Chapter 174: The Asian Strategy

Amidst the celebration, Cheng Long appeared out of nowhere. He stood before Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia, staring at Xiao Ran quietly. Just as Lin Qingxia was worried about something, Cheng Long suddenly smiled broadly, patted Xiao Ran on the shoulder, and said, “A Ran, I wish you and Qingxia all the best!”
Cheng Long’s abrupt words left Xiao Ran utterly confused. It was only later that he managed to figure out the reason through further conversation. It turned out that Cheng Long had no ulterior motives toward Lin Qingxia; he merely wanted to protect his elder brother, Qin Xianglin. His opposition to the relationship between Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia stemmed from two reasons: Qin and their age difference. But that night, he was moved by Xiao Ran, and his reservations disappeared naturally.

The aftershocks of the Golden Horse Awards had not yet subsided. On the third day, the executives of Shadow and its subsidiaries held the most important meeting to date. As Xiao Ran had anticipated, this meeting would determine Shadow’s future direction and strategies, as well as its path to growth and expansion.

All the subsidiaries were performing well and had already started to turn a profit. After each reported their achievements, Xiao Ran nodded at An Yuxuan, who immediately pulled back the cloth on the wall, revealing a large screen displaying a world map.

Xiao Ran stood up, his expression serious as he scanned the executives around the round table before slowly saying, “Film is not a simple or pure industry. After the release and marketing efforts for ‘Spy Change,’ along with the promotion strategies for the Golden Horse Awards, I believe everyone here understands this very well!”

Silence reigned as everyone listened attentively to Xiao Ran’s words. His serious expression grew even more intense. “In 1988, the global film industry generated $38 billion in revenue, while Hong Kong’s annual revenue last year was only 5.4 billion Hong Kong dollars. These figures show that Hong Kong cinema still has tremendous potential for development.”

Of course, everyone present knew that Xiao Ran was referring to the total revenue from box office sales, video tape distribution, and television broadcasts. Wei Dongling listened very carefully. He often discussed Shadow’s future direction with Xiao Ran, but he had always felt that Xiao Ran hadn’t fully revealed some of his ideas. Perhaps now he would hear them.

“Shadow operates not only in the film industry but also in other related sectors. I hope everyone here can expand their subsidiaries and maximize the overall impact of the industry. In the coming years, the main task for each company will be to expand its business so that it can keep up with the growth pace of Hong Kong cinema.”

At this point, Xiao Ran glanced around with sharp eyes and declared firmly, “Our goal is to create a comprehensive global entertainment empire. We want to extend our company’s reach to every corner of the world.”

Sure enough! The CEOs of each subsidiary thought to themselves. They had certainly heard of Xiao Ran’s ambitions. However, he had never made them explicit before. But now, he had fully and completely revealed his intentions and aspirations.

A global entertainment empire—this is undoubtedly an exciting goal. Just thinking about it makes one’s blood boil, inspiring an immediate desire to get involved. Xiao Ran glanced at the excitement in everyone’s eyes and smiled satisfactorily. “However, this won’t be achieved in a day or two. What lies ahead is not only local films from various countries and regions but also the powerful Hollywood. So, it may take ten years, or even longer. But I believe we can completely replace Hollywood, making Hong Kong the global film center and making Mirage the number one entertainment empire!”

At this point, Xiao Ran, increasingly satisfied with his own eloquence, sat down. Wei Dongling stood up and continued Xiao Ran’s speech: “As President Xiao just said, our goal isn’t just Hong Kong but the whole world. Currently, aside from the film industry, which can extend to Southeast Asia, all other media industries remain confined to Hong Kong. So, we all need to work together!”

Wei Dongling’s gaze settled on Li Guangli, the head of ATV, and Leng Pengfei from Shuxiang Media. The key now lay with these two. He believed they had the capability, but it was crucial that his and Xiao Ran’s intentions weren’t misinterpreted, so as to avoid them making wrong decisions based on incorrect information.

“ATV and Shuxiang can try to integrate the market through acquisitions or mergers, letting locals help us expand the market instead of us recklessly charging in on our own,” Wei Dongling said. Seeing Li Guangli and Leng Pengfei nod seriously, he then looked at Lin Wei, the head of Thinking, with relief.

