Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 189 199 [Subordinate becomes secretary, Jiahe Zou Wenhuai]

end of July.

Hefei.

High-tech industrial development zone.

This was Li Yishu's second time here. He didn't expect that the park had changed so much. Not only had the flow of people increased significantly, but there were also many cars coming and going.

Under the Art VCD production building.

Jiang Wanmeng extended his hand enthusiastically: "Director Li, welcome!"

In the past two years, as Li Yishu's name gradually rose, Jiang Wanmeng also found out that the young man who came with Miss Huo Wenxi was actually a well-known film director in the country. At first, he always thought he was a translator.

Unexpectedly, the other party is not only a director, but also a very awesome director. Recently, the news that the movie directed by Lee Yi-su has exceeded 4 million US dollars worldwide has been regarded as a hot topic in the newspapers.

It has been more than ten years since the reform and opening up, and domestic newspapers are no longer as simple as they were in the past. In order to increase sales, many newspapers have begun to learn from the media experience of Hong Kong and Taiwan, and various gimmicks have emerged one after another.

There are also many small magazines and weekly magazines in the south that specialize in compiling some of Li Yishu's experiences of becoming famous at a young age. For example, when Li Yishu went to the Venice Film Festival, he was looked down upon by a group of foreigners. Then, with a few words, he instantly became famous in Venice and easily won the Golden Lion Award...

It's all chicken soup literature, but it's very popular in this era.

Li Yishu smiled and stretched out her hand, saying, "Long time no see, Mr. Jiang."

Jiang Wanmeng nodded: "Almost a year."

"Yeah, time flies by so fast."

Li Yishu sighed and said that she was usually busy filming movies or just taking a rest, and she didn't notice how time passed so quickly.

"Director Li, Engineer Jiang, let's stop chatting downstairs."

Huo Wenxi smiled and said, "Let's go upstairs and talk about it."

"Yes, let's go upstairs and talk."

Jiang Wanmeng warmly invited Li Yishu to the R&D room upstairs.

Previously, this R&D room specialized in VCD research, but after Li Yishu proposed the concept of DVD, the R&D room was changed to develop DVD.

The environment in the R&D room is still good. There are dozens of researchers carrying out research at this time.

Li Yishu didn't understand these things and could only watch in wonder.

However, after Jiang Wanmeng's introduction and explanation, I gradually understood that what they are developing now is a dual-disc docking optical disc structure. To put it simply, it is dual-drive compatible and can play not only DVDs but also CDs.

Li Yishu had nothing much to say about professional stuff. He praised it for a while and then asked, "Engineer Jiang, what's the progress of the MPEG-1 decoding chip?"

"This one……"

Jiang Wanmeng hesitated and said, "At present, there are very few manufacturers in China that can mass-produce MPEG-1 decoding chips, but there are suitable ones in Hong Kong. I have discussed with Miss Huo before that we will first purchase the products from Hong Kong, and then purchase related equipment and produce them ourselves."

The MPEG-1 decoding chip is actually not high-tech, but there are very few companies in China that can produce related chips. In terms of technology, Li Yishu asked Huo Wenxi to buy it from Sun Yansheng in the United States.

It can be said that Li Yishu already holds the technical patent, and the only difficulty is large-scale production.

"Well, take your time. The main focus is on DVD research and development."

Li Yishu doesn't know much about these technical things, and he also has only a vague understanding of business.

However, according to the current situation, there is a high probability that it will not suffer losses. I just don’t know whether it can compete with Sony in the next DVD war.

Li Yishu knew very well that the real battle was in DVD, because the picture quality of VCD was too poor and the capacity was also very small.

But DVD is different, the picture quality is better, and the highest seems to be 720P. Although it is not as good as the later 4K high-definition Blu-ray, it is many times better than the picture quality of VCD.

After chatting for a while, seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Wanmeng warmly invited Li Yishu to the cafeteria for lunch.

It was around one o'clock in the afternoon when Li Yishu was ready to return to the hotel, and Jiang Wanmeng said goodbye and left.

When they got back to the hotel, Li Yishu said, "You are fully responsible for the VCD matter. As for the advertising fee, I will tell Amy and transfer the money to you."

"Okay Director Li."

Huo Wenxi said excitedly: "Director Li, don't worry, I will definitely do my best!"

"Do your best. I believe you have talent in this area."

Li Yishu smiled and said that under the premise of large-scale production and stockpiling, as long as the publicity was good, a lot of products could be sold in the mainland and Hong Kong in the early stage.

There is no doubt that he made money in the previous year, and it depends on how Huo Wenxi uses it later.

Huo Wenxi suddenly said worriedly, "Oh, Boss, most of our VCD copyrights are old movies. I'm afraid that after the VCDs are launched, there won't be enough discs and customers may not be satisfied. Do you think we should contact the film studios in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China to discuss the VCD revenue sharing with them?"

"There's no rush."

Li Yishu shook his head and said, "VCDs will definitely be pirated in the future. They don't have much technical content, and the production cost will become cheaper and cheaper. When there are more pirated discs on the market, we can negotiate with them about copyright."

This is just like the countless pirated music websites in China after the millennium. Apart from making some money from ringtones, singers basically had no chance of making any money, because MP3, MP4 and mobile phones were popular at that time, and it was easy to download pirated songs online.

