Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 294, Section 292: Eyes Full of Awe

In the April afternoon in Beijing, the sunlight already carried a hint of warmth, casting dappled light and shadows through the gaps in the lush locust tree leaves on the Beijing Film Academy campus, on the set of "My Sassy Girl".

The crew has just finished adjusting one scene, and the staff are re-setting the lighting to prepare for the next scene.

Wang Sheng sat in the director's chair behind the monitor, holding a walkie-talkie, and was quietly communicating with the executive director Zhang Yang about the details of the next shot.

At this moment, Li Tingting walked over quickly, leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Mr. Wang, Mr. Ma from Tencent has arrived, along with their legal and financial managers."

Wang Sheng looked up and saw that outside the film set, Brother Ma was standing there somewhat awkwardly, still wearing that ill-fitting suit. Behind his black-rimmed glasses, his eyes held both anticipation of reaching a cooperation agreement and a hint of helplessness in the unfamiliar environment.

Behind him were two more composed-looking middle-aged men carrying briefcases.

“Please ask them to come over,” Wang Sheng put down the walkie-talkie and gestured to Zhang Yang: “Wait a few minutes.”

Led by Li Tingting, Xiao Ma and his group carefully avoided the cables and equipment on the ground and arrived in front of Wang Sheng.

"Mr. Wang, I'm sorry to disturb your filming." Little Ma quickly stepped forward to shake hands, his attitude respectful.

"Mr. Ma, you're too kind. The timing is perfect."

Wang Sheng shook hands with him, then glanced at the two people behind him: "Who are these two?"

"Oh, this is our company's legal counsel, and this is our CFO, Zeng Liqing," Xiao Ma quickly introduced.

At that time, Tencent didn't have a CFO. In the early stages of the company, Zeng Liqing was fully responsible for the company's marketing, operations, administration, and finance departments. She took on whatever title was needed.

When you go out, your identity is given by yourself.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Wang Sheng said directly, "Did you bring the contract? Let's get going."

Li Tingting had already laid out a tablecloth on a small folding table that had been temporarily moved there.

The legal and financial staff brought by Little Ma immediately took out a thick stack of bilingual (Chinese and English) contracts from their briefcases.

Wang Sheng took the final version of the investment agreement from Li Tingting and quickly and carefully reviewed the key terms—an investment of $200 million, a 30% stake, and preemptive rights… The terms were exactly the same as those he had proposed before, and the legal team had already reviewed them several times.

"no problem."

Wang Sheng picked up the pen, neatly signed his name where it was required, and affixed the official seal of Shengying Media Company brought by Li Tingting.

As Xiao Ma watched Wang Sheng put pen to paper, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted from his heart. He let out a long sigh of relief and nervously and solemnly signed his name in the "Party B" position.

They exchanged contracts and shook hands again.

"Mr. Wang, thank you so much! This funding is extremely important to us!" Little Ma's tone was full of sincere gratitude.

“Mr. Ma, it’s a pleasure to cooperate with you. I hope this money will allow Qiuqiu to go further and more steadily.” Wang Sheng responded calmly. “Assistant Li will follow up on the specific payment process and coordinate with your finance department.”

"Okay, okay, I'll definitely cooperate!"

The signing ceremony was simple and efficient, lasting only about ten minutes.

Having finished his business, Little Ma didn't leave immediately. He curiously looked around the set—cameras, tracks, lighting panels, busy crew members, and Fan Xiaopang and Deng Chao, who were touching up their makeup and rehearsing their lines not far away.

"Mr. Wang, if you don't mind, could I watch from the side? I've never seen a movie made before," Little Ma asked somewhat shyly.

"Of course, as long as it doesn't interfere with filming." Wang Sheng nodded indifferently and gestured to the production assistant to move a stool for Xiao Ma next to the monitor so that it wouldn't obstruct movement.

Filming resumed quickly.

Like a curious student, Little Ma sat there quietly, watching how Wang Sheng directed the entire scene, how he used concise language to explain the scenes to the actors, and how he grasped the quality of each shot through the monitor.

He saw how Fan Xiaopang instantly got into character, bringing to life a girl who was both "wild" and cute; he also saw how Deng Chao accurately portrayed the character's embarrassment and sincerity.

This industrialized process of transforming virtual ideas into concrete audiovisual products is completely different from the code world he is familiar with, which makes him feel both novel and shocked.

The afternoon flew by amidst the intense filming.

As evening fell, with Wang Sheng's shout of "Okay, that's a wrap for today!", the film set instantly relaxed, and the crew began packing up the equipment.

Little Ma quickly stood up, walked up to Wang Sheng, and exclaimed sincerely, "Mr. Wang, you're amazing! I never knew making a movie was such a complex and meticulous process."

Wang Sheng smiled, but before he could speak, a figure carrying a fragrant breeze approached.

"Brother, how did the filming go today? I feel like the emotion in the last take wasn't quite there yet. Can I ask you for some advice on the script tonight?" Fan Xiaopang blinked her charming big eyes, her tone sweet and innocent.

Wang Sheng glanced at her; how could he not know what she was thinking?

Before he could speak, Xiao Ma, standing beside him, extended an invitation at the opportune moment: "Mr. Wang, the signing went smoothly today, and a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I wonder if you have time tonight? I'd like to invite you to dinner as a token of my gratitude, and also... to ask you for some advice."