“Thinking is currently focused on post-production and equipment. Your main goal is to make post-production even more perfect to attract business from production companies across Hong Kong. In terms of equipment, you can collaborate with companies with development capabilities, ensuring that we gain control over the technology ourselves.”

“Tianlai needs to become the leading record company in Hong Kong as soon as possible. Develop precise promotion plans to attract people who don’t understand Mandarin songs as well. Additionally, try to find suitable talents in Europe for training—you need to make a mark in the European and American markets.”

Strictly speaking, Xiao Ran wasn’t very confident about Tianlai’s ability to break into the European market in the field of pop music. After all, those companies had accumulated years of experience and had numerous music producers, while Tianlai was clearly weaker in this regard. Thinking of this, Xiao Ran had an idea—he had heard quite a few English songs before and might even remember some of the melodies.

“Sihai’s goal is simple. Mirage will give you the rights to distribute all movie-related products and videotapes. Your task is to maximize the potential of each movie by creating as many imaginative merchandise items as possible, Xiao Ran. At the same time, establish a secure and efficient sales network to get the products and movies out as quickly as possible.”

“The task for movie theaters is equally simple: acquire or merge as much as possible. If this plan doesn’t work in the European market, we can opt for mergers. But we must have absolute control! In terms of theater environments, the future trend is towards comfortable spaces with excellent sound quality.”

“So, when renovating movie theaters, we must proceed step by step and specifically reduce the number of single-screen theaters. We should strive to ensure that each theater has five to ten screening rooms capable of holding 200 to 400 people within five years.” Wei Dongling spoke with great confidence, which explained why he could become the CEO of Phantom.

Liao Jingping nodded; he clearly shared the same view. The packed theaters these days undoubtedly proved that if the environment is good, audiences will naturally want to enjoy it.

“Phantom Pictures will still adhere to the concept of quality, carefully creating each film. As for the Dynamic Investment Fund, it should avoid long-term investments in the coming year, as companies need substantial funds for expansion!”

“Our goals are very clear…” Wei Dongling took a small stick from An Yuxuan and pointed at the map on the big screen, tapping on the small dot representing Hong Kong. Countless lines extended from that dot, covering every corner and direction in the world: “It’s the world!”

When Wei Dongling sat down, Xiao Ran stood up, straightened his back, and smiled while tapping the table, adding rhythm to his speech: “Don’t overlook the mainland, especially ATV and Shuxiang. From the perspective of shared culture and ethnicity, capturing the mainland market would be a huge victory. Of course, for now, we just need to make initial contact and observe.”

“Whenever a company expands its market, it must tailor its strategies to local characteristics rather than forcing our culture upon them, as that will only backfire. What we need now is the market—making it dependent on us.” Xiao Ran smiled, as if the mainland market was already dominated by smuggled videotapes and pirated discs of Hong Kong movies. As long as people can’t do without Phantom, that’s true victory.

“Soon, the marketing department and the artist training department will also be separated from the headquarters. From now on, our focus should be on expanding and defending our market. Once we reach a certain scale, victory will be within reach!” Xiao Ran smiled happily. Phantom had finally completed the inevitable restructuring process and truly become a distribution company.

We already have television and traditional media; all that’s left is an online platform. Well, ATV still needs to get into cable TV—it’s a very profitable business, and we can’t afford to lose it. The structure of our media empire is maturing, just like the film industry, which is also rapidly developing. With control over equipment and post-production, and now the marketing department separated as well, we’ve achieved a balanced and diversified industry.

