Chapter 1832 Eating Crabs

After eating at Jiang Wen's place, the group took their leave.

On the way back, Fan Baobao didn't ask much. It wasn't until they got home and the couple had washed up and were about to rest that Fan Baobao voiced the doubt in her heart.

"Are you really planning to shoot a sitcom?"

Fan Baobao asked Zhao Fusheng, puzzled.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "Not just a sitcom. For the company to develop long-term, it needs to have its own characteristics, and it also needs to keep renewing its talent. You don't expect the current batch to still be the company's pillars twenty years from now, do you?"

"That's true."

Fan Baobao nodded. She could understand Zhao Fusheng's reasoning.

After all, for a company, especially one in the film and television circle, if it not only wants to invest in and produce films and TV dramas but also wants to go further, having a batch of actors in hand is undoubtedly very important.

In plain terms, even if you cultivate them yourself, you have to cultivate a batch of stars.

No flower blooms for a thousand days, no person stays good for a hundred days—that's the principle.

"I won't make it in time."

Fan Baobao said with a smile: "But after I give birth, I can make a cameo with Zhou Yun."

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "Not just you. This is a self-produced drama. In the future, Future Film will invest in and shoot such TV dramas every year, using the old to bring up the new."

"That's really true." Fan Baobao laughed.

In her view, Zhao Fusheng's idea was indeed impressive. If he really did that, Future Film would undoubtedly have an assembly line for creating stars.

With strong capital backing, as long as the artist's talent wasn't too poor, they would surely become popular.

"You're so smart!"

Looking at Zhao Fusheng, Fan Baobao said sincerely.

This man, even though his wealth had reached a level that others couldn't achieve in several lifetimes, still doted on her immensely. More importantly, he had never changed. This made her immensely grateful to have met someone like him.

Zhao Fusheng smiled, patted Fan Baobao's head, but said nothing more.

……

……

Soon, the news that Future Film had officially greenlit a self-produced sitcom spread quickly within the capital's film and television circle.

For a time, many people were astonished.

"Are they planning to start promoting newcomers?"

At Xinbaoyuan, Zhao Baogang sat in his office, muttering to himself.

"Baogang, do you mean they're planning to enter the TV drama market?" Zhao Baogang's wife asked him softly.

"If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense."

Zhao Baogang waved his hand, looking indifferent: "Do you think, if Zhao Fusheng really set his mind on TV dramas, we'd have the ability to compete with him?"

His wife fell silent. What a joke!

She wasn't stupid. Having been with Zhao Baogang for so many years, the couple had worked hard to develop Xinbaoyuan to its current state. She naturally knew how powerful capital could be.

Needless to say, if Zhao Fusheng really wanted to enter the TV drama circle, not to mention one Xinbaoyuan, even if Xinbaoyuan's assets were multiplied tenfold, they would still be powerless to compete.

This wasn't boosting others' morale and deflating their own; it was the truth.

It was a fact laid out clearly.

The power of capital becomes clearer the higher you stand at the top of this circle.

In the film and television industry, this is especially true.

Investors are the ones who truly have a say in this industry. As for stars, directors, and the like, they don't measure up in front of them.

Of course, in a place like China, due to the special national conditions, administrative power cannot be underestimated.

Simply put, if the SARFT father doesn't allow a TV drama to air, no matter how good the script or how high the quality, it will still flop.

And Future Film happened to satisfy both conditions.

Backed by the super-rich Zhao Fusheng, and with Ye Jing himself being a big shot in the Beijing circle and having connections above.

Under such circumstances, TV drama production companies like Xinbaoyuan, if they really competed with Future Film, would have no choice but to exit the scene in disgrace.

But fortunately, Ye Jing wasn't the type to be ruthless, and Zhao Fusheng also looked down on the small money in the film and television industry.

So, up to now, Future Film seemed more like a company that wasn't very ambitious.

Yes, in the eyes of experts like Zhao Baogang, Future Film was an enterprise without much ambition. Their goal never seemed to be the domestic film and television industry.

They just invested in some films and TV dramas, expanding their influence bit by bit.

"Let's wait and see."

Zhao Baogang said to his wife after a long silence: "Let's see what they're up to. I always feel that Zhao Fusheng wouldn't have Ye Jing make self-produced dramas for no reason."

The news that Zhao Fusheng had bought Ning Wanchen's script was no secret; it had already spread throughout the capital's film and television circle. Everyone was waiting to see what Zhao Fusheng intended to do.

The same thought wasn't only held by Zhao Baogang; the Wang brothers at Huayi and Yu Dong at Bona also had it.

