Chapter 120: The Summit Meeting

After thinking for a while, Xiao Ran suddenly felt as if he had gone mad. After all, there were still the three major companies holding things together—why should he be in a hurry? Even if he were anxious, it was a matter for those three giants. Realizing this, Xiao Ran smiled and glanced at the three bosses who could easily change the landscape of the film industry with a single move, then said calmly, “I think it’s still up to you three bosses to decide—there’s no need for me to speak here!”

In fact, the boss of Jiahé was Zou Wenhui, but He Guanchang held a significant stake in Jiahé and was one of the major shareholders, so he could also be considered a boss of Jiahé. He Guanchang and the others exchanged a look, unsure whether to laugh or cry. They had heard about Xiao Ran’s confrontation with Fang Ruohai in the stock market before and admired his remarkable strategic mind greatly.

According to Hong Kong’s top traders, “This Xiao Ran is no ordinary person. With his precise insight into market trends and his strategic skills, if he entered the stock market, we would have no chance!”

Of course, that was just what they said. Xiao Ran wasn’t worried that his scheme to make money from the stock crash would be exposed, as he had made several preparations in advance to cover it up. In fact, he had done it so well that no one suspected his involvement in triggering the crash. Besides, the amount of money involved was only 400 million—truly a drop in the ocean of the stock market, so it was hard to blame him.

But that was secondary. The real issue was that the top 10 highest-grossing films of 1987 had been released. Five of them were written by Xiao Ran, which only added more glory to his status as Hong Kong’s top screenwriter. However, the fact that Shadow Company had secured five spots among the top 10 couldn’t be ignored. And don’t forget—Shadow Company had released only five films throughout the year, hitting every target. This meant they hadn’t won by luck but through true strength.

Even after the list of top 10 highest-grossing films was announced yesterday, the entire Hong Kong media was in an uproar. The fact that Shadow Company had dominated five spots was something that might have only happened during the era when Shaw Brothers ruled supreme. Even Jiahé seemed to have never achieved such success, let alone with a 100% success rate—this was truly a miracle.

Many newspapers and magazines featured this news on their entertainment pages as headlines: “Shadow Company—The Next New Art City?” “The Status of the Three Major Companies at Risk!” “Dominating 1987!”

These headlines collectively elevated Shadow Company’s status in the film industry to an unprecedented level. Few dared doubt that Shadow Company would become the next New Art City, perhaps even stronger than it.

And these stories weren’t reported only in Hong Kong—many well-known newspapers and magazines in Southeast Asia also reprinted them. Hong Kong cinema was already the dominant force in Southeast Asia, so its every move attracted attention. With its overwhelming advantage now, Shadow Company was truly a super dark horse.

In fact, once Phantom Company’s annual financial reports are released, I’m afraid all the film companies in Hong Kong will be green with envy. Apart from “The God of Gamblers,” the five films have already generated at least 300 million in profits for Phantom. Under such circumstances, the three giants surely can’t ignore Phantom Company and have even given it very high praise. At the very least, they regard Phantom as a promising company worthy of competing with the three giants—though it’s still considered a promising one because of its relatively short history.

Helpless, Ho Kwan-cheung could only force a wry smile. “Ah Ran, don’t play tricks on us. Now that all the leaders of the four major companies are here, it’s time to discuss how to deal with these guys!”

The four major companies! Xiao Ran and Wei Dongling exchanged a glance, barely able to contain their excitement and almost shouting out loud. Phantom had finally gained the recognition of the three giants. Perhaps in other industries, this wouldn’t mean much. But no matter how well Phantom Company performed or how outstanding its results were, unless it surpassed the three giants for several consecutive years, it still needed their recognition to be on par with them in name.

Just like Hollywood’s “DreamWorks,” which had excellent performance, no one in Hollywood ever considered it one of the seven major studios. Even though MGM was on the verge of collapse, it was still counted among the seven major studios. This is the peculiar nature of the film industry—besides performance, you also need recognition from peers to gain certain qualifications.