Apart from the internet, Xiao Ran thought that Mirage was now under his silent control and gradually becoming an integrated enterprise across various industries. All of this would revolve around movies, becoming an important part of the movie empire he envisioned. In fact, neither Xiao Ran nor Wei Dongling interfered much in the operations of their subsidiaries, offering only some guidance on major strategies and detailed plans for their development paths. This gave the heads of each subsidiary ample room to operate independently, though there was naturally oversight in areas such as finance. It’s no exaggeration to say that as long as Mirage and its subsidiaries didn’t make any fatal mistakes, they would always remain the most influential movie companies in Southeast Asia. Yet Xiao Ran was well aware that once Hollywood mastered computer graphics, it would become an unstoppable force. Hollywood, which had virtually no market in Hong Kong, was able to break into that market precisely because of computer graphics. So, even though he could step back and enjoy life as a wealthy man, Xiao Ran had to keep involved personally because the real enemy hadn’t appeared yet, and he hadn’t yet personally defeated his deadly rival. This realization clearly depressed him a bit, as he preferred traveling and enjoying life rather than business. Fortunately, movies were also his passion, so he could still find some enjoyment in his spare time. After the meeting, Xiao Ran kept Liu Chun, the head of Mirage Imaging, Li Guangli, the head of ATV, Chen Jiale, the head of Tianlai, and Tang Yan from Dynamic behind. To Chen Jiale, Xiao Ran said only one thing: “A Le, I’ve composed a few songs; maybe they can be useful for Tianlai. I’ll go to your place in a few days!” After Chen Jiale left, filled with admiration, Xiao Ran turned to Li Guangli and said with a smile, “I have a few good program ideas. Find someone capable to discuss them with me!” Li Guangli left completely confused—he really didn’t understand who Xiao Ran was. He could compose pop music and create programs at the same time? Seeing him leave, Xiao Ran couldn’t help but chuckle; he found it quite interesting sometimes. He suddenly realized that in the eyes of others, he might just be a mysterious question mark. It wasn’t that exaggerated—Xiao Ran was sometimes quite narcissistic. Turning his gaze to Tang Yan, Xiao Ran smiled. Among Mirage’s subsidiaries, the most powerful one was definitely the Dynamic Fund. Although Cisco and Dell’s stocks were under Mirage’s headquarters, just the karaoke business controlled by Dynamic could generate huge profits. Xiao Ran didn’t give Tang Yan any special instructions, only saying that the company would need a lot of funds from this year to next year. Not only should Tang Yan avoid long-term investments but also try to sell off the stocks they had. As for stocks, Xiao Ran wasn’t too concerned—his own shares in Microsoft alone accounted for nearly 18%, plus the shares in Cisco and Dell, which was enough to support Mirage’s development. Besides, he only knew of a few stocks with great potential; selling the rest was unimportant.

Subsequently, Xiao Ran recalled Fang Xiaoqiang from Japan. His performance was quite good—after investing one billion, he helped Mirage earn twelve billion in just over half a year. As a result, Mirage’s total liquid assets reached thirty billion.

Sony and Coca-Cola reached a successful deal, with Sony acquiring Columbia for 3.5 billion dollars. This made Xiao Ran consider acquiring a film company, though he was still unsure which one. The only thing he was certain of was that he would definitely not buy MGM.

Joking aside, buying MGM? With all those debts and complicated financial issues, Xiao Ran wasn’t even sure he could sort them out. MGM was like a giant vortex—anyone caught in it would end up in trouble. Xiao Ran wasn’t stupid, so he didn’t want to get caught in that vortex.

Warner seemed like a very good acquisition target, but good heavens, it was Hollywood’s largest film company. With Columbia’s acquisition as a precedent, if Warner were acquired, Americans might even think the Chinese were attacking! What if that triggered a nuclear war?

Disney? Xiao Ran didn’t even dare think about it. The company’s market value was so high it made him furious—he couldn’t possibly afford it. Fox used to be quite powerful, but it was acquired by Murdoch back in 1985. Paramount Pictures was also among the seven major companies, with countless classics like The Godfather. However, in Xiao Ran’s opinion, the company had already started declining and hit rock bottom in the 1990s.

As for Universal… Xiao Ran hesitated. He remembered that the company’s ownership structure became very complicated later on, making a full acquisition unlikely. But suddenly, he remembered—back in 1991, Panasonic of Japan followed Sony’s example and acquired Universal for around sixty billion dollars, only to sell it to a foreign liquor company at a loss in 1995.

To control the distribution network, Xiao Ran couldn’t choose smaller companies or production firms. This forced him to pick one of the seven major companies as a target. After some thought, he decided to put the idea aside for now.

This wasn’t an easy task, and Xiao Ran was extremely troubled. Now he truly understood what it meant to have to choose between two desirable things. He wanted Guangmo and he also wanted Pixar from Apple. Just these two alone would likely cost at least five hundred million dollars in acquisition fees. And acquiring a film company required three to four billion dollars—all sources of great headache for him…