The Wind of China Entertainment 2005

Chapter 628 Never expected

"My name is Wang Dachui, I never expected that"

“Sususu~”

Under the desk lamp, the tip of the pen moved across the paper.

I don’t know how much time had passed, but when the script for the latest episode was finished, Yi Zhenxing put the pen cap back on with a crisp “click” sound.

His gaze slowly turned to the right. On the wall hung a hand-painted A4 paper mask with a traditional Chinese character for "獸" written between its eyebrows.

Yi Zhenxing has another identity on the Internet – Yi Xiaoxing.

After graduating from university, he followed his family's advice and went to work as an engineer in a company under Sinopec.

I worked on the construction site for five years.

Because his work was so boring, he spent all his spare time on the Mop forum.

Buy a laptop and a camera, record yourself playing games, and upload it to the forum with commentary.

Unexpectedly, it became popular on the Internet.

The daily urging from fans and the overwhelming praise from them greatly satisfied his vanity.

So he started to study video production and editing, and made a series of spoof videos under the name "Jiaoshou".

In order to maintain his mystery and avoid being recognized by acquaintances, he also drew a mask on A4 paper and wore it on his face.

In the past five years, it has not only accumulated a large number of loyal fans on the Internet, but also attracted the favor of commercial companies.

In 2011, former Tudou executives Fan Jun and Bai Zhongchun invited him.

Despite his family's dissuasion, he quit his job, came to Beijing, joined Wanhe Tianyi, and started his entrepreneurial career.

Yi Zhenxing dreams of becoming a real director, but his career development is not smooth.

After joining Wanhe Tianyi, the style of his works changed drastically, and he took a warm and sentimental route, becoming serious and sensational...

It is very different from the vulgar jokes in the "Jiaoshou" series.

Obviously, this style is not popular with advertisers.

After learning from the painful experience, and drawing on the successful experience of "Diaosi Nanren", we realized the rapid development prospects of mobile client.

He decided to follow suit and develop a miniseries.

This led to the script of "Never Expected" which is currently being polished, and the target audience happens to be people born in the late 80s and 90s.

However, he had a disagreement with Fan Jun and Bai Zhongchun on the choice of broadcasting platform.

The two prefer Youku platform after its merger with Tudou.

However, due to his previous failures in directing, Youku put forward quite harsh contract conditions.

The buyout fee was far below his expectations and even a bit insulting, which made him very reluctant.

"Ding ding ding."

The phone rang and he quickly picked it up. It was his partner Fan Jun.

"Hello! How's it going?" He answered the call, walked to the window, opened it, and let in a cool breeze.

Fan Jun's voice was full of excitement: "I have already found out that PPS's model of buying dramas is completely different from that of iQiyi, Tencent, and Youku."

"They will not use funds to directly purchase TV series from the film companies, but will adopt a zero-guarantee profit-sharing model and distribute the proceeds based on the performance after the broadcast. In principle, any TV series can participate in the profit-sharing, but the profit-sharing ratio is very particular."

"Don't keep us in suspense. Tell us what it is like in detail?" Yi Zhenxing asked impatiently.

He is going crazy. "My Love from the Star" and the platform shared 3.9 million yuan in advertising fees.

That’s 3.9 million!!

In 2012, Youku and Tudou spent about the same amount on advertising in one quarter.

It is unprecedented that dramas broadcast on streaming media can share advertising fees with the same platform.

Fan Jun explained: “Take our show ‘Never Expected’ as an example, if we choose to broadcast it on PPS, the first thing we have to decide is whether to go the exclusive or non-exclusive route.

Exclusive means that it can only be played on PPS, and the contract will clearly stipulate a longer time frame. Non-exclusive means the opposite, and it can be launched on multiple platforms, but either way, there is no guaranteed income.

I have learned about non-exclusives, and the revenue sharing ratio is very low, so I will not consider it. The key point I want to make is exclusivity. "

Fan Jun paused for a moment, waiting for Yi Zhenxing to digest this information.

He continued: “After the first round of broadcasting of a TV series on PPS, the platform will evaluate it based on multiple dimensions, including the number of effective broadcasts by members, total viewing time, the number of member users, and audience evaluation.

It is divided into six levels: S/A/B/C/D/E, and then the accounts are distributed according to different proportions.

In the top-level contract, PPS promises that after deducting necessary operating costs, it will not participate in any revenue sharing and will not charge any service fees. All revenue will belong to the creators. "

"Is this true?" Yi Zhenxing took a breath of the smog in Beijing in 2013, immediately closed the window, and asked, "So "My Love from the Star" is the highest level."

Fan Jun laughed out loud: "What? Didn't I just say that the level can only be determined after it is broadcast. But with Lu Yuan's influence, it is likely to be the highest level.

