Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 116, Section 115: Shanghai Film Studio: Are they coming for me?
At the end of February 1997, the chill of spring had not yet completely faded in Beijing, but the Beijing Film Studio was already bustling with activity.

With more than 2,000 skilled workers completing their pre-job training, the "television and film industrialization production line" meticulously planned by Wang Sheng and Han Sanping was officially launched.

The first batch of eight TV movie projects quickly entered the substantive preparation stage.

Huo Jianqi and the crew of "Get on the Bus, Let's Go!" first arrived at an old residential area on the outskirts of Beijing for location scouting. The lighting and photography crews skillfully set up equipment and adjusted the devices. Their professional and efficient work attracted the attention of the residents, who marveled at their skill.

Huo Zhuang's film "Wedding Dress" used a warm family interior set built in the largest studio at Beijing Film Studio.

Zhang Yang's "Sleepless Nights in Beijing" team travels through the night in Beijing, trying to capture the pulse of the city in the late 1990s.

Wu Yiyi's "Crazy Lottery" even moved the filming location directly to a bustling alley, where exaggerated comedic performances drew constant laughter from passersby, who became unwitting free extras.

The four film crews were like four sharp swords drawn simultaneously, breaking the slow pace of Beijing Film Studio, which used to spend half a year developing a single film.

Inside the dispatch center, the sounds of telephones ringing, walkie-talkies calling, and discussions between departments echoed throughout the room. A huge progress chart on the wall was densely marked with the filming schedules and equipment allocation of each group.

A long-lost tension and vitality belonging to large-scale industrial production permeated every corner of this old film studio.

At the same time, the two armies that were expanding outwards were also ready to set off.

The Tianjin branch team, led by Liu, received strong support from the Tianjin Film Studio.

Tianjin Film Studio not only provided temporary office space and equipment storage, but also sent experienced professionals familiar with the local wedding market and interpersonal relationships to serve as consultants.

Of course, this support comes in exchange for a share of the profits.

Within just one week, the first advance team of twenty people set up consultation points in several major wedding company clusters in Tianjin, and the signboard of "Shengying Media·Image Memory" quickly aroused the curiosity of local citizens.

The Tianjin people's emphasis on saving face and showing off perfectly aligns with the positioning of wedding video recording services, and the inquiry hotline quickly started ringing off the hook.

The Shijiazhuang team led by Chen Meng appeared even more "fierce".

Although the Hebei Provincial Film Studio is smaller than the Beijing Film Studio and the Tianjin Film Studio, it has a strong local network of connections.

Leveraging his network of comrades-in-arms from his time as a veteran, Chen Meng quickly established connections with the local broadcasting system and wedding association.

They adopted a "rural-to-urban" strategy, not only setting up checkpoints in the village but also sending out several mobile teams to conduct propaganda in surrounding counties and cities.

The portability of the VHS camcorder and its cinematic composition techniques made their sample footage highly appealing, attracting great interest from many wealthy families in rural towns.

"Making a video of the child's wedding, like a movie," has become a new trend in the area.

The unprecedented large-scale personnel relocation and business expansion of Beijing Film Studio naturally could not escape the eyes of the media.

In late February, the Beijing Evening News took the lead with a report titled "Six Thousand Employees Gather at Beitaipingzhuang, Beijing Film Studio Launches a 'New Battle' in Film and Television Production," detailing the Beijing Film Studio's efforts to attract talent from across the country through an alliance model, mass-produce television films, and expand into the wedding video market.

The article praised this as an "innovative exploration to revitalize state-owned cultural assets and solve employment problems under market economy conditions," and specifically mentioned Wang Sheng as a young entrepreneur, who "not only has a keen market sense, but also demonstrates a commendable sense of social responsibility."

Following this, the China Youth Daily published an in-depth report in its science, education, culture and health section entitled "The Revival of the 'Film Capital': The Spring of Beijing Film Studio and Wang Sheng's Industrialization Experiment".

The article reviews the glorious history of Beijing Film Studio, focuses on the current bustling production scene, and quotes the famous saying "Three thousand Yue soldiers can conquer Wu," interpreting it as a declaration of the revival of Beijing Film Studio and even the Chinese film industry. The article states: "In Beitaipingzhuang, once the heart of Chinese cinema, a quiet revolution is taking place. It is not subversion, but activation… Wang Sheng and his team are trying to use market forces and industrialized processes to forge a sustainable path for Chinese cinema. The dream of a 'Chinese Film Capital' seems no longer far away."

