This top guy is crazy!

Director Xia looked at the title of the play and asked curiously:

"A new Legend of White Snake? Why is there a new one? Was there a Legend of White Snake before?"

Cheng Cheng was talking nonsense:

"No, this lady is called New White Lady, so it's called New Legend of White Lady."

"Emmmm", Director Xia couldn't hold it anymore, it turns out the reason why it's called 'Sea Cucumber Fried Rice' is not because there is sea cucumber in the fried rice, but because the chef calls it sea cucumber?

This is very reasonable.
What a ghost!
but--

Director Xia didn't worry about the title of the play.

Because compared to the title of the drama, he cared more about the fact that it was Cheng Cheng's work. After all, Cheng Cheng had previously released "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 1" and skipped "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 2" and went straight to "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3".

It turns out that the title of the drama is not important, Cheng Cheng is important.

Director Xia took the script and flipped through a few pages. He tried to find the subtleties of the script, but after reading for a while, his eyes began to become confused.

He had to admit that he really lacked professional vision in this regard. After reading for a long time, he still couldn't make sense of it. He couldn't understand the plot structure and character relationships in the script at all.

Finally, Director Xia smiled awkwardly and gently closed the script. He raised his head, with a hint of expectation in his eyes, and asked:

"Director Cheng, how exactly should we cooperate?"

Cheng Cheng had already made a record, and said:
"The specific shooting will be done by our Myth Company. The Yuhang Culture and Tourism Bureau is responsible for providing the shooting location and escorting. In the later stage, the Yuhang Culture and Tourism Bureau will also be required to cooperate with some necessary publicity and promotion work. The focus is on the shooting location. My idea is to build a film and television city. The film and television city is connected with the West Lake, Jinshan Temple, and Leifeng Pagoda. After the shooting is completed, it will be directly open to tourists, bringing the White Snake IP to reality. After arriving at the film and television city, tourists can immerse themselves in the scenes of the play at a 1:1 ratio.

In addition to the scenes in the drama, the film and television city also includes but is not limited to the real scenes in the TV series, theaters, cinemas, drama theaters, script-killing halls, teahouses, restaurants, cultural and creative halls, etc. ”

Director Xia's eyes lit up more and more as he listened. If Cheng Cheng's plan could really be realized, it would be a unique cultural and tourism project in the country with endless potential!
Cheng Cheng continued:
"And it's not just the Legend of the New White Snake. In the future, the White Snake IP will lead to many more works that can be added to this film and television city."

The idea of ​​building a film and television city was not Cheng Cheng’s original idea. After Lv Zhuofeng switched to directing commercial films in 2003, he spent 400 million to build an ancient building just for the purpose of making a movie.

After the filming of the movie, the ancient building was preserved and became a tourist attraction, but it was not developed later and very few people visited it.

The main reason is the lack of commercialization, and the ancient buildings built by Lu Zhuofeng are too remote, deep in the mountains and forests. No one would make a special trip there just for an old movie from more than ten years ago.

The film and television city that Cheng Cheng mentioned is comparable to the Dijing Universal Studios. However, compared to Universal Studios which has many movies, Cheng Cheng's film and television city only focuses on the White Snake IP.

He instantly became excited, and said with uncontrollable joy in his tone:
"Director Cheng, your suggestion is great. I didn't expect that besides being a genius in creation, you are also so insightful in this area! Then I will immediately go to the leadership to apply for planning land, strive for policy support, and select the most suitable plot!!!"

Director Xia was talking non-stop and wanted to continue, but Cheng Cheng interrupted him and asked directly:

"Director Xia, what do you think about the funding issue?"

Director Xia thought for a moment and said:

"I plan to take a two-pronged approach to the production costs of the TV series and the huge amount of money needed to build the film and television city. On the one hand, I will apply for special government support funds; on the other hand, I will widely contact investment institutions interested in cultural and tourism projects to attract social capital injections and work together to solve the funding problem."

Cheng Cheng shook his head and said:
"That's not what I meant. Shinhwa is not short of money. I don't need the investment from the Yuhang Cultural and Tourism Bureau. On the contrary, I will invest in building a film and television city. You don't need to introduce other capital."

Director Xia was suddenly shocked:
Cheng Cheng actually has such great courage?
You know, building a film and television city requires an astronomical investment.

The construction of Dijing Universal Studios cost a total of 1000 billion yuan, and Hengdian spent over 300 billion yuan. As for other film and television cities of general size, the cost ranges from hundreds of millions to more than ten billion yuan.

Is Shinhwa so rich?
Do you want to monopolize the investment in the film and television city?
Director Xia asked: "Director Cheng, what are your conditions?"

