After all of them were reborn, who would still be an actor?

Chapter 508: The Queen who wants to make progress, the brave and extraordinary FBTV!

"What about budget control? Didn't he mention adding money?" Li Meijin asked.

"Not only did we not exceed the budget, we even had a lot left over... He asked the actors to pay for many props and costumes themselves, or bring them from home..."

"Have you paid it back?"

"Director Li wants to hold an auction to generate revenue."

Li Meijin nodded, with a lot of thoughts in her mind.

CJ also has a copy of the Weathering With You production manual and documentary, but in practice, there is a big problem: where to find so many excellent storyboard artists...

From Your Name, to Witch, to Weathering With You, Li Mingyang's storyboard artist has been improving.

From the copies of the New World storyboards she had come across, it was not only in color, but also had background color, which was close to the production process of comics.

The mainland film industry complained that Li Mingyang had drained the talent reserves of major art schools over several years. Now it seems that this is true.

"Let's go and take a look at the crew." Li Meijin stood up and said.

"At this time, they are probably all in the nightclub," said the vice president.

"Nightclub?"

"Yeah! They go to nightclubs as soon as they finish work recently."

Li Meijin frowned slightly. This was different from what she had heard. She had heard that Li Mingyang was upright and self-disciplined, and was always strict with himself and lenient with others.

How come you went to a nightclub?
She knew that Lao Cui, Xiao Li, Xiao Huang and others liked to go to nightclubs.

Could it be that he was led astray?
More than an hour later, Li Mei Jin came to the nightclub owned by YG and found Li Mingyang and others lying on the windowsill in the box on the second floor, watching the dancing in the swimming pool downstairs.

Li Mingyang hasn't seen Li Meijin for a long time.

I originally thought that Li Meijin must have come for some important matter, but it wasn't the case.

I just came by to take a look, chatted for about ten minutes and then left.

Before leaving, he called a dozen young girls and a dozen bottles of red wine for everyone.

Girls are worthless, a bottle of red wine is more expensive than all the girls.

"Come on, this is the wine that President Li invited everyone to drink." Li Mingyang invited Lao Huang and others to come and drink.

Lao Huang, Lee Jung-jae, Choi Min-sik, Ma Dong-seok and others all watched with bottles of wine in their arms. They used the crew's funds to go to nightclubs, but they had always been reluctant to drink good wine. Today, they finally had good wine to drink.

Ma Dong-seok was naturally in charge of opening the bottle. He twisted the bottle opener and pulled it out quickly. Pop! Pop! Pop!

In no time, they were all opened!
Win the house.

Several female stars in the crew were responsible for pouring wine. Although Kim Hae-sook was nearly sixty years old, she was very active and a heroine. Every time they went out to play, she drank the most.

"Cheers!" Li Mingyang raised his glass, "Thank you, President Li."

"Cheers! Thank you Director Li!" Old Huang shouted in broken Chinese.

"cheers!"

Li Mingyang raised his head and drank the wine in his glass. As soon as he sat down, his wife Sun Li came close to him and whispered, "Director Li, she came here suddenly. Did she know that you stole the crew's funds to go to the nightclub?"

"It's no big deal to know that. We didn't overspend." Li Mingyang waved his hand and leaned on the windowsill to comment on the girl in the swimming pool.

Old Huang came over and started laughing and pointing too.

Li Mingyang speaks Chinese and Lao Huang speaks Korean. Although they do not speak the same language, thanks to their excellent comprehension abilities, both of them roughly understand what the other person is saying.

Of course, this is limited to my understanding of women.

Although we all went to the nightclub together, no one dared to do anything rash.

Lao Huang is still chasing his high school sweetheart, Choi Min-sik’s wife is a chaebol princess… Lee Jung-jae is still having a hot affair with the Samsung Crown Princess.

Ma Dongxi wanted to play, but since no one else was playing, he didn't dare to.

Lee Jung-jae's girlfriend, Lim Se-ryung, came to visit him at work several times, and the two of them would go out to dinner with him every time.

Speaking of Lim Se-ryung, she is the daughter of a super chaebol who has caused a sensation in Korea twice, and her fame is no less than that of Lee Boo-jin.

Lim Se-ryung is the daughter of the Elephant Group. She was married to Lee Jae-young, the head of the top wealthy Samsung Group, and gave birth to a son and a daughter. They divorced in 2009.

The woman pushed the man... and Li Zairong's face was swollen.

It is said that because she had the leverage over Lee Jae-young, Samsung did not want to make things too embarrassing, so the divorce lawsuit was concluded very quickly.

