ning Weimin, his specific responsibilities also include serving as the company's deputy and being responsible for the company's daily operations.

Because Chen Peisi will definitely be going out to film frequently in the future, he certainly can't stay at the company all the time.

Ideally, they should also have a certain level of expertise; complete laymen will cause a lot of trouble and will be unable to handle many things properly.

Ning Weimin thought it over and over, considering all the people he knew in China.

The most suitable candidate seems to be his former subordinate, Yang Liujin.

This girl was one of the four beauties at the Jianguo store back then, and she had assisted me in releasing music albums for Fei Xiang and Zhang Qiang.

Later, he also represented Pierre Cardin in liaising with Monita Company, undertaking beauty and hair services for several model competitions, as well as makeup services for the "Crazy Rich Asians" film crew in Beijing.

She is basically someone who knows a lot about celebrities and filmmaking, and her ability to handle things is not much different from Yin Yue's.

If we could invite him to be a vice president, he would feel more at ease.

It's just asking people to leave their comfort zone; whether they're willing to do so is another matter.

The crucial point is that this touches on another critical issue—he has to poach talent from Pierre Cardin.

That's so unethical.

Moreover, as long as he brings it up, it will inevitably put Yang Liujin in a difficult position. If she is unhappy and others find out, it could affect her future career development in the company.

Therefore, Ning Weimin was very hesitant about whether to bring it up, and was unsure of what to do.

However, things just happen by chance. Just when he was going through the most difficult time, an unexpected message came from Tokyo.

The Matsumoto office in Japan suddenly sent a fax to Beijing, saying that Yao Peifang, whom Ning Weimin had brought from the mainland, was tired of the work arranged by the Matsumoto office and had submitted her resignation, wanting to return to China to develop her career. The office asked them how to handle the situation.

This news immediately opened Ning Weimin's mind, allowing him to suddenly discover a more suitable candidate. (End of Chapter)