The literary era since 1979

"According to what you said, this group drama involving the Seven Swordsmen and the evil cult villains is probably too long to be broadcast in 30 episodes?"

Yu Dajin stared straight at Fangyan.

"That's true. This type of group portrait animation is usually longer."

Fangyan said that if each episode of "The Legend of the Seven Heroes of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit" is calculated as 20 minutes long, the estimated length will reach 90 episodes, or even 100 episodes.

When Yu Dajin heard that the length of "Legend of the Seven Heroes of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit" might exceed the 95 episodes of "Transformers", he was shocked:
"Teacher Fang, is it really that long?"

"Why, isn't this exactly what the Shangmei Factory expected?"

Fangyan asked back.

"No, no, if there really can be 90 or 100 episodes, we would absolutely love it."

Yu Dajin was surprised and delighted. Originally, the whole team at Shanghai Animation Studio was satisfied when Mr. Fang agreed to write a 30-episode animation series. However, they never expected that the amount would be doubled. This was undoubtedly a blessing in disguise for Shanghai Animation Studio, which was in a financial crisis.

"If Director Yu is satisfied with this martial arts story, let's talk about how we can cooperate."

Fangyan crossed his hands and looked serious.

Yu Hua, Wang Shuo, Zheng Yuanjie and others also stopped smiling and listened attentively. First of all, the screenwriter team of "The Legend of the Seven Heroes of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit" is mainly composed of Mingtianxia Company, with Fang Yan as the chief screenwriter, and Yu Hua, Zheng Yuanjie and others as the main writers. Of course, Shanghai Animation Studio also needs to send people to participate. Although the screenwriters of Shanghai Animation Studio may not understand the creation of martial arts scripts, how can they design animated characters around the script without participating in it?

"You're right."

Yu Dajin nodded in agreement.

"As for the distribution of IP benefits of The Legend of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit..."

Fangyan knocked on the table.

"I...IP?"

Yu Dajin's eyes widened with a confused look on his face, obviously it was the first time he heard this word.

But for Yu Hua and the others, this was obviously not the first time, and their eyes were full of desire as they looked at Fang Yan.

Seeing everyone eager to try, Fang Yan couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, so he asked Yu Hua to come out and explain.

"The so-called 'IP' is intellectual property."

Yu Hua said: "But to be precise, it is the intellectual property that can be adapted into animation, film, TV series, literature..."

Fangyan added: "Just like the Transformers that Shanghai Mei Factory has always envied, Transformers is one of the IPs developed by Hasbro, and those Transformers toys that are popular in China are also part of the development of Hasbro's IP-related derivative products."

Yu Dajin opened his mouth wide, and words he had never heard of, such as "IP incubation", "IP development", and "IP economy", kept ringing in his ears. A look of sudden enlightenment appeared on his face, "I see, I thought Transformers was just an advertisement for Hasbro!"

"No, this is just part of Hasbro's IP monetization."

Fangyan then pointed out the problem of Shangmei Studio, which is that it has art resources and IP resources but lacks the ability to develop and monetize IP.

"Teacher Fang is absolutely right."

Yu Dajin sighed, "If Shangmei Factory could be like Hasbro, it wouldn't be in the current situation."

"It's not your fault, actually."

He didn't need to worry about the dialect. After all, the Shanghai Mei Factory had always been under a planned economy model, so there was no way it could engage in market-oriented operations such as IP development.

"Anyway, Shangmei Factory doesn't have such capabilities at the moment." Yu Dajin smiled bitterly, "I wonder if Mr. Fang has any good ideas?"

Fang Yan said slowly, "Since Shangmei Factory has produced Yuanjie's "Shuke and Beta", I wonder if you have noticed any products with Shuke and Beta's images on the market, such as stationery, toys, children's clothing, and school bags?"

Yu Dajin's eyes suddenly lit up, "I've heard that these products are all from Mr. Fang's brother-in-law, right?"

"That's right!"

Zheng Yuanjie openly admitted that when "Shuke and Beta" was first created, the IP had already been authorized to Han Yuemin, and that Fangyan and Han Yuemin were very particular. When they ate meat, they also did not forget to drink soup for themselves. Not only did he receive IP copyright fees, but he also received a share of the revenue from peripheral derivative products.

"In addition to Shuke and Beta, there are also Pippi Lu and Lu Xixi."

Yu Hua said confidently: "It can be said that no one in China currently understands IP economics better than Teacher Fang!"

Yu Dajin couldn't help but be tempted and prepared to hand over the IP development of "The Legend of the Seven Heroes of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit" to Fang Yan and Han Yuemin.

"That's exactly what I meant."

Fang Yan feels that "Legend of the Seven Heroes of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit" is just the beginning of the cooperation. Shanghai Animation Studio has huge IP resources and IP incubation capabilities, such as "Calabash Brothers" and "Black Cat Sheriff". What it lacks is a partner like Han Yuemin. The combination of the two parties can be described as a powerful alliance.

Yu Dajin became more and more excited, and it happened that the second part of "Calabash Brothers", "Calabash Brothers: Little King Kong" was in production.

"If this cooperation goes well, we can definitely cooperate for a long time in the future!"

"Then it's settled."

Fangyan smiled and agreed to introduce Han Yuemin to Shangmei Factory.

Next, it comes to the copyright issue of "The Legend of the Seven Heroes of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit". The mainland copyright belongs to Shangmei Film Studio, which has to rely on selling the broadcasting rights to TV stations. However, in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even in overseas markets, the broadcasting rights of the cartoon are represented by Mingtianxia Company.

"In addition, the Shanghai Animation Studio must also grant free authorization to Anime World to allow the production of the comic book Legend of the Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Heroes."

Zheng Yuanjie said seriously: "There is also the publication of the novel in a single volume, and serialization in the magazine "Fairy Tale World"..."

"I can't make the decision on these matters alone. I need to report to Director Yan and his team, and then hold a meeting in the factory to discuss and make a decision."

Yu Dajin told the truth, "It may take some time."

"That's no problem, you guys should think about it and discuss it carefully."

Fangyan did not leave with Yu Dajin, but stayed in the editorial department.

Yu Hua, Zheng Yuanjie, Wang Shuo and others sat together, waiting for Teacher Fang to give them a set of rules.

"I asked you to watch "Seven Swordsmen" and "Seven Weapons". How did you like them?"

Dialect looks left and right.

Everyone looked embarrassed and watched but didn't finish it.

Especially Wang Shuo, who could only bite the bullet and promise: "Teacher Fang, let's watch "Seven Swordsmen" in the next few days!"

"Reading it once is not enough, it's better to read it several times." Fangyu's tone was unquestionable. "I plan to postpone my trip back to Hong Kong. In the next few days, everyone should work together to write out the plot outline, story framework, and character design."

No matter how much Wang Shuo resisted martial arts novels, he had to agree.

After all, "Legend of the Seven Heroes of Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit" is not just a cooperation on an animation, but also involves the subsequent cooperation with American IP development. (End of this chapter)