Everyone was watching, waiting for Zhao Fusheng's next move.

For them, although Zhao Fusheng was now someone they couldn't afford to provoke, everyone knew that when it came to doing business, all of them combined might not be as smart as Zhao Fusheng alone.

Otherwise, how could he have become a billionaire while they could only huddle in the film and television industry?

Of course, Zhao Fusheng himself was aware of this.

But he didn't intend to hide it. Doing so would be meaningless; he was no longer the nobody he used to be, needing to play games of concealing his talent.

Moreover, self-produced dramas weren't anything new in the future film and television industry; almost every film and television company was doing them.

Besides, having a single dominant player in this industry wouldn't work. After all, China isn't South Korea; a monopolistic chaebol like Samsung would certainly not be allowed by the higher-ups.

Therefore, Zhao Fusheng never thought about being someone who monopolizes everything.

……

……

Soon, Christmas arrived. After spending the holiday at home with Fan Baobao, Zhao Fusheng learned from Jiang Wen that he and Yu Feihong planned to officially start casting.

"There's no problem with the project approval."

Jiang Wen explained to Zhao Fusheng: "The main issue is the roles."

"Then you're not going on location scouting?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Jiang Wen.

According to the previous plan, he was originally going to scout locations in Western Sichuan for the filming base.

"That's not urgent."

Jiang Wen explained: "It's winter now. Going to Western Sichuan would be freezing cold."

Then he laughed: "How about we go south for scouting? We can also take a vacation..."

His answer was a cold laugh from Zhao Fusheng.

Jiang Wen knew he was overthinking it. He gave an embarrassed smile and changed the subject.

"By the way, after New Year's, I'm going to Western Sichuan."

Zhao Fusheng suddenly remembered something and said to Jiang Wen.

"To Western Sichuan?"

Jiang Wen was startled, then quickly realized that Zhao Fusheng was probably going with Xue Yuan's family member. He nodded: "Then shall we go together?"

"Okay."

Zhao Fusheng didn't waste words. This kind of political investment didn't need to be spelled out; everyone understood tacitly.

Sometimes, that's the way of dealing with people. You don't need to say what you want, and the other party doesn't need to say what they can give. Each side just shows what they can offer. If there's an opportunity, they cooperate; if not, they don't disturb each other.

Only idiots would put a price tag on everything, wishing the whole world knew their little affairs.

Do they really think everyone is Trump?

"One more thing. For the casting, do you think we should focus on the Central Academy of Drama or the Beijing Film Academy?"

Jiang Wen suddenly brought up a matter to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng frowned: "You can decide that yourselves. Why ask me?"

"Hey, if we could decide, we wouldn't ask you."

Jiang Wen said with a bitter smile: "It involves all kinds of relationships."

Zhao Fusheng then understood. So there were other issues involved.

Zhao Fusheng actually didn't know much about the conflict between the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy. He had only heard a few words from Old Jiang and Yu Feihong occasionally.

For a long time, there had been two academic factions in China's film industry: the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy, like Tsinghua and Peking University, quietly competing with each other. Other schools like the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Beijing Broadcasting Institute were second-tier. The earlier standard in the film industry was: men from the Beijing Film Academy, women from the Central Academy of Drama.

Many times, male directors from the Beijing Film Academy preferred to use actresses from the Central Academy of Drama.

The reasons behind this were complex and varied. Some said that the Beijing Film Academy didn't prohibit students from taking acting jobs during school, so actresses became famous early and could shoot commercials during school, making them relatively wealthy. They looked down on the poor male directing students who studied hard, so after graduation, the male directing students naturally didn't favor their female alumni.

To put it bluntly, during school days, they were ignored; after graduation, they became unattainable.

Moreover, classmates knew each other too well. If they cooperated, the director's authority couldn't be established, and they couldn't even pull off under-the-table dealings. So they simply used actresses from the Central Academy of Drama, who were not only more obedient but also had good acting skills. Early on, directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige preferred to use actresses from the Central Academy of Drama or the Shanghai Theatre Academy, such as Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.

This historical background created a long-standing conflict between the Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama, especially among actresses.

In the future, there was a show called "The Birth of an Actor," where the grudges between these two schools were perfectly illustrated.

But Zhao Fusheng didn't understand this, or rather, even if he did, he wouldn't care.

So, hearing Jiang Wen's question, Zhao Fusheng suddenly laughed coldly and said word by word: "No matter who pulled strings, tell them to come directly to me."

This time, he really wanted to see just how dirty the film and television circle could get.