Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 979 A Flourishing Industry in Both Culture and Entertainment

Beijing, Sina headquarters.

When the person in charge of Weibo Night saw the arrangements made by Cao Guowei, they couldn't help but ask, "This 'Ne Zha' is produced by Beyond Pictures. Isn't our arrangement a bit inappropriate?"

"That's the arrangement." Cao Guowei's tone left no room for argument. "Get to work."

"Yes." The person in charge dared not say more and bowed as he withdrew.

Cao Guowei stared at the list, a cold smile playing on his lips. Let alone the fact that only a mid-level manager from Beyond Pictures was present.

So what if Chen Tong comes in person?

In his eyes, Chen Tong was nothing more than a lucky former employee who had latched onto Chen Mo's coattails.

He firmly believes that such an outstanding person as Mr. Ma is only temporarily retiring and will surely make a comeback in the future.

Offering help in times of need is far better than adding to someone's existing good fortune.

He was gambling, gambling on the future, and was willing to risk everything for it, becoming a "suicide squad member."

During this period, Chen Mo held numerous meetings with Liu Qiangdong, Zhang Yiming, Zhang Xuhao, and others to discuss what needed to be done next.
What happened next made Chen Mo look at this man surnamed Cao in a new light.

I didn't expect you to be a suicide squad member. That's quite interesting.

Just two days after the conclusion of the game industry annual meeting, and after Chinese game manufacturers reached a consensus, a minor incident occurred in the entertainment industry.

December 25th, Weibo Night.

This is a fame and fortune arena dominated by internet traffic. One segment of the event, in anticipation of the upcoming New Year's Day film season, was a special invitation extended to the production teams and stars of various films to attend the Weibo Night gala.

Whenever other film creators are introduced, or when those popular celebrities take the stage, the screams of fans rise and fall like a tidal wave, it's quite crazy.
This is a strange phenomenon in the entertainment industry: when supporting a domestic production, people focus on its viewership rather than the quality of its content.

Some movies even specifically invite popular actors to promote their films, as if this would quickly bring them fame and high box office returns. This has become a common practice and model.

Reputation? Quality? What do they matter compared to money? At worst, they can just start over with the same tactics and rake in another wave of profits.
As a representative of the production company behind "Ne Zha," a director from Beyond Pictures attended the event carrying doll-like figures of "Ne Zha" and "Ao Bing."

Initially, he wanted Director Jiaozi to come in person, but the latter absolutely refused to participate in such an occasion, so in the end everyone drew lots.

But when he was promoting the film on stage, he even shouted that he would surpass the box office of "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" and enter the 50 billion yuan club, which even caused some people in the audience to laugh, as if these words were a fantasy.

Because the trailer for "Ne Zha" had already drawn criticism from many people.

With a mouthful of small steel teeth, two striking dark circles under his eyes, hands in his pockets, and a sly smile on his face, this is a far cry from the handsome, strong, and tragic Nezha from the American version, subverting many people's imaginations.

Who is Jiaozi? And who is Coco Bean Animation? If it weren't for the fact that it's produced by Beyond the Shore, there probably wouldn't have been even a few scattered applause from the audience.

After the introduction, he grabbed Zha Bing and, led by the staff, surprisingly stood in a corner far from the center of the stage where no one paid attention.

Like a calm bystander, watching the commotion at the center.

The silence stood in stark contrast to the surrounding frenzy.

The director of Beyond Pictures remained calm, because he knew exactly what the quality of the film his company had invested in was like. The flawless work of the top-notch screenwriting team and the generous sharing of knowledge and resources from various animation studios had all contributed to bringing the film to a whole new level.

The internal screening received rave reviews; how could a film praised by the chairman on the spot be anything but good?

Even among the animation production teams on the other side, "Ne Zha" is top-notch. It's no exaggeration to say that it's the second college graduate produced by the park—the first being "Monkey King: Hero Is Back" directed by Tian Xiaopeng.

