Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 39: Liquidation

In 1996, there were no direct trains from Beijing to Lucheng, and Lucheng had not yet opened direct passenger trains to major cities across the country. It was not until the Jinwen Railway was fully opened in 1998 that the history of no railway in southwestern Zhejiang ended, and trains to Beijing were opened.

To get to Lucheng right now, you need to take the train from Beijing Station to Shanghai Station, and then take a ferry or a bus along National Highway 104 from Shanghai to Lucheng.

The former takes 20 to 24 hours, usually departing from Shanghai in the evening and arriving in Lucheng the next afternoon. In the past, before there were roads, there was a saying that "to get out of Lucheng, there is only one waterway," which is a homonym in Lucheng dialect as "a dead end."

The latter takes approximately 10-12 hours, or even longer. Road conditions are poor, and bumpy rides are the norm, hence the saying, "When the car bounces, you've arrived in Zhejiang Province."

……

The group that went to Lucheng consisted of twenty people. In addition to Wang Sheng's team of fourteen, there was a photography director, a lighting director, two cinematographer assistants with film dreams, and Sun Haiyang, the deputy director of the factory office who led the team and assisted Wang Sheng.

Sun Haiyang is a middle-aged man in his early forties. He wears glasses, is slightly overweight, and always has a friendly smile on his face.

"Mr. Wang, everything is arranged."

Sun Haiyang returned to the hard sleeper carriage he and Wang Sheng were in and greeted Wang Sheng politely.

He took care of everything, from the personnel and equipment arrangements to everything else.

There are no secrets in a factory, and the news that Wang Sheng was going south to complete a 400,000 yuan "customized business" had already spread throughout the factory.

Four hundred thousand...

If you're frugal, you could make an independent film. If you're lucky, you could submit it to an international film festival and maybe even win an award. Then you could sell the film to Europeans who love Chinese art films and earn foreign exchange!

Even without earning foreign exchange, this 400,000 is enough to make people envious.

Not to mention, the 'Golden Jubilee Collection' and 'Platinum Imaging' businesses have been fully launched, and the 'Image Memory' project is about to be launched. With all these businesses combined, it is very likely that the revenue will reach the million-level per month.

However, Shengying Media is not considered a tertiary industry in the traditional sense of Beijing Film Studio. It has independent legal person property rights and other rights that a normal company should have, and the studio has no right to interfere.

In addition, the company was established by Wang Sheng through debt, and he was one of the largest investors, holding 80% of the shares. However, Beijing Film Studio did not directly hold shares in Shengying Media. Instead, its subsidiary, Beijing Film Audio-Visual Company, held 20% of the shares on its behalf and only enjoyed the right to dividends. As a result, the studio had even less right to interfere.

The rapid rise of Shengying Media brought about an expected result: a split within the factory's management.

As soon as the Star City Conference ended, rumors about the reorganization of several major film studios spread like wildfire.

Although it is unclear whether Beijing Film Studio is included, it is located in Beijing, so it is definitely not an exception. The management of Beijing Film Studio, whose power is less than that of the leaders at the local level, is shrouded in a sense of panic that the building is about to collapse, which makes them have to think about their own and their families' future.

Just then, Shengying Media, with its promising future, appeared.

Too many people want to get on this ship, and even more people want to advance on it. For the sake of their children's future, they have no choice but to strike first and seek justice for Wang Sheng!
If Mr. Wang doesn't hold those three blows against us, how can we be so unreasonable?

Green garlic, it has to be green garlic!
This is the fundamental reason why Sun Haiyang was so polite to Wang Sheng.

Han Sanping has been away from the factory for a while, and the management team is practically fighting each other to the death.

Those who carry out the beatings or those who imply the beatings must all be fought against.

Sun Haiyang, who had already sent his child to Shengying Media to learn a trade, did not want to get involved in these matters, so he took on the job of team leader and worked as an assistant to Wang Sheng, heading south to avoid the turmoil at the factory.

"Thank you for your help, Director Sun."

Wang Sheng, who was holding the wedding movie planning proposal and thinking about where it needed to be changed, looked up at Sun Haiyang, who had a smile on his face, and asked, "Is Director Han still in Lucheng?"

Sun Haiyang adjusted his glasses and lowered his voice: "I really can't say for sure about Director Han's itinerary. He has a heavy mission on this trip south."

On one hand, it was to attract investment for the factory, meeting with various business owners, Mr. Chen being just one of them. On the other hand, and more importantly, it was to secure more screenings and sell more copies of the film "Kong Fansen," which was set to be released next month.