As the daughter of one of the top ten chaebols, Lin Shiling has a very strong aura...but because it is too strong, Li Mingyang feels that she is a little weak and may not be able to defeat her own sister.

The awesome people Li Mingyang had ever met never showed their aura and were always more approachable than the other. Li Meijin was described by others as a terrifying existence, but every time Li Mingyang saw her, she was very kind, a sophisticated auntie who dressed very fashionably.

Lin Shiling is mainly responsible for the marketing, design, branding, public relations and other departments of the Elephant Group.

Li Mingyang felt that the other party wanted to use his influence to open up the Dongda market.

This is almost a consensus among all foreign investors, and Samsung has actually contacted him.

Li Mingyang did not refuse, accept, or express his opinion.
Eat when you should eat, drink when you should drink, and take when you should take.

When they are forced into a corner, they bring out the golden signboard of Li Mei Jin.

If you want to use his fame to open up the Dongda market, you have to give him enough benefits.

In all of Korea, only Li Mei Jin can give him all the benefits he wants.

Moreover, CJ is one of the few Korean companies that was able to develop in the mainland.

Of course, CJ is also very unlucky now, and the development of South Korea is not going well.

Wanda is targeting CJ in China and is planning to acquire all of CJ’s domestic cinemas.

The domestic ban on foreign investment in film production and cinema chains is a hurdle that CGV and CJ cannot avoid.

One is the world's No. 1 cinema chain in the future, and the other is the world's No. 5 cinema chain in the future. What a fight...

At around eleven o'clock in the evening, the party ended, Li Mingyang and his group left the nightclub, and boarded the crew's bus back to the hotel booked by the crew.

Before leaving, Ma Dongxi took away two unfinished bottles of red wine.

Very frugal, much like him.

After getting in the car, Li Mingyang sat with Sun Li very naturally. They were the only two people from Dongda University. Li Bingbing finished filming and left on the third day.

Sun Li had actually finished filming, but as the leading actress, she couldn't leave yet.

Of course, she herself didn't want to leave. Seeing the hope of winning an award, she also wanted to be like Tang Wei, win many film awards from Korea, and return home to show off.

"Director Li, when will the film be wrapped? Soon, right?" Sun Li came over with shining eyes and said.

"Next week." Li Mingyang said impatiently.

Sun Li smiled slightly, "Director Li, do you think I can win the award?"

"No chance."

"Can't you help me? You're my boss."

Deng Chao opened a company, Orange Image Media, a few days ago. Guangxian invested in it and Deng Chao is the legal representative and major shareholder.

Now both sides are truly friends.

"What boss or no boss? We are just partners."

"Since my sister is famous, I can make you more money! Director Li, please help me. I know you are capable. New World has such strong actors, the script is so good, and it is produced by CJ, it will definitely sweep all major award ceremonies in Korea."

"You're not developing in Korea, why should she give you the award?"

"Didn't Tang Wei return to China to develop his career?"

She will have to go back to Korea sooner or later, there is no place for her in this country.

After you’ve used them, throw them away and train your own people.

"You don't have enough time, it's hard to be shortlisted."

"Why don't you just give me some extra time?"

Sun Li was still determined to do something evil, so Li Mingyang was too lazy to say anything and just closed his eyes to rest.

Sun Li looked at Li Mingyang's stubborn look and felt both resentful and anxious. She had originally planned to finish her part and leave.

But as the filming progressed, she discovered that the three male protagonists in New World had abnormal acting skills, and immediately gave up her plan to finish the filming early and return home early.

More than half an hour later, the bus stopped in front of the hotel and everyone got off one by one.

Sun Li refused to give up and wanted to treat Li Mingyang to a midnight snack and then talk about the award.

However, the appearance of a person immediately changed her target. She was overjoyed and ran forward, "Sister Zhang, why are you here? Are you interested in having a midnight snack?"

Zhang Wei shook her head. "Maybe next time. I have something to ask Director Li."

Sun Li smiled and nodded, took out her cell phone and wanted to add Zhang Wei on WeChat.

Before she came to Korea, she talked with Wang Changtian for a long time, and Wang Changtian had a very high opinion of Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei treated the Empress very well. She added her on WeChat and chatted with her for a few more sentences, which was rare. Then she shook hands and said goodbye, walking towards Li Mingyang.

"Legend of Zhen Huan" became a phenomenal hit and was broadcasted by major satellite TV stations in turn. Sun Li, the female lead, became extremely popular and has become the undisputed number one in the domestic television circle and the queen of anti-epidemic dramas.

Zhang Wei is also very good at judging people and serving them...

