Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 630: A Visit to the Set of "Snow Leopard"

In September, a light rain fell in Changsha, but the conference room of Hunan TV's program center was filled with smoke. A group of Hunan TV leaders sat together, discussing "The Voice of China".

Station Director Ouyang looked around and said, "Everyone, tell me, Xingchen Entertainment's 'The Voice of China' is coming on strong, how should we deal with it?"

After Ouyang finished speaking, the room fell silent. Although there were many people in the conference room, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Seeing that no one spoke, Ouyang began calling on people: "Long Danni, you go first~"

Long Danni is the deputy editor-in-chief of Hunan TV, the general manager of EE-Media, and the person in charge of this year's Super Girl competition.

Seeing that she couldn't avoid it, Long Danni simply spoke up: "The Voice of China is a variety show that suddenly appeared at the end of September. The show hasn't even started airing yet, but it has already started promoting itself on Weibo. The production company, Star Entertainment, has a very effective promotional strategy. The show hasn't even aired yet, but it has already generated a lot of buzz..."

"That's not what I want to hear. What I want to hear is what we should do."

Before Long Danni could finish speaking, Ouyang interrupted her, and she could only get to the point: "We haven't seen the program yet, so I don't know what the quality is like. I can only say that it won't affect us for the time being."

This year's "Super Girl" has ended perfectly, and next year's "Super Boy" is still a long way off. Moreover, I've heard that "The Voice of China" has chosen to premiere in November, a slow season. I don't know what they were thinking, but I think the chances of it succeeding are slim. Making variety shows is a very professional thing; it's not like you can make a good movie and then make a good variety show..."

After Long Danni finished speaking, many people nodded in agreement, clearly indicating that what Long Danni said was exactly what they were thinking.

After Long Danni finished speaking, she looked at Director Ouyang, but the director did not express his opinion and instead looked at the others.

The person he was targeting was Wang Peng, the marketing director, who said, "Danni and I have slightly different opinions. Although 'The Voice of China' did not affect this year's 'Super Girl,' it will have some impact on next year's 'Super Boy.' At least the sponsorship of 'Super Boy' has been affected."

The sponsorship plan for Q1 of next year has already been sent to several major investors, but they all expressed a desire to wait and see for a while. They're essentially waiting for "The Voice of China." Star Entertainment still has a huge influence among the public. Zhang Chen is great at making movies, and many people believe that his variety show plans will also be excellent…”

"Is Zhang Chen the planner of this program? I seem to remember that it was Guo Xiaohua who switched from Hunan Economic Television?" Director Ouyang said uncertainly.

"The information I've gathered is that Guo Xiaohua was just the executor; the idea for the program was proposed by Zhang Chen."

"Is that so?" The station director asked, his expression questioning.

"Yes, Director, I am quite clear about this. When I was having dinner with Guo Xiaohua and Marco, that's exactly what they said."

Wang Han's statement at this time confirmed the accuracy of Wang Peng's information.

"Then what should we do?"

Ouyang Yang raised this question once again.

“I don’t think we should just let it go. Even if The Voice of China doesn’t conflict with our schedule, as a singing competition program, it is naturally in competition with our Super Girl and Super Boy. Appropriate suppression is still necessary…”

Before he could finish speaking, the head of the TV drama department couldn't sit still any longer: "I think we should carefully consider whether to suppress them. We have always had a good relationship with Star Entertainment. They often use our variety shows to promote their movies, and we often get the first-run broadcast rights for their TV dramas."

If we rashly adopt a suppressive stance because of a program that is not yet certain, it will undoubtedly bring the relationship between the two sides to a freezing point, which will be very detrimental to future cooperation with higher authorities..."

He really wanted to say that if they really broke ties with Star Entertainment, they definitely wouldn't sell the TV series to them.

Everyone knows how popular the TV dramas produced by Star Entertainment have been in recent years. The spy trilogy of "Before Dawn," "Lurking," and "Cliff" were all hits. Many people are making spy dramas, but none have surpassed these three in all these years.

Other examples include "Palace" and "Beauty's Rival in Palace," both of which were huge hits. The two leading actresses, Fan Bingbing and Yang Mi, are now at the peak of their careers.

Star Entertainment's current project, "Snow Leopard," has already been slated to be next year's top drama. Hunan TV has a great chance of securing the rights to the series, but if things fall apart, it will definitely be cancelled. In that case, Hunan TV's ratings during prime time will certainly be overshadowed.

