I really don't want to make bad movies!

Once the film was completed, Xia Ming immediately contacted Ye Heng, the specialist at the QuanQuan platform.

Then, through Ye Heng's connections, they found Li Jing, the manager of Quan Quan's entertainment company.

Li Jing, as the investor's representative, was going to promote the copyright of the first season of "The Swindlers," and Xia Ming, as the main producer, was also going along.

After discussion, the two decided that, excluding the iQiyi platform, their first choice would naturally be its biggest competitor – Tencent Video Network.

Although Tencent's headquarters are located in Guangdong Province, Tencent Video's content production and procurement center is located in Jinghai.

This is Tencent Video's largest content incubation base, which collaborates with many film and television companies and production companies. Even its self-produced drama and variety show teams are concentrated in the Jinghai branch.

QuanQuan platform is still a bit small compared to Tencent's. It took several days of coordination to successfully make an appointment and meet with Tencent Video's purchasing manager.

"Please sit down." Manager Fu Xiaotian smiled and personally stood up to invite Xia Ming and Li Jing to sit down.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a film crew come to my door to promote their products."

Fu Xiaotian poured tea for the two of them, then sat back down in his own seat.

Li Jing asked curiously, "What procedures are followed now?"

"Process?" Fu Xiaotian was taken aback, but quickly realized, "No, we now prefer to incubate our own products and create a premium product strategy."

"Even when it comes to purchasing, we focus on the early stages of the production team's formation, choosing to invest in and purchase films."

"Buying finished products is too risky. Without professional risk control and analysis involved in the production of the series, who knows how badly the final product will turn out?"

"Especially historical, urban crime, and political dramas, they often need to undergo at least five or six major revisions from their initial release to their final broadcast. It's such a hassle!"

Xia Ming sensed something was wrong; the manager was clearly trying to drive down the price right from the start!

Before the negotiations even started, they had already lowered their own standing by a few points.

As expected of a senior executive at Tengzi, his business acumen is undeniable.

During the online negotiations a few days ago, Li Jing revealed that their drama series was a modern urban crime drama, which Fu Xiaotian could use to negotiate the price, using various tactics such as venture capital and legal control to lower the price.

"Don't worry, this film is a public awareness campaign against fraud, and it has official endorsement."

Xia Ming placed the script on the table, gesturing for Fu Xiaotian to take a look.

Fu Xiaotian bent down, picked up the script from the coffee table, and glanced at Xia Ming a few times: "You are... the producer?"

He was a little unsure; he had never seen such a young producer before.

"Yes, I am one of the co-producers."

"What about other productions?"

"It's Marco"

"Marco?" Fu Xiaotian clearly recognized the name.

Producer Ma, a well-known figure in the industry, has a special fondness for Jiang Wen.

Upon closer inspection of the script, the producer's name was clearly written as "Jiang Wen".

He frowned, his expression turned serious, and he immediately began to peruse the script.

Soon, Fu Xiaotian put down the script, a smile appearing on his face: "The script is of very good quality. Did the screenwriter come along? Did your team discuss the screenwriter's profit sharing beforehand? We need to avoid any copyright disputes."

Xia Ming nodded: "I am the screenwriter."

Fu Xiaotian was taken aback, then asked, "What about the director? Does he get a share of the profits?"

Xia Ming then replied, "I am the director."

Fu Xiaotian stopped what he was doing, turned the script back to the first page, looked at the director and screenwriter's identical names, and looked up directly at Xia Ming: "You are—"

"I am Xia Ming."

"sharp……"

Fu Xiaotian took a sip of tea to suppress his shock.

It shouldn't be Xia Ming, the one who filmed "The Big Hornet," right?

The director, screenwriter, and producer are all the same person, which makes it much easier to handle copyright revenue sharing without having to deal with multiple lawyers getting involved and discussing it for a long time.

"Give me the sample photos."

Fu Xiaotian got up, took the hard drive Xia Ming handed him, and returned to his desk.

"All twelve episodes are in there?"

"Yes, all twelve episodes, including behind-the-scenes content, are included."

Fu Xiaotian glanced at the time: "I'll take twenty minutes. If the content is satisfactory, we'll go to the conference room to discuss the contract."

Xia Ming casually remarked, "Twenty minutes isn't enough."

Fu Xiaotian smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've been a purchasing agent for ten years."

The implication is that he wouldn't make a mistake; twenty minutes is enough to determine the quality of the film.

After saying that, Fu Xiaotian imported the video and pressed play.

The moment the image appeared on the computer screen, the teacup he was holding to his lips involuntarily stopped.

He was completely unaware as drops of tea dripped down his lower lip and onto his suit collar.

Fu Xiaotian had only one thought in his mind at that moment: Am I watching a movie?

Such sophisticated color grading!

