Chapter 356 The Difficult Old Man
"Yes, Yuanxin's planning has been implemented quite well," Secretary Li did not hesitate to praise Su Yuanshan.
Good planning and good implementation are two completely different concepts. As the head of the Special Economic Zone, Secretary Li's responsibilities were not just about "planning"—he bore a heavier burden: "faster, and even faster."
Anyone can make blueprints and models; they don't count for much. What truly matters is actual progress.
"But don't you think," Secretary Li flicked the cigarette box, popped out a cigarette, and then suddenly remembered Su Yuanshan didn't smoke, "do you mind?"
Su Yuanshan grinned, "I don't mind, but smoking doesn't have even a single health benefit... Secretary, it would be better if you quit."
"Haha! You sound just like my daughter!" Secretary Li laughed heartily, evidently fond of Su Yuanshan's personality. "When I retire, I'll quit for sure."
The secretary quietly placed an ashtray by Secretary Li's hand and glanced at Su Yuanshan, full of emotion.
He had followed Secretary Li for more than two years, but had never seen him be so polite to any entrepreneur—usually, even when meeting CEOs of major state-owned enterprises, there was a hint of confrontation.
Probably only a company like Yuanxin could enjoy such "special status."
"According to statistics from the Ministry of Electronics Industry, over 80% of domestic demand for semiconductor chips is unmet by local production. Out of that, at least 20% falls on our Special Economic Zone. Even with UMC moving a wafer plant here, the gap remains huge."
Secretary Li took a drag on his cigarette and looked at Su Yuanshan, speaking frankly: "I don't believe that our Special Economic Zone's electronics factories can't support a Yuanxin wafer plant."
Su Yuanshan smiled and nodded, "Of course they can, Secretary."
"Then it's settled. If you want to build a wafer plant, if you lack money, I'll help you raise it; if you lack people, I'll help you find them..."
Seeing Secretary Li's sharp gaze, Su Yuanshan felt a headache coming on.
He knew that from the Special Economic Zone's standpoint, Secretary Li's proposal was reasonable and feasible.
However, from Yuanxin's standpoint, it was not something they could easily satisfy.
After a few seconds of silence, Su Yuanshan raised his head and said frankly, "Secretary, to be honest, Yuanxin does plan to build a wafer plant in the Special Economic Zone."
Secretary Li didn't even blink, just nodded, signaling Su Yuanshan to continue.
"If everything goes smoothly, a year from now, we'll consider building a wafer plant in the Special Economic Zone under Yuanxin's name. But this wafer plant will have nothing to do with the general manufacturing needs you mentioned."
Secretary Li immediately caught the key point: "You mean it won't be for foundry services, or it will only produce a single type of product?"
"Both," Su Yuanshan said openly. "Next year we plan to launch a memory chip. Once it successfully enters the market and mass production begins, we'll build a dedicated wafer plant here. Also... ideally, we hope to use domestically developed lithography machines."
"Domestic lithography machines?" Secretary Li was stunned for a moment, then quickly recalled that Yuanxin was indeed collaborating with Chengguang Institute on lithography technology.
As a regional leader, he was aware of these matters—maybe not in technical detail, but at least conceptually.
"Yes..." Su Yuanshan sighed lightly, then smiled playfully, "Secretary, instead of urging me to build a factory, you might want to hear about the vertical procurement system being launched at the industrial park. I have a hunch that this system will become crucial for cost control in the future, and an important measure for enhancing manufacturing technology and patent barriers."
Secretary Li's eyes flashed, then he nodded.
After all, he hadn't expected to finalize a billion-dollar investment for a wafer plant just from one chat.
"I've heard some whispers. I was about to have a talk with Duan Yongping. Tell me."
"In short, Yuanxin sets the standards, then selectively outsources the production of all components to qualified partners."
Su Yuanshan took a sip of tea and began carefully explaining the features of the vertical procurement system to Secretary Li.
