EFB Chapter 105 Only Deep Waters Can Raise Big Fish
Chapter 105 Only Deep Waters Can Raise Big Fish
Chapter 104 Only Deep Waters Can Raise Big Fish
January 18, Sunday; 8:30 a.m., Beijing CBD.
The winter sun shines obliquely on the blue-gray glass curtain wall of Building 2 in Wanda Plaza, making the 35-story building stand out among the quiet office buildings around it on weekends.
Four months ago, when Chasing Light Holdings acquired the building for 20 billion RMB, it caused quite a stir in the industry.
After all, for a company that had only been established for three years to buy an entire Grade A office building was a huge gamble in the economic climate of 2008.
In the underground parking garage, on level B2, Jiang Yu's black Audi A6 slowly pulled into its designated parking space.
Wang Wei arrived five minutes early and was standing at the elevator looking at her watch. It was 8:31, one minute earlier than the agreed time.
"Good morning, Mr. Jiang." Wang Wei pressed the elevator button, and the elevator door slid open silently.
"Good morning." Jiang Yu stepped into the elevator, glanced at the dashboard, and asked, "Is everyone here?"
"They've all arrived. President Jiang came from Huairou; there was some traffic on the way, but he arrived at 8:20. Wu Na and David from North America are already online and waiting."
The elevator ascended smoothly at a speed of four meters per second. The interior of the car was decorated with walnut wood panels and dark gray carpet, with a faint scent of cedar incense burning in the corner.
Jiang Yu adjusted his shirt collar in front of the mirror on the elevator car wall, wearing a dark gray cashmere cardigan over it. He looked more casual than when he was in meetings, but still quite presentable.
The elevator doors opened on the 35th floor, revealing a logo wall for Chasing Light Holdings; an abstract beam of light passed through a prism design, with "Chasing Light Holdings" written in both Chinese and English below.
The reception area was spacious and bright, and two young women in custom-made suits immediately stood up.
"Good morning, Mr. Jiang! Good morning, Secretary Wang!" The voices were clear and crisp, clearly indicating professional training.
"Good morning." Jiang Yu nodded, not stopping his steps. "Is the tea in the conference room ready?"
"Everything is ready. We have Longjing tea, Pu'er tea, and coffee. The pastries are freshly delivered Daoxiangcun pastries," Li Wen, the receptionist, replied quickly. "In addition, Sister Jiang Jing from the administration department said that you have a sensitive stomach, so she prepared millet porridge for you separately, which is kept warm in the lounge next to the conference room."
This detail made Jiang Yu pause in his tracks: "Thank you, that's thoughtful of you."
"Of course."
Several contemporary artworks are hung on the walls on both sides of the corridor, all of which are works by young artists that Zhou Mu found in the 798 Art District.
His favorite painting is called "Digital River," which depicts a flow of data in virtual space. It cost 1 yuan, which is not expensive for an artwork, and it has a very good meaning.
The double walnut doors to the conference room were ajar, and hushed conversations could be heard coming from inside.
Pushing open the door, the oval conference table was already full of people.
Upon seeing Jiang Yu enter, everyone stood up simultaneously, their movements so synchronized it was as if they had rehearsed.
"Please sit down." Jiang Yu walked to the head of the table, took off his cardigan and draped it over the back of the chair. "It's hard work having everyone work overtime on the weekend."
"It's not hard work, it's not hard work." Everyone echoed, their tone sincere. Chasing Light's overtime pay was three times the industry standard, and Jiang Yu always led by example.
The core executives of the Light Chaser Group sat on either side of the long table.
From left to right: Chen Jingming, President of Chasing Light Holdings; Wang Jian, CEO of Light and Shadow Cloud; Wang Xin, CEO of Shenzhen Light and Shadow Video and former founder of Kuaibo.
On the right are: Yang Siwei, President of Shenzhen Light Chaser Technology and Operations Director of Light Cinema Line, former President of BJ Light Chaser Pictures; Zhou Mu, Chief Scientist of Light & Shadow Digital; Jiang Xuerou, Domestic President of Light Chaser Pictures, 38 years old, former President of Zhouyi Film & Television.
In addition, heads of administrative, financial, and public relations departments were seated at the far end of the long table.
The huge LED screen directly in front of the conference room was lit up, split into two images.
