Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 517 This man’s name is Xiaoshuai

"Mr. Meng."

In the office, Chen Zhixi said in a serious tone: "Oh, no, you should call me Director Meng now."

Meng Bai waved his hand nonchalantly: "Come on, I'm just doing this temporarily. I'm too busy with Arc Light to take care of Ruyi. I'll hand over the position to Mr. Ke at the next shareholders' meeting, and I'll just wait for the money to be divided."

Although the share transfer agreement has been finalized, as a listed company, Ruyi still needs to report to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for review, make public announcements, and other processes before it can be fully finalized.

Although Meng Bai is the largest shareholder, the newly born Ruyi is an independent company and does not belong to the "Arc Light System". His position as "Chairman" is also temporary during this handover period, and will be handed over to Ke Liming after things get back on track.

"Although I will have to step down sooner or later, during my time in office, I have some plans for future operations, and I would like to share them with you."

Chen Zhixi pretended to take a notebook and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Meng, just tell us and we will do it."

Meng Bai smiled, but didn't care about the other party's teasing, and continued: "Ruyi's current business mainly consists of two sectors, one is film and television production, and the other is the streaming platform. The film and television production part is the core, but with you here, there won't be any problems."

"On the platform side, although the resources provided by Tencent have reduced our costs, the channel share has also diluted our revenue. And in the future, whether we make it ourselves or buy it, we will need continuous investment. Before, we burned Evergrande's money, and in the future, we will have to burn the money raised from the IPO, so we need to provide more stories to the market to ensure the company's growth."

"I have a few ideas here. First of all, the name of the platform. In the past, it was called 'Horizontal Video' to highlight Evergrande, but now it is no longer necessary. I think the previous name is quite good, we can change it back to 'Pumpkin Video'."

Hearing this familiar name, Chen Zhixi smiled lightly: "I was the one who chose this name. It seems that I had good taste back then."

"Well, that's not the case. I just think two-character names are easier to pronounce." Meng Bai spread his hands: "I feel like there are a lot of apps named after food, such as potato, tomato, mango, etc."

"...Okay, I was overthinking that. But it's not a good idea for the platform to change its name so frequently."

"It shouldn't be a problem. Users will get used to it after a while." Meng Bai explained, "And I want to change the name of the platform for another reason, which is to add a new section to the platform."

"What plate?"

"Sketch."

"Short drama?" Chen Zhixi was puzzled. "A mini-series with one or two minutes per episode and shot vertically?"

Meng Bai introduced: "There are two types of mainstream short dramas on the market. One is what you said, shot in vertical mode, with each episode lasting less than three minutes. The other is shot in horizontal mode, like traditional TV dramas, with a single episode lasting between seven and ten minutes, but overall they are very short."

Chen Zhixi frowned. "I have seen this kind of skit before, but both the plot and production are quite crude. Would anyone really like to watch it?"

Meng Bai smiled, but didn't rush to answer. Instead, he asked, "Sister Xi, when you usually watch TV series, do you watch at double speed?"

"It depends on the situation. I don't really like arc dramas."

"That's because arc dramas are all about suspense, but what about ancient idol dramas, fairy tales, and romances?"

Chen Zhixi thought about it and nodded: "There are a lot of things to do in the company, so I don't have that much time. So when I see a plot that is a bit slow, I will speed it up."

"Yes, it's just like the popularity of short videos. We live in an era of instant enjoyment. We hope to obtain all information in the shortest possible time, even movies and TV shows to kill time. People are used to faster and faster paces, which is also reflected in chasing dramas. Double speed, triple speed, quintuple speed, until the ultimate form of this rhythm -"

Meng Bai paused and changed his accent: "Look carefully, this man is called Xiao Shuai, and next to him is his girlfriend Xiao Mei, they are being hunted by Foberle..."

"puff--"

Chen Zhixi couldn't help laughing, covering his mouth. It was obvious that he was very familiar with this content.

After she stopped smiling, Meng Bai continued, "Look, many people's patience is limited. They always hope to receive more emotional shocks in a shorter period of time. For this part of the audience, short plays are undoubtedly an excellent choice." "It makes sense, especially for middle-aged and elderly audiences. Their memory of the plot has declined significantly, and the format of short plays is undoubtedly more suitable for them to watch."

