Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 151 Terrifying Distribution Capabilities and the First Batch of Signed Artists

In August, "Detective Di Renjie" finally premiered on CCTV Channel 8.

Although it was a prime time slot, it still achieved excellent ratings, with an average rating of about 3% and a highest rating of nearly 5%, ranking firmly in the top three in the same period.

Don’t forget, this is CCTV Channel 8.

The calculation of ratings refers to the proportion of the target audience number watching a certain TV program in a certain period of time to the total target audience number.

For example, if there are 1 million television sets equipped with a certain channel, and 300 million television sets are watching a certain drama broadcast on that channel at the same time, the audience rating is 3%.

Therefore, the same ratings will have different influences due to the different installation rates of various TV stations.

For example, if a TV station has 3 million television sets, its 3% audience rating means that nearly 1000 million television sets are turned on to watch.

In this regard, CCTV has obvious advantages over local satellite TV stations.

At present, satellite antennas and cable TV have not yet become popular, and due to technical and signal reasons, the number of satellite TV channels searched by different TV sets varies.

Some can watch forty or fifty channels, almost covering all satellite TV stations, while others can only watch a dozen or so, and mainly local channels.

As one of the most popular CCTV channels, CCTV-8's installation rate is definitely among the best.

Therefore, even though the ratings of "Detective Di Renjie" may not be that impressive, it does not mean it is not popular.

Others may not feel it deeply, but the main creators of "Detective Di Renjie" have a lot of experience.

Liang Guanhua, a pillar of the People's Art Theatre, has been called Zhang Daming in the past two years, rather than his real name.

As a result, just a few days later, when he went out again, in addition to being called Zhang Daming, he was also called Di Renjie, and some people questioned how he became younger.

Zhang Zijian, who plays Li Yuanfang, debuted quite early and has starred in some well-received dramas as the male lead, such as Yan Shuangying in "Hero", but he is still not as famous as Li Yuanfang.

Director Qian Yanqiu has also become more influential.

In the past, when people called him Director Qian, they were just flattering him, but now they are more sincere. In his words, he has become a big shot.

Yan Li does not have the glory of those high-profile figures, and he still makes money quietly.

The investment in "Detective Di Renjie" was about 1000 million yuan. CCTV did not pay a high price for the drama, but it only recovered most of the investment.

This is understandable. CCTV's own dramas are originally designed to save money. Anyone who spends a lot of money on a drama produced by themselves is either a fool or a money launderer.

Although CCTV took the lion's share, there was still room for profit as the TV series performed well.

Especially for terrestrial channels, CCTV's brand name is particularly useful, and if the price is reasonable, there are many TV stations willing to buy it.

Originally, Yi An’s marketing department had negotiated some contracts, and after the TV series became a hit, Yan Li personally supervised the operation.

Many people in the marketing department know that the boss Yan Li is not only good at negotiation, but also has an even better ability to select precise partners.

Other distributors, when they get a project, first look for old connections. After using all the old connections, they then look for TV stations one by one. After contact, communication and negotiation, they screen out those TV stations that are not interested or sincere.

Not to mention the time and effort involved, it's easy to end up with nothing.

Once before, Xiao Guan, the marketing director, led a team to try to win a million-dollar contract.

It took me more than half a month to screen out two targets with strong intentions, and then we negotiated for several weeks, spending money, time and energy (drinking), but in the end we still didn't make the sale.

At that time, the morale of the entire marketing department plummeted, and Yan Li found out about it, and then he took action to teach the marketing department a lesson.

Three days!

Strictly speaking, it took Yan Li a little more than two days to find a new potential partner.

During this period, he participated in two negotiations and won a million-dollar contract in less than a week. The transaction price was nearly 40% higher than the contract that Xiao Guan and his team had spent a lot of time and effort to win before.

In the entire Yian Company, other departments may not know, but the marketing department is the one that respects the boss Yan Li the most.

