Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 265 Seeking Advice at Sanping
Editing room at Beijing Film Studio.

Surprisingly, Zhang Guoli seemed quite relaxed, showing no signs of the anxiety he had shown earlier.

"Haha~"

Upon hearing Zhang Yan's question, Zhang Guoli laughed heartily and said, "It's mainly because your script is so well-written, Mr. Zhang. The editing makes the plot coherent and the segments distinct, and each episode leaves enough suspense."

These two things are the most important for editing TV series. The former ensures that the audience can more easily understand the plot, while the latter is to more firmly hold the audience's attention.

After all, TV dramas are usually broadcast every other day. Although the pace of life is not that fast now, unresolved suspense always makes the audience look forward to the next episode.

The coherence of the plot is mainly thanks to Liu Zhenyun. This guy has a strong sense of logic and helped Zhang Yan to reorganize the outline, which also highlighted the main storyline.

This is Zhang Yan's weakness, because he learned from the era of online novels and can't help but add things here and there in a haphazard way.

However, leaving a "clue" at the end of each episode was Zhang Yan's specialty, later known as "the chapter dog".

As for Yu Hua, her main role is to deepen the emotional connection.

Zhang Yanxing's writing emphasizes storytelling and is relatively simple in language; Liu Zhenyun's writing is characterized by a gentle and detailed narrative and a more subtle emotional expression; while Yu Hua always manages to deliver a profound and powerful impact at crucial moments.

The three's collaborative efforts ensured both the excellence of the script and a smooth editing process for Zhang Guoli.

According to Zhang Guoli's estimate, he will be able to finish editing by the end of December, and the post-production dubbing and glowing special effects will be completed in about half a month.

Zhang Yan did some calculations. This year's Lunar New Year's Eve is on February 9th. If everything goes smoothly, he can invite TV stations from various provinces to come in late January to discuss copyright issues.

For provinces that can reach an agreement, the provincial television station will buy out the broadcasting rights. As for whether the cities and counties below will agree, that depends on the provincial television station's ability to manage its subordinates.

If negotiations fail, try subcontracting the project to various municipal television stations within the province at a reduced price—if the broadcast results are good enough, the provincial station will most likely eventually agree.

Around July, after the local TV stations have squeezed them out of their resources, they will go on Tianjin TV to reap another wave of summer popularity.

As for CCTV, which is the most willing to spend money...

CCTV nowadays is quite concerned about first broadcast rights. It's unlikely that CCTV would buy the rights that are sold two or three times before being broadcast on satellite, and it's also unlikely that CCTV would pay a high price. So it's better for CCTV to continue to consolidate its core audience.

I was talking to Zhang Guoli about the follow-up publicity when someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Zhang Yan opened the door and saw two people standing outside. The one in the back was obviously the secretary carrying his bag, while the other was around forty years old. Although he was smiling, he couldn't hide his fatigue.

"Hey, Factory Director Han!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, Zhang Guoli hurriedly introduced him to Zhang Yan: "This is Director Han Sanping, who was just transferred from Emei Film Studio. From now on, Director Han will be in charge of Beijing Film Studio..."

He and Han Sanping used to both work in Sichuan. They weren't exactly close, but they had known each other for a long time.

"It hasn't been officially announced yet."

Han Sanping waved his hand to interrupt him and extended his hand to Zhang, saying, "I've heard a lot about Mr. Zhang lately, and seeing him today, I can confirm that he is indeed a promising young man."

"You're too kind."

As Zhang Yan shook hands, he said, "I've been so busy lately that I didn't even receive the news of Director Han's appointment. Otherwise, I would have come to visit you much earlier."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Han Sanping followed the two men into the house.

He was quite decisive; before he had even settled into his seat, he said to Zhang Yan, "I've long heard that Mr. Zhang is a well-known idea whiz in the industry and a pioneer in the commercialization of film and television. So as soon as I heard that Mr. Zhang was here, I couldn't wait to ask him for some advice."

"I can't accept that..."

Zhang Yan wanted to modestly decline for a couple more minutes.

