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

However, Xu Kong did feel that the leadership of Tudou Video, headed by Tu Qiaoer, was still full of ideas and hard work.

This includes giving up 70% of the profit share directly at the beginning, and now actively trying to cooperate with them to expand overseas markets.

This requires a lot of determination, and it is not possible to come up with a solution on the spur of the moment.

For example, this time they plan to cooperate with Fengge to explore overseas markets. The amount of money needed to invest in the early stages just to gain a foothold is definitely a terrifying number.

The high probability is that it can directly affect their original base.

If we replace them with a more conservative leadership, it would be absolutely impossible for them to be so reckless.

Although it will be difficult for Tudou Video to get rid of the third place in the domestic video platform in a short period of time, it can only watch Penguin and Kiwi compete for the first place.

However, the size of the platform and its annual revenue are visible, and being too aggressive is definitely not in line with Tudou Video's development model at this stage.

……

"Forget it, let's be a little more tactful."

“Maybe they can really invest money to build their own overseas platform?”

Xu Kong sighed and changed his words.

After all, there is no choice but to cooperate with some domestic companies including Feishi.

If these domestic video platforms can successfully go overseas and seize a certain market share, Xu Kong will of course give priority to cooperating with them.

Let alone Tudou Video, all the current domestic platforms, including the Big Three, can be said to have so-called separate websites or international versions of application software overseas.

But in fact, it has never been operated properly.

Not to mention anything else, even apart from translating the basic interface language, the recommendation interface for various new and old dramas on the homepage of the international version is completely copied from the domestic platform.

Companies don't really want to invest too much money in it.

The main problem is that the risk is high and the rate of return may not be satisfactory.

So those who understand each other are too lazy to cause trouble for themselves.

……

"Squid Game" is still being aired and its popularity is rising.

On the other hand, "Operation Red Sea" has been confirmed to be officially released during the Spring Festival.

Xu Kong has not been particularly busy recently. Apart from dealing with some matters like the broadcast of "Squid Game", his main focus is on the post-production of "Infernal Affairs".

In fact, for Xu Kong now, he is indeed becoming more and more proficient.

Especially for a film like "Infernal Affairs", there are hardly any special effects shots, and most of the time and energy in the later stage is spent on editing.

For a cheating player like Xu Kong who has the standard reference answers in his mind, it is indeed too simple.

In other words, Xu Kong thought there was no need to rush the progress. Otherwise, he might devote himself to it wholeheartedly, and it would probably take no more than half a month to complete the project.

It’s really a piece of cake to catch up with this year’s Spring Festival.

However, since "Operation Red Sea" has already been scheduled, to be honest, there is really no need for the two dramas to compete with each other.

Although Feng Ge was not the investor of Infernal Affairs, Xu Kong also did not take any salary and directly took half of the profit.

……

The release date of "Operation Red Sea" is getting closer and closer, and the person who is most nervous at this time is naturally not Xu Kong, but the film's director Guo Jiayu.

Even though the other party is more than twice as old as Xu Kong, this is actually Director Guo’s first big screen work.

Before, Guo Jiayu had always thought about making a movie sooner or later, but for various reasons, she has only been making TV series for more than 20 years.

For him, this movie definitely took a lot of effort.

No one knows this movie better than Xu Kong.

We are naturally confident about the quality, but the only thing we are not sure about is whether such hardcore military war-themed movies can really be recognized by the market and the audience?
What's more, the release time of the movie is not particularly suitable during the Spring Festival.

Of course, this decision was made by Xu Kong. If it was someone else, even any senior executive of the company, including Mr. Song, Guo Jiayu would have protested.

But in the end, he didn't say anything about Xu Kong.

After all, only he, the director, knew how much contribution Xu Kong made to the filming of this drama.

But it's more than just providing a script.

Moreover, the script provided by Xu Kong is also different from the traditional script.

……

"Mr. Xu, if there is no problem with the promotion plan, I will confirm it with the company's publicity department first."

