Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 296, Section 294: Bubbles

In late April, spring was gradually arriving in Beijing, but the two opposing forces of warmth and coldness from the film and television industry and the internet industry were converging and colliding in Wang Sheng's life.

Filming for "My Sassy Girl" has entered its final sprint stage.

Wang Sheng devoted almost all his energy to the film set.

However, the tree wants to be quiet but the wind keeps on.

The news that Wang Sheng invested $200 million in Tencent for a 30% stake has already spread like wildfire in the internet startup circle.

This $200 million "contrarian" investment is seen by some as insightful, but by many more eager entrepreneurs, it is nothing short of a gold mine appearing in the darkness.

This is like dropping a bombshell on a pond still shrouded in the "internet winter."

For a time, Wang Sheng's mobile phone, which was mainly used for business communication, almost became a "help hotline" for internet entrepreneurs.

As the general assistant, Li Tingting received countless earnest and beautifully packaged business plans and meeting requests.

Most of those who came to us were ".com" companies that had been suddenly frozen by capital and were on the verge of running out of funds.

They painted a seemingly rosy picture—from B2C e-commerce to portal websites, from online travel to virtual communities, with slogans getting louder and PowerPoint presentations getting more dazzling.

They all claim to possess "disruptive innovations," or to be "the next portal giant," or "the Chinese version of Amazon"...

They tried to contact Wang Sheng through various connections, hoping to "beg for alms" from him.

During a break on set, Wang Sheng listened briefly to Li Tingting's report and said listlessly:
"Tell them that Shengying is a film and television culture company, not a venture capital firm."

We have no interest in purely internet projects, nor do we understand them.

Wang Sheng knew perfectly well that these sparks flickering in the cold wind would most likely not survive until spring.

History has long proven that the vast majority of those who collapsed during this bubble burst were the majority.

Although he possessed foresight, he had neither the interest nor the energy to pan for gold in the sand, nor did he want to divert his precious cash flow to fill those bottomless pits.

Tencent is an extremely special exception. It possesses the potential to become a "pipeline" connecting hundreds of millions of users in the future, rather than those empty "platform" slogans.

However, he did not completely ignore this trend.

He gave Li Tingting another instruction:
"From these contacts, we can screen them out. If there are technically sound individuals with solid skills and a clean background, especially those experienced in network architecture, database management, or office automation system development, and particularly those who have lost their jobs due to company layoffs or closures, we can make contact with them."

As ShengYing and Guangxian have grown to their current size, their internal management and information flow require more efficient support. We could consider establishing a small IT department to upgrade the company's internal office network, enabling email, file sharing, and basic project workflow management.

Wang Sheng knew that as his business expanded, his companies, production crews, and artists were scattered across various locations, making traditional communication and management methods inefficient.

Taking advantage of the spillover effect of technical talent caused by this internet winter, it is the right time to carry out internal "infrastructure" at a relatively low cost.

This is not a strategic transformation, but rather a tactical efficiency improvement.

Li Tingting understood immediately and set about doing it.

Soon, more than a dozen technical experts from various bankrupt internet companies were recruited to begin the initial upgrade and transformation of the office systems of Shengying Media and Enlight Media.

Wang Sheng only grasped the general direction, while the specific tasks were fully handled by the newly established information technology team and Li Tingting.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the busyness, and the calendar turned to May 2000.

After more than a month of intense filming, "My Sassy Girl" has finally completed its last shot—the male lead, played by Deng Chao, runs comically and affectionately in her high heels at the request of the female lead, played by Fan Xiaopang.

"Crack!"

Looking at the footage playing on the monitor, Wang Sheng's face showed a satisfied expression: "Alright, I hereby declare that filming for 'My Sassy Girl' has officially wrapped!"

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers, mixed with a sense of relief and joy.

Fan Xiaopang excitedly ran over and hugged Wang Sheng.

……

the other side.

The post-production of "Lurking" has also been fully completed.

a few days later.

The finished product was carefully made into a cassette tape and, along with related promotional materials, was sent to the CCTV Drama Production Center and relevant authorities for review.

Wang Sheng didn't use many extra connections to "make an introduction".

He has absolute confidence in the quality of "Lurking".

The script for this drama is solid, the actors' performances are superb (Wang Zhiwen's Yu Zecheng, Jiang Wenli's Cui Ping, and supporting actors such as Li Youbin are all textbook examples), the director is highly skilled, the production is excellent, and the subject matter itself conforms to mainstream values, so passing the censorship was a natural outcome.

Sure enough, the review process went exceptionally smoothly.

The review experts from CCTV gave "Lurking" high praise, believing that it has "a tight plot, vivid characters, and suspenseful twists and turns, and is excellent in terms of ideology, artistry, and entertainment. It is a rare and outstanding spy drama in recent years."

When the news of the approval came, Wang Sheng was not surprised.

At the negotiating table, Shengying Media held absolute initiative.

The script's quality speaks for itself, the finished product's effect is undeniable, and the reputation of Wang Sheng and Shengying is an intangible asset. Yangshi has also shown great sincerity, hoping to include this highly anticipated drama in its prime-time slot.

After several rounds of efficient negotiations, the two parties quickly reached an agreement: Shengying Media will grant Yangshi Channel 1 the exclusive first-run broadcast rights of "Lurking" during prime time. Although the specific price was not disclosed, according to insiders, it was a record high for the acquisition price of a single episode of a domestic TV series at the time, which fully reflects Yangshi's optimism about the market potential of the series and Wang Sheng's bargaining power.

The agreement also stipulates the number of times Yangshi will broadcast the show in the first round, as well as the ownership and revenue sharing of the rights to the second and third rounds of broadcasting.

The signing ceremony was held in the CCTV building, in a low-key yet solemn manner.

Wang Sheng personally attended the meeting and signed the agreement together with relevant personnel from Yangshi.

Flashbulbs went off, capturing the moment.

This means that "Lurking," the year's big-budget drama that embodies the hard work of Wang Sheng and his entire team, will soon be presented to audiences nationwide through China's most influential television platform.

The news sent shockwaves through the industry. "Lurking" has generated considerable buzz even before its release, becoming one of the most anticipated TV dramas of the year.

The popularity of the lead actors, including Wang Zhiwen and Jiang Wenli, soared, and Shengying Media's brand influence in the TV drama field also reached a new height.

(End of this chapter)