Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 417 Peak Moment
On September 2nd, a heavy rain in Beiping washed away the sweltering heat of midsummer, adding a touch of coolness to the late summer season.

Around 9 a.m., Huayi Chairman Wang Zhongjun arrived at the company office.

First, I leisurely brewed a pot of tea before slowly turning on my computer, ready to enjoy the tea while browsing Weibo's trending topics.

As the CEO of a listed film and television company, keeping up with the latest news and trends in the entertainment industry has long been a daily habit.

Take a sip of the tea, and the rich aroma spreads across your tongue.

Wang Zhongjun opened Weibo and paused when his eyes fell on the top of the trending topics list. He wondered why Liu Shishi was still trending when she didn't attend the Bazaar Charity Night last night.

At this moment, the hashtag "1. Tangren's top female star Liu Shishi" is firmly occupying the top spot, overshadowing all the celebrities who tried their best to gain traffic last night.

With a bit of curiosity, Wang Zhongjun clicked on the link and saw the official announcement posted by Tangren Media late last night, and instantly understood the cause and effect.

On the computer screen, there was the meticulously planned official announcement:
Tangren Film & Television v: Eight years of poetic passion, a new chapter begins! Eight years of writing poetry and books have not ended, and another five years will bring a fresh look.

A heartfelt contract secures the future: @刘师师v has officially renewed her contract with Tangren Media for another five years!
Shishi began her journey as "Longkui," was tempered and grew through "Ruoxi," and finally amazed the world as "Yu'er."

Through eight years of trials and tribulations, she wrote the most enduring declaration of love for the "Sugar Man Family" with her original aspirations;
In the new journey ahead, we will wholeheartedly protect this brilliant star and write a new chapter together!

A new legend begins: Director Li Guoli's final project, "The Imperial Doctress," has been officially greenlit!
A masterpiece in its final chapter: Tang Dynasty director Li Guoli poured half a lifetime of accumulated knowledge of ancient costume aesthetics into the project, and together with a team of history and traditional Chinese medicine experts, meticulously researched every detail, from clothing embroidery to medicinal prescriptions, to recreate the splendor of the Ming Dynasty. A hefty investment of 500 million yuan was used to create 50 exquisite costumes, each stitch imbued with the spirit of the Ming Dynasty.

Poetic Heart Forges Healing Soul: Liu Shishi takes on the leading role for the third time in Director Li's production, transforming into Tan Yunxian, a female imperial physician of the Ming Dynasty! This time, watch her break through the constraints of etiquette and uphold her principles amidst chaos, using the eye of a needle as a blade to pierce through the dark clouds of the era!

"This woman, Cai Yinong, isn't particularly good at running a company, but she's a master at hype," Wang Zhongjun thought to himself, amazed.

Cai Yinong's timing was brilliant. He used the bombshell news of Liu Shishi's contract renewal to overshadow the female celebrities who wanted to steal the spotlight last night, and also promoted his new drama. It was a win-win situation.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Come in!"

"Brother!" Wang Zhonglei pushed open the office door and entered, without any formalities, and sat down directly opposite his brother.

Wang Zhongjun poured his younger brother a cup of tea: "Have you seen the trending topics?"

"After reading this, Cai Yinong does have some skill. He managed to win Liu Shishi over and take the opportunity to firmly hold onto Tengda Group."

"This renewal is for five years, which is enough time for Tangren to go public." Wang Zhonglei's voice was full of envy.

In the era of internet traffic, the value of A-list celebrities to film and television companies is self-evident.

Business resources can directly boost company revenue, while the star effect can significantly boost confidence in the capital market.

Moreover, Liu Shishi is far beyond the average A-list celebrity. She is a combination of top-tier star and capital, possessing massive resources and can be considered a "business hub" in the entertainment industry. More importantly, her husband is the richest man in Asia.

Although Wang Zhongjun also envied Cai Yinong for his good fortune, Liu Shishi was Tangren's top female star, and it was ultimately her ability to persuade her to renew her contract.

"What they do is none of our business! How's the preparation for Xiao Gang's '1942' coming along?"

Wang Zhonglei's expression turned serious, and he put away his previous frivolousness: "It is scheduled to be released at the end of November. The subject matter of '1942' is too heavy and does not match the expectations of the audience during the Lunar New Year season. Theaters are unwilling to release it during the Spring Festival."

Wang Zhongjun sighed softly, "Without a good release date, this film will most likely lose money!"

"1942" was produced by Huayi Brothers at a cost of 2.1 million yuan, plus 3000 million yuan for marketing and distribution, bringing the total investment cost to about 2.5 million yuan. The film needs to gross over 6 million yuan to break even.

Although the film market has been booming in the past two years, with box office revenue repeatedly breaking records, films that gross over 6 million yuan are still extremely rare.

Moreover, "1942" deals with famine and human nature, which is not a subject that audiences would like. Huayi Brothers is not optimistic about the film's box office performance.

The thought of the box office failure inevitably dragging down the company's stock price made Wang Zhonglei furious. He cursed and muttered, "Xiao Gang is just bored. Why doesn't he just make some movies that the audience likes and make money happily?"