Yan Li openly promoted and appointed two deputy directors in the marketing department. Xiao Guan, the head of the marketing department, met with Yan Li and, after confirming that Yan Li still had absolute power, he continued to lead his people to work.

I have said before that if Xiao Guan ran away, half of the marketing department would be paralyzed. This is true, but the premise is that Yan Li is not counted.

If Yan Li takes action, even if there are only two little Karamis left in the marketing department, they will still not be afraid of any publishing company.

Yan Li is now basically only responsible for the satellite TV business.

Even in the negotiations for some non-important projects on satellite TV, Yan Li was only responsible for the early screening of users and the later negotiations or pricing. All the contacts in between were handled by his subordinates.

If the run is successful, the negotiations are finally successful, and the contract is signed, the people below will still be counted as having contributed and will share the profits.

If he failed to run and there were no obvious mistakes, Yan Li would not say anything. He would then find another target and try again.

So in Yian’s marketing department, it is very comfortable to have some business that Yan Li is involved in.

Xiao Guan is the boss of the marketing department, but Yan Li is the big brother in the eyes of many people in the marketing department.

This time, Yan Li personally supervised the terrestrial channel distribution of "Detective Di Renjie".

It not only expressed the importance of this project, but also allowed many marketing employees, especially newcomers, to witness the terrifying distribution capabilities of Yan Li.

As of August, before the premiere of "Detective Di Renjie".

Yi'an's marketing department negotiated a million-level contract with six terrestrial channels or county and city stations, with a total sales amount of approximately 250 million+. According to the 10% distribution share agreed with the "Detective Di Renjie" crew, Yi'an earned 25.

After the premiere of "Detective Di Renjie", Yan Li personally supervised the production.

In just over a month, we have negotiated and basically reached agreements with eleven local channels and county and city stations, and another six are making steady progress, with a high probability of cooperation.

Among these 1200 TV stations, there were six contracts worth one million yuan, with a total revenue of more than 120 million yuan, and million yuan was earned from the distribution share.

In addition, the second-round broadcasting rights of two satellite TV stations are also under discussion, but they still need to be coordinated with CCTV. Once the cooperation is reached, it will cost another few million.

Although the marketing department had done some groundwork before, the popularity of the TV series also boosted the popularity of the show, and as the boss, Yan Li had greater authority and courage.

But even if all these factors are added, Yan Li's performance over the past month is enough to make Yi'an's marketing department dumbfounded.

The crew of "Detective Di Renjie" who got the news began to doubt their lives.

Anyway, Yan Li learned from a certain system's notification that Qian Yanqiu learned that Yi An had sold more than 20 TV stations (from his perspective) in one go, with prices exceeding 10 million yuan, directly achieving profitability, and he couldn't help but slap himself.

"When did this TV series become so popular?!"

Then he did one thing. He called the producer of CCTV and said that he would be angry with anyone who didn't let Yan Li participate in "Detective Di Renjie 2".

That’s right, after the first “Detective Di Renjie” became a hit, they began to plan for the second part.

But compared to the first part, there are some conflicts of interest in the second part.

First of all, CCTV implemented the reform of separating production and broadcasting, which was a big move and tightened internal funds, so some projects were abandoned.

Judging from the performance, "Detective Di Renjie" should not be abandoned, but for some reason, the project was eventually won by its producer, who planned to start a new project and recruit investors.

However, it is difficult to say whether the copyright is in the hands of CCTV or the producer, and the two parties have not reached a clear consensus.

However, CCTV agreed to let the producer make a sequel, and did not invest in it, but only agreed to broadcast it on CCTV.

At the same time, Yi An also owns 40% of the copyright of "Detective Di Renjie".

Although a joint action clause has been signed with CCTV, the copyright on CCTV's side is unclear and not as clear as Yi An's.

How can there be concerted action if there is no concerted party?
Therefore, a rather strange situation has now emerged, which has also had a lot of impact on the preparations for "Detective Di Renjie 2".