……

Zhang Wei has been in Korea for almost two months. Although there have been some setbacks, they were quickly resolved and everything has been basically smooth sailing.

In early February, Kakao finally found strong support, and China's Penguin invested in Kakao.

After communicating with the person in charge at Kakao, Zhang Wei decisively launched FBTV.

FBTV has the copyrights of hundreds of TV series, including the two best-selling dramas, "Empresses in the Palace" and "Scarlet Heart". Both Kakao and Zhang Wei think it will work.

In fact, it is really good. In just three days, FBTV’s registered users reached 13, and the number of paying members reached an astonishing .

Zhang Wei and Kakao’s CEO Jin were very satisfied with the high payment ratio and held a celebration banquet at Kakao’s headquarters.

However, within two days, the number of registered users dropped rapidly, and when it reached 300,000, it could no longer grow.

The number of newly registered users per day dropped from 60,000 to 70,000 to less than 10,000.

Through market research, it was found that the stagnation of new additions to FBTV is due to the lack of local Korean TV series and movies.

In short, there are too few dramas, and the types are monotonous, all of which are film and television dramas from the University of Tokyo.

Streaming media is all about filling in the gaps. Once Zhang Wei finds the problem, she plans to buy dramas in Korea.

Then the problem appeared.

Not for sale.

Even CJ doesn’t sell dramas.

The three major TV stations MBC, KBS, and SBS do not sell dramas, and even CJ's pay channel TVN does not sell dramas.

Not for FBTV, but for all streaming services.

Streaming media has caused tremendous damage to both traditional TV stations and pay TV stations, and has seriously harmed the interests of TV stations.

"Have you communicated with Li Meijin?"

"She is in charge of movies, and the TV station belongs to her brother. The TV station here doesn't want streaming media to become big."

"What do you mean by becoming big? We are losing money!"

"The data is great. FBTV is the streaming platform with the highest paying rate and the fastest growth rate of paying users in Korea."

"Fuck, this is nothing. With less than 200,000 paying users... after deducting operating funds, salaries, and utility bills, we still lose money every month."

"Streaming media is essentially the Internet. The Internet is all about burning money to grab market share. Short-term profits are not important." Zhang Wei took out a box of Cohiba cigars and a cigar lighter from her pocket. "Would you like one?"

Li Mingyang waved his hand and said, "I've given up."

"You've quit, but business entertainment is essential."

As Zhang Wei spoke, she stuffed a box of cigars and a lighter in her hand into Li Mingyang's pocket.

Li Mingyang took out the cigar box, opened it and took a look, then looked at Zhang Wei.

I was wondering what Zhang Wei wanted to say tonight.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Zhang Wei slowly said, "According to the current trend, if we can't get the copyright of local TV series, BFTV's paying users will be at most 200,000."

"Let's continue talking. I don't believe they have money but don't want to make it!"

Zhang Wei shook her head. "I misjudged one thing. These chaebols are very stubborn and stick together on some issues. Li Meijin did help, but the will of an individual cannot override the will of the chaebols."

"So, have you figured out a solution?"

"The solution is you. If they don't want to sell the copyright, we'll just shoot it ourselves!"

Li Mingyang sighed, took out a cigar from the cigar box, and slowly lit the cigar with a flame spray gun lighter.

I took a deep breath, the smoke lingered in my mouth, and I felt extremely depressed.

"You really know how to give me a difficult question. Do you know how Korean TV dramas are shot?"

Zhang Wei nodded. "The shooting mode of Korean dramas is restricted by the TV stations. They shoot and broadcast at the same time. If the ratings are not good, they will be cancelled. However, we are a streaming media, so there are not so many requirements. We can shoot and broadcast according to the domestic mode. As for the review, the government here does not interfere. The right to speak is in the hands of the broadcasting company. We will go through the process with CJ, and it will be 100% approved."

Li Mingyang shook his head. Zhang Wei thought it was too simple.

The biggest difference between Korean dramas and domestic dramas is not that they are filmed and broadcast at the same time.

It’s the difference between the screenwriter-centered system and the director-centered system!

Korea is a "screenwriter-centered system".

The production company has maintained a long-term good cooperative relationship with many screenwriters.

After the screenwriter is selected, the screenwriter or the TV station will determine the topic, and the screenwriter and PD will jointly plan the script and select the scenes.

PD is a position unique to Korean TV dramas, Producer + Director, a role that combines producer and director into one.

After the screenwriter has written part of the script, the production company will apply to the TV station for a broadcast schedule with the plot outline and the completed part of the script. The TV station will also invest in the series and participate in its production.

