Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 119

Shi Lei got some peace and quiet in the past half month, and Fausto never looked for him again.

He didn't know whether Fausto would plot something, such as joining forces with Colombia to suppress him.

But even so, he would not give in.

The suppression by the two companies is nothing more than blocking the release of films by Shuimitao Films.

Perhaps a few other big Hollywood companies will be involved.

But he's not afraid.

There is an interesting rule in North America that film and television production companies cannot control theaters.

We cannot build our own cinema chains like Hua Xia did.

This system is designed to prevent monopoly.

If a film is handled from production to distribution and release, and the whole process is completed, there will be no chance for small film and television companies to survive.

Companies are allowed to build cinema chains in China because there is the China Cinema Chain, and many cinemas are state-owned.

As long as China Film Corporation exists, the benefits of monopoly cannot be maximized and no one can monopolize the domestic film market.

The North American antitrust system is very friendly to small film and television companies, allowing many film and television companies to have distribution rights in North America.

North American film and television companies need to negotiate with theater chains when distributing movies in North America.

The film can be shown in as many cinemas as you negotiate with the theater chains.

So in North America it is called an opening exhibition venue.

Large-scale film and television companies not only open a large number of venues, but also receive a larger share of the revenue in the first few weeks.

For example, Disney's films and TV shows can get 90% of the box office revenue in the first week.
Shuimitao Films naturally does not have such strength, but Shuimitao horror films are very popular in North America. If it releases a horror film, the number of theaters opening will not be less than three, and it can get 80% of the distribution share in the first week. In the second week, the proportion can be 65%, and in the third week, 50%. It will get lower and lower in the future, and the final proportion will be 25%.

This may seem unfair to cinemas, but they will not lose money as they mainly make money by selling popcorn and soda.

In North America, buying popcorn when watching movies has become a habit.

Of course, cinemas are not stupid. Movies with good box office will be shown for two months or even three months.

Shuimitao Films' horror films make a small profit for both parties, so there is no problem with distribution in North America.

The problem is overseas distribution.

Overseas distribution is quite messy. For example, the share of profits Hollywood movies get in South Korea is the same as that of local films, which is 45%, while in China, Hollywood movies can get about 25%.

Other countries also have different sharing ratios.

In other words, companies with global distribution capabilities must set up offices in many countries and send people to negotiate with multiple countries.

This is how we have the ability to distribute films globally.

For various reasons, no company in China has global distribution capabilities.

Therefore, the films produced by Shuimitao Film and Television can only be limited to a few countries in North America and East Asia, and they cannot be released in countries further away.

In fact, even if it can be released in the Southeast, the bulk of the movie box office will still be in the North American market.

Even so, he is not afraid of breaking up with the two giants. If the film cannot be released this year, he can wait until next year. After a year, if one of them acquires a stake, he will be able to release the film.

Shi Lei sighed, "Not having the ability to distribute films globally is a shortcoming after all. It would be great if China had a global distribution company.

There is a lot of resistance just for global distribution.”

Hollywood's overseas distribution costs are high, the profit share is low, settlement is complicated, and payment is slow. Some films have not completed settlement for a year, and the efficiency is very low.

Even Hollywood companies in North America are in this situation, and Chinese companies are even more troublesome.

The West is too hostile towards China, and China will encounter more problems in its global distribution.

"Forget it. Let China Film Group worry about global distribution."

……

After getting off the plane, Shi Lei went straight to the TV drama production department of Taolin Film and Television. There was a problem with one of the films produced last year.

The first round broadcast rights of "Soldier Assault" were not sold as expected.

The best condition they got was a joint broadcast of 40 episodes of "Soldier Assault" by two TV stations. The first round of broadcast rights was sold for per episode, which did not even reach the market average price.

If sold at this price, even if it becomes a hit, you can only recover the cost.

Not worth it!

Shi Lei kept tapping the table and finally made a decision that "Soldier Assault" would not be broadcast on TV.

He found the director of the film and said directly: "Director Kang, please cut the original 30 episodes into 40 episodes."

Kang Honglei was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but remind him: "Director Shi, if you cut it this way, the length of each episode will be greatly reduced."

"You can add a summary of the previous episode and a preview of the next episode, and the time will be about right," said Shi Lei.

"Shi Lei, this won't work. The people at the TV station are not stupid. They won't buy it." Kang Honglei rejected Shi Lei.

Shi Lei shook his head and explained: "I don't want to make money by increasing the number of episodes. I want the TV series to be premiered on Feixun Video Network, increase the number of users for Feixun Video Network, and set up a VIP mode by the way."

