Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

March,

Ye Jing, a member of a privileged family, openly criticized the five great directors of mainland China during a media interview: "What five great directors? Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, and Wang Jianlin are just the 'three donkey carts' of Chinese cinema. Jiang Wen is half a thoroughbred, and Zhuang Huai'an is just half a little tiger cub, a picture of Zhong Yong (a child prodigy who failed to live up to his early promise)."

These words caused another stir in the entertainment industry.

"Boss, should we fight back?" Du Hua asked, looking displeased in the office.

"Retaliation against what?"

Zhuang Huai'an laughed, "In this era of freedom of speech, people aren't allowed to express their opinions? Besides, compared to the other four, he didn't really belittle me. Let him be."

Du Hua pursed her lips, seemingly still somewhat unwilling.

"But boss, the reason he's being so high-profile is to promote the TV series. If we don't speak up, won't we be seen as carrying his sedan chair?"

"It doesn't matter," Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand. "It's just the kids from the compound entertaining themselves. If I were to speak out about this, I would really be beneath myself."

"Okay," Du Hua nodded, insisting, "Then I will continue to follow up on this matter."

Last month, Ye Jing's self-written and self-directed TV series "Days Related to Youth" premiered on Beijing TV and became a minor hit. Feng Xiaogang has completely solidified his reputation as "Feng Kuzi" (a nickname implying he is a type of young man).

Ye Jing's intention in writing this clown character is also quite funny, because he is jealous of the relationship between Feng Kuzi and Wang Shuo.

Ye Jing has always looked down on Feng Xiaogang. The two had publicly broken up once before because of Ye Jing's loyalty to his friend Wang Shuo. However, when filming "A World Without Thieves", the two secretly made up again.

For this reason, Ye Jing hadn't spoken to Wang Shuo for several years.

So the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He felt that Feng Xiaogang was the one causing all the trouble. He stayed at home for a year and wrote this TV series.

The character Feng Xiaogang in the film is timid and cowardly, bullying his superiors and currying favor with his subordinates. He cries at the slightest provocation, yet he eventually becomes a director and a famous figure. In addition, the actor Tong Lei looks remarkably like Feng Xiaogang, making it almost as if he were being called out by name.

This perfectly illustrates the saying: I made this plate of dumplings just for this dish of vinegar!

As he continued reporting on his work, Zhang Lu came over and knocked on the door.

"Boss, the guests you arranged have arrived and are in the conference room. Mr. Zhong is receiving them."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Zhuang Huai'an nodded, beckoned Du Hua to follow, and headed straight for the conference room.

Two middle-aged men wearing glasses were sitting at the long table. As soon as Zhuang Huai'an entered, they immediately stood up.

Zhong Lifang stepped forward with a smile and said, "Boss, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Li Shangyou, former senior director of Sohu. And Mr. Yu Jun, a lawyer, specializes in copyright law and business contracts."

"I'm sorry to have kept you both waiting. Let's sit down." Zhuang Huai'an was always enthusiastic when dealing with talented people, shaking hands with each of them.

"I have long heard of your names and originally planned to visit you separately, but Director Zhong said that you two are quite interested in our company, so I simply invited you to come together and make friends."

Li Shangyou smiled and nodded. "Back when we were at Sohu, when President Zhang held a meeting with us, he kept mentioning Director Zhuang's name and spoke highly of him. Being able to sit and talk with you today is a wish of mine."

“Indeed,” Yu Jun said with a smile. “Company 91 is also very famous in our legal profession. If you want to get to know Director Zhuang’s colleagues, you could line up from Tiananmen Square to Badaling.”

"You flatter me, you both flatter me," Zhuang Huai'an said with a humble smile.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, we got down to business.

"To be honest, I invited you two here because I want to make a big splash."

Zhuang Huai'an spoke frankly, looking at Li Shangyou, "Mr. Li, you're practically a figure in the film and television industry. I won't boast about 91 Company's capabilities, but I heard you left Sohu. Are you planning to start your own online video website?"

