Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 33 Offending the Abbot

When the news of the script's early approval reached the magazine, Zhang Yanren was in Beijing.

His trip to Beijing this time was not for personal matters, but rather an official business trip dispatched by the magazine—of course, Zhang Yan also took the opportunity to visit his mother and sister.

The incident began at the beginning of the month when a reader wrote to say that he had accidentally seen a pirated copy of "The Great Detective of the Dream of the Red Chamber" while browsing the Ditan Book Fair in Beijing a few days ago, and that it was selling quite well.

Because the letter was vague, everyone at the magazine was on high alert, thinking that a manuscript leak had occurred. So they specially arranged for Zhang Yan, Wang Zhongqi, and Director Duan of the publishing house to go to Beijing to investigate and collect evidence.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm; the pirated content only went up to December and did not involve any leak of existing manuscripts.

However, after discussing it with Director Duan, Zhang Yan decided to take the opportunity to ask the Popular Fiction Newspaper to increase the number of articles published, finish the series as soon as possible, and change the original plan of publishing the book after the serialization ended to publishing it closer to the end, such as two months in advance.

For profit reasons, the magazine would certainly like to continue the serialization as scheduled to prolong the popularity, since they cannot be sure when Zhang Yan will write his next book or whether it will be a hit.

Since Zhang Yan had already been transferred to Tianjin Literature, he could only obey the overall situation of the magazine.

Normally, as a subordinate unit of the magazine, the publishing house can only obey the will of its superiors.

But now that piracy has come first, the publishers' interests have been damaged, so they naturally have reason to object—the welfare benefits of the editorial department of Popular Fiction Newspaper have been visibly improved in the past six months, who wouldn't be envious?
Because of the behemoth that is Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House, the publishing houses under Tianjin Literature usually only get scraps. Now that they have finally got a chance, they are naturally unwilling to let pirates beat them to it.

In Director Duan's own words, "Our publishing house is counting on your book for revenue next year. If piracy ruins it, I won't be able to explain it to my superiors or subordinates, and I won't even be able to get past my wife!"

This was a wonderful opportunity that Zhang Yan had been eagerly anticipating, so he naturally gave it his full support.

The two sides hit it off immediately and were just about to take the pirated copy back to Tianjin to submit a petition when they suddenly received news that Zhang Yan's script had been approved ahead of schedule.

Zhang Yan was overjoyed and specially prepared a celebratory banquet before returning to Tianjin, also to thank Zhou Tao for taking care of his mother and sister.

It was at this celebration banquet that Zhou Tao finally revealed his desire to adapt the novel into a radio drama.

Upon hearing that this was the reason, Zhang Yan felt both relieved and secretly disappointed.

He communicated with Zhou Tao and confirmed that if everything went smoothly, the radio drama should be broadcast in March or April, which was also the time he and Director Duan had agreed on for the book's publication.

This is essentially advertising.

In addition, it would also repay Zhou Tao's favor, making it a win-win-win situation. Zhang Yan had no reason to refuse and signed the radio drama authorization agreement on the spot.

The next day, the group took a train back to Tianjin.

Because the TV station was pressing him urgently, Zhang Yan could only regretfully give up the great opportunity to confront Vice President Feng Jingyuan to Director Duan.

…………

TV station.

When Ma Yuan said he "trusted himself," Yan Xiaoming had a bad feeling, and the feeling turned out to be a reality within two days.

Under the pretext of bolstering the team, the station assigned him two temporary deputies: Wei Liben, the deputy director of the office, and Chen Zhipeng, the deputy manager of the advertising department.

Wei Liben needs no introduction; he's nothing more than a lackey of the leadership.

Chen Zhipeng was a pioneer of marketization, and even in the generally right-leaning advertising department, he was known for his pro-Z faction.

Although Yan Xiaoming also supports reform and opening up, he still finds Chen Zhipeng's ideas somewhat unacceptable—if television stations only care about money, how can the social atmosphere be good?

With two deputies and Sister Zhang from the planning and finance department, it can be described as a comprehensive and multi-dimensional supervision.

This doesn't look like someone who believes in themselves.
Meanwhile, Yan Xiaoming was sulking in his office when someone came to announce that Zhang Yan, the screenwriter of "Tianjin Wei," had arrived and was waiting in the reception room.

Got~
Another opportunist has appeared, making the production center a veritable "golden age of righteousness".

Yan Xiaoming sighed helplessly, got up and took a few steps outside. Suddenly remembering that the preparatory group was no longer his sole authority, he instructed the person who came, "Go and call Director Wei and Manager Chen here as well."

