I really don't want to make bad movies!

Fu Xiaotian held Xia Ming's phone and unknowingly finished watching another episode.

Why didn't you tell me Chen Kun was in it!

Moreover, judging from the plot, Chen Kun's character is very important and has a very likable personality.

As a seasoned purchasing agent, he believes that he can break even by leveraging the fan economy.

"Still not working? Then I'll go talk to Kiwi." Xia Ming got up and prepared to leave.

"etc!"

Fu Xiaotian immediately called out to him.

"Wait a minute! Can I borrow your phone for a moment?"

After saying that, Fu Xiaotian grabbed Xia Ming's phone and stormed out of the room.

Li Jing was puzzled: "Where did he go?"

Xia Ming laughed and sat back down on the sofa: "Didn't he just say that the manager's budget for purchasing a single episode is only one million?"

Sure enough, a moment later, Fu Xiaotian led another man in a suit and tie into the office.

The man smiled broadly and stepped forward to introduce himself: "Hello, Producer Xia, I'm the Purchasing Director of Tencent Video. You can just call me Pete."

"Please sit down."

Pete shook hands with Xia Ming and Li Jing, then gestured for them to sit down.

"I guess I'm just out of touch. I didn't even know that Producer Ma and Director Jiang had brought together another production team and even cast Chen Kun in it."

Xia Ming responded with a smile, "We collaborated on a movie before, and Director Jiang happened to see my script, so he helped me make a web series."

"A promising young talent!" Pete, legs crossed, cut to the chase: "I trust Xiao Tian's judgment. How about this: a guaranteed 20 million upfront, 30% profit split—consider it making friends, what do you say?"

Li Jing's eyes lit up as she listened.

After investing 12 million and deducting Xia Ming's share, the net profit was 6 million.

Not to mention the revenue sharing and the hidden benefits brought by the character GG in the show.

This is a sure-fire way to make money!

She was eager to agree, but Xia Ming stopped her with a raised hand.

Li Jing only thought about making money, but Xia Ming had much more to consider.

"With the year drawing to a close, why isn't Tencent Video promoting any major dramas?" Xia Ming asked Pete.

Pete shifted his legs, waving his hand with a smile: "This is an internal matter for our company, you don't need to worry about it."

"With iQiyi heavily promoting 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4,' as your biggest competitor, would you let go of this huge traffic window at the end of the year?"

Although Pete remained expressionless, Fu Xiaotian, standing behind him, clearly couldn't control his facial expressions.

It's not that Tencent doesn't want to grab traffic, it's just that they don't have any outstanding works to show for themselves right now!

With a nationally recognized IP like "Chinese Paladin 4" and popular actress Ju Jingyi starring in it, iQiyi spent a whopping 300 million yuan on it, while other platforms chose to avoid competing with it.

"We don't want to spend a lot of money to produce a cannon fodder character that gets mercilessly crushed by 'Sword and Fairy 4'."

Pete didn't want to hide anything, so he simply told the truth.

"Since you don't have any projects to highlight, why not give the spot to 'The Swindler' and see how it goes?"

Upon hearing this, Pete paused for a moment, then turned to look at Fu Xiaotian.

Fu Xiaotian immediately understood his boss's meaning: "Is the quality really that good?"

He nodded silently.

A thousand thoughts flashed through Pete's mind, but his more than ten years of experience in the industry allowed him to make a quick decision: "We can give you a rotating banner during the broadcast, but the revenue share will be reduced to 20%."

The more promotional resources you get, the higher your revenue share will be.

Giving up the featured spot means cutting revenue sharing.

Xia Ming narrowed his eyes.

What he wanted to discuss was the resource slots on Tencent Video's main site.

Especially the splash screen's featured image, carousel images, and top recommendation bar—these are positions that money can't buy.

They are usually only sold as a package in resource swaps.

Spending a day in a featured position on the main site generates far more traffic than spending a week on other channels!

Only when the release of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4" was imminent was he able to manage to discuss the placement of a carousel image.

Xia Ming and Li Jing discussed it briefly, then stood up, bent down and shook hands with Pete.

"make a deal!"

After discussion, "The Swindler" still needs to be filed and submitted for review a second time. It is expected to be launched on Tencent Video on December 3, avoiding the release of "Chinese Paladin 4" at the end of November.

Afterwards, Li Jing will also need to discuss the GG advertising in the drama with Tencent executives.

Xia Ming left first.

