Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 52: The Forbidden City Mode
Wang Sheng also stood up, holding his wine glass. He looked around the room and said in a clear voice, "Brothers and sisters, today's drink is firstly to welcome our new colleagues from all over the country, and secondly to celebrate Shengying Media overcoming another hurdle! Enough with the formalities, just one sentence: once you've entered this door, you're family! From now on, we'll share the good times and work together! I'll drink this, everyone else can do as you please!"

Having said that, he tilted his head back and drank the wine in his cup in one gulp.

Cheers and enthusiastic applause erupted from below, and many of the newcomers from other places were so excited that their faces turned red, clapping their hands vigorously.

They came from film studios all over the country, arriving with trepidation and hope. Now, listening to the young "chief leader's" crisp and warm words, most of their unease and sense of distance disappeared.

Wang Sheng sat down again, turned to the side, and whispered with a smile to Han Sanping beside him, "Factory Director, please don't mind. The nickname 'Chief Boss' is just something the subordinates made up. Don't take it seriously."

Han Sanping held his teacup, his face smiling gently and understandingly: "Young people are energetic, and a little bit of江湖气 (jianghu spirit) is harmless. On the contrary, it can better unite people's hearts. I understand."

He took a sip of tea, his gaze sweeping over the young faces below, each dressed differently but all staring intently at Wang Sheng, while his mind involuntarily began to make calculations.

Wang Sheng, this kid, now holds the core resources of Beijing Film Studio, and has united the technical strength and idle equipment of nearly twenty local film studios, with thousands of people working under him... With such a figurehead, among the young people in the national film system, he certainly deserves the nickname "Chief Leader".

As he was pondering this, he saw Wang Sheng wave to the other side.

Assistant Li Tingting and several girls from the customer service department got up and deftly moved dozens of neatly stacked cardboard boxes over from the wall.

"Come on, come on... newcomers and veterans, everyone gets a share!"

Li Tingting raised her voice and waved with a smile: "Boss Kang from Baihua Shoes specially sent this as a token of his appreciation the other day, wishing our Shengying Media 'rising to new heights'. Please don't mind!"

The girls opened the cardboard box, inside were pairs of simply packaged cloth shoes with floral patterns.

Although these cloth shoes are not as expensive as leather shoes, they are made of thick materials and have dense stitches, which are authentic old Beijing craftsmanship. They are breathable and comfortable, making them most suitable for frontline personnel who need to travel and stand still for long periods of time to shoot.

The new and old employees accepted the unexpected little gift with curiosity and surprise, comparing sizes with each other, and smiles spread across their faces.

Especially for those from out of town, touching these sturdy cloth shoes, they immediately feel a concrete and warm connection with the capital and this company.

The atmosphere in the cafeteria became increasingly harmonious.

After more than a month of airing advertisements, Baihua Leather Shoes has made a name for itself in Beijing with its solid message of "deep father-son affection" and "bringing honor to one's ancestors" and the catchy slogan "Baihua Leather Shoes, rising step by step." Its specialty stores are doing booming business.

Boss Kang was a smart man; he specially sent two thousand pairs of cloth shoes to express his gratitude and support.

Wang Sheng used his good intentions perfectly at this moment, benefiting the employees and silently dissolving any potential factional differences.

Han Sanping watched the lively scene of distributing shoes and thought to himself, "You're just pretending!"
Taking advantage of the lively atmosphere, Han Sanping leaned slightly towards Wang Sheng, lowered his voice, and asked with a hint of barely perceptible inquiry: "Shengzi, with the business expanding so much, just the salaries of several hundred people each month are no small sum. Can you really handle the current volume of business?"

Wang Sheng met Han Sanping's gaze and explained softly, "After the 'veil kiss' advertisement was released at the beginning of the month, the three 'image memory' packages sold out immediately."

Many clients are very savvy and know that a dual-camera setup can simultaneously capture footage from both sides of the bride and groom, resulting in more material and better quality. Some are even willing to buy two standard packages for 1999 each and then pay extra for a dual-camera setup.

Seeing this trend, I simply upgraded the mid-range package of 3999, adding 1999 to upgrade it to a dual-camera version. The standard package of 1999 also launched a dual-camera version for 3999.

That's great, almost no one is ordering the server room version anymore. Purple House also signed a new contract with our company for a full three years, and requires us to upgrade their package at the same time when we upgrade our package configuration.

This business alone is more than enough to support the current workforce, with plenty of surplus to reinvest in expansion.

Wang Sheng paid a small price to get Zifangzi to re-sign the contract: he filmed a corporate advertisement for Zifangzi, and Manager Zhao received the kickback he wanted.

After hearing this, Han Sanping slowly leaned back in his chair, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes, which ultimately turned into a sigh: "Marketization... it's truly a goldmine, it just depends on whether you have the ability to pick it up."

He used to think that movies were art and propaganda, but now Wang Sheng has carved out a way for him to make a lot of money using film technology, and this way is getting wider and wider.

The atmosphere at the table eased slightly.

Han Sanping seemed to suddenly remember something, tapped the table lightly with his finger, and lowered his voice, which carried a hint of mystery: "By the way, Shengzi, I went to a meeting in the city a few days ago, which was organized by the city's propaganda and cultural departments."

Wang Sheng paused slightly as he picked up some food, and listened intently.

"An idea was proposed at the meeting..." Han Sanping glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them before continuing, "They said they wanted to join forces with Beijing TV, our Beijing Film Studio, and the city film company to jointly invest in a new joint-stock company."

"The idea is to combine the policy support from the cultural sector in Beijing, the production capabilities of our Beijing Film Studio, the publicity platform of Beijing TV, and the distribution and screening channels under the Municipal Film Company.

Han Sanping drew a circle on the table with his finger: "To form an industrial closed loop from upstream to downstream. The goal is to concentrate our efforts, specifically targeting the Beijing film market, to develop projects that are both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, thereby revitalizing the local film market. The higher-ups also feel that the current situation, with each company operating independently, is too fragmented."

Isn't this the prototype of the later famous "Forbidden City model"?
Leveraging Beijing's unique political and cultural resources and its vast local market, we aim to create a local powerhouse in the film and television industry.

The establishment of Forbidden City Film Company was finalized in the spring of 1997, and the preparation time was definitely earlier than the establishment time.

Very reasonable.

Wang Sheng gradually realized what was going on and casually asked, "Oh? That's a pretty novel idea. It sounds like a good thing, but can it be implemented? How will the interests of all parties be balanced? Who will take the lead?"

Han Sanping shook his head, picked up a peanut and tossed it into his mouth: "It's still in the theoretical discussion stage. The idea is good, but there are many difficulties in actual implementation. Everyone has their own agenda, and everyone wants to have more say. Especially in the distribution and screening channels, the municipal film company is deeply entrenched and may not be willing to easily relinquish its interests. And besides..."

He paused, his voice barely audible: "I'm worried that if it really comes to fruition, it might become a new planning department, which would actually tie our hands."

However, this is indeed a bellwether, indicating that the higher-ups are also anxious and trying every means to save the film industry.

Wang Sheng nodded and followed his words, saying, "The factory director's consideration is correct. While cooperation is certainly powerful, the mechanism must be flexible and follow market rules; otherwise, it's just a change in name only."

However, this is ultimately an opportunity for us. If we can use this platform to implement our plan to clean up the market, that would be good.

"Sigh." Han Sanping sighed, "Let's just take it one step at a time."

The two exchanged a knowing glance, avoiding further discussion of the topic, and instead began talking about the upcoming peak wedding season and staffing arrangements...

(End of this chapter)