Reporter: Over the past few decades, the Chinese economy has grown at breakneck speed to become the second biggest in the whole world. Rapid growth has been accompanied by huge changes in industry after industry. One area of activity thats been transformed is the entertainment business, and the entrepreneur, Wang Zhongjun can claim to have played a big part in this transformation. Mr. Wang is the co-founder of what is now one of the biggest film and television companies in China. After working in the USA for several years, he returned home in the early 1990s and set up an advertising agency. Starting out, Wang Zhongjun felt it was important for his enterprise to appear reputable and well-established.
Wang: (via translator) The first year was not actually very smooth for my company. I didnt have a lot of start-up capital, but I wanted to make my business look impressive, so I leased a big office space and hired about 30 staff, despite the fact that money was only enough to pay the employees for about six months. I was under great pressure, but I was quite lucky to find a way to make a profit.
記者:在過去的幾十年里,中國經濟增長速度驚人,成為世界第二大經濟體。經濟的快速增長伴隨著各產業(yè)巨大的變化。娛樂業(yè)就是變化巨大的領域之一,而企業(yè)家王中軍可謂是大功臣,因為他在這一變化中扮演了很重要的角色。王先生是現今中國最大的影視公司之一的聯合創(chuàng)始人。在美國工作了幾年后,他于上世紀90年代初回國,然后成立了一家廣告公司。起初,王中軍認為讓自己的企業(yè)看起來有信譽、有地位是非常重要的。
王:(通過翻譯)公司第一年的進展其實并不是很順利,因為我并沒有太多的啟動資金。但我又想使我的公司看起來令人印象深刻,所以我租了一間大辦公室,還雇了約30名員工,盡管事實上,我的錢只夠支付員工約6個月的工資。那時候我的壓力很大,但我很幸運地找到了一個賺錢的方式。
Reporter: The breakthrough came when Wang Zhongjun remembered the signs hed seen in America advertising restaurants, shops and many other businesses. Perhaps he could bring western-style branding to China.
Wang: (via translator) I was inspired by the standardized logo of McDonalds, that you could see everywhere across the U.S. I discovered that these shiny signs were made from good quality materials. I thought to myself that they must be made by a contractor, who was responsible for promoting the brand across the country, so I wanted to see if I could apply this approach to similar chain stores in China. But, after investigating the market, the only companies I could find with lots of branches were Chinese banks.
Reporter: Wang Zhongjun was sure that some Chinese banks would be interested in having standardized professional-looking 1)signage for their branches, so he imported raw materials from the USA and started making signs, trying to keep his costs low and his standards high.
Wang: (via translator) We worked very hard to reduce the cost of manufacturing. We ended up focusing on one customer, for providing them with high quality products for almost two years. In the end, we made five million dollars. My friends back in America couldnt believe I could make so much money in such a short time.
Reporter: With the profits from sign-making, the company had the money to expand. In the late 1990s, his business moved into film production.
Wang: (via translator) We didnt copy the example of how Hollywood made films; we just invented the most suitable method for ourselves. We invested in three films, which were directed by the most wellknown directors in China at that time. Although we didnt make much money out of these films, we did manage to establish our brand quite quickly.
Reporter: Over the past few years, the company has produced a string of successful films and has expanded into related activities, such as talent representation and TV production.
How does Wang Zhongjun see the future for his industry?
Wang: (via translator) I think theres a huge market for the entertainment business in China. Competition is very fierce, so companies will need to break into new areas. I believe the box-office in China can compete with that in the U.S. in the future. My vision for Huayi is for it to become a film-making giant.
記者:當王中軍想起他在美國看到過的那些餐館、店鋪和許多其他企業(yè)的廣告招牌,事情有了轉機。也許他能把西方的品牌理念帶到中國去。
王:(通過翻譯)我的靈感來源于麥當勞標準化的標志,這在美國隨處可見。我發(fā)現,這些閃亮的招牌都是用質量上乘的材料打造的。我想,這些招牌一定是由承包商承包下來的,而且他們還負責在全國各地推廣這個品牌。所以我想試試看能否在中國類似的連鎖店采用相似的途徑進行宣傳。但是,經過市場調研,我發(fā)現,在中國,當時唯一的連鎖機構就是銀行了。
記者:王中軍確信,部分中國的銀行會有興趣讓自己旗下的分行使用標準化的有專業(yè)水準的招牌,所以他從美國進口原材料,然后開始制作招牌,竭力降低成本而提高標準。
王:(通過翻譯)我們竭盡全力地減少生產成本。我們最終成功地專注于一個客戶,在近兩年的時間里,為他們提供高質量的產品。最終,我們賺了500萬美元。我在美國的朋友不相信我能在如此短的時間內賺那么多錢。
記者:公司從招牌制作中獲利,所以有資金去擴展業(yè)務。在20世紀90年代后期,他的業(yè)務轉向電影制作。
王:(通過翻譯)我們并沒有照搬好萊塢制作電影的模式,而是想出了最適合我們自己的方法。我們投資拍攝了3部電影,皆由當時在中國最知名的導演執(zhí)導。雖然我們并沒有從這些電影中賺到很多錢,但我們還是快速地建立了我們的品牌。
記者:在過去的幾年里,華誼兄弟制作了一系列成功的電影,公司業(yè)務也已經擴展到了其他相關領域,如藝人經紀和電視制作。
那王中軍又是如何看待自己公司未來的?
王:(通過翻譯)我認為,在中國,娛樂業(yè)是一個大市場,競爭也非常激烈。所以公司需要開發(fā)新的領域。我相信,在將來,中國的票房可以和美國的相匹敵。我相信,華誼能成為電影制作界的巨星。翻譯:Chris