I really don't want to make bad movies!

"No chance?!"

Huang Xuke suppressed his emotions and did not slam his fist on the table or get up, but his voice involuntarily rose several decibels.

The conference table in front of us is occupied by half of the iQiyi website's business.

The CEOs of all divisions, including TV dramas, variety shows, animation, novels, and comics, were present, except for the sports program which was on a business trip.

Sitting directly in front of me is Wang Hui, Chief Content Officer and Executive President of Content Business at iQiyi.

This meeting was not only an encouragement for Huang Xuke's promotion, but also a summary of the traffic generated by the DaMaFeng Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

More importantly, it is a strategic deployment to expand the short video market.

Only after the first round of speeches was completed did the free expression session begin.

Huang Xuke seized the opportunity and proposed Xia Ming's investment in the web series.

However, he was met with a devastating blow.

The first person to object was Yang Xianghua, the executive president of the TV drama division.

"Nonsense! TV dramas and web series are our website's main business, its facade and core content!" Yang Xianghua, slightly overweight, trembled with anger. "You want the website to invest money in that—"

He thought for a while before remembering the name: "Xia Ming? The student who took pictures of the giant wasp? This is utterly disgraceful to our own people!"

Huang Xuke, unconvinced, pressed his hand on the table and lowered his body: "I've read the script; its quality is absolutely top-notch!"

"Script? Hmph." Yang Xianghua leaned back in his leather chair. "Does that mean that as long as you have a good script, even a pig or a dog can make a good drama?"

"We spend 50 million yuan every year to collect high-quality scripts. We receive at least 800 to 1,000 good scripts, and then we carefully select the best ones. We can produce at least 140 TV series a year."

"Tell me, how many of these will become S-level dramas?"

"Directors who have been working on web series for decades have to go to great lengths to get 30 million yuan in start-up funding from us, while this Xia Ming you're talking about, a college student who was ridiculed online for making 'The Big Hornet,' just asks for 10 million yuan?"

"Vice President Huang, are you planning to team up with him to abscond with the funds?"

Huang Xuke was speechless for a moment.

Web series are the flagship product of the iQiyi website, accounting for 40% of iQiyi's business.

As the executive president of the online drama division, Yang Xianghua's words carried even greater weight.

As the year draws to a close, iQiyi has invested 300 million yuan to create the S+ series "Chinese Paladin 4" as its finale, naturally reducing the budget available for other online dramas.

As a super IP, "Chinese Paladin 4" is highly anticipated. Not only is it a period drama, which is the website's forte, but it also features popular actress Ju Jingyi in the lead role, making it a hot topic.

Huang Xuke, having recovered his composure, was still unconvinced: "Xia Ming's skills may not be up to par, but he has Jiang Wen as his producer!"

Jiang Wen!

A name that resonates far and wide.

People in the conference room started whispering, wondering why Xia Ming, a student, could get Jiang Wen to be the producer.

"ridiculous!"

Yang Xianghua remained unmoved, his tone becoming even more aggressive: "A film is a film, and a web series is a web series. They're completely different fields, especially since he's a producer, not the director!"

"I'm asking you, is Chen Kaige's level high enough? He has a Palme d'Or, does Jiang Wen have one?!"

"The TV series 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' produced by Chen Kaige, took four years to film and cost 200 million yuan. After all that polishing, how much money did it ultimately make?"

"We lost a fortune!"

Yang Xianghua spoke with great confidence, his hand gestures were swift and powerful, and every word he uttered seemed to explode like a bomb in the conference room.

Although everyone is a CEO, there are still different levels.

As the president of a leading online drama series, Yang Xianghua's voice is always louder.

These words left Huang Xuke speechless.

The initial joy of seeing that exquisite script was completely dampened.

"Mr. Huang, if you really want to help your junior, the most important thing is to improve his aesthetic sense first, so he doesn't end up like you, unable to even get into the film industry!"

Soft laughter came from the conference room.

Huang Xuke gritted his teeth, but had no words to refute him.

"Aren't you going to transfer to the short video section? You can drag your juniors along to make short videos. If you keep making them for ten or eight years, you might get a job as a web series director."

"alright--"

CEO Wang Hui, who had been sitting in the main seat, spoke up to mediate the argument between the two.

"I believe Xu Ke has a unique eye, otherwise he wouldn't have taken a liking to such a gem as 'The Big Hornet'."

As his immediate supervisor, Wang Hui spoke in a very diplomatic manner. "However, President Yang has been working in the field of high-quality dramas for more than ten years, so he has naturally accumulated a wealth of experience."

"Whether a show can be made or not, he can make an accurate judgment as long as he has seen or heard about it."

"Xia Ming, although he created a blockbuster movie, clearly lacked the ability to manage the production team."

"We all know that movie just piggybacked on the popularity of Transformers; its quality was absolutely terrible!"

"Are we going to invite every video blogger on the music platform who can create videos with millions of likes to become our director at iQiyi? That's impossible."