No matter what the sound quality is, I am not a professional musician, so why listen to such good music? As long as there is sound and lyrics, it is fine.

The overall environment was so bad that a large number of music companies went bankrupt, and the copyrights of digital music, except for ringtones, were basically sold at bargain prices. Huo Wenxi, who heard this for the first time, was obviously stunned: "Boss, do you mean that there will be a lot of pirated VCDs in the future?"

"Not only that, there must be a lot of pirated VCDs as well."

Li Yishu shook his head. "Although I don't understand VCD technology, I believe that the technical content of this thing should not be very high. Once someone cracks it, it is estimated that imitations will appear soon."

Huo Wenxi was anxious: "What should we do then?"

"You don't have to worry too much. In the short term, they can't threaten us. Unless they invest in building a large factory like us and then produce in large quantities, they can reduce the cost price."

“What if someone brings the cost down?”

"Then we will also lower the price, to the lowest price! For example, if the cost of one machine is 1000, we will sell it at 1100, and if that doesn't work, 1050."

"Ah? Then can there still be profit?"

"Of course there is. Small profits but quick turnover. But you need to consult a professional to figure out how to calculate it. I don't know much about it."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Wenxi, don't just focus on the mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan. You should also look to Southeast Asian countries. There are also large populations there. The country now has preferential policies for exporting goods overseas. I remember there were subsidies. You have to find someone to learn more about these things."

Secretary Li Yi understands that for a long time, the country has had a strategy of subsidizing export commodities. The reason for the subsidies is, on the one hand, to be able to export commodities overseas and earn US dollars, and on the other hand, to seize overseas markets.

The decade from the 90s to the millennium was a critical period for domestic products to cover the global market in large quantities.

The four words "Made in China" were deeply rooted in people's hearts at that time.

That is to say, after 2015, no one mentioned "Made in China" anymore because it was too common.

No matter how DVD competes in the future, as long as VCD maintains its price advantage in the Southeast Asian market, DVD may not necessarily gain an advantage.

"Okay boss, I'll find a professional to do the calculation."

Huo Wenxi nodded. She had never considered the Southeast Asian market before.

However, as a Hong Kong native, she is relatively familiar with Southeast Asia and knows that many countries there are still very poor. If the manufacturing cost of VCDs can be infinitely lowered, she can make a lot of money simply by exporting them and selling them at low prices and in large quantities.

Dinner that evening.

Leaders from the high-tech industrial park and district leaders were all here.

Anyone who has seen VCD can basically feel the future market prospects of this thing. Although Huo Wenxi is the boss on the surface, Li Yishu is the only big director in China who has gone abroad, and his influence is still huge.

Not to mention that the current wave of people going into business is very turbulent. Many cadres have resigned to start their own businesses. Li Yishu's single movie can earn $4 million at the box office abroad, so his personal wealth must be considerable. If he could be brought to Hefei for investment, it would probably be at least several million dollars.

These days, there is only one word that matters when doing business - "drink"!
It would be difficult for Li Yishu to refuse the enthusiastic toasts from the leaders. As he had an average alcohol tolerance, he was drunk before the dinner was over.

The next morning.

Li Yishu woke up dazedly and glanced at Huo Wenxi who was lying beside him. He was stunned at first, then he remembered what happened last night and his expression suddenly became strange.

Was he pushed back by drunkenness?
Huo Wenxi was awakened by the noise. When she opened her eyes, she saw Li Yishu staring at her. She blushed and lowered her head and whispered softly, "Boss, I...I am willing."

Got it!
Having said that, Li Yishu is not Liu Xiahui, it’s just that his subordinate became his secretary, which was something he had not expected before.

"Don't do this next time."

"Yeah, I promise I won't do that again."

"..."

Seeing how well behaved he was, Li Yishu also said, "Okay, go wash up, and we'll go out to eat later. I was starving after drinking all night."

"Yeah." Huo Wenxi smiled happily. Just as he stood up and was about to go to the bathroom, he immediately frowned and walked into the bathroom while enduring the pain.

Looking at the other person's back, Li Yishu touched his nose, found his mobile phone on the ground, and discovered that it was out of battery.

After charging for a while, he unplugged the cable and called Hong Kong to postpone his meeting with Jackie Chan and Golden Harvest boss Zou Wenhuai to tomorrow noon.

Noon the next day.

Li Yishu came to Hong Kong with Yongmei, who served as her assistant.

Peninsula Hotel.

Inside the restaurant.

Li Yishu met Cheng Long and Zou Wenhuai, the founder of the famous Golden Harvest Film Company, who was praised as Bruce Lee's mentor and created the legend of Hong Kong film.

Li Yishu stepped forward and said apologetically, "Mr. Zou, something happened yesterday and I was delayed on my flight. I'm so sorry."

"Haha, it's okay, Mr. Li."

Zou Wenhuai speaks Mandarin well, and said with a smile: "Many things in life will not develop as planned, and there is often uncertainty. This is the charm of life. Otherwise, wouldn't a smooth life be too ordinary?"

Li Yishu smiled and said, "Mr. Zou's words are very philosophical. I am grateful for your advice."

If he had not had the experience in his previous life, he might have thought that what Zou Wenhuai said made sense, but after everything went smoothly in this life, Li Yishu didn't feel too good.

(End of this chapter)