"Exactly."

Li Shangyou sat up straight and said seriously, "I think online video websites are a blue ocean market. With the rapid development of bandwidth technology, the only weakness, network speed, will not be a problem. To be honest, I'm already assembling a team."

"Mr. Li has a good eye."

Zhuang Huai'an offered a compliment and then asked, "If I may be so bold as to ask, how does Mr. Li plan to operate the business and generate profits?"

"This…"

A seemingly simple question stumped Li Shangyou, because nowadays, so-called video websites have no profit model, and their operation is simple: piracy!

But he was too embarrassed to say it out loud. As an industry insider, Li Shangyou knew very well that the largest film and television copyright holder in the industry was 91 Company.

He can't exactly say to the boss, "I'm going to pirate your company's content to increase traffic."

This isn't making friends, it's provoking us!

Seeing that he stammered and couldn't speak for a long time, Zhuang Huai'an smiled, "President Li, I think I understand what you mean. This is precisely why I invited you here."

After scattering cigarettes around, Zhuang Huai'an continued, "Instead of living in constant fear of piracy, why not join me? Lawyer Yu, do you think that makes sense?"

"certainly!"

Yu Jun understood Zhuang Huai'an's implied meaning and readily offered his "pledge of allegiance," explaining, "Since China joined the WTO, the regulation of the piracy industry has become increasingly stringent. Let me say a few words behind closed doors..."

According to my teacher, he has joined the new round of copyright law drafting. Oh, by the way, I graduated from China University of Political Science and Law, and my teacher is Dean Zhu.

Zhuang Huai'an raised an eyebrow and gave him an approving look; Yu Jun knew he was in the game.

Li Shangyou took in the flirtatious glances exchanged between the two, inwardly scoffing: Who hires people like this?

"Director Zhuang, when you first came in, you said, 'We're all friends!'"

"Sigh~"

Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand, "It's precisely because we're friends that I don't want you to go astray. Listen to what Yu Lu said; would someone who isn't a friend say such things?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes."

Li Shangyou didn't care anymore. After the two of them talked and talked, it really did dispel his idea of ​​making a website.

"Old Li," Zhuang Huai'an changed his form of address, "I have a question for you. If you were an internet user looking to watch TV on a video website, and one offered a blurry, pirated version, while the other offered an official, high-definition, uncensored version, which would you choose?"

"That must be high-definition and uncensored! Of course, the prerequisite is that it's free!"

"Of course it's free! They already said it's high-definition and uncensored, so charging for it would be unfair!"

Zhuang Huai'an slapped his thigh. "I have a lot of resources, and I'm thinking of creating a channel to give away freebies to netizens. Are you in?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shangyou pondered for a moment and asked, "Director Zhuang, could you please elaborate?"

Zhuang Huai'an was delighted. Was this a request for better treatment?

"Top-tier salary and benefits in the industry, plus a 0.5% bonus on the head office's annual profits!"

He then looked at Yu Jun beside him.

"If Attorney Yu is interested, I sincerely invite you to be the General Counsel of 91 Company. You can build your own team, with top-notch compensation and the same profit sharing as Lao Li!"

The two were genuinely tempted by these conditions.

Everyone knows that Company 91 is profitable. Even if it's only 0.5%, it's still a lot, not to mention that it will rise in the future!

Zhuang Huai'an smiled without saying a word. As long as the split was done in time and the head office's profits were well controlled, he wouldn't lose out no matter how much the price increased.

Of course, this is also the detailed part of the subsequent negotiations. After all, Yu Jun is a top lawyer, and he can see through this.

"I agree!" Li Shangyou really couldn't refuse.

"Me too," Yu Jun said with a happy smile.

"Then welcome to the 91 Company family! Let's work hard together!"

Zhuang Huai'an stood up and shook hands with the two men. Li Shangyou suddenly asked, "Boss, what's our company's domain name?"

"3w.91zz.com, website with the same name!"