Chapter 227 Cultural Leadership
At the beginning of a new week, Liu Zhicheng actively devoted himself to his work.

Making money is the bottom line!
As a woman, of course you have the final say!

Liu Zhicheng did not dare to be careless at all. While he was developing, others were also developing!
In real estate, Liu Zhicheng focuses on the development of rental properties.

It takes 10 years for a rental property to pay back its investment without considering rent increases.

Real estate development can generate 30% to 50% profit each year, and the investment can be recovered in two to three years.

Generally, if real estate companies borrow heavily to develop rental properties, they will be dragged down by the interest.

Once there is a stock market crash and real estate prices fall, there is a risk of liquidation.

Liu Zhicheng also met with the three main leaders of ATV's drama department in ATV's office, namely ATV Director Zhao Zhenqiang, Drama Department Director Li Zhaoxiong, and Deputy Director Xu Xiaoming.

Now TVB’s drama production capabilities are so strong that Liu Zhicheng has to personally participate in some of the work. Of course, he only needs to set the general direction.

Liu Zhicheng first asked, "How is the preparation for the family inheritance drama going?"

This is the direction Liu Zhicheng set for the drama department, asking ATV to focus on filming this type of TV series.

Most of these TV dramas are about the struggles for interests and the right and wrongs and grudges among Hong Kong's upper class.

Not only does it have many episodes and characters, but it also has a brisk pace, a complex plot, and a clear distinction between good and evil. It can attract the curiosity of most ordinary Hong Kong citizens.

Of course, in his previous life, Liu Zhicheng only loved to watch "The Greed of Man" and "The Creation of a Dynasty" because these two dramas were about the stock market and real estate, so he was very interested in them.

There is no way to copy other shows, but Liu Zhicheng knows the prospects of this type of drama, and since this type of drama has not yet emerged, ATV has a great chance of success.

Therefore, he gave ATV's drama department the power to move in this direction and strive to create a certain influence.

"We have prepared a business war drama about the department store industry. Here is the script!" Li Zhaoxiong was well prepared and handed over a document.

Liu Zhicheng did not start reading it immediately, but just said: "This kind of TV series should use the pros and cons, the grievances and hatreds between families,
As well as exciting business battles, tangled emotions, fast pace, complex plots, etc. Keep up this style and you will definitely succeed. "

The three of them nodded. Under the guidance of the boss, The Big Era had achieved unprecedented success! (Hong Kong TV series are usually filmed and broadcast at the same time.)
"I'll read the script first, you can choose the roles, anyway, the protagonist is Adam Cheng!"

"Well, Qiu Guan can handle both good and bad roles. This time, he plays a protagonist who is optimistic, loyal, insightful, and has business sense."

Liu Zhicheng immediately thought of Anthony Wong, but he was not poached by ATV, so he had to rely on Officer Qiu to be the face of the company.

Liu Zhicheng also has a script for "Genesis" in his hands, which he plans to release in two years. As for the 1990s and beyond, that is the business of his subordinates. He can't really support ATV by himself!
"Well, we'll shoot according to the schedule you set! I'll let you know if I have any comments after reading the script."

"it is good!"

A TV station produces about 20 TV series a year, and the total production cost is calculated in hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, which shows how huge the expenses are.

Finally, Liu Zhicheng retained Director Zhao Zhenqiang.

"I have an idea for a big production, so I plan to have you prepare it in secret!"

Zhao Zhenqiang was suddenly alert and thought to himself, could it be another ratings champion script at the level of "Big Times"?
He moved from TVB to ATV. The Greed of Man was produced by two ATV veterans, Li Zhaoxiong and Xu Xiaoming. Now the boss has asked him to prepare a big drama alone. It seems that he has gained the boss's trust.

"Boss, tell me!"

Liu Zhicheng nodded, took out a document and handed it to Zhao Zhenqiang, saying, "I like to read some ancient books, and I especially like the historical figure Bao Qingtian, so I collected some information and sorted it out briefly!

This drama is estimated to be filmed for hundreds of episodes. The scale of the production is unprecedented in Hong Kong. I even wrote down the actors of Bao Qingtian and others on it. They are Taiwanese actors.

So I plan to ask you to go to Taiwan to find Huashi and see if they are willing to cooperate with us."

