I really don't want to make bad movies!

The popularity of "Chinese Paladin 4" is unstoppable.

Kiwi is coming on strong, determined to dominate the entire year-end online drama slot.

Other platforms also wisely refrained from direct confrontation.

This is a heavyweight web series with a production cost of 300 million yuan. To compete with it, you would need to come up with a project costing at least 100 million yuan.

As it turns out, kiwifruit's strategy was successful.

The company started promoting its high-priced drama series six months ago, causing other platforms to choose to avoid its competition and making way for a smooth year-end slot.

Although the reviews were polarized on the day of its launch, it successfully created a dominant position.

Whether you're interested or not, there's only one web series being heavily promoted at the end of the year, leaving viewers with no other choice.

With a "let's try it out" attitude, its premiere is sure to be a hit.

Although the initial rating dropped to 6.0, it was quickly raised back to 7.5 by fans, making it a mediocre rating that was neither particularly good nor bad.

With such an undeniable success, Kiwi is in a lot of contract negotiations.

Taking advantage of the fact that subsequent episodes have not yet aired, the lead actors gave interviews to further generate buzz.

There were even instances of internal discord and messy disputes.

For example, when the production team of "Chinese Paladin 4" was promoting the show before its premiere, the first name listed in the cast list was Ju Jingyi. Later, they released a second promotional video, in which the first name listed in the cast list was Chen Zheyuan, the male lead.

Fans of the male and female leads started arguing over who was the lead, and their respective studios even posted each other's contracts to prove that they were number one.

Fans naturally flocked to the show, attacking each other with comments like, "Your idol's acting skills are so bad, how dare they be the lead actor?"

……

Five days have passed since the premiere of "Chinese Paladin 4", but its popularity remains high.

But as time went on, more and more viewers began to complain and attack the platform online, completely unaware of where the 300 million yuan budget was spent.

Viewers pay money to watch the show, hoping to see iQiyi recreate the classic "Chinese Paladin" series, not to watch something made with industrial saccharin and shoddy production.

Fans in the entertainment industry are not to be trifled with. They blame the production team for not properly promoting their stars, criticizing everything from makeup and lighting to the script.

Kiwi Fruit Jinghai Headquarters.

Public opinion has become increasingly uncontrollable.

Kiwifruit monopolized the entire year-end season, so it naturally had to endure attacks from all online drama viewers.

Three large-scale conferences were held in five days.

The meeting covered topics including, but not limited to: "Estimation of revenue for subsequent episodes", "Public opinion control, whether to spend money to control public opinion", "The main reasons for the collapse in reputation", and "Whether to launch a sequel plan".

These meetings are not like the previous ones where all regional presidents gathered together.

The attendees were mainly Chief Content Officer Wang Hui, TV Drama Division Director Yang Xianghua, Marketing Director Hu Jia, and Short Video Division Executive Vice President Huang Xuke.

Huang Xuke was responsible for traffic distribution and public opinion control on short video channels, so he had the least pressure.

The publicity campaign cost nearly 100 million yuan, and the buzz completely met expectations.

As for his reputation collapsing, that's none of his business.

Huang Xuke, who had been upset by Yang Xianghua's criticism, now adopts a spectator's attitude, sitting at the end of the conference table and secretly drinking tea.

"Mr. Yang, you go first." Wang Hui sat in the main seat, his hands crossed under his chin, and his words were chillingly cold.

Yang Xianghua covered his lips with his hand, silently biting his lip and clicking his tongue, before lowering his hands and speaking in a deep voice.

"I think the current situation is still stable and improving. During the entire year-end period, only our drama has exceeded 100 million views and 100 million clicks. The popularity on Weibo and Baidu is unprecedented. With a little effort in marketing, we should be able to sell 500 million copies in the end."

"Is it stable and improving?" Wang Hui didn't move his hands, only his eyes conveyed his thoughts.

Yang Xianghua broke out in a cold sweat and nodded silently.

"What about the data? The completion rate of episodes one and two, the number of advanced views for episodes three and four, and the graphs of clicks and popularity?"

"I, I'll urge my men to do it right away..."

"What a load of crap!"

Wang Hui slammed his hand on the table: "A 300 million yuan project, how can you sleep without staring at the data charts every day?"

He looked at the marketing director: "Mr. Hu, tell me, how much money have we spent just on controlling public opinion? Those headlines on Toutiao are worth two million a day, and hiring online trolls has cost tens of millions. Isn't that money?"

"Lai Xuke, tell me, were there hundreds of smear videos that were reported and taken down yesterday alone?"

