Chinese entertainment starts with Hong Shixian

Chapter 282 Even Sun Liancheng couldn't withstand it!
"Hello, I am Qi Hui." Qi Hui immediately went over to greet him.

This person could tell the whole story at a glance.

"Hahaha... Hello, hello, I'm Gong Yu, CEO of iQiyi." Gong Yu laughed heartily, unable to contain his smile.

Qi Hui sighed helplessly. After the man calmed down a bit, he asked in confusion, "Who was that just now...?"

“Wang Mengqiu, one of Baidu’s vice presidents,” Gong Yu said. “She doesn’t like men like you.”

"People like handsome and delicate-looking idols with slender and supple figures... like South Korean idols, or like Takuya Kimura in Japan in his early years."

Although he was once the vice president of Sohu, he has a good relationship with Baidu.

The earliest idea for iQiyi actually came about during a conversation between Ren Xuyang, a veteran of Baidu, and him.

The other party mentioned a website called "Hulu" from abroad.

Unlike YouTube, Hulu primarily offers viewers content such as movies, TV series, and variety shows.

It is very different from the YouTube model.

It's not very well-known in China, but it's the world's second-largest video website.

It even launched a challenge against YouTube.

Many domestic video websites aspire to become the YouTube of China, while iQiyi was created with Hulu as its benchmark.

Later, Baidu even funded him to create the video website iQiyi.

His relationship with Baidu can be described as extremely close.

I am naturally well aware of what is happening within Baidu.

Upon hearing Gong Yu's words, Qi Hui was stunned for a moment, but instantly understood what he meant.

Young and handsome men, I suppose.

"Hmm? Wang Meng... Qiu?" Qi Hui suddenly realized something, looked up sharply, and asked in surprise.

He remembered who this person was.

Lu Han's die-hard fan, the one with 3 million followers.

It is said that there are posts on Weibo and Tieba where she expresses her admiration for Lu Han.

She even started a venture capital firm with Lu Han called Qinghan Fund, and Lu Han was the co-founder of the company.

A few years later, when Baidu Maps was created, Lu Han became its first spokesperson. Some people speculated that Wang Mengqiu was the main person in charge who facilitated the connection.

Wang Mengqiu's husband, Xu Yirong, is the founder and CEO of Meilishuo.

Before Lu Han was forced to flee back to China, she had already had a business collaboration with Meilishuo, and after returning to China, she directly became Meilishuo's spokesperson.

Later, Meilishuo secured the title sponsorship of the third season of Running Man for 300 million yuan.

At this time, Lu Han replaced Bao Beier and became a regular guest in the third season.

That's how the rumor of 3 million yuan spent on idol worship came about.

With the memories connected, Qi Hui suddenly realized what was happening, and was somewhat speechless.

He remembered someone saying on a TV show that the emergence of young, handsome male celebrities was not a market demand, but a demand from female purchasing agents at TV stations.

Because the buyers of TV programs are mostly middle-aged women who like young, handsome actors, bad dramas featuring these young actors began to dominate the screens.

Seeing Wang Mengqiu's expression and recalling those words, Qi Hui's face grew increasingly strange and speechless.

"Hello, Mr. Gong." Qi Hui suppressed his chaotic thoughts and stopped paying attention to these matters.

"Hello." Gong Yu shook hands, a hint of surprise in his eyes. Qi Hui's hands were quite calloused.

The calluses in this area are really ridiculous.

Seeing the surprise in his eyes, Qi Hui quickly understood what the other man was thinking and immediately smiled and said, "I was in the United States for a while, Mr. Gong knows that, right?"

"I know, I know." Gong Yu's smile remained unchanged. How could he not know about Qi Hui's scandal that had caused such a stir online?
He's practically turned the public intellectual circle upside down; now a whole bunch of public intellectuals are keeping a close eye on Qi Hui.

"I fired a lot of shots over there, so I have these calluses," Qi Hui said with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm not an assassin."

"Hahaha... I was actually a little worried if you hadn't said anything." Gong Yu laughed as well.

After a few jokes, the atmosphere between the two became increasingly lively.

Seeing that the time was right, Gong Yu didn't hold back and asked, "I heard you want to film a web series?"

"I wonder what kind of web series it is?"

He wanted to talk to Qi Hui about work, not to chat or flirt.

If you have that idea, why look for Qi Hui? Wouldn't it be better to go to Shang K?

Unlike Youku, Tencent Video, and LeTV, iQiyi started very late.

