1928: The rise of giant merchants

"My aunt said that the second young master is very interested in the film industry and is planning to build a cinema of his own. This is a great thing for our film industry." Zhang Shichuan has been communicating with Lin Ruxian about Ye's Film Company these days. Ye Luo's idea of ​​acquiring Star Film Company is very exciting.

It’s just that Star Film Company currently needs no one, no equipment, no resources. It only has the reputation of a giant in Shanghai’s film industry. If it can’t show Ye Luo real value, I’m afraid it will be difficult to sell it at a high price. .

In his twenties, Zhang Shichuan was also a passionate young man with a dream and determination to save the country through industry. However, over the past ten years, the darkness of society has gradually smoothed his edges.

Uncle Jing Ruishan is a real estate tycoon, and his wealth is countless times greater than his own. After provoking the three tycoons, he decided to die.

Now, in order to make movies and grab resources, he had a dispute with the boss of Dahua Film Company. The person behind Dahua Film Company was Lu Yusheng, and he couldn't afford to offend him.

"Oh? The second young master wants to build a movie theater? Then I have a lot of good suggestions." Luo Mingyou is the king of movie theaters in North China and knows this well. He thinks that if he can cooperate with Ye Luo, he might be able to enter the southern film industry. .

"The cinema I want to build is a little different from the one in Boss Luo's hands." Ye Luo smiled and walked into the studio with them. Several young actors inside immediately gave way to the big guys, and he found a stool at random. He sat down, took the boiled water from Lin Ruxian, and said with a smile, "I don't want to build a silent movie theater again, which is too common in China. I want to build the first sound movie theater in the country."

"Talkies?! That thing is hard to come by." Seeing that he didn't take his suggestion, Luo Mingyou was a little unhappy and said with a smile, "It seems that the second young master doesn't understand the film industry. Talkies just appeared not long ago. But it’s still too early to really promote it, let alone introduce it into the country. In my opinion, the second young master is wasting money on this kind of high technology. It is better to invest in our Lianhua Film Production Company, and he will definitely make a lot of money!"

Lin Ruxian saw him laughing at Ye Luo for being an amateur, and her expression turned cold immediately. She lit up a cigarette and said with a smile: "Boss Luo, I don't know if the second young master understands the film industry, but I know that no one in Shanghai knows how to make money better than him." , even if it is a waste, the second young master will not look at that little money."

In fact, Ye Luo didn't care about Luo Mingyou's conflict. Historically, this big boss was known for being free-spirited and having a high self-esteem. It may be that he became famous at a young age and had a successful career, which allowed him to develop this natural sense of superiority. .

This was very common during the Republic of China.

Many famous figures became famous all over the world in their twenties, which is completely different from the ivory tower student gang who were still in college in their twenties in later generations.

Historically, Lianhua did not surpass Tianyi and Xingxing because of its large investment and luxurious lineup. Instead, it completely collapsed after less than seven years of operation.

The reason is that the big boss Luo Mingyou is too conceited and unwilling to listen to other people's advice.

But Lin Ruxian was different. She only had Ye Luo in her eyes, and she would fight with anyone who said something bad about him.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Zhang Shichuan quickly changed the subject: "Oh, the second young master now has a huge amount of money. He has his own business ideas. Boss Luo has Boss Luo's bottom line. We are all friends. There is no need to compete. I I’m curious about where the new cinema will be built.”

"Boss Zhang, what you said is wrong. I am lucky enough to meet the second young master today. Since it is the film industry we are familiar with, we cannot let the second young master stumble in it." Luo Mingyou glanced sideways at Lin Ruxian. The words of this profligate woman were thorny, but It made him feel more and more excited, thinking that he must show off in front of her and suppress Ye Luo's limelight at the same time.

When it comes to making money, Ye Luo is indeed great, but when it comes to the film industry, even Li Minwei and Zhang Shichuan who were present did not dare to challenge him.

"Oh, then I'd like to hear the details." Ye Luo looked at him with a smile.

You want to show off, right? I'll show it off for you.

Luo Mingyou coughed a few times, attracting everyone's attention, and then said: "Most of you are shareholders of my future Lianhua Film Production Company. Although the company will not open until next year, I can also talk about the relationship between our company and The difference.”

He talked eloquently, first mentioning the management model. Unlike most companies in the Republic of China, Lianhua does not adopt family management. Ownership and management rights are separated. Shareholders are only responsible for investment and dividends. The general manager has absolute management rights. Production, general affairs, etc. The , business and distribution departments are independent and do not interfere with each other. They are only responsible to the department leaders, who are responsible to the general manager.

This is the novel company management model advocated by President Sloan. Unexpectedly, it also took shape here in Lianhua.

Hearing this, Ye Luo couldn't help but nod.

Seeing that he had been fooled, Luo Mingyou struck while the iron was hot: "We also adopt an independent production model. The head office has Lianhua Factory No. 1, Factory No. 2, Factory No. 3, and Factory No. 4. The main company provides the money for making movies, and the production company With the branch in charge, the director and screenwriter have all the rights to maximize their talents.”

