This director lacks vision.

Chapter 312 Official Announcement
Jiang Yifeng was surprised to hear Zhang Chaoyang's words.

It's normal for Zhang Chaoyang to be thinking about retirement.

Today, Sohu Group is much better developed than in its previous life. It is still a top-tier internet company with a wide range of businesses.

Under Jiang Yifeng's influence, Zhang Chaoyang's title of "Godfather of the Internet" is still recognized by many people.

Most importantly, Zhang Chaoyang cultivated a variety of hobbies, such as fishing, playing in a band, and teaching, and did not fall into a state of depression.

He prefers to enjoy life.

A boss wanted to enjoy life, but the company was becoming increasingly busy. His laissez-faire management style caused many problems for the company's operations.

If the boss wants to retire, hiring a professional manager to run the group company is a very normal and correct choice.

However, Jiang Yifeng hadn't expected Zhang Chaoyang to hand over Sohu Video and even the entire group to Jiang Yifeng.

After all, "merits that overshadow the ruler" are often attributed to merit.

Jiang Yifeng's reputation in the underworld is too high. If he were to manage Souhu Group, he could easily completely sideline Zhang Chaoyang or drain Souhu Group to expand his own company.

In this situation, Zhang Chaoyang should be wary of Jiang Yifeng and hand over the management of the group to someone else.

"Are you really not afraid that I might have bad intentions?" Jiang Yifeng said with a smile. "I'm a little touched by your trust in me."

Zhang Chaoyang poured Jiang Yifeng a cup of tea and said, "Because we are all geniuses. Geniuses may have all sorts of flaws, but deep down they are all quite proud and disdain doing great evil deeds."

You may seem flexible and adaptable, but you're actually very principled and a very sentimental person. I feel at ease entrusting the company to you.

Jiang Yifeng: "..."

Zhang Chaoyang's words of praise made Jiang Yifeng restless; he had no idea he was so good.

"I'm serious. Putting everything else aside, just look at your attitude towards women. Although you're a womanizer and have slept with quite a few women, you not only provide them with resources and money, but you also help them improve. You never get tired of the old and actively abandon anyone."

In this respect, you've surpassed 99% of men, which also shows that you're a very loyal and devoted person.

We're very close; you wouldn't betray me.

Seeing Jiang Yifeng's helpless expression, Zhang Chaoyang got more and more excited as he spoke, and it was hard to tell whether he was being sincere or just bluffing.

He continued to praise, "Your abilities are also the strongest; you excel in every aspect."

SearchArc is my career, my life's work, and my second life. I feel most at ease entrusting it to you.

Jiang Yifeng quickly waved his hand and said, "Stop! Maybe Zhuxian will be a huge hit, proving that your judgment is still sharp and accurate."

I don't think you need to retire. Stop bothering me.

Is there anything else? No, I'm going to the film set.

Jiang Yifeng was merely cautious and pessimistic about the Jade Dynasty project; it didn't mean the series would necessarily fail.

In the realm of television dramas, viewership ratings are not necessarily correlated with the quality of the drama.

Many high-quality, well-received dramas actually have low ratings and viewership.

On the contrary, many bad and terrible dramas, despite being heavily criticized, also achieve good results.

Although Sun Li's portrayal of Lu Xueqi is outrageous, and although Li Yifeng is an old actor who has been promoted for many years but has not become popular.

However, the TV series "Zhu Xian" is very popular.

The Legend of Chusen is a major IP, and both Sun Li and Tang Yan are currently very popular. With the promotion and support from the Sohu platform, there will be no shortage of viewers interested in this drama.

If Huanrui had been even slightly more normal, this drama wouldn't have fared too badly.

Seeing Jiang Yifeng get up to leave, Zhang Chaoyang quickly said, "I really do have something I need your help with. Sohu Entertainment recently partnered with the fashion industry to organize a Sohu Fashion Awards."

If you're free, please attend.

Jiang Yifeng chuckled and asked in return, "Do you know the award results for this grand ceremony?"

Zhang Chaoyang was taken aback for a moment and said, "I really didn't know about that. Yesterday, Wu Yanjun complained to me that he couldn't get any celebrities from Fengxing Media to attend."

Wu Yanjun was originally the deputy general manager of the Weibo business unit. He had a fight with Jiang Yifeng. Now he has been transferred to Sohu Entertainment as the person in charge and has been doing a lot of shady things.

Jiang Yifeng said: "Yang Ying is the female celebrity with the most fashion influence of the year; Yao Chen is the winner of the fashion power award of the year."

No one from our Fengxing Media has won any awards, so why should we go and fawn over them?

A freelance model and a piece of trash, do they even deserve each other?

Besides, Yao Chen is Sina Weibo's heavily promoted Weibo queen. I have no idea what Wu Yanjun was thinking when he offered her an award!

Zhang Chaoyang: "..."

As a large corporation grows, internal strife is inevitable, and some senior executives often engage in abstract and unethical actions for their own benefit.

This is one of the reasons why Sohu Weibo couldn't compete with Sina Weibo in its previous life.

