I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 209 He broke one of Tianyu's legs!

Three o'clock in the morning.

The glass curtain wall of the Tianyu headquarters building gleamed coldly in the night.

The top-floor conference room was as bright as day.

Only 48 hours left until the launch!

Xu Haibo, head of the film department, received a call from the chairman.

On the phone, the chairman launched into a tirade of abuse at him. Since joining the company in the 90s, he had never heard the chairman get so angry.

After hanging up the phone, the veins on his hand gripping the fax paper bulged, and on the paper was the newly released list of winners of the "Golden Broom Award".

Zhou Yang, this vengeful mad dog, has completely started biting people indiscriminately, especially those from Tianyu Entertainment.

Several fifth-generation directors from the production company [Tianyu Media] have surprisingly swept up awards for the worst films, including "Worst Director" and "Worst Screenplay"!

Besides, public opinion in front of computers has gone crazy. Major forums, portals, and even traditional print media are all discussing the "feat" of the Golden Broom Award, generating an astonishing amount of traffic.

"Damn it! Are all the people in the PR department dead?!" Xu Haibo's face was ashen, his expression even contorted, as he angrily slammed his fist on the table!
The assistant beside him had a complicated expression. After a moment, he said quietly, "We tried to suppress it, but we couldn't... This traffic massacre initiated by Zhou Yang swept across the entire internet. Even official awards like the Hong Kong Film Awards were overshadowed by the traffic..."

When Xu Haibo heard this, he was panting heavily. Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

"President Deng...something's happened!" The CFO, wiping away cold sweat, handed over a report. "The front page of the *Financial Daily* has already reprinted a comment saying we 'use capital to exploit art, and [Huashang Brothers] is also affected...' According to the data department's investigation, we've discovered something: a lot of internet traffic data was bought by three other film companies...They're using Zhou Yang's *Golden Broom Award* as a pretext to target our listed shares..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Haibo's mind went blank.

His expression gradually became complicated as Zhou Yang's repulsive face appeared in his mind!
"Zhou Yang is a madman!" he gritted his teeth. "He's trying to drag the entire industry down with him!"

He received one investigation report after another, and eventually his eyes became even redder.

The report reveals that competitors such as Tianhai Entertainment and Starlight Media secretly fueled the fire by hiring online trolls to spread negative rumors about Tianyu to a fever pitch that could not be suppressed no matter what efforts were made!
An avalanche!
Coming soon!

"besides……"

"What else?"

"Conservatively speaking, Zhou Yang made a profit this time with the Golden Sweep Award..." The CFO's face was somewhat grim.

"How much did you make?"

"He earned 1.5 million yuan from advertising endorsements, and the competition for endorsements from the [Movie House] portal continues to rise... Zhou Yang's personal commercial value is insane!"

"what!"

Xu Haibo's eyes widened, and he suddenly stood up from his chair!
Immediately afterwards...

He saw a set of data.

Data shows that advertising revenue related to the "Golden Broom Award" has exceeded 1.5 million RMB!

This includes advertising costs for products such as shampoo, mobile phones, and makeup remover...

In addition to the official revenue from the Golden Broom Awards, the advertising revenue of the Movie Home website exceeded 2000 million yuan after just one live broadcast, and advertising slots were in high demand...

Other than that…

Zhou Yang arranged for the sale of "Bingbingyang" mineral water at the awards ceremony. Small bottles, costing only 3 cents to produce, were sold for 5 yuan. While specific sales figures weren't available, the profit margin exceeding 1500% was truly astonishing. There was also popcorn, various other on-site merchandise, and plush toys…

……

Looking at these shocking statistics!
Xu Haibo felt a jolt!
Damn it, that bastard makes money off anything?

Are you going to sell toilet paper for 5 yuan on the spot?

Grass!
..............................

The dawn light shines upon this land.

[Xuan Shi Entertainment] Countless media outlets still flocked in, blocking the entrance.

Zhou Yang didn't stay up all night. He stayed at the [Movie House] branch for about an hour before returning to his room on the top floor of [Xuan Shi Entertainment] to rest.