Given Yuanxin's current size and output, vertical procurement wouldn't work internationally.
But domestically, it was perfectly suited to grow alongside China's manufacturing sector!
...
Back in the car, Su Yuanshan exhaled lightly. "That old man's harder to handle than the ones in Shanghai... He just won't let go of the wafer plant idea."
"That's because the semiconductor industry really has a bright future," Zhou Xiaohui said as she fastened her seatbelt, smiling faintly. "I heard he has a technical background too?"
"Yeah, graduated in mechanical engineering, then went to work building cars at Second Auto Works, reportedly spending over a decade on the front lines. You can tell by looking at his hands—used to holding a wrench," Su Yuanshan joked.
"..."
Su Yuanshan liked making jokes about the leaders when they were alone. Zhou Xiaohui saw no need to humor him; Su Yuanshan wasn't someone who needed flattery.
"But honestly, the old man is impressive. I think he understood the advantages of the vertical procurement system for industrial upgrading. As long as the country speeds up abolishing the old distribution system, increases investment in education, and expands college enrollment... At least in the Special Economic Zone, technological upgrading could happen very fast."
"Maybe... but isn't it also true that our industrial equipment is still quite backward?"
Zhou Xiaohui motioned for the driver to start driving, then turned to look seriously at Su Yuanshan. "With backward equipment, it's hard to develop cutting-edge technology. You can only figure out... tricks?"
"Huh?" Su Yuanshan pretended to be shocked. "Not bad, you even understand that!"
Zhou Xiaohui made a helpless expression. "..."
"Hehe, equipment and technology develop upward in a spiral. So your concern is unnecessary.
Manufacturing base equipment isn't like lithography machines that are restricted in every possible way. And don't underestimate tricks—in the industry, it's called know-how.
In many cases, it directly determines a product's competitiveness."
"Alright... I guess I was being narrow-minded."
"Hehe, when it comes to technology, I still know a thing or two," Su Yuanshan said, closing his eyes to rest.
But less than a minute later, he opened his eyes again. "Oh right, contact Giant for me. Since I'm already here... It would feel wrong not to meet with Lao Shi."
Zhou Xiaohui immediately took out her phone and address book, flipping through it as she asked, "When do you want to meet him?"
"Ask where he is. If he's in the Special Economic Zone, today. If not, tomorrow is best."
Su Yuanshan closed his eyes again, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
These guys in the gaming industry... they were really quite formidable.
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Chapter 357 Director Shan's Summon
At first, Su Yuanshan was worried that Jinshan and Giant would stray onto the wrong path, stubbornly clinging to their dream of a "wuxia" fantasy world. Unexpectedly, both of them turned out to be extremely sharp and quick-witted. Riding the wave of the PS console's continued success, they each chose different game genres to develop.
For example, Giant went straight into the shooting genre, while Jinshan developed racing games.
Together with a number of other studios around the country, under the strong support of the provincial capital, they quickly established a new category within the PS gaming scene: cn games.
However, at this stage, these games still showed heavy signs of imitation and were very much in a "quick cash grab" mode...
But Su Yuanshan knew this was just superficial—domestic software developers were genuinely poor right now. Once they had money, these people would definitely show real innovation.
This time, Sony and Yuanxin were dead set on forming an alliance, and their main focus was on the future internet field—in other words, the cultural sector.
Given that, games obviously couldn't be left out.
Su Yuanshan's original plan was to pull Sony Entertainment into the Custom system directly.
But after careful analysis, he realized that the next few years were critical for establishing influence in the gaming sector. If domestic companies missed out now, they might never catch up later.
Yuanxin, of course, could not go start a gaming company on its own...
The call connected quickly. After exchanging a few words, Zhou Xiaohui turned and said, "He's not in the country right now—he's in Seattle."
"Huh? What's he doing over there?" Su Yuanshan opened his eyes in surprise. "We don't have any partners there, do we?"
Zhou Xiaohui shook her head. "No idea. What should I tell him?"