On the left is Wu Na, CEO of Light Chaser Animation North America, sitting in her office; on the right is David Cohen, president of Light Chaser Animation North America, wearing a floral shirt, with the Hollywood Hills visible through floor-to-ceiling windows in the background.
"Let's begin." Jiang Yu's voice was calm, yet it instantly silenced the conference room. "Let's start with President Chen."
Chen Jingming opened the ThinkPad in front of him and connected it to the projector.
The first slide is an organizational chart of Chasing Light Holdings, with clear lines and distinct divisions.
"President Jiang, everyone, let me first report on the overall situation of Zhuiguang Holdings in 2008."
Chen Jingming adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his voice as serious as his personality, "As of December 31, 2008, Zhuiguang Holdings had total assets of approximately US$43.7 billion, a debt ratio of 18.3%, and available cash of US$820 million. This represents a 217% increase compared to the same period in 2007."
The numbers flashed on the screen, and a suppressed gasp filled the conference room.
Zhang Chun, the CFO, is a woman in her early forties. She nodded slightly; she knew these numbers best, and she still found them unbelievable every time she heard them.
"Regarding asset composition," Chen Jingming switched slides, displaying a pie chart, "the film and television production and distribution sector accounts for 22%, technology research and development and special effects sector 28%, investment sector 38%, and cinema chains and distribution 12%. The investment sector is particularly noteworthy, as its annual return rate reaches 347%."
He paused, then pulled up the next strategic investment map: "Now for the important part. In 2008, we completed six major strategic investments."
"First, JD.com. In September 2008, we acquired a 28% stake for US$40 million, and we are currently the largest institutional shareholder. JD.com's B2C model has shown resilience during the financial crisis, with revenue increasing by 65% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2008."
"Second," Chen Jingming switched slides, revealing the blue bird-shaped logo of Sina Weibo, "Sina Weibo. In August 2008, we acquired a 25% stake for $4 million. This is a microblogging product that has just begun its internal testing phase. Currently, after two weeks of internal testing, it has exceeded 100,000 registered users, with an average of over 50,000 posts per day. Product manager Cao Guowei believes that this may be the third entry point to the Internet after portals and search engines."
People were whispering in the meeting room.
Wang Xin interjected, "I tried the beta version. The product is very simple: 140 characters, one picture, follow and share. Precisely because it's simple, it spreads extremely quickly."
"That's precisely where the investment value lies." Chen Jingming nodded. "Third, DJI Innovations. In June 2008, we acquired a 30% stake for 30 million RMB. Their drone aerial photography system has already served '2012' and 'Lucy.' Dr. Wang Tao said that the next generation of products will include automatic obstacle avoidance and intelligent tracking functions."
He pulled up a demonstration video: a drone automatically tracked the actors' movements on a simulated film set, the camera as stable as if it were filmed on a track. A chorus of admiration filled the conference room.
"The fourth and fifth are South Korean game companies," Chen Jingming continued. "Kuijiang Team, with an $8500 million stake for a 25% share, their game 'Dungeon & Fighter' performed exceptionally well in its open beta in South Korea and is expected to launch in mainland China this year."
NEXON, with a $1 million stake for a 45% stake, has a game called "KartRider" that generates a stable monthly revenue of over 3000 million RMB in mainland China.
"
"Sixth," Chen Jingming revealed a rare smile, "an interesting little investment: Rovio Entertainment, a Finnish company. $600 million for an 80% stake and assuming $300 million of its debt. This company is developing a smartphone game called Angry Birds. Although it looks rough now, their CEO..."
Niklas firmly believes that mobile gaming is the future.
A young employee in the back row of the meeting room muttered quietly, "Angry Birds? That's a weird name."
"It's easy to remember," Jiang Yu suddenly spoke, and everyone's attention immediately turned to him. "In the future mobile internet era, simplicity, memorability, and ease of dissemination are more important than complexity. Wang Xin, you're using an iPhone, right?"
Wang Xin held up his first-generation iPhone: "After using it for three months, this thing will change everything."
"So Rovio's investment is a bet on the future," Jiang Yu summarized. "President Chen, please continue."
Chen Jingming turned off the slideshow: "Finally, Mr. Ma Huateng of Tencent has scheduled two meetings with you, a shareholder. He said that Light Chaser's investment acumen is too sharp, and he needs to learn from you personally. You set the time."
"After the Spring Festival," Jiang Yu said.