"Then it's great to be a director. The company pays for the film. If it fails, the company will lose money. When I become famous, I will become famous along with it. And there is no check and balance from the production manager. The director and screenwriter can make as much money as they want." Ye Luo hits the nail on the head. .

But they don't see it that way.

As a director, Sun Yu immediately retorted: "Second Young Master, you can't say that! We all make movies for the company, so why would we embezzle the film's production fees?"

"Yes, Second Young Master, you can't treat people so snobbishly." Others also agreed, but Li Minwei fell into deep thought.

"Your Lianhua Company follows the operating system of a large company, but the most important production link adopts an independent production model. This is similar to a country combining two political systems, which will lead to chaos."

Luo Mingyou was a bit arrogant, but he was also a rare capable and talented Chinese businessman. Ye Luo didn't want to see him stumble, so he gave a final reminder.

Luo Mingyou felt that he didn't understand the industry at all, and shook his head with a smile: "Second Young Master, you don't understand the film industry. An insider can see the feasibility of my model at a glance, but you say that there are huge problems with the operation model. This is in the egg." It’s a nitpick.”

Ye Luo stopped arguing with him. Luo Mingyou felt that he had won. He looked at Lin Ruxian triumphantly, but found that she had been staring at Ye Luo and didn't care about him at all. His joy suddenly disappeared.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this, let's talk about the Second Young Master's cinema." Zhang Shichuan quickly brought the topic back.

He came to Ye Luo today. Firstly, he hoped to negotiate the transfer and acquisition of Mingxing Film Company. Secondly, he hoped that this big financier could join Lianhua and contribute to his brothers.

Unexpectedly, it was self-defeating. Before he could speak, Luo Mingyou and Ye Luo started to fight.

Fortunately, Ye Luo was personable and didn't seem to care about this at all.

Ye Luo saw that they were quite interested, and there were many big names in the film industry present. He thought that he could poach people when Lianhua was not doing well, so he smiled and explained some of his views.

Sound films were the general trend, and silent films lasted until 1931 before completely withdrawing from the stage of history.

Because Mingxing and Tianyi entered this market early, their subsequent development was better than that of Lianhua.

However, talkies cannot be introduced now. The biggest problem lies in the rigid conditions of technical equipment.

It cost a lot of money to build a talking theater, and you also had to have a lot of Hollywood talkies to play.

The requirements for both are very stringent.

Ye Luo has a lot of money, and with the help of General Motors and Citibank, he will naturally be like a fish in the United States. As for the content of the movie, he cannot always play Hollywood movies, so naturally he also plans to make audio movies in advance.

But this is a huge expense.

Add in the costs of hiring stars, directors, and screenwriters, and the cost is unimaginable.

Either find someone to buy shares, otherwise it will be a bottomless pit.

Hearing that he wanted to build an amusement park and a dance hall at the same time, the faces of a group of people gradually changed.

From curiosity at the beginning, to impatience later on.

This is too childish.

One fantasy after another, it can only be said that people are stupid and have too much money.

When they heard that Ye Luo invited Lin Huiyin and his wife to design and serve as engineers for the amusement park and cinema, and also spent 70,000 yuan to buy Ruan Lingyu, they just admired in their hearts that this person was really rich!

Mentioning Ruan Lingyu, several people couldn't help but tell some dirty jokes and anecdotes. The status of female celebrities these days is not high. In the eyes of the bosses, they are not much different from the pheasants in Fengming Tower.

When talking about Ruan Lingyu, Ye Luo's expression gradually became ugly.

Zhang Shichuan observed what was happening and immediately shouted stop, then sent a few friends to leave. Then he quickly returned to the nursing home and said to Ye Luo with an apologetic look on his face: "Second Young Master, this is all my business today."

"It's okay, it's just an academic exchange, I don't mind." Ye Luo waved his hand, "I just don't like their attitude towards Ah Ruan. I've already asked people to go to the newspaper office to take care of it. In the future, we have to let everyone in Shanghai know that Ah Ruan is our One of the top leaders of Yip's Film Company, whoever dares to say unpleasant words, I will make his body sink into the Huangpu River."

This is very serious.

Zhang Shichuan knew that he deliberately didn't say it in front of everyone, so as not to hurt the relationship. It was up to him to convey these words to a few friends.

At this moment, Li Minwei left and returned.

"Haha, Second Young Master, there were so many people there just now that we can't talk in detail. I am very interested in your Ye's Film Company. Can I be one of you to join the company?" Li Minwei walked over with a smile.

He is also the only one who actually questions Lianhua's operating model.

Ye Luo nodded: "Of course you can, but Boss Li, you know I'm not short of money."

"Then can I bring Minxin Film Company to join us? I have people with resources and actors. The second young master will not reject me, right?" Li Minwei seemed determined to follow Ye Luo. These words were equivalent to talking to the little boy just now. The group broke up.

Luo Mingyou, whom he had just agreed to, would turn against him now, which would not look good in the future.

Ye Luo admired such a courageous person and naturally nodded in agreement: "That's the best. I won't refuse anyone who comes."