But he misjudged Sina's scale. If President Chen Tong had come in person, how could he have been treated like this? For some reason, he thought of a somewhat inappropriate analogy: Sina was like a car speeding on a highway, while the other side was like a heavy truck coming from the opposite direction.

In his view, Cao Guowei was just a car driver who, upon seeing an oncoming heavy truck, neither dodged nor avoided it, nor braked but instead accelerated and kept honking the horn, probably thinking, "Anyway, it's my territory and the other party is fully responsible, so why should I avoid it?"

And so, the Weibo Night ended amidst this stark contrast.
But this scene made Chen Tong, the CEO of Beyond Pictures, narrow his eyes and remember it!

He pulled out his phone and ordered, "Give the order to all platforms to keep an eye on the data analysts and online trolls working on these films during the New Year's Day period. If they find anything, deal with it immediately!"

It’s April 12th.

While major TV stations were spending heavily to compete for viewership, a web-based Spring Festival Gala called "The Most Beautiful Night," hosted by Bilibili, quietly emerged in a different guise and taught all traditional galas a valuable lesson.

The essence of traditional galas is a star-studded concert, whose core logic is to "invite the most popular stars of the year to sing the hottest songs," serving the general entertainment consumption of the masses. The audience is a passive viewer, and it is a gala that tries to please everyone.

Bilibili's gala started with World of Warcraft, evoking collective memories for a certain age group.

This is not a simple dance, but a battle song of millions of warriors of Azeroth.

The show begins by telling people, "This is not for everyone; it's a gala for young people."

Contra and The Godfather elevate classic game and film IPs through symphonic music, giving them an epic feel and paying the highest tribute to users' childhood and teenage memories.

"The Soul of the Chinese Army" x "March of the Steel Torrent": Connecting the classic spirit of the War of Resistance against Japan with the contemporary pride of a great power, it accurately touches the patriotic sentiments of the younger generation, and its novel and shocking form.

GAI even sang the theme song for "Nezha" ahead of schedule.
When the theme song of "Detective Conan" plays, the screen is filled with "There is only one truth"; when Chu Yunfei from "Bright Sword" appears, the screen is filled with "Brother Yunfei, how have you been?"
At this point, the bullet comments are no longer just comments, but part of the ritual, a confirmation and shouting of collective identity. This is a unique advantage that no television gala can replicate.

When a gala is essentially a generation's youthful memories and cultural chronicle.

The logic is "to hold a ceremony that belongs to our generation."
The audience are deep participants and emotional empathizers; program selection focuses on "memes" rather than "traffic"; actor invitations focus on "match" rather than "star power"; and stage design is not for showing off skills but for enhancing the emotional content.

This has thus become a dimensional reduction attack from "entertainment" to "cultural identity".

Subsequently, there was very little online discussion about New Year's Eve galas, while Bilibili's Spring Festival Gala became a hot topic on various platforms.

"Bilibili's New Year's Eve gala this year completely outshines the New Year's Eve concerts of various TV stations, at least among teenagers."

"The post-90s generation has finally taken on management positions; we're so lucky!"

"At first, I just wanted to click in to see if there were one or two shows I liked, but I ended up being very excited about more than 70% of the shows."

"I just want to know, will the audience be able to see Luo Tianyi at the live event?"

"No nauseating commercial breaks, no boring nonsense, and the transitions between programs are simple and clear—this is the Spring Festival Gala we want to watch!"

"Now I can finally understand how my parents felt when they watched the Spring Festival Gala for the first time. The New Year's Eve gala is the best, bar none!"

Meanwhile, a female director at Henan Radio and Television Station looked thoughtfully at the 'Internet Spring Festival Gala' on the screen. So this is how a gala can be done!

January 1, 2019, at Yanqi Lake.

On the last day of the annual team-building retreat on the other side, a phone call came to Chen Tong.

As he listened to the report, his expression changed from surprise to excitement, and he then sent a message to Chen Mo on WeChat.

(End of this chapter)