He paused, then continued to explain: "Mr. Wang, you should know that since the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television issued Document No. 3 in 93, which proposed that 'production studios can directly meet with local distribution units,' the distribution channels have begun to loosen."

Especially in Jiangsu Province, many city-level film companies were bold enough to bypass the provincial company and directly contact our studio to buy the local distribution rights for their films. This phenomenon was known as the "Jiangsu Breakthrough," and it shocked the entire industry at the time.

It truly lives up to its reputation as a province of bulk production.

Wang Sheng listened attentively; he had some understanding of these policy changes in his previous life.

But hearing firsthand accounts now makes the experience even more concrete.

Seeing Wang Sheng's interest, Sun Haiyang explained in more detail: "In 94, the Ministry issued Document No. 348, which clarified the direction of this reform and allowed our copyright unit to distribute directly to provincial and municipal distribution and screening units."

However, Document No. 348 also brought significant side effects. The core of Document No. 348 was the approval of the "imported revenue-sharing blockbuster" model. Although the distribution rights of imported blockbusters are exclusively held by Chinese film companies, they still need to be distributed downwards through provincial and municipal film companies. In fact, this strengthened the monopoly position of provincial film companies. The revenue-sharing model of imported films created benefits that made it extremely difficult for our film studios to distribute them downwards.

In short, not every municipal film company has the audacity of those prefecture-level film companies in Jiangsu Province.

Therefore, several prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province suddenly became crucial voting blocs, and Director Han was personally overseeing the effort to overcome difficulties. "Kong Fansen" is the factory's key project this year; both its political significance and economic benefits must be considered.

It turned out to be the case.

Wang Sheng nodded slightly: "Thank you for your guidance, Director Sun. I understand."

Sun Haiyang waved his hand and smiled amicably: "It's only right, we're all working for the factory. If you, Mr. Wang, do a good job with Mr. Chen this time, it will bring honor to Director Han and our Beijing Film Studio, and it will only benefit the factory's business in Lucheng and Zhejiang Province."

……

Woo——!
With a long whistle, the train slowly started moving.

The massive green train departed from Beijing Station, heading southeast.

Twenty people occupied several hard sleeper compartments.

The equipment was stacked on one side of the corridor, simply secured with chain locks, and people were assigned to guard it in shifts.

The carriage was filled with a mixture of smells, snoring, laughter, children crying, and the constant calls of train attendants pushing carts selling "beer, drinks, mineral water, peanuts, melon seeds, and eight-treasure porridge."

Wang Sheng sat on the lower bunk, leaning against the train window, watching the North China Plain recede into the distance.

Wu Yiyi sat opposite him, studying the storyboard again; Xu Ling was carefully checking the makeup case she had brought; the rest of the team were playing cards, keeping their voices low; Sun Haiyang took out a book and flipped through it.

The journey was long and tedious.

Wang Sheng took out his notebook and continued to refine the details of his trip to Lucheng.

Occasionally, team members would come over and ask him questions in hushed tones, and he would answer them one by one.

As night falls, the overhead lights in the carriages are turned off, leaving only the dim nightlights in the aisle.

The rhythmic clatter of wheels against rails became the main melody.

……

After a day and a night of travel, the train finally arrived at Shanghai Station the following afternoon.

The crowd surged out.

The team, dragging a large amount of equipment, struggled to squeeze out of the platform in the sweltering, humid air.

According to the plan, they were to take a bus arranged by Boss Chen and travel along the national highway to Lucheng to save time.

"Stay close! Watch the stuff! Shanghai Station is crowded and chaotic!"

Sun Haiyang raised his voice to remind him, his forehead covered in sweat.

Wang Sheng also became extremely vigilant, working closely with the two members of the recording team to ensure the safe transfer of personnel and equipment.

……

Arriving at the passenger terminal.

Wang Sheng spotted the contact person holding a sign that read "Jie Shengying Media" from afar.

Step forward.

After a conversation.

Exit the train station.

Wang Sheng and his group met the bus arranged by Boss Chen and a small truck used to transport luggage and equipment.

Another bumpy ride.

On the morning of May 23, 1996.

When the rolling hills and crisscrossing river network appeared outside the bus window, and the humid air became increasingly noticeable, the bus driver finally spoke in a local accent: "Guys, we've arrived in Lucheng."

Wang Sheng stretched his stiff limbs, looked out the window at this southern city known for its commerce and vitality, and suddenly thought of Huang He, who indulged in drinking, gambling, and whoring, and his sister-in-law...

(End of this chapter)