In less than ten minutes, Fang Yang and Tan Zhaofeng got out of the car one after the other. "President Tan, this is our temporary command post in Xihu City. We usually work and rest here. The conditions are simple, so please don't mind."
Tan Zhaofeng laughed and said, "When our company was first established, the conditions were even more rudimentary. We rented a four-story residential building and lived there for five or six years. Later, we made some money, and land was relatively cheap at the time, so we bought land and built the company headquarters. It's been more than ten years now."
"Mr. Tan's situation back then was very similar to our company's situation now. Our scale in Shanghai was also a four-story building. It's just that my father bought land in the suburbs and built a four-story house himself. Now that the scale has increased, we have rented a few more houses. It was because it was very inconvenient that we moved to Xihu City."
Following Fang Yang to the top-floor office, Tan Zhaofeng looked around and said, "Your office is quite nice, and there are two bedrooms. It's enough as a temporary office space."
Fang Yang lit the stove to boil water. "I only came here temporarily for two days because I had something to do. My brother lived here for a while before. Now that the base is built, he basically spends all his time at the base. It feels a bit wasteful that no one lives here."
Tan Zhaofeng laughed and said, "That's one way to put it, but you also have to understand President Zhou's good intentions. It's his duty to make arrangements for you, but if he doesn't, he'll be criticized."
"Mr. Tan has also come from a difficult past, so his insight into things is indeed profound. Try my tea; it's this year's fresh autumn tea. Although it lacks some of the richness of other teas, it still tastes quite good."
Tan Zhaofeng took the teacup from Fang Yang, smelled it, inhaled it, and sipped it. "It is indeed Tieguanyin that was just picked this year. I am from southern Fujian, and this Tieguanyin is our favorite. Judging from the taste, it must have been hand-roasted by an old craftsman. The flavor is very pure."
Fang Yang smiled and said, "This was given to us by an old tea farmer in Fujian when our company's director, Fu Ming, was doing promotional work there. If you like it, Mr. Tan, you can take a can back with you later."
Tan Zhaofeng exclaimed with delight, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. This tea is indeed more mellow than machine-processed tea, full of the sedimentation of time. This old tea farmer is a master."
"There are fewer and fewer masters like this nowadays. Many things from our ancestors have been discarded. Perhaps in a few decades, we may not be able to drink tea like this again."
Seeing Tan Zhaofeng's gloomy expression, Fang Yang smiled and said, "I don't think so. Although large tea plantations use machinery to promote their products, there will always be some who adhere to tradition and pass it down. Just like the intangible cultural heritage that various places are constantly applying for, although there are few people who persist, there are always people who persist until one day many people will devote themselves to it and carry it forward."
The two chatted over tea and gradually found more common ground. "Mr. Fang, as I said on the way here, it's fate that we're in the same city. I sincerely hope to have more cooperation with your Yuewen Entertainment Media, whether in music or film and television. We should have a lot of complementarity."
"We have great complementarity in film and television, I admit that. As for music, I don't know what Mr. Tan's thoughts are?"
"Mr. Fang, as a local film and television company, we have a deep cooperative relationship with Blueberry TV. Recently, we have been discussing the creation of a music-related variety show. I wonder if Mr. Fang is interested in this?"
Fang Yang looked at Tan Zhaofeng in surprise. "Mr. Tan, we are indeed interested in music variety shows, but not now. Our intention is to hold them in our own studio after the cinema is built. We'd also like to see if Blueberry TV and your company are interested then."
"You mean you want to separate production from broadcasting?"
Tan Zhaofeng stared at Fang Yang for a long time, wondering what this guy was thinking. Separation of production and broadcasting was still a new thing, but TV stations might not be able to accept it. After all, they didn't have the copyright in their own hands. What if it became popular this year, but was bought by someone else for a high price next year? Not only would it be a loss, but it would also be a huge embarrassment.
"The separation of production and broadcasting is definitely going to happen. I set up a live streaming website here, with the purpose of producing my own variety shows in the future. If the copyright is held by the TV station, I definitely won't do it."
"It seems you originally planned to do it independently, bypassing the TV station, and Blueberry TV was just a side project, right?"
"As you know, variety shows these days are too influenced by capital and are full of shady dealings. They have long lost their original ideals. I just want to create some variety shows that are not influenced by anyone and bring real joy to the audience. It's that simple."
Tan Zhaofeng was speechless. "If there were no behind-the-scenes manipulations in variety shows, it would be very difficult to invite big-name celebrities. Not many big-name celebrities would risk making a mistake to participate in your variety show. So any variety show is bound to have behind-the-scenes manipulations and scripts. This is not something that TV stations and capital want to do on purpose."
Fang Yang didn't care about this. Even minor celebrities would do. As long as the traffic increased, there would be plenty of big stars flocking to him. He would even be willing to pay money, since traffic equals fame, and no one can refuse that.
Fang Yang was eager to take advantage of Tan Zhaofeng's company, so he patiently explained, "The TV station's sound equipment and lighting are terrible. I'm planning to build a top-notch studio. As for big-name celebrities, I don't really care. As long as the viewership is high, people will want to appear even if they have to pay to do so. So the key is how good the variety show is."
“That makes sense. But you mentioned preparing a top-notch studio. That must cost a lot. I remember last year, Hunan TV spent over 30 million yuan on sound equipment alone for a new variety show. It made a lot of TV stations envious.”
Fang Yang chuckled, "Over thirty million? How could you possibly afford such a small amount of audio equipment? It's hardly top-of-the-line; at best, it'll just be good for showing off in China."
"It's already good enough that we can show off in China. Don't you see that Blueberry TV only has sound equipment that cost more than 10 million yuan a few years ago? And that's the standard equipment for most TV stations in China."
"That's why I stopped using Blueberry TV's studio. The equipment is too poor and would seriously affect the music, especially for rock music with powerful soundtracks, which requires even higher sound quality. To produce a good variety show, both the software and hardware must be top-notch so that the audience can enjoy the ultimate auditory experience. Then, the viewership will naturally increase."
Tan Zhaofeng remained silent. He knew everything Fang Yang had said, but no TV station would cooperate with him. In recent years, online TV and live TV have been rising rapidly, taking away a large number of TV station users and causing TV stations to decline. However, even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse. No matter how badly they decline, celebrities' base is still on TV stations because the audience is large enough. Moreover, TV stations have now launched online video services. As long as there is a good variety show, there is no shortage of traffic. This is something that ordinary online TV stations do not have and cannot compare to.
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