"Understood." Chen Jingming took notes. "Detailed reports on the other 17 investment projects have been sent to everyone's email addresses. Overall, the investment sector's profits in 2008 tripled compared to last year. Report complete."
When he sat down, the meeting room was quiet for a few seconds as everyone digested the numbers.
When Wang Jian stood up, his down vest brushed against the edge of the table.
Today, the CEO of Guangyingyun was wearing a plaid shirt with a down vest over it, and his hair was messy, clearly indicating that he had stayed up all night.
"Mr. Jiang, everyone, I'll give a brief report." Wang Jian walked directly to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and began drawing on his easel.
Composition is a habit he can't shake. "The Light and Shadow Cloud team now has 210 people and three R&D centers. The first batch of 1..."
Tens of thousands of servers are already running in the Beijing Yizhuang data center. Let me show you some real-time monitoring.
He tapped a few times on his laptop, and the main screen switched to a 3D visualization interface: thousands of green dots flowed like a galaxy.
"This is the real-time data stream we're processing right now," Wang Jian said, his voice brimming with the pride of a technologist. "We process 1.2 PB per day. What does that mean? It's equivalent to digitizing the entire collection of the National Library of China three times a day. Our 'Fuxi 1.0' computing framework is 40% faster than Hadoop when handling massive concurrent requests; and our 'Pangu 1.0' distributed storage system boasts a data reliability of 99.9999999%—nine nines."
An assistant in the back row of the conference room whispered to a colleague, "What does nine nines mean?"
"Even if you store 100 billion files, only one might get lost," Zhou Mu replied without turning his head, clearly having heard him.
Wang Jian continued, "Currently, we've invested 7 million yuan. The data centers in Guizhou and Suzhou will be delivered next June, at which point our total computing power will rank among the top three in China. What I want to talk about is the application scenarios..."
He wrote the five characters "Film and Television Industry Cloud" in large letters on the whiteboard: "What General Manager Jiang mentioned last time about the industrialization of film and television, I've thought about for three months, and I feel the core lies in this cloud. I envision a future where screenwriters write scripts in the cloud, with the system automatically annotating scenes, props, and characters; directors use tablets on set to access reference materials in real time; special effects teams collaborate in Chengdu, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, with versions automatically synchronized; and finished films are distributed to cinemas worldwide via the cloud, with box office data transmitted back in real time."
This idea stirred up the meeting room.
Jiang Xuerou's eyes lit up: "If we could achieve cloud-based collaboration on scripts, the efficiency of the review process alone could be increased by 50%! Right now, scripts are sent back and forth, resulting in a mess of versions. Often, even after I've made changes, you're still seeing the old version."
"This is exactly the problem we need to solve," Wang Jian said. "Now we need time, we need money, and we need the recognition of the entire industry."
"Money is not a problem," Jiang Yu said. "Let's make a five-year plan, with no budget cap. I want to see clear milestones: infrastructure in the first year, internal trial in the second year, open testing in the third year, and becoming an industry standard in the fourth year. Can we do that?"
"Yes!" Wang Jian's eyes shone like searchlights. "But we need people, we need a lot of people."
"Go ahead," Jiang Yu said. "If President Chen cooperates, we'll double his annual salary and double his stock options."
Chen Jingming nodded: "Understood."
When Wang Jian sat down, his down vest rubbed against the chair again; the next one was Wang Xin.
The CEO of this video brand wore a bright yellow hoodie today, creating a dazzling mix of styles.
"Hey everyone, here's a quick update on the progress of the video project," Wang Xin said, speaking at a breakneck pace. "In three sentences: we've bought the content, the technology is working, and it's time to go live."
"7
He opened the test website; the interface was so minimalist it was almost austere. It was black with white text, no "GG" icon, just a search box in the center and a few recommended results below.
"The design philosophy can be summed up in one word: speed," Wang Xin demonstrated. "Click to play, average loading time 0.8 seconds."
Seconds. How did you do that? Dr. Wang Jian's cloud computing, combined with our self-developed P2P-CDN, simply put, while you're watching a video, you're also helping others speed up their downloads.
