Chapter 211: Boiling! Ending! Shocking!
"Next, my second work."
"My second work last year was a movie called Crazy Stone, which accidentally won the annual box office championship."
"I want to thank Director Ning Hao here. Although you are a grassroots, you are also a genius!"
The camera turned to Director Ning Hao's face. He made a megaphone shape with his hands and shouted to the leader Er Gou on the stage, "I love you!"
Success makes people confident and makes people humorous. Finally, he no longer frowned.
"I would also like to thank Huang Bo, Liu Ye, Jiang Li'er and other actors..."
Suddenly, the actors below all shouted towards the stage in unison: "Love you!"
Jiang Li'er in particular shouted loudly: "Master, I want to give birth to a baby for you."
This fat chick, still big but wearing a tight black skirt.
She was so sexy that the camera was embarrassed to film her for too long, lest the whole picture become lustful.
Leader Ergou continued: "And this year, Lightning Entertainment will still bring happiness to everyone."
"Our new movie, Love Is Not Blind, will be released soon."
“If nothing unexpected happens, it will probably run into Wong Kar-wai’s 2046 and Jackie Chan’s The Transformers 2.”
"Everyone, please meet the director of this film, Mr. Han Jie, and the assistant director, Mr. Chen Sicheng."
Two young men in suits stood up and the camera turned to them.
"Everyone should also meet the male and female protagonists of this movie, Mr. Hu Ge and Ms. Ou Feifei."
The hero and heroine stood up.
The people in front of the TV were actually a little confused and disappointed.
Master, last year you promoted grassroots directors and grassroots singers, which was very successful.
But this year is different.
Last year was actually a one-man show for you, and you didn’t encounter any real opponents.
There, the political and business systems are uniting together, and several big capitals are uniting together to strangle you.
Your opponent is very strong, why are you still trying to rise from the grassroots? Love Is Not Blind is a small production at first glance, and both directors are newcomers, probably not long after graduating from college.
As for the male and female lead, Ou Feifei is somewhat famous, but she is a singer. This Hu Ge is indeed very handsome, but... he is almost not famous.
In the previous movie "Crazy Stone", his sissy security guard was quite outstanding, but it was a very small role.
Their "2046" and "The King's Avatar", plus Huayi's "A World Without Thieves" and "Kung Fu", each one is a super production and each one has a luxurious lineup.
How can you beat a small production like Love Is Not Blind, which is about love? How can you satisfy the appetite of the fans? The momentum will be weakened immediately.
"In addition, a TV series called "Hidden" co-produced by Lightning Entertainment and Zhijiang TV will also be broadcast this year."
"Please welcome the director of this TV series, Mr. Jiang Wei, the actors Mr. Sun Honglei, Ms. Yao Chen, and Mr. Zu Feng..."
The camera turns to these people.
In fact, Lin Xiao hesitated about whether to use Miss Yao, but he found that this character was really irreplaceable.
For art, for quality.
However, most viewers have no idea how awesome this TV series is.
So, they were even more disappointed in front of the TV.
Depend on……
Master, don't be like this.
You are retreating further and further.
They have high-end movies and big-name stars over there, but you have TV series here, and there are still no stars. Except for Sun Honglei who is a little famous, there is no one else who is well-known.
You are addicted to making small productions.
The leader of Ergou should be high-end and noble. Should the TV series "Live" also be called the work of the leader of Ergou? "I wrote the story of this TV series myself. I hope everyone likes it."
Damn! This is really a pure work of Ergou.
You really can't beat the opponent with these works this year.
Lin Xiao continued, "In addition, the variety show "China's Got Talent" co-produced by Lightning Entertainment and Shanghai Satellite TV will be broadcast on Shanghai Satellite TV in the near future. Please look forward to it."
Many fans: We are looking forward to it and we can support it. But can it be a little more high-end? The intensity over there is so high, and "China's Got Talent" is totally not qualified to compete with them.
But the professionals watching in front of the TV saw it clearly.
