America: My Time

Chapter 428 The Problem with the Television Station
Chapter 428 The Problem with the Television Station

After their exchange, John and Yuan Tianfan concluded their visit. Both had gained valuable insights from the trip, especially Yuan Tianfan, who now understood just how chaotic the situation in Hong Kong was. If it weren't for Old Master Huo's reminder, he wouldn't have known that some Chinese were planning trouble. However, now he knew it wasn't a big deal; even his boss didn't need to intervene, he could handle it himself. Moreover, Yuan Tianfan harbored deep resentment towards these people; they were slapping him in the face, something he couldn't tolerate. Anyone who dared to step forward would be taught a lesson.

Soon, Quantum Mining's personnel arrived in Hong Kong and signed an agreement regarding the investment from Orient Overseas. They also entrusted Orient Overseas with the transportation of Quantum Mining's ore in Asia. This result shocked the Dong family, who had originally thought that half of the transportation would be satisfactory, but they did not expect it to be the entire transportation in Asia.

Quantum Mining is now involved in more than just iron ore transportation; it also transports coal. Quantum Mining has made a new discovery in Australia, acquiring a large coal mine, which has greatly pleased Orient Overseas. With this large order, Orient Overseas' bulk carriers can be put into operation, and the current situation can be reversed soon.

With the continuous development of Quantum Mining, it is feared that OOCL will not be able to handle all the transportation tasks. Quantum Mining has now passed the initial development stage and started a new round of expansion, especially in Australia, where it is expanding even more strongly. Asia and South America are no exception. Without the pressure of funding, Quantum Mining's development speed is astonishing. Due to the outbreak of economic problems in South America, Quantum Mining took the initiative to acquire the mining exploration rights it wanted.

Although the British were very unhappy about the Hong Kong pier issue, they had to accept the outcome under pressure from HSBC and hand the pier over to John. With the Mandarin Oriental Group, construction was not a big problem.

With the port secured, HSBC got the result they wanted. Their dollar holdings were liquidated, which relieved Shen Daban, freeing him from the immense pressure.

Pacific Investment Management, now fully integrated into Standard Chartered Bank, has become Standard Chartered Investments, focusing its efforts on going long on the Japanese yen. Many believe the yen has little room for further appreciation, but John disagrees. Standard Chartered Bank, naturally, follows John's advice and invests its funds in the yen.

Many people thought that Standard Chartered Bank would be in a period of consolidation for a long time and would not have the energy to expand. However, they were wrong. Yuan Tianfan, who was well prepared, quickly took control of the entire Standard Chartered Bank and quickly entered into a long position on the Japanese yen. In his mind, his boss had the strongest understanding of the Japanese economy, after all, his boss had huge investments in Japan.

"Xi Zhao, now that Asia Television has completed its integration, what shortcomings do you think there are in terms of satellite TV stations? Can the talent pool from Hong Kong and Taiwan support the station's talent needs? Right now, we're just laying the groundwork for Asia. Once the Asian market stabilizes, we'll need to expand into North America. This is a heavy task, and you need to prepare in advance."

With the expansion of Asia Television, John has more ideas. Now that the satellite communication network is complete, it is imperative to expand Asia Television. Not only North America, but Europe is also one of John's targets. However, the focus is still on Asia, especially Southeast Asia.

"Boss, it's not that I don't want to accelerate the development of Asia Television, but we don't have enough manpower. Whether it's actors or other staff, we are in short supply. Training them ourselves is not enough. In Taiwan, the resources we can get are limited, and this requires time to accumulate."

"I know, but you can think about it differently. We're not expanding across Asia right now. There are so many Chinese people in Southeast Asia, do you think we lack talent? We should increase our investment in artist training and talent shows, so that we can control all the Chinese resources in Southeast Asia. If you have any funding issues, you can raise them. As for professional staff, you'll need to figure out the solutions yourself—whether you poach talent or train them yourself, it's all up to you. Also, try to increase employee salaries. We're different from TVB; we can't exploit our employees. At least we need to ensure their income isn't too low. If they can't even make a living, who will continue to act for us? You must remember that. We're now expanding globally, not just in Hong Kong. We need to change our mindset. The initial investment will be worthwhile."

John didn't want to see artists trained by Asia Television struggling to make ends meet and forced to take odd jobs. That wouldn't be good; it would damage the station's reputation, and such a bad name was unacceptable. A tarnished reputation would make it difficult to attract talent, and John wouldn't make that mistake!