Aside from being backed by Baidu, it has no advantages whatsoever.

Of course, it's not that it has absolutely no advantages.

Unlike other websites that aspire to become the YouTube of China, iQiyi aims to be a long-form video media website.

TV dramas, movies, and variety shows were their goals set long ago. Therefore, iQiyi began developing its mobile platform early on and launched a paid video service a year ago.

Unfortunately, it wasn't ideal; despite several crackdowns, piracy still exists.

The platform's exclusive, high-quality content has failed to entice viewers to change their previous habit of watching free videos.

In this regard, Tencent has done a pretty good job, purchasing various high-quality British dramas at high prices to create a high-end image.

It allows users to gain an unexpected sense of vanity in addition to watching videos.

In China, the hierarchy of TV drama viewing is: British dramas > American dramas > Korean dramas > Japanese dramas > Chinese dramas.

Tencent bought British dramas, Youku and other websites also bought American dramas, and the same goes for Korean and Japanese dramas.

At first glance, iQiyi has competitors everywhere and no market share anywhere.

There's no other way but to develop towards high-end domestic dramas.

High-quality domestically produced dramas have no shortage of buyers; so many TV stations are eagerly awaiting their productions.

In this era where online platforms are generally looked down upon, who would give you the first broadcast rights?

This is a headache for iQiyi. Without the first broadcast rights, how can they attract users to pay?

Fortunately, he was well-informed and heard that Qi Hui had the idea of ​​making a web series.

That piqued his interest immediately.

Qi Hui is no ordinary person; every role he plays is a classic, such as Xie Ruolin, Hong Shixian, and Chen Liang.

There's also Xiao Zhuang and Jiang Xiaoyu.

Besides acting, they can also create.

"Love is Not Blind," a low-budget film that yielded high returns, was a project solely funded and promoted by Qi Hui.

So when Gong Yu heard that Qi Hui was going to make a web series, he immediately came.

Faced with Gong Yu's question, Qi Hui first scratched his head.

How come everyone knows about this?

Then he nodded and said, "That's right, it's a suspenseful web series with a tight plot, quick twists and turns, and a large scale."

"However, my show is relatively short, about ten episodes."

"Hahaha... It's alright, it's alright." Gong Yu said with a smile, "That sounds very good."

The short length of the series is not a problem at all. Unlike TV stations, online platforms allow users to watch a second series after finishing one.

After all, if you've already signed up for a membership, you can't just waste it; you should at least watch a few more movies or shows, right?

Otherwise, we'd be at a loss!
This mentality is particularly evident among users who are becoming members for the first time.

Shorter series allow users to spend more time on the iQiyi platform, increasing user engagement.

This is a good thing!

Moreover, the short length of the series indicates a smaller investment!

"Mr. Gong, would you like to invest?" Qi Hui asked with a smile. Finally, he's here!
"I have that idea." Gong Yu nodded. "May I ask how much funding is required?"

Qi Hui thought for a moment and said, "About sixty or seventy million."

"So many?" Gong Yu exclaimed in shock. Wasn't the series supposed to be short?

It's only the beginning of the year, and the funds from Baidu haven't arrived yet, so he can't come up with that much.

In addition, with the year-end approaching, the company needs money everywhere, and there is simply no funds available.

To gain the upper hand in this matter, you have to spend more money.

But iQiyi simply can't offer anything right now.

Providing tens of millions of yuan hastily is a burden that even Sun Liancheng and his district government couldn't withstand, let alone iQiyi, an internet company.

Do you know how many people in the district had their salaries suspended because Sun Liancheng wanted that 15 million?
He also had to pay out of his own pocket to renovate the petition window.

Qi Hui said helplessly, "The story is a time loop. In order to ensure that the scene is the same every time, we need a large number of screens to play the same scene."

"In addition, there are explosion scenes and special effects."

At this point, Qi Hui was speechless. He thought he had met a rich man, but he never expected...

Gong Yu stroked his chin. From what Qi Hui said, he knew that this production was of high quality.

But as I said before, he doesn't have the money right now.

“We cannot participate in the production,” Gong Yu said. “However, if it comes to the subsequent sale of the copyright, I hope you will consider us as soon as possible.”

Due to temporary cash flow problems, Gong Yu decided to abandon the initial cooperation.

Concentrate funds and resources on selling the remaining episodes.

Upon hearing this, Qi Hui raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise rising in his heart; this person was indeed decisive.

(End of this chapter)