Shanghai TV's "China's Got Talent" is in direct competition with Jiangnan TV's "Millionaire Heroes".
Over there, Jiangnan Broadcasting and Television Group stabbed leader Ergou in the back, suspended "The Brain", and replaced it with "Millionaire Heroes" in cooperation with Renren, and jointly broadcast it with Hong Kong TVB.
As for Leader Ergou, he collaborated with Shanghai TV on "China's Got Talent".
Is this the first fierce battle between the two sides on satellite TV? Or is this a battle to protect the biggest source of income for the Ergou Cult leader?
Moreover, the schedules of these two programs should be similar.
The audience in front of the TV don't know how the two programs will be now. They think that "Millionaire" is co-broadcasted with Hong Kong TVB, which can be regarded as half of the overseas broadcast, so "Millionaire" is more high-end.
In 2004, most mainland audiences still had a filter for Hong Kong TVB, thinking it was high-end.
Lin Xiao paused for a moment and said slowly: "In addition, Lightning Entertainment will cooperate with the British Independent Television ITV to produce "Britain's Got Talent" and broadcast it on the ITV TV network!"
"Applause to welcome Mr. David Wynne from ITV, UK."
At this time, Lin Xiao did not raise his voice, his tone remained calm.
In front of the camera, ITV's creative director David Wain stood up.
Suddenly...
The audience in front of the TV was slightly startled.
What?!
Did I hear that right?
"Got Talent" is actually... going to be broadcast on British TV? Shit?!
This... this... this is the copyright of a Chinese TV program, is it going overseas for the first time? "Millionaire" is being broadcast on Hong Kong TVB, and your "Got Talent" is going to be broadcast in the UK? Master Ergou, I knew you would give everyone a surprise.
I didn't expect it to be such a bolt from the blue.
Such a big surprise.
Suddenly, the Facebook community was in an uproar.
"Fuck, I'm starting to get excited."
"Master Ergou actually exported his TV program overseas, to the oldest developed country, the United Kingdom."
“That’s awesome!”
Then, some people expressed their concerns, wondering if this ITV was some small copycat TV station in the UK.
You have to know that there are so many TV stations in developed countries that anyone can set up a TV station. Don't let it end up being equivalent to a county-level TV station in China, which would be embarrassing.
Many people checked immediately and found out that ITV was not a fake TV station at all, but the second largest TV station in the UK?
Damn! Leader Ergou is really awesome.
Many professionals in the satellite TV industry who were watching the live broadcast were also shocked.
Is Leader Ergou bragging?
ITV has a close cooperation with China. It initially cooperated with Hong Kong TV stations and later with Guangdong East TV.
But that’s all cultural input. People sell the copyright of the program to you, and you are the passive recipient.
Now... ITV actually bought the copyright of Ergou Jiaozhu?
Is he crazy? Has the old imperialism lost its dignity? A TV station in a developed capitalist country actually bought the copyright from a small private company in China?
Is it that Leader Ergou is bragging?
However, David Wynne of ITV did not think too much about it. He just thought the show was great and was directly impressed. He felt it might be successful.
This business model is normal in the Western world.
Moreover, in the UK, the promotion is about cooperation with a high-end joint venture company.
Lightning Entertainment, Columbia, and SoftBank Group, there is no need to feel ashamed with the names of the two big companies mentioned above.
However, people in the satellite TV circle still think that this is impossible and must investigate it thoroughly.
Now the entire satellite TV circle is banning and boycotting Lightning Entertainment. Leader Ergou wants to break out of the circle, so he paid a creative director from ITV to use his wealth to raise a big banner.
Under the guise of promoting cultural expansion overseas, they want to force the entire satellite TV industry to recognize Lightning Entertainment’s high share of profits.
You think we'll be fooled?
If your "Got Talent" really gets broadcast on mainstream British TV, I'll eat the microphone.
Lin Xiao's speech is still continuing here.
"In addition, Lightning Entertainment, Columbia, and SoftBank Group will establish a joint venture."
