Chapter 570 - Soap Opera Production Company in Shanghai (1) – Part 1
When Gun-Ho went to work in GH Building in Sinsa Town that morning, he received a call from Seukang Li— the director of the bureau of cultural affairs and art in Shanghai.
“I heard that the joint venture was officially established in Antang City now. Congratulations.”
“I’m still not sure if it was the right decision to join that joint venture. As a matter of fact, I can find tons of business that I could invest in with the funds that I would invest in it.”
“I think you made the right decision. A terminal project cannot be failed because it is closely related to Chinese ordinary people. You might not make a fortune, but you won’t lose your investment funds. That fact should give some comfort to you, especially these days where we see a lot of businesses going broke. You will see many Korean companies in China disappear when you wake up next morning. China is a land of opportunities, but people should know that they have to bear high risk to enjoy those opportunities.
“At least you are honest.”
“The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China wants to reduce the steadily increasing economic gap between the east area and the west area by developing the west area. That’s why they are sending very competent personnel to small cities. For example, they placed Lizian Zhang at the small provincial city— Antang City— as its deputy mayor. Actually, with his ability, he should be working for the central government.”
“So, you think I will have a good return from this investment, huh?”
“Don’t worry about it. You will have your investment funds back with good profits. While you are working with them, pay attention to the construction work in that area.”
“Construction work?”
“As the central community party announced that they will start developing the west area, the working class people in the area are moving to the cities in the west rather than major cities like Shanghai or Beijing. Even though Antang is a small city, you will see an acute increase in the house price there soon.”
“Which one is the richest area there? The area like West Lake in Hangzhou City or Gangnam District in Korea. You can never fail with real property investment in the area like that. Whether the government imposes restrictions or not, the real property price always increases in those areas.”
“Of course. It’s one of a human being’s natures. They want to reside in a rich area. Don’t forget about the resemblance theory. People want to consider themselves as rich as the neighbors who are living in the same wealthy area. Professor Jien Wang is a member of the Financial Service Committee of a municipal government, but he sometimes calls me and talks about his concerns and worries.”
“What does he worry about?”
“He thinks that there are so many obstacles that need to be overcome for China’s economy to grow.”
“Hmm.”
“I think the central government needs talented people like Jien Wang. I want Jien Wang to do politics in one of the central cities like Beijing. It’s a waste to keep him in a small provincial city. He is a brilliant man who used to teach at Yale University in the U.S.”
“Mr. President Goo, I’m sorry that I missed your call. I had an important meeting earlier.”
“I called to ask you about something. Seukang Li keeps asking me to make an investment in a soap opera production company. What do you think? Do you think it would be okay for me to do that?”
“I don’t believe that it’s only about money. There are many media groups in China with a significant amount of funds available to make an investment. A substantial amount of money is moving around in the industry. I’m not sure, but I think maybe those funds are entwined with the political party opposed to Seukang Li’s. If that is the case, Seukang Li is probably looking for a new investor who is not related to the opposing political party and also who can provide enough funds. The ideal investor would be a Korean soap opera production company that has high technology and skills that can directly benefit the business.”
“Technology?”
“Yes. You know things like recording, lighting, sound, and editing skills. Moreover, if they can work with a Korean production company, they will have easier access to work with internationally popular actors and actresses through Korean Wave.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Also, maybe Seukang Li is somewhat related to that specific production company in some way like one of his relatives is working there, or he asked them to produce a specific video but it failed to elicit high ratings so he is looking for a way to break through.”
“It seems that the cost to produce a soap opera is enormous in China.”
“It’s still on the rise steeply. The Chinese top stars get huge performance fees. Look at Fan Bingbing or Qian Kun. Their annual income coming from their playing roles in a soap opera already exceeded 100 million Yuan.”
“100 million Yuan (approximately 17 billion won)! Wow. That’s a lot!”