It’s extremely difficult for an outsider to enter the film industry. Even with huge amounts of capital, it’s hard to gain recognition from peers. Lei Kaitai and Pan Disheng were smart enough not to establish their own companies but instead used investment methods to find industry figures like Huang Bai-ming and Cen Jianxun, which allowed them to integrate into the industry.

Now that the bosses of the three giants even ranked Phantom among the four major companies, how could Xiao Ran not be overjoyed? It took him over two years to go from an outsider to someone recognized within the industry, and then to become the fourth major film company recognized by the three giants—how could he not be ecstatic? Although some external factors also contributed to the three giants’ recognition, it still happened.

The three giants were actually quite helpless. The media’s interest in Phantom Company arose because of the annual top ten list. After researching the company, they discovered that although Phantom might be slightly smaller in scale than Cathay-Keris, its corporate structure and systems were much more sophisticated.

Though Phantom still had some confusing systems, such as its contract system for filmmakers, no one denied its strength. Coupled with its financial resources, it wouldn’t be hard for it to catch up with the three giants within a few years.

However, no one expected that Xiao Ran didn’t plan to take years but instead aimed to dominate the film industry within one to two years. He planned to secure distribution rights in all Southeast Asian countries and regions within a year, as well as rights from at least 50% of the film companies in Hong Kong, and dominate the Asian film industry within two years.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Xiao Ran chuckled and glanced at the three people with varying expressions. “Why deal with them? Pressure creates competition, and I like being challenged.”
Pandi suddenly burst into abnormal laughter, pointing at Xiao Ran and saying, “Aran, I thought you were very capable. I never expected you to miss even this!”
As Xiao Ran was puzzled, the seasoned He Guanchang sighed before saying, “The local market can barely accommodate all four of us, and it’s already near saturation. If a few more strong companies emerge, market order will surely collapse.”
“Most importantly, none of us can guarantee how long the overseas markets can support us!” Lei Kaitai said seriously. “Once the Southeast Asian markets reject our films, we’ll all be doomed to wait for death together!”
Now it was Xiao Ran who was shocked. He exchanged a look with Wei Dongling—seemingly, they had both guessed wrong. The leaders of the three major companies weren’t unaware of the risks in overseas markets, nor did they lack long-term vision; rather, they saw those risks too clearly.
With a quiet sigh, Xiao Ran realized that the three bosses sitting on the sofa were no ordinary people—otherwise, how could they have created the glory of Hong Kong cinema? But now he understood why Hong Kong cinema hadn’t considered long-term development during its golden age: everyone knew the overseas markets were extremely risky, and a single policy change could undermine Hong Kong cinema’s status. So, they could only make money as fast as they could while they still could.
There was no long-term development plan because they all knew the local market couldn’t sustain a large-scale film production system. Relying solely on overseas markets, once those markets collapsed, it would trigger a domino effect. That’s why no one wanted to think about the future—perhaps except for Carrefour.
Xiao Ran was convinced that Carrefour was trying to establish a film dynasty that could monopolize Hong Kong, which is why it gradually built a relatively complete system and production framework. However, Hong Kong cinema declined too quickly, catching Carrefour off guard. Coupled with various other factors, this led to Carrefour having no films to produce twenty years later.
After being in this era for two years, he finally understood the struggles of Hong Kong film companies. It was precisely because they saw the future too clearly that they lost confidence. Thinking of this, Xiao Ran admired the sharp vision of these bosses before smiling and rubbing his nose. “My view is completely opposite to yours, gentlemen.”
Wei Dongling agreed deeply with the opinions of the three major company bosses. Hearing Xiao Ran’s words, he was stunned, wondering what interesting thing Xiao Ran would say next. The others were also stunned, not expecting Xiao Ran to seem so confident and smiling.
“The local market is indeed approaching saturation, but that doesn’t mean overseas markets will be lost!” Xiao Ran calmly took the water Wei Dongling handed him, took a sip, cleared his throat, and said lightly, “Risks do exist, but they’re definitely not as severe as everyone imagines.”

“When the Southeast Asian market was dominated by Hong Kong films, it wasn’t us who relied on them—it was they who relied on us!” Xiao Ran thought of the mainland market in the future, where over ten billion in box office revenue still came mainly from Hong Kong and Hollywood films, showing that once people get used to a certain situation, it’s very difficult to change it.