"Mm..." Su Yuanshan thought for a moment. "Alright, ask him to contact Davidson from Custom. See if they can come back together."
"Okay."
...
Shortly after returning to the hotel, just as Su Yuanshan expected, he received a call back from Shi Dazhu.
During the call, Shi Dazhu told Su Yuanshan he was preparing for a round of financing.
"Financing? You're short on money?" Su Yuanshan was a bit surprised.
"Very much so!" Shi Dazhu sounded in a good mood and laughed. "Not only are we short on cash, we're even short on people... There are lots of programmers back home, but very few with real gaming instincts. At our current development pace, we still need to learn a lot from abroad..."
"Exactly, this is an era of learning," Su Yuanshan chuckled. "Wasn't it said in the last century? 'Learn from the barbarians to defeat the barbarians.'"
"Hahaha, precisely! Right now, we're feeling our way across the river by groping for the lights of the lighthouse country."
"Be careful not to scrape yourself bald," Su Yuanshan joked, then paused before continuing, "You've dealt with Davidson before, right? If it's convenient, you should come back with him."
"Of course! If Director Shan calls, it's definitely convenient—though could you at least give old Shi a hint about what this is about?"
"Well... it's hard to explain over the phone, but it mainly concerns future platform interests," Su Yuanshan said thoughtfully. "We're starting to lay the groundwork for the future internet gaming platform."
There was two seconds of silence on the other end of the line before Shi Dazhu gave a firm reply: "Alright! I'll contact him tomorrow."
...
Two days later, Kutaragi Ken and his group arrived from Hong Kong to the Special Economic Zone.
For the reception, Su Yuanshan didn't make a big fuss. He simply went to the airport with Zhou Xiaohui and Zhang Jianjun to pick them up, then personally escorted them to their hotel.
After the foreign guests checked into their rooms to rest and adjust to the time difference, Su Yuanshan, Kutaragi Ken, and Zhang Jianjun went into a private room at a teahouse.
"Hi! Mr. Kutaragi, please have some tea," Zhang Jianjun said, waving the server away and personally pouring tea for the two guests.
"Old Zhang, don't act like some traitorous lackey..." Su Yuanshan glanced at Zhang Jianjun with a smile. "Mr. Kutaragi isn't some Japanese warlord, you know."
"Su..." Kutaragi Ken first bowed to Zhang Jianjun in thanks, then straightened up and smiled wryly. "That joke's a bit much..."
"No worries, jokes are free here," Zhang Jianjun said as he flopped onto the leather sofa, which sagged deeply under his weight.
To be fair, thanks to being a Zhongxin shareholder, and having made a fortune in pirated discs, plus the respect he got from several major Yuanxin factory bosses, Zhang Jianjun was quite a big figure in the Special Economic Zone's business circles.
But he had never interacted with a true "big boss" like Kutaragi Ken before, nor had he dealt much with Japanese businessmen. He was just imitating what he had seen on TV; it was already impressive that he hadn't accidentally called Kutaragi "taikun" out loud.
—Su Yuanshan had already explained that Kutaragi Ken was very likely the next head of Sony.
Holy hell, that was Sony!
"Hehe, Old Zhang and I just get along easily, so we kid around..." Su Yuanshan laughed and moved things along. "Mr. Kutaragi, before the others upstairs join us, I have something important I'd like your opinion on."
Kutaragi Ken immediately grew serious. "Please, go ahead."
"How tightly does your headquarters control its subsidiaries?" Su Yuanshan asked quietly, looking directly into Kutaragi's eyes. "Or put another way, do they respect your opinions as a senior executive from the headquarters?"
Kutaragi Ken was momentarily stunned.
That was a very... blunt question.
He was silent for a few moments, then looked back at Su Yuanshan and asked instead, "Director Su, are you hoping to persuade Sony Entertainment through me?"
Su Yuanshan thought to himself: isn't that obvious?