Wang Han then chimed in to support the show: "I also think we don't need to fall out with Star Entertainment. They just made a singing talent show. There are plenty of other shows like that, and none of them have been able to do anything to Super Girl."

Many people laughed when he said that.

They laughed because they are from Hunan TV, which has always been very strong in variety shows. Programs like "Happy Camp," "Super Girl," and "Super Boy" are all popular and enduring shows.

Others chimed in, saying, "The Voice of China premieres in November, which is the off-season for variety shows. Viewers' attention is focused on movies and TV dramas, so it's going to be hard for The Voice of China to make a big splash. Besides, what is our Super Girl?"
From 2005 to now, her popularity is ingrained in the public consciousness—last year, a rebroadcast of Li Yuchun's audition garnered over 5000 million views on a certain platform, and last week, the topic of 'Classic Super Girl Stage Performances' trended second on Weibo.

Old Zhou from the public opinion department chimed in, "We've done a survey. 62% of our 'Super Girl' core audience is between 18 and 33 years old. This group doesn't have that strong need for novelty in 'The Voice of China'..."

"But we must not let our guard down."

Wang Peng frowned. "The mentors invited by 'The Voice of China' this time are all top-tier singers, which is very attractive. Our 'Super Girl' will start airing in Q1 next year. If we let 'The Voice of China' warm up the youth market now, our sponsorship will definitely be affected."

The meeting room fell silent, the rain outside tapping against the glass as if it were tapping on everyone's thoughts.

Finally, Ouyang Station Director tapped his fingertips on the table: "Comrades, you all spoke freely and said a lot. One sentence in particular impressed me: 'How many singing competition programs have there been over the years? Many other stations have been trying their best to surpass us, but none of them have succeeded.'"

The success of our "Super Girl" program is not due to competing with others for popularity, but to the foundation we have built over the years—as long as the content is solid, the audience will naturally come.

If Star Entertainment wants to try, then let them try. There's a saying, "They won't turn back until they hit a brick wall."

We will maintain the principle of 'no suppression, no support, no interference,' closely monitor the situation first, and deal with other matters later..."

Everyone applauded enthusiastically, but they all knew that today's meeting was another meaningless one.

……

During the morning rush hour, the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing is always congested.

Zhang Chen and Ning Hao's Mercedes was stuck in the bustling traffic and could only move slowly along.

"As long as it's still moving, that's good. I'm just worried it won't move at all."

Ning Hao, experienced in traffic jams, looked at the endless taillights ahead and comforted Zhang Chen in the passenger seat.

The two agreed to visit Cao Bingkun on set together today.

Lao Cao is currently filming "Snow Leopard," which isn't far away. It's located in the Bayi Film and Television Base in Wangzuo Township, FT District, just over an hour's drive away.

But I didn't expect to encounter a traffic jam.

"What bad luck! I never expected this. It's already 9:30 and we're still stuck in traffic!"

Ning Hao was still muttering when Zhang Chen suddenly said, "Dude, let me tell you something even more upsetting~"

"what?"

"Your car seems to be subject to license plate restrictions today." Ning Hao was taken aback, then let out a scream: "I forgot about that!"

Beijing, being the capital, is quite different. It has long implemented a license plate restriction system, prohibiting vehicles with license plate numbers ending in 3 and 8, 4 and 9, 5 and 0, 1 and 6, and 2 and 7 from driving on weekdays, Monday through Friday.

Today is Monday, and Ning Hao's car number ends in 3.

"The good news is that one demerit point only lasts for four hours!"

"Where's the bad news?"

"We'll get another deduction when we get back this afternoon~"

"Ahhh~"

Amid screams, the car drove towards the outskirts of Beijing.

The scenery outside the car window gradually changed from the bustling city skyscrapers to the open suburban fields. The poplar trees on both sides of the road swayed gently in the breeze, and occasionally a few birds could be seen flying across the sky.

It's been a long time since the three brothers got together.

Zhang Chen frequently travels between China and abroad. Although Ning Hao doesn't go abroad, he travels around with the film crew all year round. Cao Bingkun is a little better off, as he mainly films TV series, basically in the same few film and television cities. However, it's difficult for the three of them to find a time that works together.

This time, the timing was perfect. Zhang Chen wasn't planning to film anything in the second half of the year, Ning Hao's "Train to Busan" had just been released, and "Ghost Blows Out the Light" hadn't started filming yet. Everyone was free, and Cao Bingkun happened to be filming near Beijing.

The two hit it off immediately and went to visit Cao Bingkun on set.

