Chapter 2189: Approaching Release

Zhao Fusheng's low profile was obvious to all.

At first, Xue Yuanfang and the others were a bit unaccustomed to it, but as time went on, everyone got used to it.

After all, Zhao Fusheng basically never showed up, yet it didn't hinder the company's operation and management. Under these circumstances, Xue Yuanfang and the others let him be.

Speaking of this, it was not an isolated case.

Apart from Zhao Fusheng, in the domestic business world, Mr. Wang, the boss of SF Express, was also like this.

He basically never accepted media interviews and had little interest in public appearances.

These two were known as the two most mysterious figures in the domestic business world.

Of course, compared to Zhao Fusheng, Wang Wei's wealth was certainly insufficient, but in terms of mystery, he was no less than Zhao Fusheng.

After seeing off Xue Yuanfang and reviewing some documents for a while, Zhao Fusheng rested.

As for matters with the external media, the company would handle them naturally.

It was better for professionals to do professional work.

As for Zhao Fusheng, he was more concerned about when his wife and child would return home.

But unfortunately, after discussing with his parents, Fan Baobao had no plans to leave Italy for the time being.

In their own words, long-distance travel was not conducive to the child's health.

Day by day passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was September.

The Future Group had few major events recently, only two.

One was the upcoming release of Future Film's movie "Let the Bullets Fly."

The other was that the company's detailed implementation rules for internal welfare housing were soliciting employee opinions.

The latter required a period of time, as it involved many things, such as relatively high housing prices in first-tier big cities like the capital, and lower housing prices in some small cities—all issues that needed consideration.

The former, however, was imminent.

"We have now completed the confidentiality work for the film source, striving to prevent piracy from taking advantage."

Sitting in the conference room of Future Film, Zhao Fusheng listened to the reports from Future Film's senior management.

After all, this was a major matter related to the company's stock price, and he had to treat it with caution.

"Coordinate with the theater chains and make sure to eliminate piracy."

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "I don't want any jokes like a 'theatrical version' popping up after the movie is released."

"You can rest assured on that; we are strictly monitoring this matter."

Someone immediately replied.

Piracy in China has a long history; in the era of video halls, it was basically all pirated.

So in the early days, when legitimate imports were neither permitted by policy nor affordable for ordinary people, piracy served to introduce film resources from Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and even Europe and America, allowing audiences to see more commercial films.

At that time, piracy actually cultivated a large number of moviegoers.

Even now, the consumption level of ordinary Chinese consumers remains low; mainstream commercial films priced at twenty-five US dollars in the European and American markets are still basically unaffordable for most.

Without even considering whether distribution channels are smooth, just in terms of price, to watch a large number of foreign films, piracy is basically the only acceptable way.

In terms of audience habits, China's film market is far from mature. The urban population is about 700 million, and the annual number of moviegoers is also about 700 million, meaning an average of one film per person per year.

Under the same circumstances, the figure in the United States is four times that.

In Zhao Fusheng's view, this was not a favorable data comparison.

More importantly, Zhao Fusheng was well aware that even ten years later, China's film market would still experience significant fluctuations.

During good release periods, daily box office could reach three hundred to five hundred million, while in the absence of good films or favorable release windows, it might be as low as twenty to thirty million.

This meant that the entire Chinese film market had not yet truly entered a phase of healthy development.

In Zhao Fusheng's eyes, China's film industry was still in a market cultivation stage.

The primary goal of this stage was to get more and more people to like or even get used to watching movies, regardless of whether they paid for them.

After all, once users were hooked, it would be much easier to get them to pay.

Of course, the existence of piracy was still more destructive to the entire industry.

After all, if people were accustomed to watching movies for free, suddenly finding that they had to pay would create a psychological gap that not everyone could accept.

Human nature is so greedy and shameless.

Zhao Fusheng understood this principle well, which was why he said that piracy must be eliminated as much as possible.

Ye Jing and the others naturally understood and readily agreed.

"Also, the promotion must keep up. Barring any surprises, Old Jiang himself can definitely bring in some people for promotion, but the company's publicity and distribution must be done even better."

Zhao Fusheng urged again.

"Okay, don't worry."

Ye Jing said to Zhao Fusheng with great seriousness.

Speaking of which, when it came to the degree of anxiety, Ye Jing, the head of Future Film, was no better than director Jiang Wen.

Jiang Wen was worried that the film's box office and reputation would fail, affecting the company's stock price.

But Ye Jing's worry was even greater.

After all, Jiang Wen was the director, while Ye Jing was the helmsman of Future Film.

For example, if the film failed, Jiang Wen might still have the chance to continue making films, but Ye Jing would face pressure from the company's board of directors.

Although none of the shareholders on the board held as many shares as Zhao Fusheng, the problem was that this kind of censure was something he did not want to face.

Think about it: Future Film had always maintained profitability before, but now, just after going public, it had invested in a loss-making film. Under such circumstances, what qualifications did Ye Jing have to remain in the position of general manager?

Being in that position, one must attend to its duties. Ye Jing did not want to have worked so hard to take the company public only to leave in disgrace.

The meeting soon ended. The middle-level managers left one by one, and Zhao Fusheng and Ye Jing went to his office.

"Don't be too nervous."

Zhao Fusheng said to Ye Jing with a smile.

He could naturally see that Ye Jing was actually very nervous right now. During the meeting just now, he had given orders to his subordinates with a stern expression several times, making the middle-level managers nervous as well.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Ye Jing smiled bitterly: "To be honest, I didn't expect the pressure after going public to be so great. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have considered going public in the first place."

This was his true feeling. When he had been thinking about going public, Ye Jing hadn't expected that once the company went public, many things would change.

For example, now even his own mindset had changed somewhat.

Gone was the former calm and composed feeling of having everything under control.

"Regret it?"

Zhao Fusheng raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.

"Yeah, a little."

Ye Jing was quite frank, nodding to Zhao Fusheng.