Whether it was Sony Pictures or Sony Music, the acquisitions had caused a huge uproar in the United States at the time, decrying it as a "Japanese invasion."
Akio Morita had been forced to set up a subsidiary company, doing nothing else except managing these two acquired "grandsons."
Over the years, these two had lost massive amounts of money, and because of certain considerations, the executives in charge were still Americans.
Headquarters was still based in the U.S., not brought back to Japan.
Su Yuanshan remembered that only years later, after suffering heavy losses, would Sony finally undertake sweeping reforms of the entertainment division...
But even knowing all this, he couldn't say it outright.
So he smiled lightly and said, "Any company's decisions must align with its interests. Even if I persuade you, it's not really persuasion—it's offering mutual benefits, isn't it?"
Kutaragi Ken smiled.
What a slick talker...
After thinking for a few seconds, Kutaragi Ken said softly, "It's like this, Director Su... Right now, the business situation of Sony Entertainment indeed makes us very anxious. That's why we're having these conversations and exploring opportunities."
Su Yuanshan's heart leaped in joy!
This statement couldn't have been clearer.
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Chapter 358 Sony Entertainment
Counting both his past and present life, Su Yuanshan had dealt with Japanese people many times and knew very well that a traditional Japanese person was extremely reserved—***** excepted, where people were more direct and warm.
Since Sony was now feeling anxious and taking action, it meant that Sony's headquarters had truly made up its mind to "turn losses into profits."
In his previous life, Su Yuanshan hadn't had much direct dealings with Sony, so he wasn't completely sure when Howard Stringer had officially taken over. He only remembered that after Stringer took office, he turned the tide dramatically, rising within Sony from a subsidiary CEO to eventually becoming chairman of Sony headquarters, making him the first white chairman in Sony's history.
Since Howard Stringer hadn't come this time, it indicated that Sony Pictures was still stuck in its Columbia Pictures era, and Sony Music was far from reaching the Bertelsmann era.
It was precisely for this reason that Su Yuanshan had asked that earlier question.
"To be honest, Director Su," Kutaragi Ken looked directly at Su Yuanshan, knowing that the latter had understood his meaning. After a slight smile, he became serious again. "Using an old saying, it's a bit like a desperate patient grasping at anything."
Su Yuanshan chuckled and immediately said, "So in the eyes of those gentlemen upstairs, Yuanxin must seem like a quack doctor?"
"Hehe... of course not," Kutaragi Ken quickly corrected—he couldn't agree to that, or it would sound like he was belittling them.
"But from the subsidiaries to the headquarters, there is still some concern about the outcome of this collaboration—for me personally, the impact is even greater than the LCD panel and lithium battery sectors," Kutaragi Ken said, quietly transmitting his strong anxiety with his eyes.
Su Yuanshan understood Kutaragi Ken's gaze and grasped what he meant by "impact."
Because this cooperation in audiovisual and later in gaming would touch the very foundation of Sony itself.
Despite being wrapped in countless beautiful slogans, Sony's ambition was clear.
It wanted to build a massive audiovisual, leisure, and entertainment empire, integrating Sony products into human life and society. This was why Akio Morita had once spent a fortune to acquire Columbia Pictures.
From television to film to music to games to countless electronic products, Sony had moved step by step toward that goal.
But now, with the internet era approaching and the semiconductor industry booming, Sony felt both urgency and a faint sense of confusion.
Such confusion at the strategic level was terrifying for a giant corporation.
And just when Sony was wandering in this "fog," Yuanxin appeared—emerging with sharp foresight and extending an olive branch to Sony.
Describing it as a drowning man grabbing a straw was an exaggeration, but facing the future's uncertainty, Sony—a veteran giant across multiple fields—indeed found itself at a disadvantage compared to newer giants focused solely on one domain.
Companies like Intel and Microsoft, no matter how the future changed, simply kept pushing forward in their fields.
Cooperating with Yuanxin was like a giant stumbling through the fog suddenly finding a little brother who knew the way reaching out to guide them.
