Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

"No matter how hard I try, I can't fly out of this colorful world~"

After seeing the three off, Zhuang Huai'an hummed a little tune as he returned to his office and sat down when Wang Zhengliang knocked on the door and came in.

"Boss, I need to talk to you about something."

"What's wrong?"

Zhuang Huai'an got up from the boss's chair and came to the tea table. "Come, sit down and let's talk."

He was a little curious. Xiao Wang, as the chief general of the company's music department, had worked diligently and tirelessly for more than a year since joining the company. He was a top-notch employee. What was going on with him today?

"That's the kind of boss I have a friend."

Wang Zhengliang said after careful consideration, "He used to be my classmate at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. He studied film and television arts and then went to the adult directing program at the Central Academy of Drama. He graduated this year and still hasn't found a job. I saw that our company's screenwriting department has been expanding its recruitment, so I thought I'd recommend him."

Faced with his beloved protégé's small request, Zhuang Huai'an would naturally give him face. The main reason was that, given the competitive nature of the group of senior students from Beijing Film Academy in the screenwriting department, if Wang Zhengliang's friend was a good-for-nothing, he would be scared away in no time. If he couldn't keep him, it was none of my business.

"Sure, you can have your friend come and go through the motions, I'll just say hello to Lifang."

"Really? That's great, boss!" Wang Zhengliang's face lit up with joy. He stood up and bowed. "Thank you on behalf of my friend."

"It's nothing."

Zhuang Huai'an waved for him to sit down and handed him a cup of tea. "Oh, by the way, what's your friend's name? I'll call Lifang and tell her."

Yang Qing is from Chongqing and is 25 years old this year.

Ok?

Zhuang Huai'an's heart skipped a beat. Could it be?

Are there more experts?

Do you have his resume here?

"Yes, I had him send it to my email a few days ago."

Zhuang Huai'an calmly made up an excuse, "Then go and print out a copy for me, so that Lifang will have an impression after reading it."

"Okay, boss." Wang Zhengliang, without suspecting anything, got up and returned to the music department. A short while later, he came in with a resume.

"Boss, look."

Zhuang Huai'an took it and looked at the resume section. It really was Yang Qing from his memory.

This person is indeed quite talented; his self-written and self-directed low-budget comedy "Nightclub" created quite a few memorable scenes.

Although it's unknown whether he has written the script yet, once a spark of inspiration strikes, a creator's thoughts are unstoppable.

"Okay, leave the resume here and let your friend go for the interview tomorrow."

"Thank you, boss." Wang Zhengliang bowed again and turned to leave.

Zhuang Huai'an placed the resume aside, his fingers unconsciously tapping the tea table as he fell into thought.

The beginning is always the hardest. After several successful investments in TV dramas, 91 Company became quite famous in the TV drama industry, especially with the support of Zhuang Huai'an's prestigious reputation. People came in droves to seek investment.

In this year alone, in addition to two self-produced dramas, "Happy Seven Fairies" and "The Deer and the Cauldron", there is also the patriotic TV series "Ren Changxia", which was co-invested with China Film Group.

"The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner" was brought together by He Bing, an old friend of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and "Home with Kids" was brought together by Song Changying.

The resource "Lotus Lantern" introduced by CCTV's Chen Siyu was initially intended to cast Shu Chang, but Du Hua felt that this type of mythological IP drama had good prospects, so he casually participated in half of the investment.

Although all of the above are joint investments, the quality of these dramas goes without saying; they are all blockbuster hits of the year with huge impact.

In addition to the recently agreed-upon "Bright Sword," the yet-to-be-released "Soldiers Sortie," and a series of subsequent works written by Lan Xiaolong.

At this point, the television drama field had become a self-contained entity, and Zhuang Huai'an no longer needed to worry about it.

Judging by the timeline, next year will be the time when cinemas will be fully open. With Han Sanping, the bandit leader, guaranteeing it, it won't be a problem for 91 Company to get a license.

With the two major supports in place, there's only one final step left.

