I really don't want to be the top streamer anymore

Chapter 165 I don't get paid for filming
With the broadcast of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", Xu Kong does have plans for his next drama.

But so far, the main problem is that there are some hesitations in the script.

I haven’t decided what the next drama will be.

This time Penguin Video suddenly approached him, and Xu Kong didn’t mind working with them again.

After all, his previous two dramas, including "Want to See You" and "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", were indeed exclusively broadcast on Penguin Video.

But after Zeng Xi finished speaking, Xu Kong directly refused.

Although he wrote, directed and starred in the drama himself, the drama itself was invested by Penguin Video.

This is what is called a platform-produced drama.

Currently, companies like Kiwi, Penguin Video, Tudou, and even some TV stations all have some so-called self-produced dramas or variety shows.

Although the process is the same as that of traditional film and television companies, there are also differences.

That is, platforms like Penguin will invest in self-produced dramas, but will not train their own actors or directors.

Almost all of them are paid.

"Director Xu, if it's about the pay, we can still talk about it."

Zeng Xi was also a little surprised, mainly because he didn't expect Xu Kong to refuse so firmly.

Not even the slightest hesitation.

Although Xu Kong wrote, directed and acted in the film himself, he also offered a high salary of 40 million yuan.

Such a price is definitely not easy to get, even for many movie stars in the current entertainment industry, or some big-name directors.

Of course, he can understand.

After all, Xu Kong's Fairy Sword is incredibly popular right now.

Since the previous drama was so successful, it is completely understandable that they would raise the price directly.

The reserve price in his mind was indeed more than 40 million.

In Zeng Xi's plan, Xu Kong is irreplaceable for this project.

So if Xu Kong really wanted to raise the price, he expected a budget of 60 million for the film's salary.

If you grit your teeth, 80 million is not out of the question.

It’s not that I have enough confidence that Xu Kong’s next work will become a hit again.

The main purpose is to promote Penguin Video's new project.

Xu Kong’s current fame and popularity are the most important to them.

But after Zeng Xi finished speaking, Xu Kong remained unmoved.

He shook his head lightly but said nothing.

But Yan Rui, who followed closely, knew it clearly.

For other actors or directors, 40 million is definitely a high salary that they cannot refuse.

But for Xu Kong personally, it is definitely not that attractive.

After all, this guy filmed two dramas, but he didn't receive the so-called salary. Instead, he directly participated in the profit sharing.

For example, in this time's "Legend of Sword and Fairy", Xu Kong alone got a share of up to 200 million.

If it weren't for the fact that Fengge's top management trusted him, they would definitely not have agreed to a 50% share of the cost.

After all, the investment was provided by Feng Ge himself, although Xu Kong served as the screenwriter, director, and male lead.

But in fact, no matter how much the final copyright fee is, he will definitely make a profit in terms of real money.

The one who takes the risk is still Fengge, which has spent 200 million yuan.

However, it is impossible to quantify the time, energy, original script, and music that Xu Kong himself has invested.

Of course, from a consequential point of view, it doesn’t seem to make much sense to say this now.

After all, the filming and production of "Legend of Sword and Fairy" took less than a year, and it directly brought Fengge more than 200 million yuan in project revenue.

Within the company, a 100% return rate would definitely mean considerable returns, and it would even be one of the best projects.

"Zeng Li, Vice President Zeng."

"Maybe you still don't know me very well."

Xu Kong spoke, but there was still no significant emotional fluctuation when he said this.

Zeng Xi looked at Xu Kong with confusion.

Although he and Xu Kong had met several times, he really didn't know each other well.

When we first met, my only impression of Xu Kong was that he was one of the top stars in the domestic entertainment industry.

In fact, for them, although there is commercial value, it is not much.

But after "Want to See You" became a hit, Zeng Xi began to admire Xu Kong for his original decision to go with the split-revenue drama model and his full confidence.

As for now, with the broadcast of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy", Xu Kong, in addition to being an actor and artist, can definitely be called the most promising new director in this industry.

"I don't get paid for filming. I'm referring to the kind of dramas that I write, direct and act in myself."

Xu Kong said with a hint of apology.

Zeng Xi was obviously stunned by these words.

No pay?

The meaning is very clear, directly taking a share of the project's profits.