But the worry was, this little brother was leading them into a field he himself had never ventured into before...
That made people uneasy.
And for Kutaragi Ken, it was even more so—even if Sony had "desperate measures" in mind, someone would have to take the fall if the cooperation failed.
Su Yuanshan pursed his lips, looked seriously at Kutaragi Ken, and said softly, "Believe me, Kutaragi-san. Whether it's your return to semiconductors or the revival of your entertainment division, it aligns with Yuanxin's interests."
"Let me be more direct: Yuanxin needs the backing of a giant to enter the copyright market."
"Have some tea."
After talking with Kutaragi Ken all afternoon, they had a Western-style dinner with William Smith, currently in charge of Sony Pictures, and Donald Bright, in charge of Sony Music. They agreed to meet again the next day for further discussions.
...
The next day, they met in the rooftop garden lounge of a hotel in the Special Economic Zone.
Since Su Yuanshan was fluent in three foreign languages and today's meeting wouldn't involve specific technical negotiations, neither side brought interpreters—only their respective secretaries—creating a relaxed, casual atmosphere.
After some polite greetings, Su Yuanshan looked toward William Smith.
This man was about fifty, sporting a thick beard, and even without wearing a multi-pocketed canvas vest, he had a somewhat director-like vibe.
In fact, William Smith was indeed a director and producer... but he had very limited vision, and the films he produced bombed one after another, causing Sony much grief.
In comparison, Donald Bright of Sony Music was doing much better. Thanks to the perfect synergy with the Walkman, Sony Music hadn't lost money yet... but compared to the movie market, music copyrights hadn't exploded in value yet, making Sony Music's position relatively weaker.
"Mr. Smith, how many film copyrights does your company currently hold?"
"We inherited Columbia Pictures' film library. How many do you think we have?" William Smith smiled at Su Yuanshan, using American humor and shrugged: "Around three thousand, I guess. But, Mr. Su, by asking this, are you only interested in our film library?"
"Yes," Su Yuanshan nodded with a smile. "Your film library is a huge asset."
William Smith's eyes widened.
Of course, he knew who this young man was.
Not just famous in mainland China—Su Yuanshan's legend had spread even in Silicon Valley: the prodigy behind Yuanxin and the red-hot Xinghai venture fund.
But in his view, Su Yuanshan was an IT guy.
How could someone from the IT world presume to step into the film industry?
And he was only interested in the film library?
Did he think decades of Columbia Pictures' techniques, teams, craftsmanship, and influence were all worthless?
"I may not know how to make movies," Su Yuanshan said unhurriedly, ignoring William Smith's displeased expression, "but I know how to use economic logic to understand how a film company should find a path to profitability."
"Sure, making a box-office hit is the most fundamental way for a film company to make money—and if it's both critically and commercially successful, even better. But..."
"In my view, producing a great film is primarily the director's essential mission and pursuit. For a film company, it's more important to focus on strengthening copyright management and investment management—especially when they can't produce blockbusters themselves."
When Su Yuanshan finished speaking, William Smith bristled, his beard almost quivering.
Kutaragi Ken looked at Su Yuanshan with a bit of surprise, but deep in his eyes, there was a glimmer of joy.
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Chapter 359 The Best Value
"Director Su..." Kutaragi Ken raised his teacup toward Su Yuanshan, sweeping away the tense atmosphere.
"Mm..." Su Yuanshan shrugged and made a gesture inviting William Smith to continue.
From the beginning, he had deliberately displayed a strong stance—this guy, relying on his status as a big-name producer, kept acting superior while losing money. Not only was Kutaragi Ken annoyed by it, even Su Yuanshan found it unbearable.
After all, Su Yuanshan wasn't here to make movies with him.
William Smith took a deep breath a few times, gave a soft snort, then lifted his coffee cup and took a sip.