"The first work of this joint venture, The Last Days, was written by me personally." (That is Train to Busan) "The film will be shot in South Korea and completed by teams from China, Japan, South Korea and the United States."
"Our Chinese director is still...Mr. Ning Hao."
The camera once again focused on director Ning Hao's face. He saluted directly towards the stage, as if he had accepted a military order.
"And this movie, if nothing goes wrong, will be released at the end of the year."
“It will be released simultaneously in China, Japan, and South Korea, and of course in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, and may even be released simultaneously in North America.”
The tone of the Ergou leader was still calm.
However, the leader’s fans couldn’t help but get excited.
Damn, Master.
You...you are playing this game.
The first few small productions were thrown out, which made us feel depressed.
And now, one explosive piece of information after another is thrown out.
Each one is bigger than the other.
Colombia, a joint venture of SoftBank Group?
Produced by a team from China, Japan, South Korea and the United States?
Almost simultaneous release around the world? How impressive does that sound? When Lightning Entertainment's rivals heard this, whether in Hong Kong or Beijing, they all had the same idea.
Bragging! You can't even handle simultaneous release in China, Japan and South Korea, and you want simultaneous release around the world?
Now the only type of Chinese film that can sell well worldwide is the Kung Fu film.
What the hell is this "Doomsday Journey" of yours?
Science fiction? Disaster film? Damn, you, a Chinese company, are working with others to make a science fiction disaster film? You are asking for trouble. "Heroes of Heaven and Earth" flopped, and yours will only flop even more.
Your subject matter is no longer adventurous, but crazy.
But fans of Master Ergou don’t care about all this. We are already ready to start the party.
"The big deal still depends on our leader."
"Look at other people's film output. Either they reflect China's backwardness or expose the so-called bad habits, showing off to others. Or they are pure kung fu movies, and they don't dare to take risks in other genres. The first movie that Ergou made to go global was a science fiction disaster movie. Only with such courage can he be our leader."
"No matter how the filming turns out, we will support it to the end."
"Leader Ergou is still the same as before, daring to be the first."
At the scene, many people couldn't help but start applauding.
The people below include those from the media and the entertainment industry.
Of course, you can feel the novelty, boldness and huge adventurousness of this work.
But at least it's exciting and there's something to talk about. We're really fed up with all the kung fu movies we see every day.
After Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, be a hero.
After the hero, there will be an ambush from all sides.
Lin Xiao waited for the applause to end and continued, "So, this "The End of the World" can be regarded as the first work of Master Ergou to go global."
“At the same time, there is a second work going overseas.”
"It is still China, the United States, Japan and South Korea co-producing a TV series, Squid Game, for which I wrote the script myself, which will also start filming this year."
"If nothing unexpected happens, it will also be shown simultaneously on TV stations in China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries and regions."
"The investment in this TV series is still 10 million US dollars."
“Nine episodes in total!”
The whole audience was numb again.
Damn, we can understand these words separately. But why are they so strange together? A TV series with a $10 million investment and only 9 episodes? Several national TV stations broadcasting it simultaneously?
Nowadays, domestic TV dramas all have a budget of 30 to 50 million RMB, and are shot for more than 30 to 40 episodes.
Moreover, there are absolutely no examples of TV dramas going overseas in recent years.
Only a few TV series such as My Fair Princess have been popular in places like Vietnam.
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was also popular in Japan.
Nowadays, it is difficult for domestic TV dramas to go abroad, let alone those from Japan and South Korea, or even Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Your TV series is broadcast simultaneously in several countries?
The president of Columbia applauded but felt helpless.
In fact, the production of this TV series has not been finalized yet. The only one that has been finalized so far is "The Last Days", and Columbia will pay for it.
Whether the TV series of "Squid Game" will be produced depends on the success of "Got Talent".
This was agreed upon by both parties.
But Lin Xiao has already stated that even if Lightning Entertainment has to pay for it itself, it will still produce this TV series.