Sohu Weibo's own spokesperson, Liu Yifei, was heavily criticized by Sina Weibo. Instead of helping her, Sohu Weibo promoted Sina Weibo's spokesperson, Yao Chen, and even held a ceremony to present Yao Chen with an award.

This is such an absurd and unbelievable move.

Zhang Chaoyang's loose management style must be blamed for this situation.

He sighed, thinking to himself that he needed to give Wu Yanjun a good talking-to, but said aloud, "Yang Ying is no longer a wild model; she's one of the new Four Little Actresses."

In the public's perception, Yang Ying became famous after appearing on Running Man; she wasn't well-known before that.

Actually, this is a misunderstanding.

Yang Ying did become a sensation after the Running Man show aired, but her fame had already been hyped up before she even appeared on the show.

Not only did she star in several box office hits such as Tai Chi and Detective Dee, but in January 2013, she was named one of the Four Little Actresses by Southern Metropolis Weekly, along with Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and Ni Ni, and she was the one with the highest overall votes.

Baby has come up with all sorts of hype tactics, and now they've even taken it to the Sohu Fashion Awards.

Jiang Yifeng said, "It doesn't matter, Fengxing Media won't be sending any artists to this fashion gala anyway."

Jiang Yifeng has developed his own style in the entertainment industry and hasn't tried to integrate into any particular circle. He basically doesn't participate in events like the Bazaar Charity Night or various fashion galas.

As for the artists under Fengxing Media, they participate in activities independently according to their own development needs.

These artists are unwilling to do things that don't bring them any benefits.

After Jiang Yifeng left, Zhang Chaoyang called Wu Yanjun into his office and reprimanded him.

This guy launched into another tirade, offering numerous reasons such as how difficult it is to get along with people in the fashion industry and how much effort he put into preparing for the event, which made Zhang Chaoyang frown repeatedly.

After Wu Yanjun left, Wang Xiaochuan from Sogou came.

Sogou is a very expensive project. Previously, Zhang Chaoyang collaborated with Ma Yun and introduced investment from Alibaba.

As a result, Alibaba withdrew last year, and Sohu repurchased the shares as agreed, leaving Sogou short of funds again.

Wang Xiaochuan said, "Mr. Zhang, I've found a new investor. Tencent is very interested in Sogou's business, and the total investment could reach 5 million US dollars!"

Upon hearing Wang Xiaochuan's words, Zhang Chaoyang was not pleased but angry. Sogou is a subsidiary of Sohu, and strategic investment decisions should be made by Zhang Chaoyang.

Wang Xiaochuan bypassed the boss and sought investment on his own. Although it was effective, it was an overreach of authority.

Seeing Wang Xiaochuan's feigned ignorance, Zhang Chaoyang rubbed his temples, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. This time, he really wanted to retire early and go fishing at the reservoir...

Compared to Zhang Chaoyang's troubles, Jiang Yifeng was in a much better position, and the preparations for the film were progressing steadily.

At 10:3 AM on March 5th, Fengxing Media officially announced that the Pacific Rim movie, "Pacific Rim: Survival of the Fittest," jointly invested and produced by Fengxing Media, Huaying Group, Wanda Pictures, and Oriental Legend, has been officially approved.

The project has a total investment of 10 billion yuan and aims to create a benchmark science fiction blockbuster in China.

This official announcement immediately sparked heated discussions across the internet.

This is a 10 billion yuan investment, the largest investment in Chinese film history!

After more than two years of development and groundwork, Pacific Rim has become a well-known IP in China, accumulating a large number of fans.

This time, a big movie is being made with an investment of up to one billion yuan, and fans are spreading the news with great excitement and anticipation.

To Jiang Yifeng's surprise, shortly after the official announcement of the Pacific Rim movie, someone tried to ride on its coattails.

At noon, Pegasus Motion Pictures, Le Vision Pictures, and Huayi Brothers jointly announced the Taiping Steamer project.

"The Chinese version of the Titanic is coming!"
We are pleased to announce that the epic war film "The Crossing," which truly tells the story of China, has been officially approved!
The film has a total investment of 8 million yuan and will be directed by internationally renowned director John Woo. It will star a number of domestic and international superstars, including Zhang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Song Hye-kyo, Huang Xiaoming, Tong Dawei, and Masami Nagasawa, with Qin Hailu, Yang Youning, Yang Guimei, Wang Qianyuan, Yu Feihong, Lam Bo-yee, Wu Feixia, Yu Zhen and other talented actors in supporting roles!

Each character is rich in detail and nuances, forming an unforgettable portrait of life.

In addition, the film's special effects team is from Digital Domain in the United States!

Digital Domain is one of Hollywood's top special effects teams, having produced works such as Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Transformers series!

Digital Domain will be fully involved in the special effects production of "The Crossing," bringing Chinese audiences the most perfect audio-visual experience!

Upon seeing the official announcement of "The Crossing," Jiang Yifeng almost burst out laughing.

This is a terrible movie that completely ruined the once-thriving "Little Horse Galloping" film company.