“Boss, I understand. ATV’s training programs are constantly expanding. Artists from Taiwan are being trained in Hong Kong, since the training there still needs time to improve. However, many artists are turning to film, which exacerbates the talent shortage at the TV station, and we can’t force them to make movies!”

People strive for higher positions, just as water flows downhill. Making movies is much more lucrative than making TV dramas, and Hong Kong films are always fast-paced, while TV dramas are slower. Therefore, it's understandable that established artists have such thoughts. John could understand, but this shouldn't affect the development of the television station.

"Boss, Shaw Brothers has stopped film production now. Can we take over their theater chains?" "Stop film production? What happened to their employees? Have you taken any action to poach them from Phoenix Group?" When John heard this, his first thought wasn't about the theater chains, but about the Shaw Brothers employees. These were the talents Phoenix Group desperately needed!
“Aside from a few people who joined TVB or were poached by other film companies, most of them were taken in by us. Otherwise, I would be more worried about the lack of talent. As for the artists, we haven’t acquired many; they are all unwilling to sign contracts.”

"That's good. Artists are nothing; we can train them ourselves. But other staff members are not so easy to train. As we continue to train our artists, we will no longer hire outsiders to participate in the future. We cannot use our resources to train talent for other companies, so our own artists are our foundation. As for the theater issue, you should talk to Mr. Shao first. If he is willing to sell, then we will acquire it. If that doesn't work, we will visit him together!"

John also needs to remind Wong Sik-chiu in this regard. After all, ATV is different now. It is going global and will be of great help to its artists. So, it is natural to be prepared in this regard. If it is not their own artists, they will not have the opportunity to get resources from ATV. This applies not only to ATV but also to the film industry. Everything should be done with their own artists in mind.

The cinema chain issue is also very important to Phoenix Media. Although Phoenix Media already has its own cinema chain in Hong Kong, acquiring the Shaw Brothers cinema chain would be a significant step forward, giving them control of a large portion of Hong Kong's cinemas and greatly boosting their film business! However, achieving success will not be easy!

Relying solely on Hong Kong, whether in television or film, would not provide limitless potential—a fact proven by later generations. Therefore, ATV's strategy was to be based in Asia while expanding globally. The same applied to its film business; only by truly mastering the Asian market could it have a broader future. Relying solely on Hong Kong offered no hope.

Making quick money is easy, but it can negatively impact the quality of a film. Phoenix Pictures does this very well; everything is done according to normal filmmaking procedures, rather than allowing the director to arbitrarily make changes. Once a project is approved, it follows the normal process. John will not, and cannot, do anything that kills the goose that lays the golden eggs.

"Are you having a cocktail party?" John looked surprised when he arrived at Ye Qianwen's villa in Repulse Bay. He was taken aback by the sight of so many beautiful women in the house.

Because of the Oriental Shipping incident, John had to leave his villa on Barker Road. Otherwise, he would be tired of being visited every day, so he chose to come to Repulse Bay. He never expected to encounter such a situation.

"Sit down, don't worry about me!" John smiled calmly, noticing that his arrival made the beautiful women a little nervous.

After greeting these beautiful women, John couldn't help but feel a little puzzled, because some of them were just starting out, and they shouldn't be artists under Phoenix Group, yet they were here.

"Are you all artists under the company?" John asked the beautiful woman in front of him after sitting down.
This is Wang Zuxian, who is from Taiwan. She shouldn't be a contracted artist with Phoenix Group. And Zhou Huimin on the other side shouldn't be an artist with the company either. Could it be that my arrival has changed the lives of these beauties?
“They’re all artists signed with Phoenix Group. You, the boss, don’t even know your own artists? That’s really something. Zu Xian and Cui Yu are from Taiwan. They were in the ATV training program. Hai Mei was also in the ATV training program. Hui Min is signed with Universal Music. Sister Mi Xue, you must know them, right?” Ye Qianwen said at this moment, and then introduced the other beauties to John.

"Why didn't Chu Hong come over? Did she stay at the villa on Barker Road by herself?" At this moment, Ye Qianwen noticed that Zhong Chu Hong was not with John and assumed that John had left her at the villa on Barker Road!

“She went home. You couldn’t take it anymore, and neither could she. People were visiting every day; it was unbearable. She went home to find some peace and quiet, so I had to come here to avoid those guys’ visits!”

(End of this chapter)