Huang Xuke secretly rejoiced, glancing down at the computer screen: "Uh, 1,400 entries."

"Aren't these public opinions hidden values? Isn't the drop in our stock price after the show aired valuable? Aren't the labels the public gives us valuable?"

"This isn't an investment; it's a fully funded team, handling all production, distribution, and operations, determined to win the annual gold award and enhance the company's reputation. And this is the kind of thing you produce?!"

Wang Hui couldn't help but swear, and took a sip of tea to calm himself down.

Yang Xianghua quickly gave Hu Jia a wink.

Hu Jia understood immediately and said, "Mr. Wang, we're still making a profit. The subsequent GG contract and distribution rights have been negotiated, so we definitely won't lose money."

"Bullshit! Do you think I need to break even?"

Wang Hui nearly choked on his water halfway through drinking: "Are you even going to write the year-end financial report?! Do you dare fill in the return on investment?! If I find out that even a single cent of these 300 million went into your pockets, you're all fired!"

These words were too much. Yang Xianghua and Hu Jia hurriedly stood up, bowed, and shook their heads repeatedly.

"Xu Ke".

Wang Hui abruptly changed the subject, calling out to Huang Xuke, "How's the short video business going? What are the recent data figures?"

Huang Xuke projected the PPT and said calmly, "Recently, all the attention has been focused on 'Chinese Paladin 4'. The bloggers who helped promote it have lost a lot of followers. Other high-quality projects have been overshadowed by the attention from 'Chinese Paladin 4'."

Yang Xianghua immediately blew on his beard. Wasn't this a clear attempt to shift the blame onto himself?

Wang Hui felt a headache coming on and frowned, saying, "Why bother promoting our own section? Just give up all the top-tier content on Green Fruit Short Video and promote a few high-quality bloggers. Don't ruin the short video market."

"And you too." He then looked at Hu Jia, "There's still a month left before it airs. Think carefully about how to control the public opinion environment. Even if you can't attract core fans, don't let those celebrities' people smear you everywhere. It'll look bad!"

Fans are the most loyal group, and their main battleground is still the Weibo platform. They are a force that online media platforms cannot ignore.

"It's already underway," Hu Jia immediately replied. "I've already guided the discussion, shifting the conflict from one fan group to another, letting the fans of these different celebrities attack each other."

Wang Hui looked at Yang Xianghua again, but remained silent.

Yang Xianghua understood immediately and made a promise:

"Don't worry, I will adjust the promotional content later. I will not go for the direction of national IP, but only attract those who like to watch ancient costume dramas and fantasy dramas. They only like sweet stories, which can contribute to the number of members and will not leave malicious negative reviews."

"Throughout December, we were the only drama series with a major promotional campaign; they had no other choice!"

After establishing the general direction, Wang Hui gave a few more instructions and then adjourned the meeting.

As soon as the presidents left the conference room, a subordinate walked up to Yang Xianghua and whispered to him.

Yang Xianghua's face suddenly turned ashen.

Wang Hui noticed something was amiss. He knew the person standing guard at the conference room door must be reporting something urgent, so he immediately stopped in his smoking area, frowned, and asked, "What is it?"

Seeing Yang Xianghua stammering, Wang Hui turned to his subordinate and said, "You speak!"

The man was somewhat embarrassed, but still honestly told his boss, "A new drama has gone viral."

Upon hearing this, the CEOs were puzzled and hurriedly asked, "Which drama?"

Logically speaking, the entire online drama season at the end of December was cleared out by iQiyi with "Chinese Paladin 4", so how could those small-budget dramas possibly make a splash?

The subordinate's eyes darted back and forth between the leaders before he finally pulled out his phone and said awkwardly, "The name is a bit strange, it's called, it's called Mao the Swindler."

Huang Xuke was dumbfounded when he heard the words "Mao the Swindler".

He stepped forward and raised his voice: "What are you yelling for?"

Perhaps finding the name embarrassing to utter, the subordinate could only shrink back and repeat in a low voice, "Mao the Swindler..."

Upon hearing those two words, Yang Xianghua immediately backed away, shrinking to the wall and lowering his head, trying to conceal his presence.

"Oh."

Wang Hui suddenly laughed, stepped forward and put his arm around Yang Xianghua's shoulder: "That's definitely a name you can't forget once you've heard it, isn't it, Mr. Yang?"

Ignoring all smoking bans, he lit a cigarette, turned around, and walked back into the conference room.

"Don't leave, keep the fucking meeting going."