After setting down his cup, William Smith stared at Su Yuanshan, his face expressionless as he said, "Mr. Su, no one can predict whether a film will be a box office success just by reading the script. I hope you understand that. Moreover, there are plenty of cases where a film that looked bad during production turned into a big hit—and vice versa."
"What Mr. Smith means is that box office success is unpredictable," Kutaragi Ken smiled, trying to smooth things over.
"To be precise, any movie can fail—even a sequel to a blockbuster can flop spectacularly," William Smith continued, still staring at Su Yuanshan.
"So it's like Schrödinger's movie?"
William Smith was momentarily stunned. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing really, just a thought experiment proposed by Schrödinger," Su Yuanshan said, not bothering to explain the concept of Schrödinger's cat to this arts guy. "But in my view, this is merely wishful thinking. Hollywood claims to be the temple of commercial filmmaking—sure, it's hard to make an Oscar-winning film, but is it really that hard to make a profitable one? You've even systematized screenwriting down to the minute..."
Su Yuanshan had only started seriously studying Hollywood materials after planning to cooperate with Sony Pictures, and he was astonished to discover that Hollywood's strict script structure had been established since the 1990s—especially in their assembly-line productions.
For example, the first few minutes must introduce something, the next few minutes must set up another element, followed by a scene change and added clues, and so on—it was exactly like the way online novel writers were told to insert exciting plot points every few thousand words.
William Smith merely smiled, clearly deciding not to argue with Su Yuanshan about it.
Su Yuanshan smiled back.
Since he had already annoyed this guy, he saw no reason to be polite anymore. He turned to Kutaragi Ken and said, "Kutaragi-san, I heard that the script for Titanic wasn't well-received initially, but I'm very optimistic about it. If we had the chance, it would be best to talk to 20th Century Fox and see if we could co-invest."
Now Kutaragi Ken was genuinely surprised. "You're following that project too?"
"I only pay attention to Cameron. If it's his movie, investing is never wrong," Su Yuanshan said as he glanced sideways at Smith with a half-smile. "Mr. Smith, if you want to make money, go invest in it."
"Yeah right. This isn't Casablanca or Gone with the Wind anymore. A romance film with an investment of over a hundred million dollars—how will it ever make its money back?" William Smith exhaled lightly, slumping comfortably into his chair with a look that suggested he had seen right through Su Yuanshan.
Kutaragi Ken, however, gave Su Yuanshan a deep look and asked softly, "Director Su, are you serious?"
"If you can persuade 20th Century Fox, if you can invest, go ahead—if not, I'll do it. And if you're capable enough to poach Cameron, that would be even better."
"..."
"Alright, back to the main topic." Su Yuanshan chuckled seeing everyone speechless. "The era of DVDs is coming. As a brand-new storage medium, they can hold a full high-definition movie."
"And because of copyright restrictions, even in Western societies, not everyone can afford to buy legitimate films to watch at home."
When Su Yuanshan said this, William Smith finally sat up properly, though he still spoke lazily. "Seems like in this country under our feet, that's not a problem."
"Heh... Well, your government didn't sign the agreements, did they?" Su Yuanshan gave William Smith a glance but kept his focus on Kutaragi Ken. "We need to establish a large-scale copyright management center to represent and distribute all films in DVD format.
Through an online ordering system, DVDs would be mailed directly to customers' homes—making it much more convenient than scattered local video rental stores.
Customers would just need to move their fingers, place an order, and wait at home for the film to arrive—and after watching, mail it back."
"And once we enter the full internet era in the future, owning the copyrights and the film library means we can move all those films online, enabling internet-based on-demand streaming."
"In short, you sit in front of your computer, open a webpage, and you can watch a high-quality movie—or even project it onto your TV or a home projector."
"As long as technology keeps advancing, and as long as people still want to watch movies and TV shows, the value of internet copyrights will become the most important derivative asset. No contest."
After finishing, Su Yuanshan looked at William Smith with a faint smile.