If the reason why he decided to stay was because he had no other choice and was attracted by Xu Kong's promise of letting him make a movie, it was because he had no other choice but to stay.

Now Guo Jiayu is absolutely convinced by Xu Kong.

"Well, I took a look and it's almost the same actually."

Xu Kong nodded.

The necessary procedures must still be followed, after all, he is the chief producer.

In fact, Xu Kong really felt that too much budget and energy would be spent on publicity and promotion, because he had reviewed the final film several times and there was definitely no problem with it.

Although it cannot be said to be a complete restoration, Xu Kong still did not dare to make rash changes to some of the more essential parts.

In fact, the most difficult part of filming "Operation Red Sea" is that the whole movie tests the director's scheduling ability. Even if Xu Kong goes there himself, he cannot guarantee that he can get the best results.

Fortunately, although Guo Jiayu's ability is not high, she has filmed many TV dramas related to military themes and has quite rich experience.

Moreover, the entire film is not restricted by any major shooting period, so even if it is polished slowly, it can be polished to a satisfactory level.

……

As for choosing to release the film during the Spring Festival, Xu Kong knew that many people, including Guo Jiayu, thought it was problematic.

After all, the theme of the movie is so heavy, and the overall style is bloody and hardcore.

During the Spring Festival period when family-friendly themes are more popular, "Operation Red Sea" may really be affected to a certain extent.

But at the same time, in fact, in Xu Kong's memory, this movie in his previous life was the dark horse that broke through the siege during the Spring Festival.

So there is really no need to worry too much about the schedule.

On the contrary, because there are more audiences during the Spring Festival, the upper limit will be higher.

After further analysis, it can even be said that unnecessary interference factors have been reduced.

Without saying too much, as long as it can achieve the box office results of the previous life, it will definitely be a huge profit.

What's more, the domestic film market has greater potential in this world, and it is not particularly difficult to see a movie with a box office of over 10 billion yuan, so Xu Kong is not too worried.

……

Here, the subsequent release and publicity of "Operation Red Sea" were finally finalized, and soon Xu Kong met Yao Guanyu who came to see him specifically.

"There shouldn't be any problems with Squidward Games, right?"

Xu Kong asked casually, and Yao Guanyu shook his head.

"Everything is going well at the moment, and both popularity and data are still rising rapidly."

In fact, Xu Kong knew that Yao Guanyu was most likely not here for the matter of "Squid Game".

Now there is no escape that this drama will become a huge hit.

"Director Xu, I mainly want to ask what my next drama will be."

Yao Guanyu didn't beat around the bush and spoke very directly.

Xu Kong was also quite helpless. In fact, after previous understanding, he also knew that Yao Guanyu was obviously not the kind of person who could sit idle. But now "Squid Game" has only been broadcast for less than half, why did he start to think about his new drama?

"Squidward Games isn't even finished yet, and you don't want to take a break for a while?"

Yao Guanyu felt a little embarrassed.

"I don't need to rest. It's mainly because I can't sit still..."

……

"Of course, Director Xu is not in a hurry. We can take our time with the script..."

Before Yao Guanyu, he almost always found scripts on his own.

In fact, most of the co-screenwriters are just tools, and the creative ideas for the script are all provided by him.

However, after working with Xu Kong once, Yao Guanyu really felt that he could no longer accept the previous way.

After reading several scripts, he might have been satisfied before, but now, the more he read, the more he felt something was wrong.

After finally figuring it out, I decided to get a new script from Xu Kong.

"Based on the current popularity of Squidward Fever, it would be very interesting if we continued to shoot the second part."

"And I also want to know some subsequent stories."

Yao Guanyu expressed his guess.

Although the plot of "Squid Game" is generally complete, it still leaves a lot of foreshadowing.

He could sense that Xu Kong might have already started thinking about laying the groundwork for the sequel when he first wrote the script.

……

"No, there is no second part..."

Xu Kong replied calmly.