………………
Leader Ergou: "I believe everyone has heard that the second Facebook Night has only one theme!"
“Culture goes abroad!”
"World fusion!"
“I’m actually very clear about the situation we’re in now.”
"Facebook's base has been challenged and even blocked like never before."
"Lightning Entertainment has been met with great misunderstanding and even boycott."
"At this time, we should actually retract our fists, fight a defensive battle, and maintain our base."
"Instead of taking huge risks and going out to sea."
"And it costs a huge amount of money to explore a brand new subject matter and a brand new model, which has never been successfully used before."
"But, some things have to be done by someone."
“Sometimes, it’s better to do it sooner rather than later.”
"If these overseas projects fail, there may be no future."
“And once these projects are successfully launched overseas?”
"So……"
"I will take the lead in breaking into the gap in Chinese films, 3D animated films."
"Lightning Entertainment will jointly invest $130 million with Columbia and Sony Pictures to produce the 3D animated film Kung Fu Panda."
“Investing $150 million to produce the 3D animated film “The Graveyard Book”.”
Then, a large number of storyboards and design drawings appeared on the big screen.
It's all about Kung Fu Panda, not just the characters, but the buildings and so on.
It's completely pure Chinese style.
The images flickered faster and faster.
It's a massive amount of concept art.
Let everyone see how much effort Lightning Group has put into this movie.
At this moment, not only the audience at the scene, but also the audience in front of the TV fell into a brief state of speechlessness.
Completely speechless!
I guessed you would play big, but I didn't expect it to be this big?!
130 million US dollars to invest in the production of a 3D animated film?
Crazy, really completely crazy.
Since the commercialization of Chinese films, there has been only one large-scale animated film, "The Lotus Lantern".
3D animated movies, absolutely zero.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
And $130 million, this number sounds too unfamiliar.
Leader Ergou continued: "Not long ago, during the Lunar New Year movie war, Cell Phone and Crazy Stone were in full swing, and in the end Crazy Stone won a great victory and won the annual box office championship."
"But I don't feel happy at all, I just feel sad."
"With a box office of just 120 million RMB, it has become the annual box office champion?"
“Our film market is too small!”
“It should be 500 million, 800 million, 1 billion… or even more.”
"Then I started thinking, how can we expand this market and make our film industry advance by leaps and bounds?"
“So, there was Kung Fu Panda.”
"I hope it can raise the capacity of the Chinese film market and the level of the Chinese film industry to the world's advanced level."
“I hope it will become a love letter from Chinese cinema to the world.”
"Ms. Amy, I know that Sony Pictures and Columbia Pictures will only be willing to invest in Kung Fu Panda if The Last Walk becomes a huge global success."
"But even if 'The Last Journey' and 'Squidward' didn't achieve the expected success, Lightning Entertainment would still launch the 'Kung Fu Panda' project. Lightning Entertainment is even willing to pay for the investment of more than 100 million US dollars by itself."
"But then the miracle wouldn't be perfect."
"So here, I wish The Last Days and Squidward great success."
"So no matter what, Kung Fu Panda will definitely meet you all."
“This is a love letter to fans around the world, and it will definitely be read by everyone.”
………………
At this moment, countless fans of Master Ergou were no longer excited.
But I am moved!
Even speechless.
In order to make money, who would be willing to spend more than 100 million US dollars to make a 3D animated movie?
In 2004, it was hellish difficulty.
And there is absolutely no possibility of recovering the costs.
To promote cultural exports and to improve the standards of the film industry.
Ergou is really crazy.
Because this kind of film is destined to introduce a large number of foreign teams, there will be a lot of Sino-Western cooperation, and the cost will be extremely high.
But as long as it succeeds, the entire film market and film industry will really achieve a qualitative leap.
At least until now! The purpose of Facebook Night has far exceeded that of Renren Night.
It's not just Master Ergou who thinks so, almost all viewers in front of the TV think so too.
Renren.com has completely rallied a large group of capital groups to engage in a group fight.