Wang Zhongjun looked helpless.

Films with realistic or historical themes carry extremely high box office risks. He had repeatedly tried to persuade Feng Xiaogang to give up making "1942," but the latter was determined to do so.

In order to avoid damaging the cooperative relationship, Huayi had no choice but to bite the bullet and invest.

"Fine, he's been preparing this film for years, so let him fulfill his dream and he can work with the company with peace of mind in the future. Anyway, he promised to make a comedy film for the company next year."

Wang Zhongjun paused for a moment, then changed the subject and solemnly instructed, "Arrange for external traders. If the box office performance of '1942' is truly poor, short the company's stock price immediately. Be clean and leave no trace!"

Wang Zhonglei nodded solemnly and replied, "Don't worry, I know what's important!"

The two brothers have worked together for many years, and they can understand each other's thoughts with just a glance, without needing to say a word.

Wang Zhongjun's gaze inadvertently swept across the computer screen and he noticed that the news of the "2012 Hurun Rich List" was gaining popularity and was about to break into the top ten of the trending search list.

"The rich list for this year is out!" After mentioning it to his younger brother, Wang Zhongjun couldn't wait to click on the link and start browsing.

"It's out? It seems to be a few days earlier than in previous years!" Upon hearing this, Wang Zhonglei excitedly took out his phone to check the rich list, wanting to see if he was on it.

On the morning of September 2, the Hurun Research Institute released its latest rich list, ranking the wealth of entrepreneurs in mainland China.

Song Ci, chairman of Tengda Group, topped the list with a fortune of 4400 billion yuan, retaining his title as the richest man for the fifth consecutive time.

Zong Qinghou, founder of Wahaha, and Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group, followed closely behind, ranking second and third with net worths of 800 billion and 650 billion yuan respectively.

The top ten include industries such as beverages, real estate, and technology, with the threshold for the top ten richest people reaching as high as 350 billion yuan.

Staring at that astonishing number, Wang Zhongjun's pupils contracted slightly, and he exclaimed in shock, "4400 billion? Could there be a mistake in the statistics?"

Wang Zhonglei explained: "Tengda's WeChat and WeChat users have now exceeded 15 billion, making it the mobile software with the most users in the world. The latest valuation of Tenda Group has reached 1800 billion US dollars."

Wang Zhongjun shook his head as he listened, then continued reading, quickly finishing the list of the top 100 richest people.

"Liu Shishi is on the list again."

The name of the top female figure was prominently featured on the list. With a net worth of 80 billion yuan, she ranked 154th on the list, tied with Chen Hongdao, the CEO of JDB Group, and Fu Jun, the president of Xinhua Lian Group. This is a rise of 92 places from last year.

"She is probably the one whose wealth came most easily among all the billionaires on the list."

Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei exchanged a glance and couldn't help but smile bitterly. The two brothers had struggled for half their lives, yet their net worth was still less than that of a young girl. Indeed, the difference in people's fates was absurd. They sighed in unison and continued scrolling down, finally finding their own names after skimming through a string of names.

The two brothers ranked 452nd on the list with a net worth of 38 billion yuan.

After looking at the entire list, Wang Zhongjun showed no joy at being on it; instead, he seemed rather disheartened.

The Hurun Rich List might be just something ordinary people talk about over tea and laugh off, but for people like them, it reveals the undercurrents of market trends.

The rise of e-commerce has led to a general decline in the wealth of the rich in the apparel and retail industries, while the assets of the rich in the financial investment, real estate and internet technology sectors have grown rapidly.

In the entire entertainment industry, apart from Liu Shishi and her brothers, only Li Lianjie made the list, which also shows how small the film and television industry is in the national economy.

Wang Zhongjun's eyes were deep, and his tone was firm: "Huayi must 'de-filmize' itself."

Wang Zhonglei didn't speak, but simply nodded; he shared the same thought as his brother.

The film industry's box office revenue is extremely unstable, and the domestic market is also impacted by imported films, resulting in huge operational risks.

“Zhong Lei, this list shows that real estate and the internet are the future! The company needs to accelerate its development in internet entertainment and location-based entertainment.”

"Understood. Mobile games are incredibly popular right now, and I've got my eye on a mobile game company. I'm currently in talks to invest in it. As for real estate, several film and television theme parks have already started construction."

Wang Zhongjun nodded slightly: "Very good, but we can't rush it. The company's transformation needs a smooth transition."

I reiterate, moving away from filmmaking doesn't mean stopping filmmaking altogether, but rather that we can't rely solely on filmmaking. Right now, Huayi Brothers needs strong box office performance to boost its stock price and secure sufficient funding to support its transformation.

Returning to the topic of movies, Wang Zhongjun asked, "What's the deal with the box office revenue sharing for Stephen Chow's movie 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons'?"

Wang Zhonglei scoffed, "They're still arguing. Stephen Chow is just being delusional. Seeing that 'Painted Skin 2' grossed over 7 million, he raised the expectations for 'Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons'."