There was barely any hesitation.

"No second part?"

Yao Guanyu was very surprised and even found it a little unbelievable.

Because as a director, he is naturally one of the people who knows the plot best besides Xu Kong.

In his opinion, there is still a lot of content to be filmed after "Squid Game".

And now it seems that the popularity of this drama is so high that it is almost a 100% popular IP. It would be a waste if it is not utilized.

……

"Uh, it's gone."

“And no matter how well Squidward Games performs in the end, the second film will not be approved.”

Xu Kong repeated it again.

In fact, he was a little helpless, because the reputation of the first "Squid Game" may not be very good, but the popularity was really high.

As for the sequel, not only did its reputation suck, but its performance was also terrible.

Naturally it was impossible to continue filming.

As for the fact that such a popular IP was wasted, Xu Kong didn't think it mattered, as he had plenty of similar scripts anyway.

Compared with adding insult to injury, there is no need to ruin the reputation.

Moreover, although the drama "Squid Game" has many foreshadowings, all of which are prepared for the sequel, in fact, the story itself is already told relatively completely.

The series became so popular because of the freshness that the plot setting of this kind of death game brought to the audience.

The effect is the best the first time, but will be greatly reduced later.

In fact, there is really no need to continue filming.

……

"Then Director Xu, our company's next plan..."

Yao Guanyu had no choice but to ask.

The main reason, of course, is that Fengge’s entry into overseas markets is no longer a secret, and you can even find various analyses on the Internet.

And with the success of "Squid Game", it is impossible to stop the follow-up like this.

But at present, Xu Kong has confirmed that "Squid Game" will not have the so-called second season and related sequels.

He was indeed very curious about Xu Kong's future plans and what he planned to shoot.

New themes and ideas?

It seems that for Xu Kong, there must be no problem with the script.

Not only did Yao Guanyu not feel disappointed, but he became even more excited.

On the contrary, if he continues to shoot the sequel to "Squidward Fate", although he can accept it, it is obviously not as exciting and challenging as the new drama.

Yao Guanyu has never been a content person.

……

"Well, it's a little early, but since you asked, let's put it on the schedule in advance."

Xu Kong spoke somewhat helplessly.

As for the subsequent Eastern markets such as kimchi, including Europe and the United States, Xu Kong certainly had a rough plan in advance.

It’s just that some of the more specific aspects haven’t been thought about yet.

Now that Yao Guanyu has urged them to do so, it is obvious that they have to start early.

Although "Squid Game" has not even been fully aired yet, it is only a matter of time.

After hearing Xu Kong's words, Yao Guanyu sighed in his heart that Director Xu had indeed already had a plan.

Fortunately, I didn’t make up my mind to film the scripts I read before, otherwise I might have missed it.

……

Xu Kong ignored Yao Guanyu's random thoughts and asked:
"My arrangements here, to be specific, have two directions for you to choose from."

"The first one is still mainly aimed at the Korean market. Of course, if you want to continue to go for the streaming market like Squid Game, there is indeed a suitable one. If you want to go for the traditional media and TV stations in Korea, there is also one."

"The second one may be mainly oriented towards the European and American markets. At the same time, the filming locations and casting aspects need to follow the format of European and American dramas."

……

When Xu Kong said this, Yao Guanyu was actually a little surprised.

He thought that Xu Kong probably already had some ideas about the prototype of the script, and might even have some so-called "stock".

But who would have known, from what he heard, Xu Kong had prepared more than one or two scripts, and they all clearly had very precise positioning. It didn't seem like a simple brain hole or idea, but at least he had a rough story framework and prototype.

"I……"

Yao Guanyu really started to feel a little conflicted.

It is obvious that the arrangements Xu Kong made for him will probably focus on developing in overseas markets in the future.

He had never thought about it before, or dared not to think about it, whether to continue staying in Korea or to go to the European and American film and television industry.

This situation of having to choose between two options can be considered a happy trouble.

...(End of chapter)