"And that," he said softly, "is the real value of Columbia Pictures' film library."
At that moment, Zhou Xiaohui, who had been quietly listening, suddenly raised her head.
She looked at everyone, smiled slightly, and said, "The best value is that we already know the future will look like this."
...
Once the point about movies was made, it became much easier to understand the value of music.
Donald Bright even carefully asked Su Yuanshan about how much storage space a four-to-five-minute song would need when moved online and what kind of bandwidth would be required for "online streaming."
When encountering someone so eager to learn, Su Yuanshan was never stingy with explanations.
He told Donald Bright that if they used a format with acceptable sound quality for the public, one song would only take about four to five megabytes. Even though the mainstream storage medium at that time was floppy disks—which couldn't even hold one song—hard drive technology was advancing much faster than people realized.
In less than five years, people would be able to listen to music smoothly through the internet.
"In the internet sector," Su Yuanshan explained with a smile, "it's all about innovation—and whoever gets there first wins."
"Especially in resource monopoly industries. You have to achieve monopoly before others even notice the opportunity—only then can you become the biggest winner."
After speaking, he looked at Kutaragi Ken.
He hoped Kutaragi Ken could grasp the truth that taking the first step leads to an open road.
It was true for movies, and it was true for games as well.
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Chapter 360 Serious Consideration
Zhang Jianjun and Yang Yingying, who had just finished recording, arrived at Su Yuanshan's hotel room living room.
The two of them had not attended the daytime meeting; they had only made an appearance during dinner. Facing the big shots from Sony Pictures and Sony Music, Zhang Jianjun had faithfully remembered Su Yuanshan's reminder and had spent the entire evening pretending to be a big, important figure.
After Zhou Xiaohui finished summarizing the discussions from earlier that day, Su Yuanshan had just finished showering, changing into clean clothes, and walked out of the bathroom.
Yang Yingying first glanced at Su Yuanshan out of the corner of her eye. Seeing that he was properly dressed, she then looked directly at him and said, "So, you've decided to offend that William Smith?"
"Yes, sometimes in business, you have to be prepared to be the pawn," Su Yuanshan said as he towel-dried his hair and sat down casually on a single armchair, laughing. "In this case, I'm happy to let Kutaragi Ken use me as a tool."
Yang Yingying gave a small, knowing smile.
Sony Entertainment was a behemoth compared to Dingxin Media, but compared to Yuanxin—and especially Su Yuanshan—it really wasn't much at all.
Su Yuanshan's so-called willingness to be used was just to stir up conflict, making it easier for Kutaragi Ken to go back and undermine Mr. William Smith—Su Yuanshan had no doubt that Sony had long wanted to remove this guy, but just hadn't found a suitable replacement yet.
"I've been thinking about Dingxin Media," Su Yuanshan continued. "If you were allowed to grow at your own pace, you'd have to go through the entire cycle—securing investment, finding directors, producing and distributing films, all while hoping to make a few good movies to establish your reputation—and you'd also have to navigate all the various domestic censorship channels..."
"Frankly, at the current rate, by the time Dingxin Media grew strong enough, it would be too late to make any real impact."
Su Yuanshan made no attempt to hide his concerns about Dingxin Media's future.
Zhang Jianjun scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly.
To be honest, Dingxin Media had drawn a lot of attention as soon as it was founded, thanks to Yuanxin's backing and Yang Yingying's superstar status. Its headquarters being in Hong Kong had also attracted many outstanding domestic singers to sign contracts.
Zhang Jianjun's plan for Dingxin Media was to use his identity as a mainlander backed by Yuanxin to dominate the domestic music market and simultaneously enter the Hong Kong market, eventually expanding across all Chinese-speaking regions—that was for the music side.
For films, the plan was to partner with a few established Hong Kong film companies to gain experience, gradually penetrate the market, and ultimately leverage Dingxin Media's background to dominate the industry across Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Before Su Yuanshan had "mocked" him a few days ago for clinging too tightly to Yang Yingying, Zhang Jianjun had thought Dingxin Media's growth was already remarkably fast for a media company.
