Entertainment Era: Starting with Teaching Sister Meng to Sing

Starlight Media.

Chairman's Office.

Liang Wenchao put down the documents in his hand, took off his gold-rimmed glasses, and asked his secretary beside him:

"Have you already given out all the 'start-of-work' red envelopes? Do I still have any work to do before the Lantern Festival?"

It's hard to imagine that the secretary of the chairman of a top-tier entertainment company in China is actually a man.

Secretary Yang glanced through her work log and replied:

"You will need to attend the board meeting the day after tomorrow, and you will need to attend a high-level meeting in Kyoto five days later. Other than that, there is not much work to do."

"There aren't many good jobs."

Liang Wenchao stretched and asked, "How are those new movies the company released recently? They must have sold quite well during the Spring Festival, right?"

Secretary Yang checked the data again and reported truthfully to the supervisor: "The movies released during the Spring Festival were all good, but the ratings for a short film that premiered yesterday were far below expectations."

Which one?

"The one that was led by Wu's agent."

Why?

Upon hearing this, Secretary Yang said "wait a moment," and then immediately took out his phone to send a message to his subordinates. All the information about the short film was sent to Secretary Yang's phone.

Secretary Yang reported again: "The main reason is that another short film was also released at the same time yesterday. It was directed and starred by Wang Xiaozhou and sold to Tencent Video on an exclusive basis. As a result, the traffic was diverted, which is why our company's short film is far from what we expected."

"Wang Xiaozhou..."

Liang Wenchao fiddled with a string of dzi beads that the theater chain executives had given him for the Lunar New Year, muttering to himself, "I've heard of this guy before. Isn't he a songwriter? How come he's making short films?"

Secretary Yang answered truthfully: "The business department analyzed that this was just a test for him. If it works, he may very well plunge into the film and television industry to make money."

"How is it now? Is it working well?"

"That's great. Tencent only gave it a little push, and its viewership is comparable to our company's big-budget short films."

The audience retention rate is even more astonishingly high, at 62%, and the online positive review rate is also very high, with a very good reputation.

The Commerce Department predicts that if this continues, his short film could very well overtake us tonight.

Furthermore, the short film he released had a strong connection to the main storyline; the end credits song was an original song, and he also turned the end credits clips into a short music video.

"song?"

Liang Wenchao tapped the chair back with his index finger, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Call Zhang Hongshan over. I want to watch Wang Xiaozhou's collaborative music video with him."

"Zhang Hongshan?"

"Chairman, is it really necessary to call Old Zhang over for a newcomer in the music industry?"

Zhang Hongshan is a veteran creator who became famous in the early 1990s. After joining Star Creator, he successively promoted two superstars and several top-tier artists to Star Creator. He can be described as a true pillar of stability for Star Creator.

Now that Wang Xiaozhou had summoned him, Secretary Yang felt it was a waste of his talents, which is why he couldn't help but offer his advice.

Liang Wenchao did not answer, but only squinted at Secretary Yang.

Secretary Yang felt a chill run down his spine and immediately bowed, saying, "Chairman, please wait a moment, I will contact Elder Zhang right away."

An hour later, an elderly man with white hair, dressed in a Tang suit, pushed open the door and entered, his hearty laughter echoing throughout the office.

"You, Liang Wenchao, have really made your company big now. You didn't even call during the New Year. I had to come to the company in person to find you."

As soon as Zhang Hongshan entered the room, he joked with Liang Wenchao. The two had known each other since the early days of their businesses and had been friends for thirty or forty years. The jokes came naturally to them.

Liang Wenchao didn't put on airs as the chairman. He pretended to be angry and said, "You, Zhang Hongshan, have really gotten too big for your britches. You don't even bring a gift to the chairman's house during the New Year. Aren't you afraid I'll make things difficult for you after the New Year?"

"Who's afraid of who's a coward!"

Seeing the two big shots start arguing, Secretary Yang sensibly went out to make tea. When she returned, Liang Wenchao had already started talking about serious business.

"I called you here today to show you the quality of Wang Xiaozhou's new song. This kid has been dancing a lot lately; I wonder if he has any real talent."

Liang Wenchao winked at Secretary Yang, who had just entered, then crossed his arms and waited for the video to play.

Zhang Hongshan hasn't been too involved in company affairs in recent years. He had just returned from skiing abroad before the Lunar New Year, so he didn't know much about Wang Xiaozhou. He sat with Liang Wenchao and watched the video in silence.

As soon as the opening animation of "Liaozhai: Lanruo Temple" started, Secretary Yang wanted to drag the progress bar to the bottom so that the two of them could watch the music video directly, but Liang Wenchao stopped him by raising his hand.

"Old Zhang, is everything alright at home today?"

"fine."

"If it's alright, let's start from the beginning."

Liang Wenchao gave Secretary Yang a look, signaling her to play the video normally. Then, he and Zhang Hongshan sat in the office and watched the short film for half an hour.

Only after the entire short film had finished playing did Liang Wenchao ask, "How did you feel?"

Zhang Hongshan laughed and said, "It feels like we've gone back to our youth, studying together the works of top directors from our competitors."

"The question is how you felt about this short film; it didn't make you reflect on life."

"I already told you it's a big-name director, so what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Liang Wenchao nodded silently. It seemed that his company's short film director hadn't lost unjustly; that newcomer named Wang Xiaozhou was indeed capable.

"Let's continue, release the so-called music video later."

Liang Wenchao gave the instructions.

Secretary Yang held the remote control and paused/cancelled the video. The prelude to "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion" began, and Zhang Hongshan's mouth opened wider and wider.

During the verse, Zhang Hongshan couldn't sit still any longer and got up to wander around.

During the chorus, Zhang Hongshan clenched his fists tightly, as if he was excited about something.

As the second verse began, Zhang Hongshan sat back on the sofa with a look of utter despair, completely listless.

Zhang Hongshan didn't straighten up once, not even until the end of the song.

Liang Wenchao observed his performance closely and asked with curiosity, "It really sounds good and fits the plot well, but is it as scary as you portrayed?"

Zhang Hongshan shook his head, sighed, and asked stiffly, "What's this person's relationship with our company?"

Liang Wenchao replied, "Not good. Wu Qiuyan talked to him, but the contract she offered wasn't high-level, and it didn't leave a good impression."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hongshan held up two fingers:

"All I can tell you now is that this kid has already made his mark."

We now have two choices.

First, send Wu Qiuyan to this kid's side and let him deal with her as he sees fit. Try to prevent him from chasing after us and beating us.

Secondly, you should call those two big shots back right now, along with me and Lao Zheng. Let's cancel all our work for this year, go all out, and crush this kid, just like when we first started the company.

However, I don't recommend the second approach, because if all his subsequent songs are of the quality of "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion," we might not be able to win!