"you mean"

Zeng Xi was still a little unsure.

"Fifty percent, half of the project's revenue."

Xu Kong directly offered his price.

Hearing this, Zeng Xi was just surprised.

Xu Kong also said that he does not take remuneration for his dramas, which means that he does not receive remuneration for his previous dramas "Want to See You" and "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" which recently aired.
He looked at Yan Rui beside him with some disbelief.

As for Yan Rui, although these things are certainly not good to be revealed to outsiders, since Xu Kong has said it, he also believes that Zeng Xi is not the kind of person who likes to talk loudly.

So he could only nod affirmatively to the other party.

It was indeed difficult for Zeng Xi to make up his mind for a while.

I am thinking whether this price is worth it.

Although a 50% profit share is indeed high, it also means that the investment budget for the entire drama will be greatly reduced.

After all, Xu Kong’s salary accounted for a considerable proportion of his original plan.

It is equivalent to if Xu Kong did not ask for remuneration but chose to take a share of the profits, which would be considered as helping Penguin Video bear a considerable part of the risk.

But at the same time, it can be seen that Xu Kong's character has not changed, just like when he firmly chose "Want to See You" and signed the profit-sharing model.

He has great confidence in his work.

Even if it is not as popular as the current "Legend of Sword and Fairy", even if it is just the same data as the original "Want to See You", Xu Kong can still easily get hundreds of millions of shares.

But if the drama flopped, Penguin Video would lose its investment, and Xu Kong’s own hard work would be in vain.

It would be better to just take the so-called film remuneration honestly.

"Director Xu's conditions are acceptable to us!"

Before, with Zeng Xi's authority, it would be unlikely for him to make decisions on his own.

But now, he is indeed qualified to agree to the conditions proposed by Xu Kong.

"But there are still some things I need to tell Director Xu in advance."

“The investment in this drama won’t be too high.”

"Maybe only around 150 million."

"And the subject matter is also very limited."

"What we need this time is a suspense drama." Zeng Xi then began to introduce it in detail.

In fact, it is the so-called 3 billion project of Penguin this time.

A few years ago, suspense dramas, which were originally a niche genre, suddenly became the so-called traffic code.

During this period, there are many dramas that have become dark horse hits thanks to their high quality and high reputation.

The source of everything can be attributed to a self-produced drama project of Tudou Video, which is still quite famous today as the "Mystery Theater".

The "Mystery Theater" on Tudou Video has broadcast several small-investment self-produced suspense and mystery dramas in succession, which unexpectedly became one of the biggest hits of the year.

The relevant data is quite good, and the yield is frighteningly high.

At the same time, the ratings of the drama are not low either, which can be said to be a success in both word-of-mouth and commercial terms.

Naturally, this attracted many film and television companies to follow suit.

A large number of suspense dramas have emerged, and Penguin itself has bought many copyrights.

Most of them failed, but a few became popular, which proves the potential of the domestic suspense drama market.

Two years ago, Kiwi also quickly followed suit.

They also launched a Maze Theater project, which is also a self-produced drama, and the investment is even greater than the previous Tudou Video.

So far this year, about six or seven dramas have been broadcast.

A hit at the beginning of last year, three of the films had good popularity and reputation, while the remaining three were considered losses.

Overall, the revenue of the entire Maze Theater is definitely profitable.

But more importantly, it has grabbed a share of the current domestic suspense drama market.

No longer so passive.

As for Penguin Video, it only chose to join this year.

That is the so-called 3 billion investment project.

This is certainly not the budget for one drama, but the budget for their entire latest "Suspense Theater" and all the self-produced dramas in the entire project.

"No big deal."

After listening to Zeng Xi's explanation, Xu Kong agreed without much hesitation.

Zeng Xi originally thought that Xu Kong would intend to make some demands or something.

At least ask two related questions, after all, he spent quite a while introducing the topic.

Who knew that Xu Kong didn't care too much and agreed directly.

Zeng Xi quickly adapted to the new environment. After all, his previous drama "Want to See You" contained a lot of suspense and reasoning elements, and Xu Kong was not completely inexperienced in this type of drama.

But what he didn't know was that as long as Zeng Xi agreed to the profit-sharing conditions, it wouldn't be too difficult for him.

The most crucial thing is the cooperation with Penguin Video, which Yan Rui had discussed with him privately before coming.