I slept until nine o'clock in the morning.

Zhou Yang stretched and, after finishing breakfast, looked at the media below and slowly walked into his office.

Then, Zhang Jingya knocked on the office door, carrying a document with complicated details, and came to Zhou Yang.

Data shows that "Monkey King vs. Superman 2" grossed 2.1 million yuan at the box office, with a revenue share of about 1 million yuan. With 8.7 million DVDs sold and a revenue share of 3 yuan, the total income was 27.1 million yuan!
"The Haunted Village" grossed 1900 million at the box office, with a revenue share of about 870 million. The DVD sales exceeded 1010 million copies, and the total revenue was 3900 million!
"The Beast King": DVD sales exceeded 1100 million copies, box office revenue reached 1400 million, and total revenue reached 4000 million!
The combined revenue from DVD sales and box office revenue for "Love Rollercoaster" and "The Longest Day in Chang'an: Reboot" was 3200 million and 2100 million respectively...

"The Spirit of Zhao Zilong" is still showing in theaters, with box office revenue exceeding 4200 million yuan, merchandise revenue of 4000 million yuan, revenue sharing of approximately 1600 million yuan, and total revenue of 3700 million yuan. Revenue sharing for DVD sales has not yet been officially announced...

……

From June of last year to now, they have earned a total of 1.91 million RMB from movies alone!

What Zhang Jingya found even more insane was that the film revenue was only one aspect; on the other hand, the Golden Broom Award alone earned Zhou Yang 1.5 million RMB in endorsement fees!
For other businesses in which Zhou Yang holds shares, detailed data is unavailable because the profit sharing has not been accurately recorded.

Under the sunlight, Zhou Yang took the data, glanced at it silently, and then put it aside.

"Have we paid our taxes as required?"

Zhang Jingya looked at the calm Zhou Yang and said with a complicated expression, "It's been paid, but of the 1.5 million yuan endorsement fee, you'll only receive about 1.02 million yuan..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yang suddenly stared at Zhang Jingya with a serious expression: "President Zhang, not a single penny of tax can be saved, and absolutely, I mean absolutely no 'legitimate' tax avoidance schemes are allowed. From now on, I will personally go to the finance department to audit everything again every now and then..."

Since Zhang Jingya met Zhou Yang, she had never seen him so serious.

She then nodded quickly: "I understand."

A brief silence fell over the office. Zhou Yang casually flipped through "Entertainment Weekly" and saw that the front page featured the editors of these unscrupulous entertainment newspapers, fabricating stories about the disgraceful behavior of [Tianyu] directors receiving the "Worst Director" award...

"What are the other companies' thoughts?"

"They're all busy distancing themselves." The assistant handed over a confidential report: "However, [Huashang Brothers] secretly contacted us this morning, seemingly one of their investors, wanting to collaborate on a project with us..."

..............................

This turmoil...

For countless internet users, it was a frenzy of online traffic, but for the entire Chinese entertainment industry, it was nothing short of an earthquake!
The company most severely impacted by this earthquake is Tianyu Media, which is about to go public.

On March 2nd, amidst the online buzz surrounding the "Golden Broom Awards" and the trending topics of numerous "bad movie awards"...

[Tianyu Media] held an emergency meeting in Hong Kong, trying every means to suppress public opinion. However, the film companies behind them were waiting to kick them while they were down. Instead of suppressing the rumors, they started spreading all sorts of negative news about [Tianyu Media], including the tax evasion allegations previously made by Zhou Yang, bad movies, suppression of Zhou Yang, and even the shady dealings during the filming of "Love Ferris Wheel." In addition, there were all sorts of other negative rumors...

Affected by the overwhelming media coverage, Tianyu Media, with only 40 hours left before its IPO, received a barrage of calls from investors.

Because Tianyu Media heavily promoted its film and television business in its IPO prospectus, some institutional investors questioned the quality and stability of its content, leading many to withdraw their investments at the last minute. This forced Tianyu Media to readjust its framework and data...