Because he couldn't remember the entire plot, Liu Zhicheng wrote it very simply in his manuscript, with only a dozen or so plots, such as "The Case of the Chopping of the Beauty", "The True and False Number One Scholar", "The Substitute Prince", "The Five Rats in Tokyo", and so on.

Of course, the specific plot is left to the screenwriter to handle, and Liu Zhicheng only needs to give the general outline of the story.

The characteristics of the characters were also noted, with some kindness added to Bao Qingtian, especially highlighting that Qingtian also has emotions.

These are all the references Liu Zhicheng could provide, and the script was originally adapted from a folk story, so the drama would not deviate too much from the previous life.

Zhao Zhenqiang heard this and reminded: "Boss, serious dramas may not have a market in Hong Kong!"

This is the general perception of Hong Kong people. When Uncle Shao personally chose to broadcast the Taiwanese TV series "Justice Bao" in his previous life, some people in TVB thought that Uncle Shao was old and confused.

Facts have proved that Uncle Six is ​​not confused at all. The market response is enthusiastic and the ratings are rising steadily.

Even ATV responded quickly and also broadcast "Justice Bao" during prime time. Due to the time difference, the ratings were very good.

Liu Zhicheng smiled and said, "I am definitely not as good as you in terms of professionalism, but you are definitely not as good as me in terms of vision! Once this drama is successfully filmed, it will not only be successful in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, but can also be sold to the mainland and Southeast Asia in the future. As long as you are Chinese, you will definitely like the role of Bao Qingtian."

Zhao Zhenqiang nodded. Liu Zhicheng was the boss. Since the boss was so confident, there was no reason for him not to work hard to complete a big production.

"So how do we divide the benefits between Taiwan and us?"

“We will invest as much as possible. What I need are some Taiwanese actors, screenwriters and directors, not money!
However, we should try to cooperate with each other as much as possible, even if they advocate that the script and shooting account for a larger proportion, as long as our investment accounts for a larger proportion, it will be fine!

After all, we are still a little bit lacking in shooting a serious drama! If they are unwilling to cooperate, I will pay them to shoot, and they can keep in touch with me at any time!"

Zhao Zhenqiang said: "Well, I understand what the boss means."

Liu Zhicheng's idea was to press on with the victory and establish strength to be on par with TVB in one fell swoop. Afterwards, relying on the abundant talents, he could ensure that ATV's ratings would no longer decline.

Some programs can even last a long time, and their copyright income can far exceed that of TVB.

For example, "Who is a Millionaire?", the United States and the British Empire are so rich, they must have paid hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. After all, they use US dollars and British pounds, which are very valuable!

With these copyright incomes, ATV's pressure is greatly reduced. If it earns more from advertising fees, it may share 30% of TVB's profits every year. Liu Zhicheng said: "How to get more overseas users, you don't need to worry about this now, I will provide certain funds and resources.

I also know some influential local Chinese in Southeast Asia. If we give them some benefits, they will cooperate with us.

However, how to promote it efficiently is what you need to consider, and you need to prepare for it early.

As for the language problem, you can’t ask customers to learn Cantonese, so you can launch a Mandarin version, which is also one of the necessary conditions for expanding the overseas Chinese-speaking market.”

"It is a bit difficult to get all the actors to learn Mandarin. The most efficient way is to find someone to directly convert various programs, advertisements, TV dramas, etc. into Mandarin," said Zhao Zhenqiang.

"You guys can handle it yourselves. Just do whatever is convenient for you." Liu Zhicheng nodded and said.

Cantonese is still the mainstream language in Hong Kong today. There are very few people who can speak Mandarin. Only the older people may be able to speak a little.

Even decades later, Cantonese is still the main language. Among Hong Kong stars, only those who need to expand the mainland market will learn it.

"In Southeast Asian countries, there are many people who can speak Mandarin. The culture of each place is different, and hobbies may also be different. Even Chinese people may change," Zhao Zhenqiang continued.

"No TV station can meet the needs of most people. We can only try to find a balance." Liu Zhicheng said with a smile.

"The more difficult the task is, the more I like to do it. Our current goal is to make a TV series that will be popular among Chinese people all over the world." Zhao Zhenqiang said confidently.

"Okay, let's start with Malaysia. There is a large population and a lot of Chinese there. I also have certain connections and resources there and can help you solve many problems." Liu Zhicheng nodded and said.