Han Sanping immediately interrupted, saying, "There's nothing to be ashamed of. You know the current situation of Beijing Film Studio. The movies they make always lose money, and they can't even pay salaries. If they don't come up with a solution soon, they might completely collapse!"

As he spoke, he stood up and bowed solemnly to Zhang Yan, saying, "President Zhang, if you could give our factory some guidance, the old and young staff of the factory will never forget your kindness!" He had been suddenly summoned to Beijing about ten days ago, and had been investigating the situation of the Beijing Film Studio these past few days, but the more he investigated, the more disheartened he became.

BY Studio has all the same problems as other film studios, and even more so.

The most troublesome issues are the influence of cronies and pressure from higher-ups. Despite the already dire financial situation, they still have to grit their teeth and invest in a lot of movies every year, even if they're starving.

These movies are basically all money-losing films.

BY factory is essentially being leeched off while being forced to bleed out of itself, and it's also very difficult for it to cut costs.

If things continue like this, death is not far away, which is why Han Sanping, in desperation, turned to Zhang Yan for help.

After a brief hesitation, Zhang Yan decided to do a good job for the Beijing Film Studio, which would also help strengthen his own base.

So he said, "Director Han, if you ask me, our Beijing Film Studio is actually begging for food while holding a golden rice bowl."

"What do you mean?!"

Upon hearing this, Han Sanping became excited, because it was clear that the idea was aimed at revitalizing the factory's resources, which would definitely save money compared to coming up with some new tricks.

Then Zhang Yan said, "Actually, the feature films produced by our factory are quite commendable in terms of content, but it's a bit inappropriate to put them in the cinema—after all, everyone has paid money, so they definitely want to see something exciting and thrilling."

Han Sanping nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. The Beijing Film Studio was quite good at making art films, but these days art films were not popular at all, and even if they were released in theaters, few people would watch them.

If it were any other film studio, Han Sanping would definitely have cut a large portion of art-house films after taking office in order to cover costs associated with contract terminations.

However, the situation at BY Factory is too complicated. Many projects have inherent flaws that cannot be eliminated.

This is also his biggest headache.

Zhang Yan then added, "But if these movies were shown on television, the situation would be completely different, and I believe the ratings would definitely not be too bad."

"Put it on the TV?"

Han Sanping thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "You mean the marketization of copyright? I've heard about that before, but movies are different from TV series. They're not suitable for inserting commercials, so I'm afraid they'll be hard to sell for a good price."

In fact, after Zhang Yan's copyright marketization was approved, Beijing Film Studio did consider taking the opportunity to recoup some losses.

The problem is that movies are a one-off deal, unlike TV dramas which can be played out over a long period. That's why TV stations are very selective and unwilling to spend money on them.

"No no no."

Zhang Yan shook his head and said, "If we sell copyrights piecemeal, given the current situation of TV stations in various provinces, most of them probably won't buy it. What I mean is, our factory can find a TV station with satellite broadcasting capabilities to cooperate and create a channel dedicated to broadcasting movies."

This will greatly alleviate the problem of short movie screening times, which are not conducive to attracting advertising investment, and give our studio's excellent feature films a chance to shine.

Moreover, since the source material and quality are guaranteed, we can easily broadcast it 24/7, and then start two variety shows to talk about the interesting stories and legends behind the movies..."

"Mr. Zhang, you're incredibly talented!"

Before Zhang Yan could finish speaking, Han Sanping grabbed his wrist and shook it violently, saying, "What you just said is truly enlightening! No wonder everyone says you're a genius of ideas—here's what we'll do, tonight I'll treat everyone to dinner, inviting all the old leaders and comrades from the factory, and we'll discuss this matter in detail!"

The prototype of specialized channels has emerged, but they have not yet been formally segmented. CCTV's movie channel began in July 1995, but it was not officially launched until 1996.

Now, Zhang Yan has revealed this secret to Han Sanping two years ahead of schedule. To call it earth-shattering might be an exaggeration, but it can certainly be described as enlightening.

Moreover, this method was exactly what was prescribed, tailor-made for the Beijing Film Studio.

No wonder Han Sanping was so excited after hearing it.

(End of this chapter)