Director Xia knew that Cheng Cheng’s request was definitely not that simple. It was impossible for him to provide both the script and the money just to do good things. This was almost a fantasy in the real world.

After all, Cheng Cheng's proposal was indeed very tempting. In a sense, Cheng Cheng had contracted a piece of land as a developer, but the land was not in his hands. Apart from that, all planning on the land was decided by Cheng Cheng.

Cheng Cheng said:
"My condition is that after the film and television city is built, the operating rights for the first five years will belong to Shenhua Media. During this period, Shenhua Media can take the majority of the ticket revenue, venue rental income, store rental income, commercial cooperation income, etc., for example, 70%, to quickly recover funds. The Yuhang Cultural and Tourism Bureau will take 30%, which will be mainly used to maintain the daily management of the scenic area and infrastructure maintenance. After the cost recovery period, when it enters the stable profit period, the operating rights will be discussed again, and the two parties can readjust the distribution ratio, for example, 5:5."

Director Xia thought to himself, if that's true, then I know Cheng Cheng can't be a philanthropist.

But the conditions proposed by Cheng Cheng were somewhat unacceptable to him.

In fact, revenue sharing is a small matter. After all, if Shenhua invests independently, Yuhang's initial investment would only require a piece of development land and a certain amount of funds. With the help of this project, it can enhance the local visibility and promote the development of the cultural and tourism industry. In the long run, it is a sure-win deal.

However, the first five years of operation made Director Xia somewhat doubtful.

The five-year operation cycle is not short. During these five years, if Shinhwa Media controls the management rights, it means that the voice of Yuhang will be greatly weakened!!!

Once disagreements arise on key issues such as the scenic area management direction, business cooperation model, etc., who should we listen to?

Moreover, Cheng Cheng said that the management rights and profit-sharing ratio would be renegotiated later, but that was too unsafe. What if Cheng Cheng was still unwilling to return the management rights to Yuhang after five years?
Yuhang Culture and Tourism Bureau is too passive!

Director Xia said in embarrassment:

"Director Cheng, the management rights for the first five years——"

Cheng Cheng knew what Director Xia was thinking.

He knew that Director Xia was worried about what would happen if Shenhua and Yuhang had different ideas.

Cheng Cheng’s answer was——

listen to me!
Just listen to me!

The reason why he wants the operating rights for the first five years is to have the right to speak in his own hands, because the operating rights for the first five years are too critical. How the business model is formulated, how to select merchants, and how to plan scenic activities are all related to whether the film and television city can be successful.

If it is really handed over to Yuhang, can he feel at ease?
Who can guarantee that some of the responsible persons will not abuse their power for personal gain and bring in some unscrupulous businessmen and family members?

If that time really comes and the film and television city project fails or something goes wrong, it will ruin the reputation of Shinhwa and Cheng Cheng.

Furthermore, the first five years are the critical start-up period of the project. If the management rights are handed over to Yuhang, there may be a lot of opinions from all parties, which will be time-consuming and laborious to coordinate, and there will be endless cases of buck-passing, which will greatly affect the efficiency of the project. Rather than falling into such a passive situation, it is better to let Cheng Cheng play a real version of "Minecraft" and build his own ideal film and television city.

As for five years later——

Let’s talk about it in five years!
Cheng Cheng said:
"Director Xia, don't worry. We controlled the management rights for the first five years so that we could focus on the film and television city project. During this period, when we encounter major decisions, we will definitely fully respect the opinions of the local authorities."

Respect is respect, but whether to listen or not is another matter.

Director Xia frowned, still feeling that five years of operating rights was too hard to accept.

After thinking for a long time, Director Xia said:

"Director Cheng, let's do this.

I generally understand and agree with your proposal, but the issue of the five-year operating rights is of great significance to our local area. For example, the standards for land use fees, the proportion of management fees, the responsibilities and obligations of both parties in the operation process, etc., require us to organize a professional team, conduct detailed negotiations and formulation, and report and communicate with our superiors.

However, I think we can start filming the TV series now. What do you think?
In my opinion, this should be done sooner rather than later. Right now, Green Snake is in the hot theaters, and we can take advantage of the high popularity of Green Snake to attract more public attention, build momentum for the new drama, and make a good start.”

Cheng Cheng smiled but said nothing.

Director Xia is very smart. He didn't give a clear result on the issue of operating rights at the moment, but just said that he would go back and discuss it. However, he is very positive about filming the TV series and he wants to finalize it right away.

All I can say is that Director Xia knows how to negotiate.