The requirement is that, based on total box office revenue, for every additional 5 million yuan in box office revenue in mainland China exceeding 1000 million yuan, the individual would receive an additional 100 million yuan in bonus.

Holding Huayi's guaranteed minimum return, yet unwilling to take any risks, only thinking about increasing dividends—there's no such thing as a free lunch!
He didn't even do the math: in the past decade, aside from Hollywood blockbusters, how many domestic films have grossed over 5 million yuan?

Wang Zhongjun was clearly unwilling to spend more money as Zhou Xingxing suggested: "The movie hasn't been released yet, so we shouldn't make things too tense. Let's wait and see, and postpone it as long as we can."

At the same time, Liu Shishi was entertaining Cai Yinong and Hu Ge, who had come to visit, at her home in Jingyuan.

When the two realized that Song Ci hadn't attended the Bazaar Charity Night last night, they inquired and learned that she was feeling unwell, so they decided to visit her.

"Please have some tea, gentlemen." Butler Sister Li served tea to the guests.

"Shishi, how is Chairman Song's health?" Cai Yinong asked with concern.

"It's nothing serious, just a common cold and fever. The doctor just came to check on me, and I should be fine after a day or two of rest. Thank you for your concern."

Liu Shishi was dressed in simple, casual home clothes, but her beautiful face was still undeniable.

As the saying goes, good things happen and one is in high spirits. First, she was selected as the Golden Eagle Goddess, and today she is on the rich list for the second time and has been named the richest person in the entertainment industry for the second time. She looks radiant.

"That's good. Take good care of Chairman Song." Cai Yinong breathed a sigh of relief. Song Ci was a great support for Tangren Media, and he couldn't afford to have any mishaps.

Hearing this, Hu Ge felt relieved and congratulated her, "Shishi, congratulations on making the list."

"It's all thanks to my husband!" The top star smiled, showing a clear understanding of her situation. "But my fans are very happy. They congratulated me on Weibo and even asked me to hold a fan meeting."

“I think it’s absolutely possible!” Cai Yinong agreed, “Holding fan meetings can increase fan loyalty.”

To be honest, aside from attending brand events, you rarely have opportunities to interact with fans offline. Holding one or two offline events occasionally is still very meaningful.

Liu Shishi said enthusiastically, "Then let's hold one. By the way, this is my first time organizing a fan meeting. What should I pay attention to?"

Hu Ge, who had similar experience, smiled and explained, "It depends on the scale you want to organize. Some large-scale meet-and-greets charge admission fees. You can also just invite a few core fans to get together."

“Charging admission is out of the question.” Liu Shishi shook her head. “The number of people should not be too large. Otherwise, we can randomly select 300 loyal fans and invite them to Beiping during the National Day holiday. I will cover all their travel and accommodation expenses.”

Hu Ge gave a thumbs up and exclaimed sincerely, "Sister Number One is so magnanimous!"

Liu Shishi waved her hand dismissively: "It's just a little money, as long as everyone's happy."

Some fans have supported me for many years. As far as I know, several of them have already spent hundreds of thousands of yuan supporting me in online rankings, and I can't bear to see them spend any more money.

"Witnessing your growth is probably a very happy thing for them," Cai Yinong said with emotion.

Since Tangren Media officially announced the renewal of its leading lady's contract last night, there have been hundreds of thousands of messages, all wishing Liu Shishi well and hoping that Tangren Media and the leading lady will work together for the next five years.

"By the way, Sister K, has the male lead for 'The Imperial Doctress' been cast yet?" Liu Shishi asked casually while browsing Weibo and interacting with her fans.

"It's not decided yet." Cai Yinong's tone was tinged with helplessness. The script for "The Imperial Doctress" had been revised four times. All the romantic storylines between the female lead and the two male leads had been cut, leaving only the female lead's career storyline.

Although the two emperors are only supporting male leads in this female-centric drama, the opportunity to act alongside the leading lady is something that countless male artists in the entertainment industry would fight tooth and nail for.

Upon hearing this, Hu Ge first glanced at Sister Yi, who was looking at her phone, then at Cai Yinong, and subtly probed, "Sister K, since the male lead hasn't been decided yet, why not consider Lao Yuan?"

Liu Shishi looked up: "Oh right, what has Lao Yuan been up to lately? I feel like I haven't seen him in ages."

Cai Yinong replied, "He took on a role in a historical drama called 'The Heroine General.' It's not that I didn't want to use him, but his costume appearance lacked any imperial aura, and Director Li was very dissatisfied after the audition."

Hu Ge sighed. He had already tried to get opportunities for his good friend, but the director didn't approve, and there was nothing he could do.

Liu Shishi didn't say anything more. Director Li's final film had very high requirements for the roles, and it was not appropriate for others to interfere.

Her gaze returned to her phone screen, where she was looking at the blog post announcing the contract renewal with Tangren Media last night.

In the comments section, Hu Ge, Yuan Hong, Gulinaza, Jiang Jinfu, and other artists from the "Sugar Man Family" all sent their blessings to the company and their top female artist for renewing their contracts.

One unfamiliar name piqued her curiosity: "Sister K, who is this Chen Yao?"

(End of this chapter)