But after understanding Su Yuanshan's true ambitions, he realized just how small his own achievements were in Su Yuanshan's eyes—and he couldn't help but be convinced.
"So what should we do next?" Zhang Jianjun looked at Su Yuanshan, deciding to stop worrying and simply follow his lead.
"Learn!"
Su Yuanshan answered with just one word.
"..."
"Hehe, not from Hong Kong. From Hollywood," Su Yuanshan tossed aside the towel he had been using to dry his hair, crossed his legs on the sofa, and said with a laugh. "Tomorrow, I'll formally propose setting up a joint copyright management and rental company. Yuanxin will increase its investment in Dingxin Media. Then we'll see if Sony prefers to have both the headquarters and subsidiaries hold shares. If they do, I might invite Xinghai High-Tech or HK Xinghai to join."
Zhang Jianjun smiled. "Is there a difference?"
"Of course there is... Xinghai High-Tech is about to go public and will have a lot of cash. Sister Sun's HK Xinghai isn't planning an IPO yet, so they don't have as much money," Su Yuanshan laughed. "And it will also depend on your capabilities. If you can secure copyright acquisitions in Hong Kong, it's best to bring in Xinghai High-Tech. If not, we'll have to rely on HK Xinghai."
Although Zhang Jianjun had been in the "film industry" for several years, he had mainly dealt with piracy—operating in the shadows.
In terms of networking in Hong Kong, Sun Xihui was still the strongest.
Since expanding into Hong Kong, she had rigorously applied Su Yuanshan's "pluck every feather" policy. After venturing aggressively into ocean freight last year, she had gone from renting containers to buying her own fleet, developing rapidly. In business circles, she had already earned the nickname "the No. 1 Iron Lady of Hong Kong."
As soon as Su Yuanshan finished speaking, Zhang Jianjun immediately pounded his chest and said, "No problem, we still have some influence here in Hong Kong."
"Good, then we'll see how tomorrow goes."
...
The next day, they met again, but this time the meeting was held in a more private, soundproof room.
Su Yuanshan formally presented the proposal he had mentioned yesterday: Sony and Yuanxin would jointly lead the effort, with Sony Entertainment and Dingxin Media mainly responsible for acquiring copyrights, to establish a new copyright management company.
The company's primary business would be distributing digital audio-visual products worldwide and providing rental services to users.
Stripping away all the packaging, the core idea was simple: to seize the global digital copyrights for films before others realized the opportunity.
Whether these copyrights would be acquired through profit-sharing models or outright buyouts would depend on professional analysis and, of course, how much funding was available.
"Director Su, this would cost a lot of money," Kutaragi Ken nodded repeatedly as he listened but eventually pointed out the core issue. "DVD rentals are nothing special—the main cost is the copyrights. And you must know, no matter what kind, copyrights are expensive."
"Not necessarily," Su Yuanshan smiled and turned toward William Smith. "Mr. Smith, say I wanted to discuss a deal with you: purchasing the exclusive online broadcasting rights for one thousand of your films—only for online use. How much would you charge?"
William Smith managed to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.
Although he admired Su Yuanshan's ideas, after going back, he had consulted some friends in the tech world and concluded that smooth, widespread internet video streaming still faced many technical hurdles—it would take at least ten years.
In other words, in his view, buying these copyrights now would be a waste of money.
"Please consider it carefully," Su Yuanshan said with a smiling gaze.
William Smith exhaled heavily. "Generally speaking, we evaluate a film's value based on its market performance and reputation, plus its age. To put it simply, it depends on how much profit an old film can still bring."
"If it's only for online streaming and non-exclusive licensing, I'd consider quoting around twenty to thirty thousand dollars per film, on average."
Su Yuanshan spread his hands and looked at Kutaragi Ken. "See? Pretty cheap, isn't it?"
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