The screenwriter participates in the entire process of TV series production and has a higher say than the director and actors.

So when the Koreans revise the script, they usually do it during script reading sessions.

Script readings will be held at least once a week...

Korea's screenwriter-centered system is a vertical system developed by the three major TV stations.

The Korean TV Writers Association and the three major TV stations will open TV drama creation classes, where professional screenwriters will guide writing. There are three levels of classes: beginner, intermediate and advanced, and members can be promoted gradually. In addition, every year, major TV stations have script recruitment competitions. The top few will go to the TV station to study for a year, and the first place can officially become a professional screenwriter, and the work will be produced and broadcast on the TV station.

Under this system, the first thing a screenwriter who stands out has to do is to curry favor with the TV station, and then be locked down by the TV station.

This is what is called a non-compete agreement.

South Korea's three major broadcasting and television companies and first-tier TV drama production companies generally cooperate with well-known screenwriters through signing contracts, signing 50-100 episodes at a time.

A-level screenwriters can receive an advance payment of about 50% when signing the contract, but they need to promise that they can only cooperate with the contracted TV station or production company for the next 50-100 episodes, and they may not cooperate with other parties before completing the creation of the specified number of episodes.

Top-tier screenwriters do not have non-compete agreements and can collaborate with whomever they want.

Now it's the TV stations' turn to compete with each other.

The current system in China is director-centered, but in the future it will be producer-centered.

The status of screenwriters is extremely low, and they have to thank God to get the final payment and the credit.

The phenomenon of script plagiarism continues despite repeated prohibitions, and even the law cannot solve it...

The Korean side has a screenwriter-centered system. In addition to resorting to law for acts that infringe on screenwriters' copyrights, they can also rely on the supervision and punishment measures of relevant copyright review departments and writers' associations.

Constraints from three parties: government, private sector and chaebol.

Especially the Writers Association. Once you are expelled, your career is over.

The screenwriter-centered system and the director-centered system each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Korean dramas are notorious for having bad endings...

Under this model, the Korean drama system was developed and connected to the film system, and many screenwriters and directors emerged.

Li Mingyang has no problem writing and directing his own TV series, and the actors are no problem either...

But he doesn't have time!

He wants to make a movie!

"I don't have time to film a TV series." Li Mingyang said directly.

"If you don't make TV series, our development will be limited because we don't have the copyright to make local TV series."

"We worked with the production company to shoot it."

“It’s too expensive.”

"How expensive is it? It can't be more expensive than back home!"

"Let me give you a very simple example. BFTV's success comes from The Empresses in the Palace. Each episode costs about two yuan, and the full subscription discount price is one hundred yuan. We must ensure that local dramas sell as well as The Empresses in the Palace in order to break even."

"No way, that's such a rip-off!"

"It's just that bad. I contacted more than a dozen Korean drama production companies, but none of them dared to cooperate with us unless we invested all of them."

If we invest all of it, the risk of the production company running away is too great.

"Is there only one way?" Li Mingyang was speechless.

"We sell copyrights. The three major TV stations are very interested in our dramas Zhen Huan Zhuan and Scarlet Heart. They are willing to change the dramas."

"I don't have the TV rights to Startling by Each Step..."

"Eat the candy man and you'll get it."

Li Mingyang smiled bitterly, "So you said so much just because of this matter."

"There are only two options. One is to shoot a local TV series in Korea, and the other is to eat sugar." Zhang Wei said calmly: "If you don't choose either of these two options, then I can only return to China or go to Thailand. The development here in Korea is limited. It doesn't matter who comes. I'm no longer needed here."

It's not easy to eat a sugar man...

Countless investors are eyeing the fat piece of meat of Sugar Man.

……

After chatting with Zhang Wei for a while, Li Mingyang got into Zhang Wei's car and went to take a look at Huahua Technology.

We will make a decision after we understand the specific situation.

Huashu Technology moved to the old neighborhood of Cheongdam-dong.

The eleven houses are connected together, with different heights. They look shabby and low-class from the outside.

But after walking in from the entrance of the alley, there is a different world inside, a bit like a courtyard house, with doors of all sizes leading to all directions, giving a unique sense of coordination.

Zhang Wei's office is in the central area. There are many wall lights, many surveillance cameras, layers of access control, and security patrols along the way.

Li Mingyang asked if it was making a big deal out of nothing.

Zhang Wei replied that it is better to be prepared. The old office of Huashu Technology is in the city center, and there were still gangs who blackmailed them, and later there were thugs who caused trouble.

There are more ruffians, hooligans and thieves in Cheongdam-dong, and it is the intersection of three gangs.

(End of this chapter)