John Woo truly lives up to his reputation as a film company killer.

The investment in the Taiping ship in its previous life was 4 million yuan, but now the official investment is 8 million yuan. It is unclear whether this is an exaggeration or an increase in investment due to Jiang Yifeng's influence.

After all, Jiang Yifeng's rebirth accelerated the industry's internal competition.

Seeing Sohu's success, major internet companies increased their investment in video websites; Jiang Yifeng's success in film and television also stimulated industry investment.

Jiang Yifeng knew that The Crossing was a terrible movie, but netizens didn't.

After seeing the official announcement about the Taiping ship, everyone was taken aback.

This movie had an investment of 8 million yuan, featured a large number of stars, and was directed by John Woo.

Although Red Cliff affected John Woo's reputation, his later film Reign of Assassins still received some positive reviews.

As a director who had directed A-list productions in Hollywood and achieved success, John Woo still had influence in China at this time, and his reputation had not yet completely collapsed.

In addition, digital effects are used to create special effects.

Digital Domain is indeed one of Hollywood's top special effects companies, with an outstanding track record.

This signboard can fool a lot of people.

Therefore, the sensation caused by the official announcement of the Taiping ship incident was no less than that of the movie Pacific Rim.

When two blockbusters are officially announced on the same day, they will naturally be compared.

Netizens quickly noticed the difference.

There's been very little official information about Pacific Rim; they haven't even listed the cast or the special effects team.

The Taiping Steamer is described in great detail.

Not only did the official Weibo post tag a bunch of celebrities, but it also mentioned the director and special effects team.

Following the official announcement, the official account of Taiping also released various materials.

The Crossing was a project that John Woo had been preparing for for almost 5 years, and it was actually in the planning stages as early as 2009.
The film will build a huge pool the size of a football field in Huairou, Beijing, to simulate a shipwreck scene;

Zhang Ziyi and Jin Chengwu rehearsed their scenes late at night, while Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei shook hands and made up.
With news about the Taiping constantly dominating headlines, the Pacific Rim seemed rather quiet.

On March 7, John Woo said in an exclusive interview with Sina Entertainment: "The film industry is the foundation of commercial blockbusters. China does not have a film industry at all, and its special effects level is at least 20 years behind Hollywood!"
I've had tremendous success in Hollywood, so I know these facts.

The truth may be hard to hear, but it has to be said.

For Chinese blockbusters to succeed, they must collaborate with Hollywood special effects companies. The Crossing will help Chinese films pave a path to the world stage.

The Pacific Rim project cost 10 billion yuan, but they didn't hire a top Hollywood special effects team. I don't understand where the money went.

John Woo's words resonated with many, especially his statement that China's special effects level is 20 years behind that of the United States, which is considered a classic.

After seeing this, Jiang Yifeng forwarded the interview with John Woo and commented:
"How to identify truly terrible movies:"
First, they invited a lot of big stars to star in the film.

If all the money in a movie is used to hire stars, there will be funding problems, and the production will inevitably be terrible.
Second, hire directors who have been rejected by Hollywood to direct.

Some directors have a high opinion of Hollywood. If they could continue working in Hollywood, would they return to China?
These kinds of people can't make it in Hollywood, are forced to return to China to develop their careers, but still look down on the country.

He's only interested in making money, so the movies he makes will definitely be terrible.

Third, the publicity campaign for the movie was already very large even before filming began.

This is misdirection; they don't want to make a good movie at all, they just want to trick the audience into going to the cinema.
Fourth, Hong Kong directors are making historical films.

I don't discriminate based on region, but many directors in Hong Kong lack a proper historical perspective and simply cannot create historical films with the gravitas they deserve. Their dialogue is so awkward it's almost painful to watch, and the resulting films are inevitably a hodgepodge.

If a movie has all four of these characteristics, then everyone should avoid it immediately; such a movie is undoubtedly the worst of the worst!
Don't get me wrong, I'm talking about Red Cliff, not The Crossing. After all, The Crossing hasn't even started filming yet.

Jiang Yifeng hasn't directly criticized anyone in a long time, but this time he went all out, almost naming and swearing at Wu Yusen.

Not only did they tell everyone that The Crossing was a bad movie, but they also mocked Red Cliff.

Jiang Yifeng's summary of the patterns of bad movies makes a lot of sense, which has sparked a lot of likes and heated discussions among netizens.

People began to have doubts about the Taiping steamer.

Some netizens dug deeper and pointed out that Digital Domain had long since gone bankrupt and been acquired by Galloping Horse Pictures.

The company's core team has been disbanded, and now Digital Domain is just an empty shell.

This message quickly became a trending topic, sparking even greater questions.

Upon seeing this, Wu Yusen immediately broke down and registered a Weibo account overnight to defend himself and retaliate.

But Jiang Yifeng ignored this scoundrel.

On March 10th, casting for Pacific Rim was completed, and the crew of over a thousand people had assembled.

After more than half a year of preparation, Survival of the Fittest has officially begun filming!
(End of this chapter)