He switched pages: "The content is divided into three layers. The bottom layer is copyright acquisition, 30000 hours, covering movies, TV series, and documentaries. The company headquarters has acquired the copyrights for 1500 films and television series. The middle layer is self-produced content, including the dramas from Mr. Jiang and David's side, and our directly developed content. The top layer is creating hit shows. We are currently preparing 'The Swindler,' 'The Ferryman,' and 'Men's Diary' based on the scripts provided by the Light Chaser Screenwriting Department. Each episode is 5 minutes long, low-cost, fast-paced, with directors casting newcomers and plenty of actors."
"What about cost control?" Jiang Yu asked.
"Under 5 per episode," Wang Xin said. "Building your own team can keep costs very low. But that's not what I wanted to say..."
He pulled up the backend data: "What excites me most is the algorithm. We poached three core algorithm engineers from Zhang Yiming's team. Their recommendation engine is much more accurate than Baidu's. The system learns your viewing habits and understands you better the more it watches you. But what's even more brilliant is the idea of linking with Weibo: Weibo posts can have 140 characters plus an image. If that image is a screenshot from our video, users can click on it and be directly redirected to the video playback. The conversion path is too smooth. Cao Guowei has already agreed to do the technical integration."
"Specific plan?" Jiang Yu asked.
"Two." Wang Xin was clearly prepared. "Light integration: Our player is embedded in Weibo. Heavy integration: Accounts are linked, data is shared, and Weibo becomes the traffic portal for Guangying Video, but this requires deeper equity cooperation."
"Make a detailed plan for heavy integration," Jiang Yu decided. "I need to see a product prototype within three months. This is your core KPI for this year."
"clear!"
When Wang Xin sat down, the hoodie hood was pulled out of his suit jacket, without him even noticing. Next up was Zhou Mu.
The chief scientist of Light and Shadow Digital was wearing a neatly pressed suit today, a rare occurrence. When he stood up, he was holding a silver USB drive.
"Boss, everyone; I won't go into the technical details, just watch the results." Zhou Mu plugged the USB drive into the computer, the main screen went dark for a second, and then lit up.
That was a concept test shot for "Lucy," with Liu Yifei's face in a close-up on the screen.
The camera begins to zoom out from her pupils, her facial expression shifting from calm to terror to detachment, the texture of her skin, the trembling of her eyelashes, the changes in light and shadow—all rendered with breathtaking subtlety.
"The Aurogon 1.0 real-time rendering engine is 18% faster than Industrial Light & Magic's RenderMan." Zhou Mu's voice carried a unique pride characteristic of technologists. "Speed isn't the key point; the key point is quality. We retrained the facial capture algorithm. Hollywood's system has a low recognition rate for single eyelids and flat facial features. Our new model achieves a 97.3% accuracy rate in capturing the faces of Asian actors."
He switched to another video, which was a disaster scene from "2012": the Yellowstone volcano erupted, and lava flowed down the mountain ridge like blood.
"With our fluid simulation module, we can simultaneously calculate the trajectory of 2000 million tons of water with an error rate of less than 0.5%." Zhou Mu pushed up his glasses that had slipped down to the tip of his nose. "It will take Weta Digital at least two more years to achieve this level of accuracy, and the cost will be three times ours. They are using CPU clusters, while we are using GPUs for parallel computing."
Applause erupted in the conference room.
Zhou Mu continued: "In terms of production capacity, the domestic team has 268 people, and the profit last year was 6000 million. What I want to talk about is talent. We now have 7 Oscar-winning technical experts as consultants and 35 core technical personnel from Hollywood."
"I offered them three times their usual salary to poach them, and Boss Jiang said it was worth it."
"Keep digging," Jiang Yu said. "By this time next year, I want Light and Shadow Digital to be number one in Asia and among the top two in the world."
"We've already been in contact with the motion capture team for Avatar," Zhou Mu said. "Cameron won't release the people, but he's agreed to cooperate in establishing a joint laboratory."
"Okay." Jiang Yu nodded. "The lab is in Beijing, so I can see the results as soon as possible."
On the left side of the LED screen, in the late New York night, Wu Na's figure became clear.
The CEO of Light & Shadow Digital North America wore a dark blue suit, and his pearl earrings gleamed warmly under the office lights.
"Mr. Jiang, colleagues, good morning." Wu Na's Mandarin was almost indistinguishable from her accent. "North American Light & Shadow Digital currently has 217 full-time employees, with revenue of $9365 million and net profit of $4708 million in 2008. The numbers aren't important; what's important is that we snatched the special effects for 'The Expendables' from Industrial Light & Magic, and we also secured the rights to 'Inception'."