Although Leader Ergou has Columbia and SoftBank Group on his side.
But all the main products are our own.
All the major investments were made with my own money.
It's more like fighting alone.
You, Renrenzhiye, are also shouting about going out to sea, but what kind of going out to sea is that? Look at the Ergou Sect Leader, this is the real going out to sea.
Even like Don Quixote-like courage.
Just for these overseas projects, if the partners don't pay, how much money is Ergou prepared to pay? 200 million US dollars, right?
It is entirely possible to lose everything.
How much money did the entire Lightning Group make in total?
According to previous precedents, these overseas projects are all risky.
Leader Ergou is going to blaze a trail for China's cultural industry.
They say there's only a fine line between genius and madness.
Now it seems that is entirely true.
……………………
"My third work!" Ergou's voice echoed throughout the exhibition hall.
At this moment, the whole place was truly silent.
The first two works alone are enough to shock people.
"The third work is the Internet going global."
"I wanted to write a big article about it, but Ms. Wu Lingxi from Renren seemed to have finished the story."
“So, I’ll just announce it!”
“Facebook Overseas is officially established.”
"Mr. Lucas, the former CEO of Itchy.com, will be in charge of Facebook's overseas business."
"We will work with SoftBank Group to enter major markets such as Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe."
"This year, Facebook will invest $50 million in overseas market development!"
"This... is probably the first time a Chinese Internet company has truly gone overseas."
“This is a road that has never been traveled before.”
"Thank you Mr. Lucas for giving up your high-ranking position and high salary to start from scratch and build a new business."
“Will this path succeed, or will it fail?”
“I don’t know, but I think it’s good to be a pioneer even if I fail.”
"At least future generations can follow in these footsteps and set out bravely once again."
"Ms. Wu Lingxi is right. It is a rare opportunity for China to lead the wave of the WEB2.0 era. If we miss this opportunity to go overseas, the next one may not come until ten years later."
"I know. I know."
"Facebook's domestic base is facing unprecedented challenges and crises. It is really not a good time to expand overseas."
"But, who cares?"
"My fellow domestic Internet companies, I am so bold that I will go overseas for you first."
“Even if we die on the road, we can still leave footprints behind, and our bones can become road signs.”
"The wind is whistling and the Yi River is cold; the warrior will never return once he leaves..."
"Pooh, pooh, pooh!"
"That's an unlucky thing to say. I'm sorry, Mr. Lucas."
The whole audience laughed.
The meticulous and handsome Mr. Lucas spread his hands, expressing his helplessness towards the big boss, Ergou.
But his heart was truly filled with emotion.
Being praised like this really makes my blood boil.
Full of national sentiment and inexplicable pride.
Wu Lingxi of Renren keeps talking about the Internet going overseas, but that is bullshit. Those domestic users who registered CHINAREN went abroad to study and logged into Renren with overseas IP addresses. Do you call this going overseas?
This is our real journey to sea.
Real money, forming a team, and going on an expedition.
This is the romance of men!
This is the romance of the new generation of entrepreneurs.
In recent years, only overseas Internet companies have been conquering cities and grabbing land in the country.
Which Internet company dares to go abroad?
Lightning Group is not yet a giant, and Facebook is facing a critical moment of being besieged, but it has bravely gone overseas.
……………………
Lin Xiao looked at his watch.
"We are running out of time. We can't be sentimental anymore."
"Otherwise it will exceed the time limit, and our partner, Magic City TV, will be unhappy."
Director Chen below smiled, and Director Wang Shiqing raised his index finger and shook it.
Said that this was not the case.
You can exceed the time limit.
Especially Director Chen, although he had the absolute support of the top leaders, Modu TV completely stood on the side of Lightning Group.
But he is still worried about tonight's Facebook Night.
They are worried that the lineup and scale will lag behind Renren TV, because that is Mango TV. Both are first-tier satellite TV stations. If they lag behind too much, it will be embarrassing for Shanghai Satellite TV.
But until now, it has been perfect.