So, after the three of them—one principal and two deputies—were all together, they went to the TV station's meeting room.

Although he had heard that Zhang Yan was a young writer, Yan Xiaoming couldn't help but feel a little sad after seeing him in person—how could someone so young and promising have gone astray?
Chen Zhipeng's eyes lit up when he saw Zhang Yanzheng flipping through the TV station's advertising and promotional brochures with great interest.

Before Yan Xiaoming, who was in charge, could speak, he stepped forward and asked, "Teacher Zhang, what are your thoughts or opinions on our investment brochure?" Zhang Yan had just put down the brochure in his hand and asked in surprise, "And you are?"

"I am Chen Zhipeng, the deputy manager of the advertising department. This advertising and investment brochure was produced by me and my team."

"Oh~"

Although Zhang Yan didn't know why the deputy manager of the advertising department had come, he knew that Chen Zhipeng was at the TV station and must have some influence.

Seeing his eagerness to find talent, Zhang Yan pondered for a moment and then said, "In terms of investment promotion alone, it's not bad, but it lacks initiative."

Seeing Zhang Yan finding fault, Chen Zhipeng was not annoyed at all. Instead, he sat down opposite Zhang Yan and eagerly asked, "Please go ahead."

Yan Xiaoming and Wei Liben exchanged a glance, and could only helplessly take their seats on either side.

Seeing that they didn't seem inclined to speak, Zhang Yan nodded to them, took out his script, flipped through a few pages, and pointed to it, saying, "Look, like here—the female lead points out that the shouting sound inside is played repeatedly from a recording. What are your thoughts on this sentence?"

Chen Zhipeng stared at it for a while, then frowned and said, "It fits the female lead's character perfectly. As a college student majoring in acting, she should have a lot of experience with these kinds of things."

Zhang Yan was speechless.

However, he could also understand that this was the limitation of the times, and only a few people could break through these constraints and make groundbreaking innovations.

If Zhang Yan hadn't witnessed so many new things in his future dreams, he might not have had such a vision that transcended his time.

"Look."

So he bluntly stated: "If we change this passage, for example, the female lead would say with great certainty: This is a XXX portable music player produced in Tianjin. The music is clear, the vocals are clear, and it is durable. Ordinary people can't tell the difference at all. Only those of us who are familiar with it can hear the slight difference."

Chen Zhipeng suddenly stood up, excitedly grabbed Zhang Yan's hand, and shook it violently, saying, "Teacher Zhang, you're a genius!"

The first TV series in China to feature product placement was "Stories from the Editorial Department," which aired on September 22, 1991. This series is currently in pre-production and filming is not expected to begin until after April.

Zhang Yan's premature revelation of this secret was nothing short of a bombshell for Chen Zhipeng.

He grabbed Zhang Yan's hand and shook it a few times, then said excitedly, "Teacher Zhang, please write down the lyrics. I'll go ask the joint venture factory that produces Walkmans if they want to advertise in our TV series."

He paused, then added menacingly, "If they're unwilling to invest, I'll go after their rivals!"

"Look."

Zhang Yan smiled and withdrew his hand: "Isn't this where initiative comes in?"

"I understand your idea."

Chen Zhipeng nodded vigorously and said, "Advertising is not limited to advertising; it can be placed in any form. As long as we are quick-witted and proactive in finding solutions, we can develop our business more flexibly."

"To be able to apply what you've learned to other situations so quickly, Manager Chen truly deserves to be called an elite in the advertising department."

"No, no, no, it was you, Teacher Zhang, who gave me the best inspiration."

"That's still necessary..."

"cough~"

Seeing the two of them start praising each other, Yan Xiaoming finally couldn't help but step in and pour cold water on their enthusiasm: "Shouldn't this be reported to the station leaders for approval first? We're filming a TV series, what if we cram in a bunch of commercials..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help but shake his head vigorously.

Chen Zhipeng retorted without hesitation: "Director Yan, you're being too rigid. This will generate revenue for the station, reduce the financial burden on your production center, and promote the products made in Tianjin. It's a win-win situation, so why not?"

Yan Xiaoming didn't speak, but looked at Wei Liben who was standing to the side.

Wei Liben rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, then unsurprisingly said, "Manager Chen has some merit, but we should still consult with the leadership first."

Hearing Chen Zhipeng and Yan Xiaoming arguing, Zhang Yan felt a sense of foreboding. How did they manage to offend the abbot so quickly?

(End of this chapter)