By the way, there is one more thing. PPS promises that it will select the best among the top five levels every year and provide a certain amount of investment subsidies.

D-level will receive 100 million, C-level will receive 500 million, B-level will receive 1000 million, A-level will receive 2000 million, and S-level, which is the annual drama king, will receive 5000 million in subsidies.

“Investment subsidies, what do you mean?”

"Let's continue with the example of 'Never Expected'. If we are rated as the best B-level movie of the year, PPS will invest 1000 million yuan for free after the next movie starts shooting."

Yi Zhenxing was still a little confused: "Why is there no subsidy for the E-Class?"

"Uh." Fan Jun on the other end of the phone paused and said, "PPS's definition of E-level is that after the broadcast, the platform determines that the drama is not worth paying for based on the dimensions just mentioned, and then kicks it out of the paid list, allowing all users to watch it for free."

Wang Yi Zhenxing said nothing about the content and remained silent for a long time.

"Hey, say something." Fan Jun shouted.

Yi Zhenxing tapped the table with his index finger, pursed his lips, and said hesitantly: "You said that after the filming of "Never Expected" is finished, why don't we just broadcast it on PPS?"

"Are you sure you want to do this? They don't have a guarantee, and we don't have a big shot like Lu Yuan joining us, so the initial advertising fee is probably not going to be high.

If the broadcast effect is not ideal, we will probably only earn some membership fees, but the number of members of major video websites is not optimistic at present, so we may lose money. "

"Lao Fan, believe me, this is better than the buyout contract with Youku. I have absolute confidence in 'Never Expected'. Moreover, with the popularity of 'My Love from the Star' and Lu Yuan's fan base, this drama can attract a large number of members to PPS. We have a chance, so let's take a gamble."

There was silence on the other side for a full half minute before a voice was heard.

"Row!"

There are countless creators like Yi Zhenxing in the film and television industry.

When PPS announced the news, especially after learning the profit-sharing details, they all fell silent.

After weighing the pros and cons carefully, my eyes turned red.

It is unknown how much Hunan Satellite TV spent to buy "My Love from the Star" last year.

But there is a consensus that it is definitely not cheap.

When it came to online copyright, everyone was curious, but no one had expected this model to work.

Lu Yuan's appeal on the small screen is overwhelming, and everyone recognizes that.

The online broadcast rights of other dramas starring top-tier actors were sold for 5000-6000 million yuan, but he sold them for 1 million yuan, which is still within the acceptable range for his peers in the industry.

But the current situation is that "My Love from the Star" will share 3.9 million yuan in advertising fees with the platform. If the top contract is really followed, PPS will only charge the most basic operating expenses.

Considering Lu Yuan's terrifying number of fans and popularity among the public, the membership fee when the show starts will be another huge sum.

Adding the two together, the online broadcast revenue of "My Love from the Star" alone may reach an astonishing 3 million+.

Selling the online broadcasting rights of a TV series for 3 million is simply a fantasy!

This amount of money is incredible even for traditional TV stations.

What is the price at which TV stations buy dramas?
In 2011, the highest-selling TV series in China was called "The Eternal Number".

Excluding the cost of online copyright, each episode costs 400 million, and there are 34 episodes in total. CCTV spent 1.36 million to buy the exclusive broadcasting rights.

In 2012, Lu Yuan left the small screen.

The sales record for the TV series' TV and Internet copyrights barely reached the level of 400 million yuan per episode.

Among them, the drama with the highest purchasing record is "Legend of Chu and Han", which was broadcast on the four major satellite TV stations in Anhui, Tianjin, Beijing and Zhejiang at the end of 12.

This is a historical drama starring Chen Daoming. The four major satellite TV stations and Fengxing.com worked together to give 300 million yuan per episode. Because of the 80 episodes, it was finally sold at a sky-high price of 2.4 million yuan.

The industry was shocked and it took a long time to recover.

Now there is something even more amazing, with the online copyright alone selling for over 3 million.

If we include Hunan Satellite TV's drama purchase costs, how many billions would it be?
Many producers said they couldn’t understand the current market.

Interests always attract the attention of the red-handed.

At one time, countless people in the film and television industry contacted PPS to inquire about more details about the profit sharing.

Either cooperate or watch.

Purple Jade Villa.

Lu Jing stopped the car and stood in front of the courtyard gate. He turned into an actor with his eyebrows slightly frowned and a bitter face to show his sympathy.

"Brother, you are really my dear brother. I have been exhausted these past few days. I don't know how many calls you have to answer, one after another, without stopping, and you never even said anything to comfort me."

In the living room, there is an iPad on the coffee table, displaying the PPS interface.

But at this moment, Lu Yuan was not staring at the screen, but was staring at the script of "My Love from the Star" in his hand.