The car was driving smoothly on the highway. Ning Hao held the steering wheel with one hand and suddenly remembered something that had recently caused quite a stir in the film and television industry and society. He said to Zhang Chen, "Do you remember 'Lurking'? There was some big news recently. The actor who played 'Sheng Xiang', Ji Shiguang, is actually a wanted criminal who has been on the run for many years!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen was visibly surprised and immediately pressed for details.

Ning Hao continued, "It's quite a coincidence. As 'Lurking' was broadcast round after round, especially after the second, third and fourth rounds, more and more people remembered the various characters in the show. Although 'Shengxiang,' played by Ji Shiguang, was not the main character, he also left an impression on many viewers."

Unexpectedly, because of the show's popularity and high exposure, someone recognized that Ji Shiguang was a fugitive and reported it to the police.

Two days ago, after careful planning, the police successfully apprehended him in Jinhua, Zhejiang. This news stunned many in the industry; who would have thought such a thing was hidden in a classic spy drama!

After hearing this, Zhang Chen sighed repeatedly. It was a pity that this happened many years after the premiere of "Lurking," otherwise it could have fetched a good price for both the high and low run.

Ning Hao thought of Cao Bingkun and suddenly laughed, "Do you know how popular Cao is right now?"

"I really don't know, can you tell me?"

In recent years, Zhang Chen has focused his attention on Sino-foreign co-productions, and he hasn't paid attention to many domestic films, let alone TV series.

"Old Cao is really popular now. He's the male lead in the recently popular drama 'Cliff,' and there's discussion about him everywhere on Weibo."

In the spy trilogy, "Before Dawn," "Lurking," and "Cliff," Lao Cao plays the male lead in all of them.

Do you know how his fans praise him now?
Previously, it was said that the spy trilogy made Cao Bingkun famous.

Now, his fans claim that the reason it's called the Spy Trilogy is because every film Cao starred in became a hit.

"Can this still happen?"

Zhang Chen laughed.

He wasn't angry; he just found it funny. He was amused that Lao Cao had such a group of fans who twisted the truth. He didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Of course! Lao Cao is now undoubtedly the number one spy drama actor in all of China. Lao Cao himself told me that he receives countless spy drama scripts every day, inviting him to play the lead role, but Lao Cao says he's tired of it and refuses them all."

"Hey, I can picture it!"

As expected of a great director, just from Ning Hao's description, Zhang Chen could imagine Cao Bingkun's arrogant demeanor.

"Hey, do you know what people in the industry call our Starry Sky Entertainment now?"

"what is it call?"

"Star-making factory".

"Us? We don't sign artists, so how can we create stars?"

"But our dramas make people famous!"

Ning Hao paused for a moment: "It's an industry consensus that dramas produced by Star Entertainment can make stars out of actors. Moreover, they can not only make the main actors famous, but also make the supporting actors household names."

Is it really that exaggerated?

Zhang Chen hadn't really paid attention to how the TV drama department had developed in the past two years.

"Of course, there is. In the previous drama 'Beauty's Rival in Palace,' Yang Xiaomi became famous for playing Xue Yuan."
Let's not even talk about "Lurking"; a lot of supporting actors became famous.

Cheng Yu also became popular with the TV series "Cliff". His portrayal of the spy chief Gao Bin is considered to be the best performance in the entire series, even surpassing Lao Cao's Zhou Yi.

I watched this drama. Cheng Yu's delicate performance perfectly showcased the complexity and oppressive nature of the villain.

What impressed me most was an interrogation scene where, without any dialogue, Cheng Yu conveyed a sense of overwhelming control simply by adjusting his glasses and giving a half-smile.

He can vividly portray the character's cunning and shrewdness through micro-expressions, such as eye contact and twitching of the lips, as well as relaxed body language.

Ning Hao spoke highly of Teacher Cheng Yu; the last time he praised someone like that was probably when he praised Director Chen.

"Now the audience is praising him, saying that his performance is so expressive that even his eye bags are acting, and that he has redefined the way villains are portrayed in spy dramas, allowing everyone to see a more diverse and three-dimensional side of villains."

"I heard that the company is preparing to nominate him for the Best Supporting Actor award in a TV series. In my opinion, he absolutely deserves this award!"

As they talked, the car gradually approached the August 1st Film and Television Base. In the distance, they could vaguely see the sets built by the film crew and the busy staff. The two of them ended their conversation and prepared to get out of the car to visit Cao Bingkun on set and experience the filming atmosphere of the "Snow Leopard" crew.

(End of this chapter)