He wasn't exaggerating; as a seasoned buyer, he immediately recognized the film's precise color grading style.

The film is set in an urban crime world, featuring a cool-toned visual style with dark, somber areas and profound characters.

However, unlike similar films, the characters in this movie are clearly more eye-catching.

Fu Xiaotian didn't know how this was done; after all, he wasn't a professional colorist.

He was immediately drawn to the character designs at first glance.

In the simplest terms, the background has a great atmosphere, and the characters have a sophisticated feel!

More importantly, the characters are good-looking!

Less than five minutes into the drama, his gaze was already fixed on the two leading actresses.

When I came to my senses, I realized I hadn't watched any of the plot, so I had to rewind to the very beginning of the film and watch it all over again.

At the same time, he had already made a preliminary judgment in his mind: with good looks and high-level visual aesthetics, even if the plot of the film was not good, he could easily make the film popular.

The market is currently dominated by historical romance dramas and domineering CEO romances; it occasionally needs some different themes.

While making a purchase assessment in his mind, Fu Xiaotian also wanted to watch the main drama, so he had to drag the progress bar back from time to time.

"..."

Just as Fu Xiaotian was about to play the next episode, he suddenly remembered, "Didn't I come here to purchase the copyright?"

Why are you binge-watching TV shows?!

Looking at the time in the bottom right corner of the computer screen, I realized that an hour had already passed!

"Manager, how is the quality of the sample?" Xia Ming walked forward with a smile.

Fu Xiaotian coughed awkwardly a few times, "Not bad, it's clear the director put a lot of effort into this drama, but the same issue remains: revenue sharing..."

He paused, then suddenly remembered that this production team was highly integrated, combining directing, screenwriting, and production.

"Regulatory security issues..."

He stopped talking, remembering the slogan displayed at the beginning of the film: "Beware of scams, keep your eyes open."

There's absolutely no room for negotiation!

After thinking it over, he decided to start with the goal of finding a new director:

"The first episode was indeed of good quality, but time was limited, and I couldn't check the subsequent plot. After all, this is a new director, and his ability to control a feature film is limited..."

Seeing him speak so eloquently, Xia Ming could only invoke Jiang Wen's name:

"Manager Fu, you may not trust the director's abilities, but can you not trust Director Jiang's? With Jiang Wen as the producer, the overall quality of the entire series is guaranteed. Otherwise, Producer Ma wouldn't dare to invest, would he?"

"hiss--"

Fu Xiaotian took a deep breath.

Why are you so difficult to deal with, kid?

Li Jing then added fuel to the fire, introducing everything from the film crew's camera equipment to the professional cinematographer, leaving Fu Xiaotian no room to negotiate the price.

After a heated exchange, Fu Xiaotian finally gave in and said helplessly, "Eight million as a guaranteed down payment, plus a 20% share of the profits."

"That's too little!"

Li Jing flatly refused.

An eight million guaranteed buyout wouldn't even cover the costs.

Although there is a 20% split, she doesn't want to take the risk.

Although we know the series is of high quality, who can guarantee what the market trend will be?

"A minimum of 15 million, with 10% of the profits going towards the profit sharing."

Watching the two haggle back and forth, Xia Ming, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"A minimum of 30 million, with 30% split among the profits."

The office suddenly fell silent.

Fu Xiaotian blinked and exchanged glances with Li Jing on the opposite side.

Li Jing shook her head, then turned to look at Xia Ming.

Fu Xiaotian realized what was happening and turned to look at Xia Ming.

A minimum of 30 million, with a 30% profit split?!

How dare you!

"Director Xia, producer Xia, screenwriter Xia. You may be very confident in your work, but—"

Fu Xiaotian took a sip of tea to moisten his mouth and said in a deep voice, "Perhaps you and other producers have discussed and decided to create a high-quality drama series and sell it at a high price based on its quality."

"But the market is ruthless. Your show doesn't have veteran actors or popular stars, so even if the quality is excellent, the pressure to recoup revenue through word of mouth will be immense."

"I'm just a manager with a maximum purchasing authority of one million per episode. Don't make things difficult for me."

"A minimum of ten million, split 20/20. If that doesn't work, you can try buying from Kiwi."

Li Jing leaned forward anxiously, as if she was about to agree.

Xia Ming immediately grabbed her shoulder and smiled at Fu Xiaotian, "Manager Fu, how about we take a look at the last three episodes first?"

Fu Xiaotian didn't have much time to review the film and originally wanted to refuse outright.

Xia Ming, however, took out his phone and showed him the content of episode ten.

Fu Xiaotian frowned, and when he looked down, his frown deepened.

In the picture, a man with sculpted features stands in a dimly lit study, the perfect lighting highlighting an indescribable air of mystery.

Who is this?!

Fu Xiaotian picked up his phone and took a closer look.

Chen Kun?!