The core special effect is the dreamlike folding scene.
She played test footage: Parisian streets folded like paper, buildings tilted, and crowds hanging upside down. The visual effects were so stunning that the conference room fell silent.
"No one in Hollywood has ever done this technology before," Wu Na said calmly but proudly. "Director Nolan is very satisfied and has already signed a contract to work on 'The Dark Knight Rises.' But the competition is intensifying. Industrial Light & Magic and Weta Digital are jointly driving down the price, and they snatched Sony Pictures' 'The Green Hornet' project from us at 70% of our price."
They're gone. What's more troublesome is the talent war: in the past three months, seven key technical personnel received offers from other companies with doubled salaries, and three have already resigned.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was tense; competition in Hollywood has always been ruthless.
"Let them dig," Jiang Yu said calmly. "What we need to build is a system, not individual workshops. Also, launch Project Phoenix."
Wu Na's eyes lit up: "Now? In Vancouver—"
"Now," Jiang Yu affirmed, "we will establish a second North American R&D center in Vancouver. The Canadian government offers a 38% R&D tax credit, making the overall cost 30% lower than in Los Angeles. We will transfer 20 core technical personnel from China and recruit locally. Within two years, I want to establish a dual-center layout in North America, with Los Angeles and Vancouver."
"Understood!" Wu Na quickly took notes. "Also, Disney wants to acquire us, offering $8 million. I replied as you suggested: we won't sell, but we can discuss a joint venture."
"We can discuss it," Jiang Yu said. "We want at least a 51% controlling stake in North American Productions, and we want priority rights to the visual effects of Disney's animated films and project movies for the next ten years."
"clear."
On the right side of the screen, David's face appears in the Los Angeles night.
This Hollywood veteran wore a flashy bright purple shirt with the collar open.
"Boss, everyone, good morning, although it's Saturday night here."
David began with his signature American humor, "Boss, before I report, I have something to tell you: Jun Ji-hyun's agent called again, saying she's willing to lower her salary for 'The Thieves' by another 40%, just to get her the lead role. I told her our boss went back to China for Chinese New Year." She asked, "And what about after that?"
A low chuckle filled the conference room. Jiang Xuerou raised an eyebrow: "Aren't you afraid the Koreans will get angry if you say that?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" David shrugged. "They're the ones begging us now. But boss, Lee Mi-jung said that Jun Ji-hyun really wants to cooperate, and she's not just being polite."
"Replacing her is not an option; does South Korea not have any actresses who can replace her?" Jiang Yu said calmly. "Besides, if CJ really wants to break into Hollywood, there's a zombie movie that's a Sino-US co-production coming up, but the Asian distributor hasn't been decided yet."
David gave an OK sign and then said, "Light Chaser Animation Studios in North America is currently pushing forward with the Five Arts project, which earned $3.65 billion last year. The focus is on 'Lucy.' Fox wants to cut the Asian promotional budget and move the funds to North America, and also increase the number of theaters in North America, which requires an additional $800 million in promotional expenses."
"We'll deal with them," Jiang Yu said decisively. "The condition is that we increase the number of screenings in the Asian market. In addition, I want 'Lucy' to be released in China a week earlier than in North America. That's the bottom line in the negotiations."
David boasted, "A week earlier? Fogg is afraid of piracy—"
"So we need to talk." Jiang Yu leaned forward. "Tell them that we've cracked China's anti-piracy technology. After the film's run ends, Guangying Video will simultaneously release the official high-definition version for a paid subscription price of 5 RMB. Pirates sell for 5 RMB, and we sell for 5 RMB too, but ours is the official high-definition version. Isn't that logical? They should understand."
"Understood!" David's eyes lit up. "I'll schedule a video conference with Falk next week!"
"I'll personally contact you now."
"Yes, boss!"
When Jiang Xuerou stood up, the conference room automatically fell silent.
The president of Light Chaser Pictures in China wore a burgundy suit today, which made his fair skin stand out and gave him a powerful aura like a queen.
"President Jiang, everyone." Jiang Xuerou opened the PowerPoint presentation. The first page wasn't filled with data, but rather a single sentence: "Content is King."
She switched pages and saw a photo of Shu Chang and Zhu Yilong in a library, bathed in sunlight. (The photo shows Shu Chang and Zhu Yilong in a library.)