At this point, Chen Zhixi frowned: "But if we really want to develop short dramas, then wouldn't that mean we're competing with traditional movies for audiences? Not many people like to watch long works, and with short dramas, that's going to be even worse."

Meng Bai shook his head: "The audience's demand for shorter TV series is a general trend, which you can see from Arclight's new works in recent years. Whether it is the previous 'Zijin Chen Trilogy' or the current 'Return Series', the number of episodes is basically controlled within 20 episodes. Short-length TV series have always been the mainstream of the global film and television market. Domestic dramas that used to have 40, 50, 60 or 70 episodes are going against the trend."

"And even if you want to grab the market, it doesn't make sense to achieve your goal by suppressing development, because short dramas and long dramas are originally two tracks. The main reason why the audience has lost interest in long dramas is the decline in the quality of the dramas themselves. As you said just now, you don't need to watch arc dramas at double speed, because the quality of the dramas can attract the audience."

"So instead of suppressing or turning a blind eye, it is better to actively embrace change. Perhaps when short dramas grow stronger, they can also put some pressure on long dramas and force them to improve their quality. After all, traditional long dramas can never catch up with short dramas in terms of character creation and atmosphere."

Meng Bai's words obviously convinced Chen Zhixi, and she nodded: "Okay, then let's try short dramas. But it feels a bit too small as a section of the platform. And mixing long dramas and short dramas together will make users feel cluttered."

"That makes sense. What do you think?"

"I don't think it's necessary to combine short dramas with the platform. We might as well separate them. Set up a new platform called 'Pumpkin Short Drama' to provide short dramas. And in this way, we can also cooperate with short video platforms such as Douyin or Kuaishou, who should be more interested in short dramas."

Meng Bai tapped the table with his fingers. Chen Zhixi's suggestion was more suitable than his original idea, and it could indeed be done this way.

It just so happened that he had previously communicated with Kuaishou’s boss Su Hua, and they could definitely cooperate with each other.

"Okay then, let's convene the board of directors and discuss this idea first. If no one objects, then we can try to put it into operation."

Meng Bai smiled and said, "If the short play can really support a certain volume in the future, then my position as interim chairman will not be in vain."
-
Tokyo, Shinjuku.

Due to the typhoon, the sky was a little dark even though it was daytime.

A unique fashion store on the street was brightly lit at this time. Unlike other stores around it, this store had a large number of cameras fixed in various locations. At the same time, there were many people carrying cameras walking around in the store, obviously recording a program.

It is true that this is the recording venue for Qiyi TV’s latest program "Trend Partners Season 2".

According to the original plan of the program team, the members were supposed to go to the streets of Tokyo to investigate the fashion preferences of young people. However, due to the typhoon, they had to temporarily switch to an indoor session.

In the trendy brand store, Wu Fan, Yang Tianbao and others sat around a table chatting, occasionally glancing towards the changing room in the store.

Today's recording is about several members trying out makeup that they have never experienced before. The bigger the contrast, the better. The others have already changed their clothes, and only Zhao Jinmai is left.

After waiting for a long time, they finally heard some noise coming from inside. Everyone stood up and looked into the store, and then Zhao Jinmai, wearing heavy Hong Kong-style makeup and a high bun, walked out with an excited expression.

"Wow! Mai Mai, this set of yours is really amazing!"

Yang Tianbao walked towards her, looked her up and down and praised her, "The girl next door is boring. You are so suitable for this Hong Kong style look."

"Thank you, sister baby." Zhao Jinmai had a sweet smile on her face.

She had never tried this style of makeup before, but she didn't expect that after trying it today, it would surprisingly suit her.

After I finish taking the photos, I will have to ask the program crew and send them to Brother Meng Bai to let him know so that he won’t treat me like a child anymore!

As she was thinking about it, she suddenly noticed that Wu Fan in the distance also walked over. He looked at her with a rather uncomfortable look, and then said in a greasy tone: "Mai Mai, your new look is so cute!"

(End of this chapter)