Originally, Qian Yanqiu was inclined towards the CCTV producer, as they were old friends and partners, but now that he had seen Yan Li's distribution capabilities, he preferred Yan Li.

Now "Detective Di Renjie" is not a self-produced drama produced by CCTV and is responsible for its own profits and losses.

The project cannot make much money relying solely on CCTV. If it wants to make a profit, it will have to rely on subsequent distribution.

Yan Li only has the copyright, while Qian Yanqiu and his team hold the copyright and the production team, so they can still find a way around it. At most, they will have to pay some money.

But considering Yan Li's terrifying profitability in publishing, no one wants to avoid it even if they can. After all, who can resist money?

If the CCTV producer was not a pushover and had a good personal relationship with him, Qian Yanqiu would have wanted to kick him out and work directly with Yan Li. One would produce, the other would invest and distribute, and the two would split the profits, which would be very comfortable.

Not to mention "Detective Di Renjie 2", they also want to get Yan Li to work with them on the film "The Legend of the Substitute Prince: The Great Song Dynasty Strange Cases".

It just so happens that their new drama has a female lead who is quite suitable for Dong Xuan.

Qian Yanqiu has a good relationship with Dong Xuan's classmate Zhao Zhigang, so he naturally knows the relationship between Dong Xuan and Yan Li. Once he does this favor, their relationship will get better and better.

"So, if you do well in the publishing business, you can still be successful."

Yan Li turned off the intelligence system and looked at Dong Xuan who was looking at herself in the mirror.

"I recently discussed a project and was planning to find you a female lead. Do you have time to shoot it?"

In September, Beijing Film Academy started its new semester, and Dong Xuan and Guan Yue also became glorious people's teachers.

Of course, the two are still assistant teachers now, and are still in the probation period, and have not yet received formal positions.

But as long as you can successfully stay in school and there are no problems during the period, and you can endure it step by step for a few years, it is only a matter of time before you can get some gilding and decoration.

"The heroine."

Dong Xuan hesitated a little: "I'll ask my boss later to see if I can get the leave."

After all, she had just started working and it was not pleasant to take several months off to film a movie where she played the female lead.

But then again, this situation is common in Beijing Film Academy, where teachers and students often go out to film.

Compared with the more "old-fashioned" Central Academy of Drama next door, Beijing Film Academy particularly encourages "practicality".

Moreover, Dong Xuan is just a teaching assistant and has limited work to do in the school. If she becomes more and more famous through filming and becomes a star teacher, it will be of greater benefit to the school.

Dong Xuan felt that she could try to get it, and if that didn't work, she could let Yan Li give it to others in exchange for benefits or favors.

Just as he was struggling with this, Yan Li tapped his watch and said, "Eat quickly, it'll be time for work soon."

"Oh." Dong Xuan reacted and stammered while biting the egg peeled by Yan Li.

"Do you think I'm dressed this way?"

After all, she is still young and has just become a teacher from a student. Dong Xuan now pursues a more mature style of dressing when going to work so as not to lose sight of her students.

Yan Li took a look at it and said, "It's not as nice as the suit I bought you."

"Pooh."

Dong Xuan was so angry that she threw half an egg she had bitten off at him. A few days ago, her parents went back to their hometown, and Yan Li moved back to the Beijing Film Academy community.

The first thing he did was to take out a women's suit and let her put it on, then teach him while wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and then put on a good show of respecting teachers.

It’s okay to play other tricks, after all, she is a real teacher, so Dong Xuan feels very ashamed about this matter.

Just that time, I felt sorry for Yan Li's "wandering", and I couldn't bear Yan Li's soft and hard persuasion, so I half-heartedly fulfilled his wish.

But since then, Dong Xuan has resolutely resisted. She even hid the clothes and did not allow Yan Li to mention it.

Yan Li took the egg, not thinking much of it, and casually stuffed it into his mouth before commenting on it seriously.

"It's okay, but a little plain."

"Vegetarian is better."

Dong Xuan sat down to eat. "The bag you brought me from Europe was recognized when I brought it to school last time. It made me really embarrassed. I had to say it was a high-end imitation to get away with it."

