Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 161 Film and Television Base
"okay, I get it."

Zhang Yan hung up the phone and said to Zhang Weining next to him, "Brother Ning, we've got another new job. Gao Feng has already transferred to our company, and Tian Zhen's version of 'Your Tenderness I Will Never Understand' has been finalized. You'll have to work hard to communicate with Gao Feng. It would be best if he could write a new song, but if not, you should quickly find a suitable one for him."

He is currently in a television recording studio.

The main problem is that the director of the August First Film Studio is held up by the municipal government and hasn't arrived at the TV station yet.

Zhang Yan was getting impatient and was afraid that Yan Xiaoming would drag him into giving advice on "The Right Path in the World," so he hid in the recording studio and stayed with Zhang Weining to listen to Tian Zhen record songs.

"give it to me."

Zhang Weining nodded slightly, then said, "I've also heard Wang Luyao's version. It's really well revised. Both the lyrics and the melody are completely different from my version. I don't think it's necessary to give it the same name again."

"That's it."

Zhang Yan had heard both versions and, upon hearing Zhang Weining's idea, immediately said, "Tian Zhen's version emphasizes self-expression more. Why not change it to 'My Tenderness You Will Never Understand'? Then we can package the two songs as sister pieces, which will give us more selling points."

"Uh……"

Zhang Weining originally wanted Zhang Yadong to change his name, but Zhang Yan spoke up and what he said made sense, so he had no choice but to nod and say, "Then I'll try to change the lyrics again."

The two had only exchanged a few words when Zhang Yan's phone rang again.

After the call connected, Zhou Tao excitedly shouted on the other end, "Zhang Yan, I did it! I did it! CCTV sent someone to contact me, and I'm about to join CCTV!"

"I told you to wait, wasn't that right?"

Zhang Yan hurriedly grabbed his mobile phone and walked out, then asked in a low voice, "Have we agreed on what program I'll be hosting?"

In the original timeline, Zhou Tao joined CCTV in 94. At that time, CCTV was selecting a successor for Ni Ping, so Zhou Tao became the host of "Variety Show" as soon as he joined CCTV.

But there aren't any ready-made hit shows for her to take over right now.

"They said they'd give me some experience first, and then give me more responsibility in the second half of next year—honey, I shared this news with you right away, nobody else knows yet!"

Zhou Tao rarely acted coquettishly on the phone, and the "other people" she mentioned obviously included her husband Yao Ke.

Zhang Yan also sensed another layer of meaning: Zhou Tao probably hoped that he could continue to guide her, preferably by helping her plan a program.

Hey~
This relationship is becoming increasingly impure.

However, if you really look into it, the two of them were on the wrong path from the start, and their path was only getting more and more crooked.

Under Zhou Tao's constant hints, Zhang Yan had no choice but to agree to find an opportunity in a few days to go to the capital to celebrate with her properly.

They had almost finished talking, and Zhang Yan was just about to hang up when he suddenly heard Zhou Tao say, "By the way, it seems like your Fangfang is having some issues."

"what's the situation?"

"She might be dating someone."

"real or fake?!"

“I’m not sure either, but…”

"I'm going to the capital tomorrow!"

After ending the call, Zhang Yan returned to the audition room with a serious expression, silently sat on the bench, and pondered how to investigate his sister's love life—the key being to confirm the man's character, personality, and family situation.

Asking her directly won't work; it would be better to ask her roommate. I happened to have entertained Liang Yan and Shi Xiaonuo quite a bit during the "I Am a Singer" show.

"boss Zhang."

At this moment, a staff member from the TV station pushed open the door and reminded them, "The director of the August First Film Studio is almost here. The station director wants you to come and assemble."

"understood."

Zhang Yan had no choice but to keep the matter to himself for the time being and followed the staff member to welcome Director Wang of the August First Film Studio.

…………

Actually, when the August First Film Studio received the cooperation invitation from Tianjin TV, it was quite unexpected, because nowadays film and television bases are all run by state-owned companies, which means that this thing is a pure investment, and other brother units can use it at a low price through connections.

So neither CCTV nor Beijing TV considered investing in this project—who would be willing to pay for something that can be done for free?
This explains why the August First Film Studio responded so quickly, and why the factory director even visited in person. However, after spending the morning at the municipal government, Director Wang of the August First Film Studio felt somewhat disheartened, as the Tianjin municipal government clearly did not have a high opinion of the project.