Until Lu Jing sat down beside him and sighed.

He raised his head, smiled, and said, "Okay, okay, I'll give you a bonus next month."

In 2012, a total of 506 TV series with a total of 17703 episodes were successfully produced and obtained the "Domestic TV Series Distribution License" across the country.

The output of TV dramas has once again hit a new high, but the actual broadcast volume lags far behind the production volume.

There are only a handful of first-tier TV stations in China that have the ability to broadcast new dramas, no more than ten.

The other second- and third-tier brothers follow their respective big brothers, and they broadcast whatever their big brothers broadcast.

Even if we calculate based on a high frequency of broadcasting two episodes every night, 365 days a year, domestic TV stations can only digest about 7300 episodes throughout the year.

As a result, the remaining 10000 episodes of TV series will inevitably be piled up.

And this situation has been going on for many years.

Therefore, when PPS first proposed the adoption of a revenue-sharing agreement, its significance to the entire industry was self-evident.

PPS is a ray of light in the darkness. It is inevitable that Lu Jing will be tired.

"Bonus, is it true?" Lu Jing was immediately delighted after getting the confirmation.

"How many drama producers have contacted the platforms in the past few days?" Lu Yuan continued to ask.

"19!" Lu Jing answered, and then added with a little frustration.

"Unfortunately, their quality is generally poor. For some TV series, I suspect the screenwriters have no brains. The employees in charge of reviewing them want to resign after watching them. They say they have never seen such a bad show in their lives for decades. It is a bit of a stretch to give it an E rating."

Lu Yuan smiled. Among the tens of thousands of TV series piled up every year, there must be some with relatively good quality, but they are rare after all, and the overall quality is worrying.

But these dramas are not useless.

In terms of funding, PPS cannot compete with video website companies such as iQiyi and Tencent, and cannot compete with them for dramas.

But PPS has more users, so we can tell our peers by giving them profit sharing: come on, take a gamble, the profit sharing will be more advantageous.

If other video networks follow suit and adopt the profit-sharing model, everyone will be on the same starting line.

If you don't choose to follow up.

"My Love from the Star" is the first benchmark set by PPS to the outside world!
PPS is a big stage, come if you dare to gamble.

He closed the script and consoled, "It's okay, take your time. The revenue-sharing model is relatively new and carries greater risks than a buyout, so everyone is hesitant."

"Yes, I know. Xu Weifeng also said so."

Lu Yuan changed his sitting position and asked, "By the way, have iQiyi and Tencent taken any action?"

Lu Jing shook his head. "Not yet. They are probably considering whether to follow suit. However, there have been some discussions on social media in the past few days, saying that the revenue-sharing model is only useful for TV series with big-name stars. Small productions are better off with guaranteed buyouts."

Lu Yuan pinched his chin, his analysis made sense.

After all, for the vast majority of TV dramas, due to limitations on the cast, they do not have the basic conditions to bid for the sky-high advertising fee of "3.9 million", and the bulk of the share they can get is still the membership fee.

When it comes to streaming media, there is only one word to describe it: content is king!
All it takes is a low-budget hit to prove this.

"My Love from the Star" is just a sample, and it also creates a ceiling, makes the profit-sharing model famous, and proves that this path is feasible.

Later, Faraway Media will have other dramas to follow.

February 2th, the eleventh day of the first lunar month.

The movie "Beijing Meets Seattle" has been released for seven days, and the cumulative box office in the first six days has exceeded 2 million yuan. The theater chain estimates the box office of this movie to be 5-6 million yuan.

Although Lu Yuan did not participate in the performance, the topic surrounding him was very hot. Xue Xiaolu, Wang Jinsong, Tang Wei and others also mentioned him many times when they were interviewed.

At the same time, the crew of "My Love from the Star" held a press conference in Beijing.

All media have been looking forward to this drama for a long time.

Zhaoyang District, Lijingwan International Hotel.

The meeting was crowded with reporters, and there was a row of tables on the podium.

"Here they come!" a reporter suddenly shouted.

I saw several people coming out from the backstage one after another, led by director Zhang Li, lead actor Lu Yuan, and the leading actress
"Damn, the director is actually Zhang Li!!"

"The lead actor is Lu Yuan, and the director is Zhang Li. This lineup is really luxurious."

"Hey, who's that standing behind Lu Yuan? He looks good. I have some impression of him, but I can't remember where he is."

In the dramas starring Lu Yuan, female characters have never been the focus, but the reporters on the scene still have some doubts about this.

"I remember now. It seems to be the only female artist who signed a contract with his company before. She has a very good relationship with Liu Shishi. Her name is Liu.Liu."

"Liu Xinyou!"

(End of this chapter)