Wang Hui took a sip of tea, giving the two executives time to calmly consider their options.

After a moment, he spoke again.

"Xu Ke, what's the name of that notebook you've got your eye on?"

Huang Xuke, seething with anger, replied in a low voice, "You liar."

"What did you call me?!" Wang Hui and Yang Xianghua were both surprised, wondering if they had misheard.

Even the other executives looked at each other in bewilderment.

"A fraudster." Huang Xuke repeated it again.

Yang Xianghua slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "Huang Xuke, I think you've gone mad! Our website hasn't fallen to the point where we have to make money from these pornographic dramas! Trying to pull this 'borderline' gimmick again, aren't you ashamed?!"

Huang Xuke was getting a little anxious and started to argue.

He had read the script and knew that the word "swindler" was ambiguous, but the content was absolutely solid and had nothing to do with pornography.

Moreover, these leaders are clearly results-oriented.

When "The Big Hornet" was popular, why didn't you just take it down?

When it comes to the risks of investing, they start talking about quality and premium products again.

Before he could speak, Wang Hui immediately interrupted him: "Enough!"

"Xuke, although you're moving towards short video content, don't forget our company's core values!"

"Remember, our company has always upheld the brand slogan of 'Enjoy Quality,' and we must never allow low-quality dramas to enter the market..."

In the latter half of the meeting, Huang Xuke became somewhat disoriented.

He was so crushed by Yang Xianghua that he couldn't lift his head, and the CEO's ruthless decision made his vision blur.

In the dim light, I seemed to see my junior looking at me expectantly, smiling and asking a question.

"Senior, is my investment really doomed?"

These words echoed in Huang Xuke's mind.

He shuddered as the surrounding noise instantly filled his ears.

Upon closer inspection, Xia Ming was indeed sitting in front of him.

He didn't know when the meeting ended, nor when he came out.

The two were sitting at a night market next to Jingying Cinema, eating barbecue and discussing investment matters.

"No chance."

Huang Xuke shook his head in frustration.

"Xia, I really tried my best. But they can't even be bothered to look at your notebook, and they avoid you just because they hear your name."

This was Wang Hui's order, and there was no going back.

Xia Ming shrank back and poked at the burnt eggplant with his chopsticks.

Now it's difficult.

The original plan was to use Jiang Wen's name, along with the connections of his senior, to raise at least ten million yuan in start-up capital and boldly produce a high-quality web series to make a name for himself.

As a result, the budget was reduced to 2.6 million.

Marco received a million-dollar angel investment, plus 1.6 million from his own bank account.

They can't even afford to pay Chen Kun's salary!

With Xia Ming's current capabilities, even without hiring popular celebrities, and with the help of Zhao Fei's team, he could produce a decent web series for 2.6 million yuan.

However, small-scale productions not only have slow returns, but also slow word-of-mouth growth, so they definitely won't generate a lot of buzz.

How about we change our approach and make an art film, win an award, and sell the rights?

With Hitchcockian cinematography and Jiang Wen's linguistic artistry, it shouldn't be difficult to get a nomination by catering to Western tastes, right?

Not at all.

The timing is wrong!

The three major European capitals have come to an end!

Or should we ask Jiang Wen to help us attract investment?

That won't work either, Director Jiang is busy editing right now.

"Sigh, let's drink, let's drink."

Huang Xuke raised his glass and took a big gulp.

Seeing Xia Ming's hesitant expression, he hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up: "How about... I take your notebook?"

"Your notebook is really well-written. One price: 400,000!"

Xia Ming took a small sip, then immediately waved his hand in refusal: "Not for sale."

My script was a cracked version, containing storyboards, lighting combinations, set design, actor blocking, and character biographies.

You think you can get rid of me with 400,000?

Huang Xuke felt he had let his junior down, but there was nothing he could do. He could only sigh three times and say, "Sigh! It's okay, life is full of disappointments! I understand your pain."

"I understand every directing student's eagerness to create a good film, and I know how valuable your handwritten scripts are. But Xia, your fundamental skills still need to be improved..."

He had drunk a bit too much, and a lot of things he wanted to say were stuck in his throat.

In the end, all that could be left was a long sigh.

"Ugh!"

Seeing Huang Xuke staggering around after drinking, he still didn't forget to lecture himself.

Xia Ming was well aware of the deep shadow that "The Big Hornet" had cast on their hearts.

"The Big Hornet" did indeed generate huge traffic.

But he also managed to get those three words printed on his forehead.

To prove oneself, one needs to produce good work.

Xia Ming was quite full after eating, so he slumped in his chair and started scrolling through his phone, thinking about his next plan.

If we really can't raise the money, we'll have to scrape together the 2.6 million and live frugally to cobble together a TV series.

Then we can leverage iQiyi's traffic support program to promote it and get a few big content creators to beat it up.

Thinking of content creators, Xia Ming's thumb suddenly stopped on the Bilibili page.

No, I have another identity.