Let him negotiate as much as possible, and no matter how far the discussion goes, he still has to continue.

In other words, Xu Kong's attitude just now was mostly just an act.

There is no way, this kind of negotiation is definitely not going to be too honest.

Moreover, his contract is still with Fengge, so if the company has any requirements, he has no choice but to accept them.

However, as long as Zeng Xi agrees to the share ratio, the rest will be easy to negotiate.

It doesn’t make much difference to Feng Ge whether Penguin Video pays for it or he pays for it himself.

As for why Yan Rui wanted him to agree, Xu Kong estimated that it was most likely because Feng Ge was planning to join Penguin's suspense theater project.

He is considered a starting point for negotiations between the two parties.

Things turned out just as Xu Kong had imagined. After finalizing the cooperation, he said that he would write the script soon.

Afterwards, Yan Rui took the initiative to invite Zeng Xi to the film and television department for a private chat.

"I think you can add some more to your investment in this new drama."

In the artist department office, Zhu Yu spoke after listening to what Xu Kong said.

Obviously, Zhu Yu herself knows more about Feng Ge and Penguin Video than Xu Kong.

"Penguin Video wants to launch this suspense drama, nothing more than to grab the suspense drama market which is almost saturated, and also because of the lack of its own platform in this area and its related reputation."

"But their actual film and television production capabilities and other aspects are still a little lacking."

"Feng Ge is indeed the most suitable person to join at this time."

"If I'm not mistaken, the top management of our company wants to cooperate with Penguin to make up for the lack of production capacity and resources of the other party, and take the opportunity to make a fortune."

"Then why don't we just shoot it ourselves? Wouldn't it be the same if we sold the copyright to Penguin?"

Xu Kong asked with some surprise.

"Different."

Zhu Yu shook her head.

"As I said just now, it is not only to seize the suspense drama market, but also to maintain the platform's own reputation."

"What Penguin wants is the reputation of a self-produced drama."

"Otherwise, there would be no need to follow the example of Kiwi and Tudou Video and create a suspense theater."

Xu Kong immediately understood.

After all, platforms like Penguin are already the top domestic film and television platforms. In addition to profitability, the reputation of the platform is still very important.

It can even be said that the other party’s suspense theater project can lose money this time, but its reputation must be guaranteed.

Choosing to cooperate with a domestic veteran film and television company like Fengge is undoubtedly a better choice.

As for Feng Ge, the risk of the project was borne by Penguin, and he could still make a profit.

It can be predicted that most of the crew members, including post-production, of subsequent self-produced dramas of Penguin Video will be in charge of Fengge’s people.

The cooperation between Penguin and Fengge was finally negotiated smoothly.

As for how much share Feng Ge got of the entire 3 billion project, Xu Kong was not sure.

During this period, with the completion of The Legend of Sword and Fairy, the main task was actually to write the script for the new drama.

The remaining free time was distributed among Song Youyou, Su Zhi and Zhu Yu.

"Here, Minmin!"

At the gate of a kindergarten in Beijing, Zhu Yu waved to her daughter who had just finished school.

"Big brother!"

After getting in the car, Zhu Min saw Xu Kong sitting in the driver's seat and greeted him happily.

"Sit still and don't mess around."

Because the camping base is located in a remote area, the navigation system is sometimes useless. Zhu Yu sat in the passenger seat and was responsible for giving directions to Xu Kong, who was driving, to prevent him from going the wrong way.

The weekend camping that Xu Kong had been looking forward to for a long time finally came.

Before Zhu Yu could react, Xu Kong took the initiative to move to the passenger seat and helped Zhu Yu fasten her seat belt.

Of course, during this process, Xu Kong's hand lightly brushed past the two points very accurately.

Although the physique is sunken, it is also very sensitive.

Zhu Yu felt as if she had been electrocuted. She trembled slightly, and then her body stiffened.

With a barely noticeable blush on her face, she glared at Xu Kong fiercely.

Xu Kong looked at her innocently.

Because Zhu Min was still there, she didn't want to point it out.

But she was sure that this guy did it on purpose.

They hadn't even set out yet, but this guy was already doing this. When they got to the camping base where not many people were around, Zhu Yu didn't dare to think about it anymore.

(End of this chapter)