"Malaysia? Okay, I will arrange someone to investigate there!" Zhao Zhenqiang nodded and said.

“After all, Asia Television can only be broadcast in Hong Kong now, and my main industries, apart from real estate, are not in Hong Kong.

So if you want to gain more support from the group, you must become bigger and stronger in some global markets." Liu Zhicheng added.

In fact, even in the real estate market, Liu Zhicheng does not need Asia Television, and I believe he can do just as well.

He knows the future trend, so whether there is publicity or not, it will not have much impact.

When the company acquired ATV, it actually wanted to build it into a TV station with a certain influence in the Asian region and increase its influence in the Chinese-speaking region.

Therefore, in the future we will just have to keep shooting high-quality TV series and then sell them in the global Chinese market.

Only in this way can ATV achieve Liu Zhicheng's original goal.

"Okay, I understand, Mr. Liu." Zhao Zhenqiang nodded, his eyes still full of confidence.

"By the way, there is one more thing. Does ATV often cooperate with domestic crews?" Liu Zhicheng asked again.

"Yes, after the mainland's reform and opening up, the art departments also began to plan and shoot various programs on their own. However, due to various restrictions, they came to Hong Kong to learn. Not only our ATV, but TVB has also had contact with them."

"What kind of TV dramas are mainland crews shooting?" Liu Zhicheng asked.

"It's mainly ancient costume or mythological dramas. They come here to learn wire-aero techniques, costume photography, background arrangement, etc. If it's a modern plot background, the mainland can actually shoot it themselves." Zhao Zhenqiang replied.

"Well, have you heard of Journey to the West?" Liu Zhicheng asked.

"We've heard of it."

"Although the mainland's technology is a little behind, Journey to the West is one of the four great classics. The mainland must have invested heavily in the filming of this kind of TV series.

You can check it out. As long as the quality is good, you can get the distribution rights for this kind of TV series and broadcast it exclusively on our satellite channel in the future. That will be of great help to us in developing new users!"

Liu Zhicheng naturally knew that the 86 version of Journey to the West was not only popular in mainland China, but also in overseas Chinese communities. Even many non-Chinese people fell in love with this TV series.

In terms of profits, even if the entire Journey to the West were broadcast globally, the revenue might not be as much as that of a building in Central.

But its popularity can be used to promote its own satellite TV stations. If it can help ATV gain tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of new users, it will be much more meaningful than a building in Central.

Of course, the users brought by a TV series, no matter how popular it is, will not last long. If you want to retain these people for a long time, you still have to look at the long-term operational capabilities and the quality of various programs.

But no matter what, the most important thing is to have a hit TV series or program to attract people first. After you have people, you can consider how to keep them.

Moreover, due to its own long-term capital investment in recent years, ATV's ratings will definitely surpass TVB.

"Okay, then I'll arrange someone to investigate. The price shouldn't be very high. I know that this TV series only had an investment of 300 million in the mainland." Zhao Zhenqiang said.

“Well, keep an eye on this matter. If there are any other large-scale TV series being filmed in the mainland, you can participate. The cooperation model is mainly to provide money and technology. We only need the overseas distribution rights, but we must also keep a close eye on the quality.

In addition, although there are many celebrities in Hong Kong, it is just a city with a very small population base, so we can consider looking for high-quality talents in the mainland and then bringing them to Hong Kong for training.

You can figure out how to do it yourself, but I want to emphasize one thing: when people from the mainland come here, don’t treat them differently.” Liu Zhicheng said.

"That's no problem. We will definitely send financial and film and television professionals to participate in daily filming and talent recruitment," Zhao Zhenqiang replied.

Hong Kong TV series and movies did have a strong influence in the Asian market for a period of time.

But in fact, it was also due to opportunities. Starting from the mid-80s, Hong Kong was the first to reap the dividends of the reform and opening up of the mainland. Housing prices, stock prices, exports and trade volumes all soared, and even the cultural aspect indirectly achieved rapid growth.

But if you want to maintain it, you need a lot of talent and market. In the 90s, the economies of Southeast Asian countries began to improve, and they naturally needed to grasp the cultural aspects themselves.

And Hong Kong also missed out on the mainland market due to various reasons.

As a result, both TV series and movies began to go downhill.

On the contrary, starting in the 90s, after South Korea's economic take-off, its cultural industry began to export "Korean Wave" to Asia and even the world.

(End of this chapter)