The concept of "China's Film Capital" has quickly become a hot topic in Beijing's cultural circles and even the national film and television industry, thanks to follow-up reports from several major media outlets.

Many people have begun to re-examine the Beijing Film Studio, a long-established base, and its young leader, Wang Sheng.

The halo of the National Youth Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Award, coupled with the social benefit of creating 6,000 jobs, has made Wang Sheng's image increasingly lofty and positive, and his legendary status as a "trendsetter of the times" has become even stronger.

However, amidst this clamor and praise, a subtle atmosphere exists in the Shanghai Film Studio office building on the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, a city thousands of miles away.

The small conference room was filled with smoke as several factory leaders passed around clippings compiled by their secretary. The clippings included various reports about the Beijing Film Studio's "six thousand employees" and its status as "China's Film Capital."

"Han Sanping has really made a big fuss this time." A deputy director exhaled a smoke ring, his tone complicated: "More than six thousand people... When did the Beijing Film Studio develop such a big appetite?"

"It's all thanks to that kid Wang Sheng," another production manager chimed in. "Wedding videos, TV movies, VCD releases... they've got a whole host of tricks up their sleeves. I hear the profits are phenomenal, otherwise they couldn't afford to support so many people."

"Hmph, 'Three thousand Yue soldiers can swallow Wu'?" A veteran director who had collaborated with Beijing Film Studio on classic films sneered, pointing to the poem on the newspaper with his finger: "Who does this 'Wu' refer to? Quite the boast!"

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

Shanghai Film Studio and Beijing Film Studio, as two towering peaks in the history of Chinese cinema, have both cooperated and implicitly competed.

During the planned economy era, the two leading literary and artistic works from the north and south each had their own strengths in terms of subject matter, style, and talent.

However, with the arrival of the market economy, both companies faced similar dilemmas, but due to differences in regional culture and working styles, they gradually diverged in their reform paths.

"When Lao Han set up that TV series distribution alliance, he bypassed us." Someone brought up the old story: "More than 30 film studios, but not Shanghai Film Studio. What does that mean? It means that their 'alliance' never intended to include us from the beginning."

"That's just how the Beijing entertainment circle has always been," someone said with a hint of regional dissatisfaction. "They always think they're the orthodox ones and like to do things behind closed doors. Look at Wang Sheng, the one they're promoting. He's doing all northern themes, Zhao Benshan, Guo Da... that northern comedic vibe might not work in the southern market."

“Not necessarily!” The old director shook his head, his eyes sharp. “Don’t forget, they’re making TV movies now, which will be broadcast on television. Once a nationwide network is built, regional barriers to content will be greatly weakened. If they can consistently produce high-quality, genre-specific content, their sheer volume will be enough to shake up the national market. At that point, ‘swallowing Wu’ will probably not be just empty talk.”

"Wang Sheng is not someone to be underestimated."

The factory manager, who had been silent all along, finally spoke. He adjusted his glasses and said, "To be able to stir up such a storm at such a young age, there must be a mastermind behind him, or... he truly possesses extraordinary abilities. What he's doing seems chaotic, but in reality, each step is interconnected: using high-profit businesses like wedding video recordings to accumulate capital and reputation, using large-scale production of television and film to train his team and occupy broadcasting platforms, and then using VCD distribution to open up a second front. He's building a closed-loop ecosystem."

He paused, then looked around at everyone: "We at Shanghai Film Studio cannot sit idly by. The North has the alliance of Beijing Film Studio, so why can't we in the South, especially in the Yangtze River Delta, unite?"

We are not necessarily inferior to them in terms of talent, technology, and international perspective. The key is to find our own breakthrough point and not always follow in others' footsteps.

The atmosphere in the meeting room became heavy.

The strong resurgence of Beijing Film Studio and the call for "China's Film Capital" have undoubtedly served as a wake-up call for the proud Shanghai Film Studio.

A covert battle spanning the Yangtze River, concerning the future landscape of Chinese cinema, seems to have quietly begun.

Wang Sheng's boast that "three thousand Yue soldiers can swallow Wu" sounded particularly jarring and thought-provoking on the banks of the Huangpu River.

(End of this chapter)