"Four episodes will be broadcast on the first day, two of which are free to watch. VIP members can watch two more episodes. From now on, the series will be updated at a rate of two episodes per day. VIP members can always watch two more episodes. After the entire series is broadcast, the last two episodes require VIP membership to watch."

Kang Honglei frowned slightly when he heard this. He didn't understand Shi Lei's plan and needed to think about the key point.

Nowadays, people still like to watch pirated content when surfing the Internet on their computers, so the VIP plan is not optimistic.

But no matter how pessimistic he is, he has to do it.

This is to cultivate the audience's awareness of paying.

In fact, video websites were not very successful in offering membership services until 24 years ago.

Many people are willing to buy a cup of milk tea for 15 yuan, but are reluctant to subscribe to a video membership for 15 yuan a month.

Regardless of whether this model is necessary or not, it is not for the purpose of collecting membership fees. The bulk of video websites’ profits come from advertising revenue. When television ends in the future, most of the advertising revenue that originally belonged to TV stations will flow into video websites.

The main purpose of membership fees is to cultivate the audience's awareness of anti-piracy.

When searching for TV series and entering Feixun Video Network, if you see that it requires VIP and you don’t want to give it, you will go to pirated websites to watch. At this time, the audience knows that they are watching pirated TV series and movies.

Unlike now, when you search for videos on many websites, such as Tudou, LeTV, and Fetion Video, you can watch them for free, so who knows which one is pirated.

He was still hesitating when this phenomenon occurred. Feixun Film and Television purchased a large number of film and television drama copyrights, even some foreign films and TV series.

With the copyright in hand, he can sue Tudou and LeTV. I can’t say what the compensation will be, but the products will definitely be taken off the shelves.

However, this will cause the copyright price of film and television dramas to increase dramatically.

Because the other two video websites will also purchase the rights to broadcast TV series and movies online, competition is inevitable. The consequence of the competition is that the company's cost of purchasing copyrights will rise sharply.

TV series with high ratings may be for sale at a low price or even not be sold at all.

The days of spending tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan to buy a drama are gone. Just be patient!

"Director Shi, you seem to attach great importance to video websites." Kang Honglei still didn't figure out the key point in the end.

He had always thought that Feixun Video Network was to divert traffic to Feixun Chat and Feixun Weibo. Now that Shi Lei premiered the TV series on the video network, he realized how much Shi Lei valued the video network.

"Yes, I attach great importance to video networks." Shi Lei admitted generously.

When he first founded the video network, the signal he sent out was that he valued the video network, but few people believed it.

Now, people in the industry still think that the video network is a wrong decision, and maintaining such a video website is a pure waste of money.

This is also a good idea as it will help Taolin Film and Television acquire the rights to broadcast TV series online.

After several years, the video network has obtained 80% of the online broadcasting rights for film and television dramas.

The remaining 20% ​​is in the hands of Tudou and LeTV.

Tudou and LeTV are simply following Taolin Film and Television's trend. In this age of rampant piracy, the two companies do not want to waste money purchasing the broadcasting rights for film and television dramas, but are also afraid that there may be some fishy stuff, so they just followed the trend and purchased a little.

"Director Shi, I have to remind you again that the broadcast of Soldier Assault on video websites is a loss-making operation."

Shi Lei smiled and replied: "It's okay to lose money, I don't mind."

The TV stations’ quotes for military-themed programs are generally not high, and they are one-time buyouts. The subsequent advertising revenue has nothing to do with the producers.

The advertising revenue of the video website belongs entirely to Taolin Film and Television.

Given the popularity of "Soldier Assault", there must be many advertising companies knocking on the door.

He is still confident that he can make back his investment.

"Okay then, let's listen to Director Lin. It's you who invested the full amount anyway. I'm already satisfied that the film can be made." Even though Shi Lei had said this, Kang Honglei continued to insist.

He reminded Shi Lei many times out of kindness, and now that Shi Lei refused to accept it, there was nothing he could do.

Shi Lei nodded and said, "Don't worry, Director Kang. I believe in your ability. This drama will definitely be a masterpiece. I plan to invite you to continue filming military dramas. I have several military drama scripts."

"Oh, let me see." Kang Honglei immediately became interested.

"Come with me to the office."

Shi Lei took Kang Honglei into his office, entered the password of the safe, spent some time searching, and took out two scripts.

The two scripts are "I am a Special Forces Soldier" and "My Captain, My Regiment".

Kang Honglei took the script and read it carefully.