After thinking for a moment, Zhuang Huai'an called Du Hua and Zhong Lifang.

"Boss."

"sit."

The two women didn't drink tea. Zhuang Huai'an returned to his boss's chair, handed the resume to Zhong Lifang, gave her some instructions, and then turned to look at Du Hua.

What are the recent schedules of the company's artists?

"Dong Xuan and Qin Hao are still running around promoting their programs on local TV stations. Yan Kuan is rehearsing the annual grand play at the National Theatre of China and has brought Guo Jinfei with him. Hu Ge and Yuan Hong have returned to school to prepare for their final exams. Shu Chang has entered the Lotus Lantern, Wan Qian has entered the Moment in Peking, Yu Bo has entered the second part of Water Moon Cave, and Phoenix Legend has a variety show concert in Hangzhou."

Good, good, good, they all have bright futures.

"Did Jinghua Yanyun and Shuiyue Dongtian participate in the investment?" Zhuang Huai'an looked at Zhong Lifang, his tone immediately resembling that of a capitalist.

"Yes," Chung Lai-fong said, "Jinghua invested 30%, and Shuiyue and Zhouyi each invested 50%."

Zhuang Huai'an nodded in satisfaction. The company's artists had already made a name for themselves, so there was no worry about not having film offers coming their way.

Moreover, people in the industry know about 91 Company's peculiar habit: as long as you want to invite one of their artists to participate in a film or television production, you are guaranteed to receive investment.

With such benefits, a large number of people came knocking on their door with scripts and film offers, keeping Chung Lai-Fang and Du Hua busy every day like granddaughters.

"Okay, as I said before, you have full authority over these two departments. If you're short-staffed, hire more people. Whether it's production review or artist protection, neither can be neglected."

"A sensible boss." The two women nodded with smiles. They were both career-oriented women, and it was perfect for them to meet a hands-off boss like Zhuang Huai'an.

Zhuang Huai'an wasn't afraid that the two of them had ambitions; people without ambitions are just useless.

Ultimately, Zhuang Huai'an was always the core of Company 91. All business and work were carried out under his supervision. Although the two women and Wang Zhiyong could make some decisions, they still ultimately needed his signature and approval.

Zhang Yimou would be incredibly envious of this kind of one-man rule.

"There's something else, Du Hua, please follow up on that."

Zhuang Huai'an laughed and said, "I know you're good at poaching people. The company's next plan is to set up a network department, not the information (online trolls) team you're currently in charge of, but a proper programming department."

"Okay, boss, what specific area of ​​expertise are you looking for?"

"It's time for our company's official website to make some noise about online video websites, like Tudou.com. We can't waste such a good domain name."

"Once I have a direction, I understand."

"First, recruit a top talent, and then recruit for other positions based on their needs."

"clear."

Du Hua was full of confidence. It's no exaggeration to say that, apart from Zhuang Huai'an's protégés from Beijing Film Academy and the finance department, almost all the other employees in the company were recruited by her through hard work.

Compared to being the director of the artist department, she prefers working in human resources, because poaching talent is just too lucrative!

Zhong Lifang hesitated for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Boss, there are so many pirated video websites on the market now. If we set up our own video website, how about making money..."

"unnecessary,"

Zhuang Huai'an laughed somewhat arrogantly, "They're involved in piracy, I'm involved in free, legitimate content, and it's even in 720p HD. In this situation, which do you think users will choose?"

"Of course it's the HD version," Zhong Lifang replied. "Although pirated websites are rampant, many of them are just copied and burned copies, so the viewing experience isn't very good."

"That's right."

Zhuang Huai'an snapped his fingers. "In the initial stage, the official website will only offer free access to my movies and TV series produced by the company. We'll attract users and stabilize the user base before discussing other film and television copyrights."

This is just the first step.

Now that he's become a Tencent shareholder, it's not unreasonable for Zhuang Huai'an to ask Pony Ma to add an icon to the left side of QQ, is it?

Once you have Tencent's massive user base, this video website is considered a success.

Company 91 has also completely closed the loop.