Cheng Cheng said:
"Okay, then tomorrow, we'll have a meeting and then release the news to the media."

Director Xia's heart, which had been hanging in the air, suddenly settled down.

He smiled happily and said excitedly:
"Director Cheng, it's settled then! I believe that if we work together, we will definitely achieve great success!!! Now let's go eat first, please try our Yuhang specialties!"

Cheng Cheng: What delicious food is there in Yuhang?
-

That night, Cheng Cheng, Director Xia, and a group of staff from the Culture and Tourism Bureau had a meal together. Director Xia took the lead in trying to get Cheng Cheng drunk, but was knocked down one by one by Cheng Cheng.

Cheng Cheng is not a human being. He drinks alcohol like he drinks water, and Director Xia and others are scared of it.

The next day, several people were unable to come to work as they had to go to the hospital for intravenous drips due to alcohol poisoning.

Director Xia felt dizzy and looked at Cheng Cheng, who was still in high spirits, and said with a wry smile:
"Director Cheng, I am really impressed by your alcohol tolerance. Even if the god of wine were alive, he would not be able to drink with you any more."

Cheng Cheng thought to himself, I have the skill to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, can you drink more than me?

Cheng Cheng was surprised that Director Xia was still sticking to his post.

At least Director Xia is very strong!
Cheng Cheng said: "You are considered a good drinker among the people I know."

"Really?"

Director Xia was very surprised to hear Cheng Cheng's evaluation.

Cheng Cheng: “That’s exactly it.”

Director Xia laughed happily, and the symptoms of his hangover seemed to be alleviated a little.

Then, Director Xia told Cheng Cheng about today's arrangements. First, there was an internal meeting. Director Xia invited the mayor of Yuhang and important leaders of various departments to attend. Cheng Cheng explained the project of the TV series "The Legend of the New White Snake" and the planning of the film and television city. After that, there was a press conference to release the news to the media.

Director Xia said:

"Director Cheng, you don't know that our mayor and secretary took your visit very seriously. They asked me to arrange for you to meet them!"

In Director Xia’s opinion, for a literary and artistic worker to achieve the status of Cheng Cheng, it is really the pinnacle.

The only one in the country!
The meeting was held as scheduled and went smoothly. Then, that afternoon, a press conference was held under the leadership of the Yuhang Culture and Tourism Bureau. Because it was rather rushed, only local media from Yuhang were invited.

Cheng Cheng said at the press conference:

"The Legend of the New White Snake tells the story of the White Snake repaying a favor. The plot is very different from that of Green Snake, so don't treat it as a drama version of Green Snake. Be careful of preconceived ideas. However, the main characters are still Bai Suzhen, Xiaoqing, Xu Xian, Fahai and others, and some parts have been deleted."

The reporter asked excitedly:

"Director Cheng, will the TV series re-select actors? Or will it still be you, Yan Gou'er, and Wen Lian?"

Cheng Cheng said:
"The casting for The Legend of White Snake will be recast, and the image will be different from that of Green Snake. I won't reveal the casting method here, and the news will be released later. The casting method for The Legend of White Snake is a nationwide audition. If there are newcomers who meet the image, I am very willing to give them a chance. Of course, non-newcomers are also fine. I will accept resumes from all experienced and inexperienced actors, but experienced actors are better off not signing up because they will take up space for newcomers. Of course, not all experienced actors are not rejected. I accept old actors with good acting skills, serious attitudes and ambitions. I don't welcome old actors who have only appeared in a few dramas and have been in the entertainment industry for a few years and then call themselves old actors. So, I still welcome truly experienced actors."

《The casting method will not be revealed here》

《Casting method is nationwide audition》

Cheng Cheng's words were exhausting for the reporters.

So – is it to accept experienced actors or not to accept experienced actors?
Never mind, let’s move on to the next question.

reporter:
"Director Cheng, when will the Legend of the New White Snake be launched?"

Cheng Cheng:

"It will be launched this year, and The Legend of White Snake will be a key project of Mythology in 2026."

reporter:
"Then can you tell us in detail about the film and television city plan in cooperation with Yuhang Culture and Tourism?"

Cheng Cheng: "Okay, let's call this the White Snake Film and Television City Project.

The White Snake Film and Television City project will be an attempt by Shinhwa to develop from the online entertainment industry to the offline physical service industry. This is just the beginning. Breaking the barriers between online and offline, there will be Journey to the West Film and Television City, Three-Body + The Wandering Earth Film and Television City, and Resident Evil Film and Television City in the future. With the continuous advancement of technology, this will be a new future." (End of this chapter)