So after meeting Ma Yuan, as a woman and as a soldier, she chose to speak frankly.

"Director Ma, I've noticed that your superiors don't seem interested in this matter. So what kind of incentives can your Tianjin TV station offer to cooperate with our August First Film Studio?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Director Wang, you may not know much about our Tianjin TV station. We are currently the only TV station in the country that does not need funding from higher authorities and has a large amount of independent surplus funds—in this respect, even CCTV cannot compare with us."

He then gave a brief introduction to the situation of Guangming Factory.

Having heard that Guangming Factory is a subsidiary of the television station, Director Wang no longer doubts the financial strength of Tianjin TV.

In 1992, the instant noodle market was booming, and Guangming, which occupied half of the market, was bound to have a bright future in the next few years.

However, even after the funding issue was resolved, Director Wang still couldn't understand why Tianjin TV wanted to get involved in this mess.

"We have a real need for filming, and the higher authorities support our idea. So what is your purpose in investing in the film studio?"

"Is this..."

Tianjin TV Station, of course, wanted to use the military's influence to retain ownership of Guangming Factory.

However, this is something that can be done but not talked about, so Ma Yuan looked at Zhang Yan, signaling him to answer the question.

"Director Wang, it's like this."

Zhang Yan immediately chimed in, "Our Tianjin TV station is currently promoting two projects simultaneously. One is to cooperate with the August First Film Studio to build a film and television base, and the other is to accelerate the satellite broadcasting plan of our TV station."

Both of these projects are based on the premise that the domestic film and television industry, especially the television industry, will experience explosive growth in the next few years.

Our investment in these two projects by Tianjin TV is also a precautionary measure.

Seeing that Director Wang was looking at Zhang Yan with curiosity, Ma Yuan quickly introduced him: "This is Zhang Yan, our strategist at Tianjin TV. He gave us ideas for 'Tianjin TV,' 'I'm Crazy for Singing,' and even helped Guangming Factory turn a profit."

Factory Director Wang clearly hadn't heard of this person before, and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but stare at Zhang Yan again to sized him up.

Then he shook his head and said, "What you said makes sense, but it doesn't address the root of the problem—investing in film and television bases is a losing proposition. We are doing this because of government funding, but you are putting your own money into it."

This is the difference between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. If it were a private boss, he would probably be eager to make a fortune quietly and get the investment from Tianjin TV first.

But Director Wang was determined to get to the bottom of things.

Zhang Yan had not expected the other party to have such an attitude, so he could only say, "This involves some of our station's future plans. Whether or not it can be made public, we'll probably have to discuss it before we can decide."

"Yeah."

Ma Yuan nodded quickly: "Director Wang, why don't you take a tour of our TV station first, and we can talk in detail later, okay?"

The newly appointed office director, Wei Liben, was arranged to take Director Wang and his entourage on a tour of the newly renovated studio.

Several directors and deputy directors, including Ma Yuan and Yan Xiaoming, hurriedly pulled Zhang Yan aside for a short meeting.

At the meeting, some suggested secretly revealing the actual situation to the August 1st Army; others felt that this cooperation was indeed a losing proposition and that it would be better to simply abandon it and focus on the satellite program.

Ultimately, however, everyone's attention turned to Zhang Yan.

"actually……"

While they were speaking, Zhang Yan also sorted out his own thoughts and then said carefully, "We don't necessarily have to go against the city. We can introduce this film and television base as a featured supporting project of the Economic Development Zone."

I've heard that many investors and foreign company employees' biggest complaint about the Economic Development Zone is the lack of entertainment. While illegal and unethical activities have been secretly provided, legitimate entertainment is almost nonexistent.

What I mean is, could we turn this film and television base into a theme park like those in foreign countries, so that it can be open to the public regularly and offer some unique entertainment programs?

For example, we can perform folk activities that foreigners are interested in, or recreate scenes from movies and TV shows and let them participate. If they are willing to pay enough foreign exchange, we can also provide customized services and shoot a short film just for them.

This way, we can generate revenue, contribute to economic development, and also enrich the entertainment life of Tianjin residents, all without the city having to spend any money on it..."

(End of this chapter)