His expression kept changing while watching the scripts; both scripts touched his heart.

An hour later, Kang Honglei heaved a sigh of relief, hesitated between the two scripts, and said, "I choose My Captain, My Regiment. This drama is very meaningful to film."

Shi Lei smiled and said, "You don't have to be so entangled. I'm only letting you choose which one to shoot first. After you finish shooting "The Regiment Commander", you can immediately shoot "I Am a Special Forces Soldier". If possible, I hope you can shoot two dramas a year."

Kang Honglei breathed a sigh of relief and complained, "Director Shi, why didn't you tell me earlier? I was troubled for so long for nothing."

Shi Lei shrugged and said innocently: "You didn't ask me!"

Kang Honglei looked at Shi Lei helplessly. He knew Shi Lei did it on purpose, but he couldn't say it.

“Can I take two scripts?”

Shi Lei shook his head and said, "You can only take the script of "The Regiment Commander" but not the script of "I Am a Special Forces Soldier". Don't worry, if I tell you to shoot it, I won't give the script to anyone else."

In fact, there are quite a few scripts in the Special Forces series, but other works like Blade of the Hunt and Fire Phoenix are seriously plagiarized. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are remakes of I Am Special Forces.

Other military dramas can make money, but they can’t make big money unless they break out of the circle.

The main reason is that "Soldier Assault" is too good, and "I Am a Special Forces Soldier" has almost done a good job of filming special forces. The plots of other special forces film and television dramas are very similar.

All the special forces are selected, trained, and exercised, and then carry out anti-terrorism and anti-drug missions.

It's all a framework, no surprises.

The more I watch, the more boring it becomes.

Finally, due to changes in the audience groups of TV dramas, military dramas have also become romance dramas. In the past, love was a sideline of military dramas, but after becoming romance dramas, many of them focused on love.

There is nothing that can be done about it. With the impact of American TV series, men like to watch high-quality dramas and have high requirements for domestic TV dramas. Many male audiences only watch high-quality dramas.

Compared with male audiences, female audiences are very emotional and easier to control. The cost of romance dramas is also cheaper and the risks are lower. Producers shoot a large number of romance dramas for profit.

Of course, top TV dramas must appeal to both men and women in order to become leaders.

Kang Honglei looked at the script of "I Am a Special Forces Soldier" on the table, feeling a little reluctant.

However, he did not continue to ask Shi Lei for the script, as the script had to be kept secret until it was filmed.

"It's unrealistic to shoot two dramas in one year. I need to polish the drama "Captain" carefully." Kang Honglei looked away from the table and answered Shi Lei's previous question.

"It's okay to be slow, you have to shoot "Captain" well." Shi Lei reminded.

"The Regiment Leader" is actually suitable for watching on video websites and is a TV series worth careful appreciation.

There are a huge number of TV dramas on the anti-Japanese theme, but not many of them can truly enter the audience's memory.

Among TV dramas of this type, "My Captain, My Regiment" may not necessarily be the best, but it is definitely the most unique and different.

The reason why "My Captain, My Regiment" is so unique is that it is real enough and completely different from other dramas of the same type.

The truth is mainly reflected in the following aspects.

The real enemy is no longer a stereotyped negative face, but a living person.

In many TV dramas about the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese army is the absolute villain, portrayed as a very stereotyped negative image, extremely stereotyped and almost the same.

Sometimes, in order to highlight the hero's extraordinary bravery, the character will be deliberately weakened. The enemies are always stupid and will eventually be destroyed.

But "My Captain, My Regiment" is completely different.

Even though the Japanese army is an enemy and a villain, we must face up to its excellence and strength. Otherwise, it would be a betrayal of history.

The Japanese army was stronger than the Chinese army, so strong that many defeated soldiers were frightened and fled at the first blow. It was so strong that Long Wenjian "saw countless defeats".

It was so strong that men from all over the world could only hide in a small town in the southwest to survive after losing half of China.

The Japanese troops could survive like rats in the tunnels of Nantianmen. They were very patient, even more patient than us.

It’s not that victory is impossible, but that victory is achieved through sacrifice and human life.

In the battle at Nantianmen, Long Wenjian gathered the defeated soldiers and bought time for Yu Xiaoqing to consolidate the river defense, preventing the Japanese army from crossing the river. However, almost all of his troops were annihilated, and more than a thousand lives were lost at Nantianmen.

The final capture of Nan Tianmen cost countless blood and lives.

Our war of resistance was never a matter of triviality or just watching fish and flowers, but a real consumption of lives and blood.

(End of this chapter)