Upon hearing this, Fan Xiaopang immediately looked at Wang Sheng with a slightly resentful gaze.

Wang Sheng: "Let's share." Fan Xiaopang immediately went from being annoyed to happy, and sweetly replied: "Okay! I'll do whatever you say, brother!"

The group left the Beijing Film Academy and went to a stylish private restaurant nearby.

The private room has an elegant ambiance and serves exquisite dishes.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the conversation gradually shifted from filming to business collaborations.

Wang Sheng put down his chopsticks and casually said to Xiao Ma, "Mr. Ma, as you saw on set today, film is a medium with enormous influence. What Qiuqiu lacks right now is brand awareness and user recognition. I think film might be a good promotional channel."

Little Ma immediately perked up: "Mr. Wang, what do you mean?"

“Product placement,” Wang Sheng said clearly. “For example, in the movie I’m currently filming, ‘My Sassy Girl,’ we can design a plot where the male lead, Deng Chao, contacts his friends through QQ, or the female lead, Fan Xiaopang, uses QQ as a form of communication.”

The camera will zoom in on the Qiuqiu interface on the computer screen. Young people are the main moviegoers and also Qiuqiu's target users; this kind of product placement is much more natural than blatant advertising.

Little Ma's eyes lit up: "This...this is definitely a good thing! Being in your movie, Mr. Wang, will definitely give us a lot of exposure!"

But then he looked troubled: "But Mr. Wang, the cost of this implantation... we really can't afford it right now..."

Wang Sheng waved his hand, interrupting him: "I didn't say I would charge you an extra high implantation fee."

He then shifted his tone, becoming more business-like and calm: "However, from a business perspective, this kind of deep, brand-displaying product placement has its own promotional value, which is an asset in itself."

My idea is to convert the market valuation of this product placement into an equivalent amount of cash and include it in Shengying Media's next round of capital increase to Tencent.

In other words, this portion of the cost can be used to offset a portion of the cash we need to pay when we exercise our preemptive right in the future.

Little Ma and the financial director he brought exchanged a glance, both seeing interest in each other's eyes.

This is equivalent to exchanging future equity dilution for extremely valuable and precise top-tier publicity resources in the present, without having to use precious cash!

"Mr. Wang, this proposal... I find it very attractive!" Little Ma said, suppressing his excitement. "Regarding the specific valuation, can we have a professional third-party organization assess it?"

“Sure.” Wang Sheng nodded, then threw out an even bigger idea, “We could even make a movie specifically for Qiuqiu, using her as the core element. It would tell a story about youth, friendship, and love that takes place in the internet age and revolves around Qiuqiu.”

That will be more than just a movie; it will be a cultural event that will greatly enhance Qiuqiu's brand image and user loyalty.

Brother Ma was deeply moved, as if a whole new world was unfolding before his eyes.

He originally thought Wang Sheng was just a big shot in capital and resources, but he never expected that Wang Sheng would have such a forward-looking and profound understanding of marketing and brand building for internet products.

"Mr. Wang, your idea is fantastic!" Little Ma exclaimed sincerely.

The conversation naturally extended to Qiuqiu's profit model.

Pony Ma reiterated the current predicament – ​​user growth is encouraging, but there's no way to monetize it.

Wang Sheng took a sip of tea and slowly said, "Mr. Ma, the profit model is actually hidden in your user behavior. Although I am not a technical expert, the business logic is the same. Let me just mention a few points, and see if they can inspire you."

He held up his finger:
"First, value-added services. Why must all services be free? Basic communication functions can be offered for free to attract and retain users."

Then, they will introduce some personalized value-added services for a fee, such as: cooler virtual avatars, unique Qiuqiu Show outfits, special emoticons, chat bubbles, membership status, etc.

Young people, especially students, are willing to pay for individuality and vanity. This is called 'basic free, value-added paid'.

We can provide celebrity images to design unique virtual avatars, and so on.

"Secondly, brand licensing and merchandise. Once Qiuqiu's cartoon character is deeply ingrained in people's minds, we can consider brand licensing. We can develop some physical merchandise such as dolls and stationery, which will serve as both promotion and generate direct revenue. In this regard, we have already acquired a toy factory that makes Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit dolls. I wonder if Mr. Ma has read 'Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit 3000 Questions'."

"Fourth, game co-operation. When network conditions improve in the future, online games will be a huge market. Qiuqiu has a huge traffic portal, which can be used as a platform for game promotion and operation, and cooperate with game developers to share revenue. We can provide classic film and television IPs for you to develop into games, such as 'The Four Great Constables'."

Wang Sheng recounted each point calmly, yet they struck like thunderbolts in Xiao Ma's mind.

Some of these ideas had been discussed vaguely within their team, while others were completely new directions that they had never considered before!

In particular, the concept of "basic free, value-added services charged" gave him an instant sense of enlightenment.

"Mr. Wang, I never knew you were so knowledgeable about internet products!"

Little Ma looked at Wang Sheng with eyes full of admiration: "Hearing your words is truly worth more than ten years of study! These directions are so inspiring! We'll immediately organize a team to conduct in-depth research when we get back!"

Wang Sheng smiled faintly and said nothing more.

He can see the direction, but the specific technical implementation and operational details are problems that Pony Ma and his team need to solve.

This is the main reason why Wang Sheng doesn't want to get involved in the internet industry himself; capital, technology... there are pitfalls everywhere.

(End of this chapter)