Dappled light and shadow are cast through the window.
"In the domestic film industry sector, there are currently three projects under construction and seven projects awaiting opening. In 2008, revenue was 1.368 million NTD, with a profit of 7806 million NTD. But what I want to talk about is the standard." Jiang Xuerou pulled up the entries for the four projects plus the riding segment:
1. The three-tiered trial system.
2. The director must provide a complete visual explanation.
3. Actors must submit an application form in advance to participate in the pre-production reading session.
4. The later stages of the cycle cannot be compressed.
She paused, then said, "These standards will increase costs by 15-20%, but I think it's worth it. What Chinese films lack isn't money, but standards and dignity."
"Okay, continue," Jiang Yu affirmed.
"The biggest challenge right now is talent." Jiang Xuerou pulled up a list, "Shen Ao, Lu Yang, and Wen Muye are all good, but we still don't have enough people. I'm planning to go to the three major universities or to scout out directors who make adult films."
"Okay," Jiang Yu thought for a moment and said, "We should focus on nurturing new talent. Next year, I want to see at least one film by a director from the Light Chaser Animation Studio that grosses above par."
"I understand." Jiang Xuerou laughed. "The Lone Agent has that potential."
The last artist to give a presentation was Yang Sijiao, a woman who had been transferred from Light Chaser Pictures to Light Chaser Technology in Shenzhen. She was wearing a black trousers and her shorts were meticulously styled with lint.
"Good morning, boss and colleagues. In the cinema sector, the first batch of 20 case-operated cinemas achieved an annual occupancy rate of 68%, and the revenue per screen was 35% higher than the industry average." Yang Si's report was as resounding as a soldier's. "Customer satisfaction was 4.7 points. The deduction was due to food and beverage prices. Popcorn was 18 yuan and cola was 6 yuan, which was twice as expensive as outside."
Someone chuckled softly.
Yang Si continued, "I insist on not lowering the price. We offer an experience, not cheap entertainment. Moreover, data shows that people who are willing to spend 18 yuan on popcorn are also more willing to buy IMAX tickets."
She switched to the next image: "The second batch of 50 cinemas is under construction, with 11 sites completed. The key point is the ticketing data: a dense stream of data appears on the big screen: 'Ticketing System - Light & Shadow Ticketing' has accumulated data from 20 users across 2 sites. I know what movies they like, when they watch them, who they watch them with, and whether they buy popcorn. Hollywood couldn't buy this data even for tens of thousands of dollars."
She paused, then added, "More importantly, the system can guide film scheduling in reverse. For example, with 'Love Like a Bouquet,' data shows the core audience is women aged 18-28 who prefer to watch it on Thursday evenings and weekend afternoons, often in pairs. So we focused on scheduling during those times and launched 'Friends Tickets,' and test results showed a 35% purchase rate for these tickets."
Discussions broke out in the conference room.
Wang Xin interjected, "What if we integrated it with the video data from Light and Shadow? We could then create a complete user profile based on what trailers users watch, what likes they give, and what tickets they buy!"
"We're already working on it," Yang Si nodded. "In addition, we're in talks with Stellar Media and Wanda about system integration. If successful, the data will cover 30% of the cinema's box office revenue."
Jiang Yu tapped his fingers on the table: "What if we create a box office prediction model based on this data? It can predict the final box office a week before the release with an accuracy rate of over 80%."
The meeting room fell silent; the idea was anything but crazy.
Yang Si asked if he could wait a while: "The company team should be technically capable, but it might take at least two years to accumulate data. And—this would disrupt the rules of the industry."
"Then let's overturn it." Jiang Yu said softly, "This art project will get the green light, and whatever resources are needed will be submitted."
I want to see the model online in two years.
"Understood." Yang Si's eyes lit up. "Project code name?"
"Crystal ball."
"Okay, the crystal ball project."
After everyone had finished reporting, the meeting room fell silent.
The sun was high in the sky, streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Jiang Yu sat in the main seat, his gaze sweeping over each artist.
"Everyone has finished listening," he began. "I have three points to make."
Everyone picked up a pen.