There is no need to mention the grand performance at the beginning. Although Ergou’s speech was short, the shocking power of the content was completely sufficient.
Even if the ratings will lag behind, the purpose and structure of the entire evening party are very high and will not damage the reputation of Shanghai Satellite TV.
The party will soon be over.
Leader Ergou: "Next, I will release my fourth work."
"Last year's third work, the first 3D game in China, Zhu Xian, has not yet been tested in closed beta."
"As a result, Ms. Wu Lingxi from Renren.com, with Hongen Group and Zulong Studio's Perfect World, is here to grab the title of the No. 1 domestic product."
"I've also watched your DEMO, it's good, really good."
"If you want to grab the title of the No. 1 domestic 3D game, then go ahead and grab it."
"A single flower does not make a forest; a hundred flowers in full bloom make spring."
“I sincerely hope that Perfect World will be a great success.”
"If everything goes well, our Zhu Xian can be launched at the same time as Perfect World. If not, our Zhu Xian may be launched later."
"If it was later, your Perfect World would have been the first large-scale 3D game in China."
"We know that Blood Lion has caused unparalleled damage to Chinese single-player games."
“Even later studios like Zulong and Target followed suit and continued to fight on the front line of single-player games.”
“Even if the works they produced were actually good, such as ‘Blood Battle on the Beach’, ‘Royal Three Kingdoms’ and ‘Love Sorrow’, they were all good quality, but… these works were all failures without exception.”
“This leaves China’s single-player games in a hopeless state.”
"Everyone has a consensus that stand-alone games are doomed to die and have no future."
"So, Zulong Studio went to develop Perfect World, and Target Studio followed us to develop Zhu Xian. They are all online games."
“Single-player games seem to have been completely abandoned.”
"Yes, online games make more money. Whether it's Legend or Miracle, the money they make is much more than those stand-alone games."
"Single-player games are expensive to develop and don't make money, so only fools would do it."
"At the same time, stand-alone games abroad are booming and developing at a rapid pace."
"Moreover, stand-alone games represent the most advanced productivity and technology in this industry."
"If we are one year behind now, how long will it take to catch up in the future?"
"Ten years? Twenty years?"
"Single-player games are the jewels in the crown of gaming, especially AAA blockbusters."
"And our country should be completely blank when it comes to 3A games, right?"
Hearing this, countless fans of Master Ergou began to tremble slightly again.
No, Master.
We are already satisfied.
The first three works have already brought us enough shock.
In terms of sheer shocking power, it has completely surpassed Everybody's Night.
Whether it is the structure or the style, it is overwhelming.
You... you're going to use your ultimate move again? A AAA-level single-player game?
This...we really don’t dare to think about it.
I don't even dare to think about it.
Lin Xiao looked at JE Sawyer and said, "Mr. Sawyer, let us all get to know you."
Young JE Sawyer stands up and the camera focuses on him.
"Mr. Sawyer will be joining the Lightning game."
"The third game studio of Lightning Group has been officially established and named Ergou Studio."
"We will invest $15 million to produce a true AAA stand-alone game masterpiece, Fallout 3, for the global market."
“I want to take down this jewel in the crown of the Ninth Art.”
“I want to fill in the gaps in this cultural landscape.”
Depend on?!
$15 million? Really triple-A? "This is the fourth production tonight."
"Facebook Night is officially over, thank you everyone!"
"Good night!"
Then, the whole place was silent! That was it.
Many viewers in front of the TV, even if they are not fans of Master Ergou, have only one feeling.
The pattern and the concept! Master Ergou is awesome! The works released by Master Ergou are really more shocking than the last.
Even if you don’t know much about these industries, you can feel the strong emotions and determination.
There is no doubt that Facebook Night completely surpasses Everyone Night.
Even all-round transcendence.
……………………
Note: I updated two hours earlier today, and I have to go out next. Benefactor, if you have a monthly ticket, please remember to give me some cakes? Don't waste it, thank you! (End of this chapter)