"It's not enough for just one bag."

Yan Li didn't think it mattered. It was fine in other schools, but in an art school like theirs, there were many wealthy teachers and students, so it wasn't uncommon for them to carry a brand-name bag or wear valuable jewelry.

Besides, Dong Xuan is also a well-known actress. She can't just make money and not let others spend it.

"I just started working and the staffing hasn't been finalized yet, so I'll keep a low profile."

Dong Xuan is the most famous among this group of new teachers, and many people are watching her, so she doesn't want to show off. She hopes that things will get better once she has established a firm foothold in the school.

"Then I was thinking of getting you a car. Isn't that a stretch?"

Yan Li took a bite of the bun, and Dong Xuan said as a matter of course: "It's less than a five-minute walk from our house to school. Otherwise, I'm out filming. If I buy a car, I don't have the time or the space to drive it."

Moreover, Yan Li now has two cars and the company has a bus.

Dong Xuan rarely needs a car, and she can get one by just calling, or even have someone to pick her up. She thinks buying a car is completely unnecessary.

"whatever."

Yan Li ate calmly. He never discussed such spending matters with Dong Xuan.

She just threw the car keys at home. If she didn't drive it, it would rust. She had to drive it even if she had to take a detour to work.

Yan Li understood Dong Xuan, and Dong Xuan also understood Yan Li, and warned him not to buy blindly.

Yan Li had brought her a lot of things from Europe before, many of which she didn't recognize. She spent a long time checking and reconciling the accounts with Guan Yue while holding a computer and fashion magazines. She felt her heart tremble when she saw the pile of things.

The total cost is more than a house in Beijing!
Yan Li's extravagance really scared her. Even if he made money, he couldn't waste it like this.

Compared to these fancy things, she still prefers Yan Li's previous practice of giving her gold. It is a good way to preserve value and is reliable. If something happens in the future, it will be life-saving money.

Seeing that Dong Xuan was about to start another small class on "Housekeeping Skills", Yan Li quickly changed the subject.

"Teacher Dong, it's time. If you don't go now, you'll be late."

"oops."

Dong Xuan looked at the time, put an egg in her trouser pocket, put on her shoes and left in a hurry.

Drinking soy milk slowly, Yan Li felt that Dong Xuan would be a good teacher. She would have to go to work on time every day, which would take up a lot of her energy.

Otherwise, if you don't take on many roles for emotional reasons, you will be idle at home and think about him every day, which will cause more trouble.

...

After dinner, Yan Li watched TV for a while. It was past nine o'clock before he went downstairs and drove his Mercedes-Benz G500 to the company.

Yi'an Film and Television
The previous 300-square-meter office could no longer keep up with Yian’s rapid development.

So the company rented another office upstairs, the number of employees officially exceeded three digits, and the company was further divided.

Originally there was only one marketing department and one film and television department, and all others were under the responsibility of Vice President Yue Zhaoyang.

Now the [Human Resources] and [Finance] departments have been separated, and the [Scriptwriting Department] and [Artist Management Department] have been added.

Although there are more departments, the marketing department and the film and television department are still the two largest departments of Yi'an Film and Television.

When Yan Li arrived at the company, he first walked around up and down the stairs, observing and appreciating the company he had founded, and making his presence felt as a boss.

Then go back to the office to prepare for work, or attend meetings, go out, etc. as planned.

After making a cup of tea, Yan Li browsed through emails and documents delivered in the morning when there was a knock on the office door.

"Enter."

A young woman in her early thirties wearing glasses pushed the door open and came in. It was Jia Qian, the director of the artist agency department of Yi'an Film and Television.

Although the name has some minor drawbacks, this person's resume and abilities are still good.

A college student in the 90s, he worked in publicity and marketing for entertainment companies in Hong Kong and Taiwan for many years.

Yan Li invited her to be the head of Yi'an Artist Management because he was impressed by her resources and connections in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and her expertise in packaging and promoting artists.