[Tianyu] Chairman Deng Baiqiang finally stepped forward personally to emphasize the cash flow advantages of box office revenue sharing and DVD sales to investors. In addition, he presented all the film projects for the entire year of 2004, estimated box office revenue and other data, and laid out all the past accounts and operating data on the table, which finally stabilized the investors' confidence...

Although this series of trivial matters will not directly block the IPO, they have indirectly increased the explanation costs for Tianyu during its roadshow!
At this crucial juncture, [Washington D.C. Brothers], which was not significantly affected, surprisingly went public first, ringing the listing bell in Hong Kong ahead of schedule and gaining the prestige of becoming the first listed entertainment company in China...

On March 4th, the highly anticipated [Huashang Brothers] went public with an issue price of HK$8.2 per share. The stock rose 23% on its first day of trading, closing at HK$10.09, sending everyone into a frenzy of excitement…

While Tianyu Media, which should have topped the list of entertainment companies in China, successfully went public afterward, its share price, originally set at HK$7.5, was unexpectedly lowered to HK$6.8 per share. The first-day increase was 10%, reaching HK$7.45, leaving everyone looking grim…

The evening of June 3.

In the conference room.

In the conference room, Deng Baiqiang stared at the stock price data of Tianyu on the first day of its listing on the projector. It was HK$7.45, which was 10% lower than expected. In fact, it did not even reach the expected original issue price!

The cigar burns silently between the fingertips, and the ashtray is piled high with crushed cigarette butts.

The meeting room was completely silent!
“President Xu.” He suddenly spoke, his voice a little hoarse, “Last June, you told me that ‘Love Ferris Wheel’ was a ‘youth film that’s guaranteed to make money,’ and that Zheng Yichen was a ‘cash cow for the next ten years’… You said that, didn’t you? And you’ve been protecting him all along, haven’t you?”

Xu Haibo lowered his head, not daring to utter a sound.

At this moment...

Who would have thought that it would all be because of a movie, a character, and a few insignificant people...

But at the crucial moment, he slapped them hard across the face.

Not only him, but all the core members of Tianyu Media were too afraid to even breathe.

Everyone knew that at this moment, Danny Deng was like a volcano about to erupt!

"The stock price was 10% lower than expected on the first day, wiping out HK$2.8 million in market value. That's enough to make so many movies! Huh?"

"Chen Zhongjun of [Huashang Brothers] is probably laughing at us now, saying we even have to pick up their leftovers for our IPO!"

"The whole industry is laughing at us now! Just because you guys supported Zheng Yichen, that stray dog ​​Zhou Yang bit off one of our legs..."

"Now, the film department will be laying off 30% of its staff starting tomorrow. Mr. Xu, I urge you to personally go and apologize to the investors right now!"

"..."

"..."

In the conference room, Xu Haibo's face was deathly pale.

Who would have thought?

The source of this capital storm sweeping through Tianyu Media was simply—

Last June, a role in a movie was stolen.

…………

And at this moment...

The person at the center of the vortex.

He then dialed the phone numbers of Mia, the director and screenwriter of "Twilight".

"I suggest that the female lead, Bessie, be set up as the daughter of a delivery truck driver for [Ice Ice Ocean Beverages], with her house piled high with beverage boxes. Her first encounter scene could be changed to Edward helping her move some goods, with the line: 'Careful, this is our latest electrolyte water, which is said to replenish even the bodily fluids lost by vampires.' How do you think we could cover that up?"

"And... should we replace the baseball bats with the [A Liang Fast Food] custom-made ones?"

"..."

"Shameless? No, no, no, how could it be shameless? I just feel that besides our roles, what else can we collaborate on..."

"..."

"Ah, can't you?"

"Then I'll have to film it myself..."

"..."

The setting sun shone on the table, illuminating a script...

However, this script has many names... "Twilight Part II", "Twilight 2: Zombies vs. Vampires!", "Twilight 2: Vampire Shopping Guide", "Twilight 3: Vampire Fast Food Restaurant", "Twilight 2: Vampire Racing King!", "Twilight: Zombie Master's Frenzied Vampire Beating"...

(End of this chapter)