"First, we're not doing business, we're building an ecosystem. Film and television, technology, investment, cinemas, video platforms, social media; these sectors need to mesh and rotate like gears. Wang Jian's cloud supports Wang Xin's videos, Wang Xin's videos promote Jiang Xuerou's content, Jiang Xuerou's content fills Yang Sijiao's cinemas, and Yang Sijiao's cinemas generate data that feeds back into all sectors. And investment is the social artery that connects everything."
He paused, then said, "Once this artistic ecosystem is established, it will be an irreplaceable moat. The prerequisite is that every artistic sector must be top-notch. Second-rate products are garbage even in a first-rate ecosystem."
"Secondly," Jiang Yu looked at the technology team, "the future competition will be a battleground of three areas: data, algorithms, and talent. Starting next year, the budget for the Light Chaser division will be increased to 25% of total revenue. Even Silicon Valley can't achieve that ratio."
Chen Jingming gasped, "25%? Net profit will—"
"It will have a short-term impact, but it is necessary in the long run. We are not a listed company and are not required to be responsible to shareholders."
Jiang Yu interrupted, "President Zhang, we need to redo the financial model. I want all our subsidiaries to be among the top two in the industry five years from now, not just for next year's financial statements to look good."
"Third, and most importantly," Jiang Yu stood up, "we need to redefine industry standards. What is good technology, what is a good film? It's not about box office success, it's about leaving something to think about and reflect upon. What is good technology? It's not about high specifications, it's about enabling creators to express themselves more freely. What is a good company? It's not about making a lot of money, it's about enabling employees to grow and prosper, enabling the industry to progress, and making society a little bit better because of our existence, even if it's just a little bit."
His gaze swept across every face: "This artistic process will be exhausting. People will criticize our idealism, and we'll encounter many pitfalls. If we succeed, ten years from now, when people talk about how Chinese cinema transformed from a backward state to a creative center, and how Chinese technology went from imitation to leadership, they will mention 2009, they will mention today, and they will mention what happened in this building. Every artist here today is a writer of this history."
The meeting room was completely silent; every artist's eyes burned with rage.
"Alright," Jiang Yu stood up. "Meeting adjourned. Go back to work. Mr. Chen, please stay behind."
People gradually got up, packed their things, and left the meeting room in hushed tones.
Jiang Yu walked to the window and looked down at the bustling traffic of the CBD.
His phone vibrated in his coat pocket. He took it out and saw a text message from Liu Yifei: "Is the meeting over? I'm at Huanghua Airport, recording a program later. I'll show you something [picture]."
The photo shows her taking a selfie in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, wearing a mask and hat, with only her smiling eyes visible.
The background shows the sky over Changsha and airplanes taking off and landing.
Jiang Yu glanced at the image for three seconds, saved it, and replied: "Just finished a meeting. It's chilly in Hunan, remember to wear an outer layer. Don't be nervous during the recording, take care of yourself."
Almost instantly, he replied: "I'm not nervous, I just miss you a little. I fell asleep on the plane and dreamt that we were eating hot dry noodles in Wuhan."
"On the 28th of the lunar calendar, I'll come find you and take you to the most authentic restaurant."
"Okay. My mom said to leave some pork rib and lotus root soup for me, just simmer it a little longer. I said, 'He's had it before,' and she said, 'That's different.'"
"Please thank Auntie for me."
"Thank me yourself, I won't pass on the message. [Winking face]"
Jiang Yu smiled and rode.
Chen Jingming walked over, saw the smile on his face, and was stunned for a moment.
"Mr. Jiang, I'll be having tea with Liu Qiangdong later—"
"Okay, let's go." Jiang Yu put away his phone, his expression returning to calm. "Right, Ms. Liu's promotion this time is so good—"
"Arrange for two undercover lookouts to follow us. Also, make arrangements with Sina and Tencent to handle any negative trending topics immediately."
"Don't let her know. She doesn't like Qi being overly protective."
"clear."
The two walked out of the conference room.
As the elevator descended, Chen Jingming suddenly said, "President Jiang, the interview just now mentioned redefining standards. Can we really do it? This industry is incredibly complex."
Jiang Yu looked at his reflection in the elevator mirror: "President Chen, do you remember what people said when we first started in 2006? They said, 'These greenhorns from Jiyi want to make Hollywood? Dream on.' And now?"
Chen Jingming chuckled, "Now they're begging to throw it away."
"So," Jiang Yu said, "only deep waters can raise big fish. We're not trying to adapt to this world of art; we're trying to change its rules."
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