Times have changed, and the film and television industry has become the entertainment industry.

The style of the old-school mainland brokers cannot be said to be outdated, but it does have certain drawbacks.

Not to mention that Yan Li pays more attention to the commercial monetization and star promotion capabilities of artists.

This is not something that can be achieved by people like Wang Jinghua and Chang Jihong who focus more on film and television and less on packaging.

Therefore, Yi An's artist management imitates and learns from the more advanced and entertaining styles of Hong Kong and Taiwan, based on film and television, packaging, publicity and marketing, with star attributes outweighing actor attributes, in pursuit of higher commercial benefits.

"Boss Yan, this is the artist contract for Wang Ou, Zhou Yiwei, and others."

The first thing Jia Qian did when she joined the company was to complete the signing of the first batch of artists and the relevant team configuration.

Of course, these people are not that famous nowadays, so the so-called team configuration is not that troublesome.

Each person has an assistant, and then is assigned to a broker or executive broker.

Currently, Yi'an Film and Television has only two official agents. Jia Qian is personally responsible for Wang Ou, and the other three are managed by another agent.

If other agents join or artists sign contracts, we will make further assignments.

Yan Li did not have an agent. His secretary Hu Ya was in charge of all his contracts and invitations. He decided on his own what films to shoot and what interviews to accept, and it had nothing to do with the artist management department.

It is said that because of this incident, the secretary assistant headed by Hu Ya and others also clashed with Jia Qian, who wanted to snatch Yan Li's personal agency affairs.

Finally, Jia Qian considered that she had just arrived at the company and did not want to have a bad relationship with the people around Yan Li, so she chose to give in.

This is what happens when a company gets big, and Yan Li is too lazy to care about these little things.

After flipping through the contract, Jia Qian had already discussed some of the specific terms with Yan Li, and the main differences were in the details.

Lin Jiachuan and Zhang Songwen signed a six-year contract, which offers a relatively favorable profit sharing ratio of 50-50, but resources are not guaranteed.

To put it bluntly, it means being an ordinary artist with real talent.

Basically, he is a versatile supporting role, and he may not earn much, but because of Yan Li's relationship, he is given a good share.

Zhou Yiwei and Wang Ou both have eight-year contracts, with the profits split 30% to 70% with the company taking 7%. However, the company will provide certain resource support.

So even though he only gets 30%, if he really becomes famous, he will earn much more than Zhang Helin.

Of course, these are all explicit contracts. In fact, Yan Li will definitely be taken care of. In addition, he is one of the first artists of the company, so he also has some bonus benefits.

Most of the artists signed later were treated in a businesslike manner. Even if they signed contracts with the same terms, their treatment would probably not be as good as that of Wang Ou and others.

"Okay, let's do it this way. Contact two media outlets and send out a press release."

He is not a well-known artist, so it is not worth making a big fuss about him. It would be good enough to just issue a press release.

"Also, I'll have the Film and Television Department sync up their resources with you. If the Marketing Department has any suitable projects, we can discuss them too. We'll take them on if necessary."

Yi'an Film and Television currently has no shortage of ordinary film and television resources.

Especially after the film became well-known, it established relationships with many crews, so it was not difficult to get a few actors in.

For example, Wang Ou, who is currently being promoted, not only has no shortage of roles to perform, but also has good resources.

She was given roles in Tang Ren's "New Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" and Zhou Yi's sequel to "Water Moon Cave" "Legend of the Magic Mirror".

If there is a suitable role in "Detective Di Renjie 2", it can be put in, and the same goes for Zhou Yiwei.

"correct."

Yan Li stopped Jia Qian and said, "Contact your connections in Hong Kong and Taiwan. If you have any commercial endorsements or movies, you can get one or two. If that doesn't work, we can invest in them."

"What are you doing?"

"I've got my eye on a big fish. If I want to catch her, I have to spread the bait."

"I understand, I'll make arrangements."

(End of this chapter)