By this point, he had already made his money back.

With a guaranteed prepayment of 20 million, he can receive 2 million.

After giving producer Ma a million, and subtracting the 500,000 he invested in "The Swindler," he would still have 500,000 left.

The subsequent revenue sharing will depend on the market response.

Xia Ming had seen the cast and crew list for "Chinese Paladin 4," and it was basically the same team as in his previous life, which meant that the show was destined to have a bad reputation.

Of the 300 million investment, 150 million was spent on actors, special effects were mostly outsourced, and the rest of the creative team only got a small share.

Not to mention that with such a masterpiece preceding it, the sequel will inevitably be compared to it.

If we can find the right time to enter the market, we might be able to attract some fans of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4".

He believed that Tencent's investment platform wasn't stupid either; if "Mao Pian" really became a hit, they would also promote it spontaneously.

When it comes to promotion, who can compare to Tencent's viral marketing?

Shaking his head, Xia Ming decided to put these thoughts aside for the time being; he still had six million yuan in publicity funds to spend.

Once the main site recommendations were secured, the rest was just carpet-bombing-style waterfall-style promotion.

Xia Ming first found the top film and television commentators on Bilibili and Yinpu, two mainstream platforms.

After signing the contract, reveal the contents of the first two episodes of "The Swindler" to them in advance, and give them a rough draft so they can write the script ahead of time.

As soon as the series was released, they immediately posted an explanation video.

Then, we'll find marketing accounts that sell musical notes and distribute the pre-prepared clips, waiting for the series to start airing before releasing them.

Xia Ming managed various online platforms, such as Tieba, forums, and Weibo, which are popular for discussing web dramas, as well as platforms like Hongshu, which has a high concentration of female users, based on the number of followers on each account.

The entertainment industry doesn't believe in the adage "good wine needs no bush," and promotion is all about getting what you pay for.

Xia Ming even had Wang Zhengchuan promote the school's QQ groups and online forums.

Although it will inevitably be met with more doubts and ridicule, at least it has made a name for itself.

After spending all the money over several days, Xia Ming returned to his dormitory and took out his phone.

There was also one crucial promotional tactic that wasn't used.

Celebrity effect!

Jiang Wen was the nominal producer, and Chen Kun was the main supporting actor.

If these two big names could post and promote on Weibo, the effect would be comparable to a multi-million dollar publicity campaign!

After thinking about it, Xia Ming still shamelessly sent messages to the two of them.

Chen Kun quickly replied: [Regarding the scene where Shao Zhuang appears, did you ultimately not use my shot?]

Xia Ming was taken aback. How did he know?

In order not to delay the production schedule, Xia Ming suggested shooting two takes, but when editing, he used his own take without hesitation.

If a director doesn't even have this basic aesthetic sense and judgment about films, then what kind of director are they?

But could Chen Kun's bringing this up at this time be due to some dissatisfaction?

"I still think Shao Zhuang should maintain a detached and aloof attitude," Xia Ming answered truthfully.

The series has already entered the preliminary review stage, and Chen Kun will see the full episodes sooner or later, so there's no need for him to lie at this time.

[smiley face.jpg]

After returning, I read the script several more times and realized you were right.

Don't worry, I'll help you promote on Weibo and on the music track, for free.

Xia Ming breathed a long sigh of relief.

I don't know if you learned this from Director Jiang, but you're so stubborn.

Director Jiang is my senior.

After a while, Chen Kun replied: "This is a good thing; directors should have their own aesthetic sense. Hope to have the opportunity to collaborate again in the future."

【it is good! 】

After finishing his conversation with Chen Kun, Xia Ming opened Jiang Wen's chat window.

The other party has not replied for a long time; I wonder if they are still watching the editing process.

"Let the Bullets Fly" was shot on film, which made the review and editing process very troublesome. Post-production color grading also required transcoding through equipment, which was time-consuming and laborious.

Xia Ming didn't receive the message until late at night.

[Old Zhao said you have some insights into color grading?]

Before Xia Ming could type, Jiang Wen added, "[Stop talking nonsense, come to the China Film Color Grading Center and do five days of manual work!]"

If you do a good job, I'll help you promote it!

Xia Ming was on the verge of tears and could only ask his tutor for another five days off.

……

Five days later, Xia Ming returned to school and spent a few more days catching up on his credits.

Finally, thanks to Kiwi's overwhelming advertising campaign...

The Legend of Sword and Fairy 4 is now available!