The assistant beside He Guanchang couldn’t help but interject, “But, President Xiao, Hong Kong films are by no means the mainstream in the Southeast Asian market—they’re only dominant in Taiwan. Take Japan for example; what supports its market are Hollywood films and local films. It’s hard for us to get involved!”

The others nodded involuntarily, eager to know how Xiao Ran would respond. Xiao Ran ran his fingers gently over his beard, offering a wise smile: “In fact, many things aren’t calculated that way. Hong Kong films already account for a significant share of the Southeast Asian market. Why can’t we defeat Hollywood and local films to take control?”

“As long as we dominate the market, their own film industries will progress slowly due to our impact. What will they have to fight back with?” Xiao Ran’s sharp gaze swept around, and seeing everyone lower their heads in thought, he felt greatly relieved.

“But Hollywood remains the most powerful film production hub in the world. It’s impossible for us to defeat it!” It was still the same assistant who spoke, adding after finishing, “Although we’re the ‘Oriental Hollywood,’ we lack a large market backing us—we’re no match at all. If policies tilt just a little, then…”

Xiao Ran nodded at the assistant. He suddenly realized the three major companies weren’t entirely rigid people: “Due to language and cultural factors, Hollywood naturally has a huge advantage in the West. But never forget—this is the East. Here, our advantages are the greatest. Even if they dominate markets in many places now, as long as we persevere, we can drive American films out just like we did in Hong Kong!”

“We do have a market—it’s just a matter of whether everyone sees it!” Xiao Ran said firmly, waving his hand as he looked around and saw confusion on everyone’s faces. He smiled lightly. He knew many in the film industry were skeptical about the mainland, so it was better not to mention the mainland market at all.

“Why can’t we compete?” Xiao Ran smiled faintly and quietly changed the topic, without even anyone noticing: “Just because someone enters the market doesn’t mean someone else must leave. We can all develop together. With competition, we can create better films, and that’s how we can conquer the Southeast Asian market!”

Many years later, Pan Disheng said with deep emotion, “Back then, no one dared think they could defeat Hollywood, given its strength. But just when we were all worried about losing the market, Xiao Ran proposed such a development concept—it truly required great courage and confidence!”

Of course, no one can realize just how visionary Xiao Ran’s concepts are. He Guanchang couldn’t help but shake his head. He thought Xiao Ran didn’t care, but Jiahe couldn’t be taken lightly. It was precisely because Shaw Brothers underestimated Jiahe that Jiahe seized the opportunity to grow stronger. He Guanchang definitely didn’t want to repeat Shaw Brothers’ mistake.

But He Guanchang was wrong. He hadn’t realized that Shaw Brothers lost to Jiahe not because of Jiahe’s emergence, but due to the rigidity of their own systems, which also caused them to lose countless talents. If Shaw Brothers had had sound systems, it’s hard to say who would have won today.

Competition isn’t scary; what’s scary is losing competitiveness over time. Hong Kong cinema lost its market in Southeast Asia precisely because it lost its competitiveness. In the future, Jiahe will lose its vast market for the same reason. It’s because everyone is desperately trying to block outsiders that no Hong Kong film company has been able to remain successful for twenty years.

Xiao Ran didn’t want nor intend to make such mistakes. If Fang Ruohai wanted to come, let him come to this field he was familiar with and do whatever he wanted. At least he didn’t want to face Fang Ruohai in stocks, which he knew nothing about, as he had last time, which would cost him the advantage.

The approach of the three giants is somewhat similar to the Qing Dynasty’s policy of isolation, which deprived them of the chance to keep up with progress, resulting in their own downfall. Although Hollywood also rejects foreign companies, it certainly doesn’t reject foreign capital, technology, or talent. Coupled with healthy competition among them, this has led to their success.

Those outsiders who are beneficial to the market should of course be welcomed. Those who create chaos are the ones who should be rejected. That’s always been Xiao Ran’s belief, and this meeting of the four giants clearly taught him a lot.

*****

Enough nonsense. I recommend my new book, “The Legend of the Gambling God,” available at http://www.feiku.com/showbook.asp?bl_id=42993