Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 127 Setting Up the Event

"Filming a TV series based on 'Zhu Xian'?"

In the meeting room, the operations director was the first to raise a question.

"These days, they're casting popular idols in fantasy dramas. If they're going to make a 'Zhu Xian' movie, the cast has to be at least on par with 'Chinese Paladin 3'."

"The cast is not a problem," the film and television executive immediately replied. "The short film of 'Fantasy Zhu Xian' originally used the original cast of 'Chinese Paladin 3'. We can continue to talk to Tangren Media and take advantage of this fantasy trend to definitely boost the online sales of 'Zhu Xian 2'."

"The idea is good, but the film and television adaptation rights for 'Zhu Xian' are held by H&R Century Pictures."

The meeting room fell silent after those words were spoken.

"Why don't we just cooperate with H&R Century Pictures?" someone suggested.

"It's not that simple. Although Huanrui has the copyright, they have never produced a decent fantasy drama. In China, only Tangren can make a proper fantasy drama."

At this time, Huanrui had accumulated a lot of good IPs, but its production capabilities were still lacking.

Tangren Media, on the other hand, is at its peak with the "Chinese Paladin" series, making it the undisputed leader in the ancient costume fantasy genre.

"Then let's have all three of us work together! Huanrui provides the IP, Tangren provides the production and actors, and we invest the money. Wouldn't that set the stage?"

"A three-way collaboration? Forget it. Everyone in the industry knows about Cai Yinong and Yu Zheng's relationship. If these two get together, they'll start tearing each other apart before the movie even starts filming."

A few dry laughs echoed in the conference room.

"It's all just private friction, nothing serious happened," the film and television executive said, still unwilling to give up. "I heard that Tangren is also looking for a project to follow 'Chinese Paladin'. The value of 'Zhu Xian' is undeniable. As long as we offer good enough terms, they have no reason to refuse."

"You make that sound so easy. Have you even done the math?"

The CFO finally couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up, "The salaries for Hu Ge and Liu Shishi, plus the inherently high cost of fantasy dramas, will easily amount to at least fifty or sixty million. Mr. Chi, if we invest this money, will the acquisition of Xinbaoyuan still go through?"

Upon hearing the name Xinbaoyuan, the atmosphere in the conference room immediately became tense.

Xinbaoyuan is the company of director Zhao Baogang.

Since its inception, Perfect World Pictures has always sought out projects for financial investment, without participating in production.

Their joint production with Zhao Baogang, "Marriage Defense," is about to premiere. Perfect World, as the largest investor, has invested over 30 million yuan in this show.

In order to completely bind Zhao Baogang and bring his production team under its wing, Perfect World is preparing to spend 1.1 million yuan to acquire 55% of Xinbaoyuan's equity.

This is a crucial step in their entry into the production field, and they cannot afford to fail.

"Moreover, the effect of film and television influencing games is not as amazing as imagined."

The operations director continued to pour cold water on the idea, saying, "Even though 'Chinese Paladin 3' was so popular, we didn't see Softstar's 'Chinese Paladin Online' recover. The number of online players did increase a little when the show was airing, but it immediately dropped back down after the show ended. TV dramas have such long runs; if you're relying on them to drive traffic, 'Jade Dynasty 2' would have been a flop long ago."

The CFO added, "President Chi, my personal suggestion is to stick to the original approach: cast a wide net with low costs."

As for "Zhu Xian," we'll stick to the previous plan and have Zhang Jie and Xie Na film a few promotional short videos. It's low-cost, quick, and can coincide with the launch of the new expansion.

"As for film and television investment," he paused for a moment, "the project that Director Teng Huatao just handed over has an investment of less than ten million. We can afford this amount of money. It's perfect for testing the waters of the film market without delaying the acquisition of Xinbaoyuan."

The meeting room erupted into noise again.

Some are pushing for epic fantasy films, hoping for a blockbuster hit; others advocate for a more conservative approach, suggesting investing in low-budget movies to test the waters of the theatrical market; still others suggest spending the money directly on game marketing and user acquisition. The debate is fierce.

Chi Yufeng remained silent until the argument subsided, at which point he looked up.

"We can't just leave the 'Zhu Xian' IP like this. The conflict between Huanrui and Tangren is their business, but we still need to talk about it."

He looked at the person in charge of film and television, "Tomorrow, you should contact Cai Yinong and Yu Zheng separately and tell them that Perfect World is willing to invest in a three-way joint production of the TV series 'Zhu Xian'. Let's sound out their opinions and see what their conditions are."

"What about acquiring Xinbaoyuan and Teng Huatao's 'Love is Not Blind'?"

"Xinbaoyuan will proceed as planned, but let's put Teng Huatao's project on hold for now," Chi Yufeng decided decisively. "Let's focus on securing the Zhuxian project first."

End of the meeting.

A dozen or so people left one after another. Some breathed a sigh of relief, while others still looked unwilling.

Chi Yufeng was the last to leave the conference room.

As the leader, he knew very well that time was of the essence and that Perfection had to pursue multiple paths simultaneously.

But what he didn't know was that this scheme wasn't so easy to orchestrate.

Tangren Media.

Cai Yinong was staring at the computer screen, which displayed the cast list for the company's next major production, "Scarlet Heart".

Next to Ruoxi, it's already marked that Liu Shishi has been cast. The list after Fourth Prince is still empty, with only a few names under negotiation.

The one in front is Nicky Wu.

the phone is ringing.

"Sister Cai, the people from Perfect World said they want to take the lead in producing a TV series based on 'Zhu Xian' and are bringing in Huanrui and us as a joint venture."

Cai Yinong paused for a moment while holding the mouse.

To be fair, she had been eyeing "Zhu Xian" for a long time. Tangren Media built its empire with the "Chinese Paladin" series. If they could add "Zhu Xian" to their portfolio, they could take another step forward in the ancient costume fantasy genre.

Thinking of this, Cai Yinong's mind started to wander.

The problem is that the copyright is held by Huanrui, and both companies mainly focus on period dramas.

They've been vying for actors, scheduling, and promotional resources countless times, both openly and covertly.

What bothered her even more was Yu Zheng. Their departure had been unpleasant, with constant friction, and recently, Yu Zheng had become involved in the drama "Beauty's Rival in Palace."

Having established herself in the industry, she hadn't swallowed her anger. As his influence within Huanrui grew, it would be even more troublesome to clash with him in the future.

"Tell the perfect person that this matter is negotiable," she paused, her voice turning cold, "but I won't talk to Yu Zheng."

On the other side, at Yu Zheng's studio.

The keyboard clattered incessantly, and the document title clearly stated the script name: "Palace".

This is also a Qing Dynasty time-travel drama.

My phone rang; it was Zhong Junyan, the owner of H&R Century Pictures.

He answered the phone, listened for a few minutes, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

"《诛仙》?" He drawled, "Sure, but you need to make it clear to Perfect World that I have to be the screenwriter for this show."

After hanging up the phone, Yu Zheng looked at the script that was almost finished on his computer and smiled even more happily.

Does Tangren Media want to dominate the Qing Dynasty time-travel drama genre with "Scarlet Heart"?

Keep dreaming.

He wants to get involved in the "Zhu Xian" project and cause trouble for Cai Yinong.

The drama "Palace" also needs to step up its efforts and finish filming and airing before "Scarlet Heart" does!

He closed the document for "Palace", created a new blank page, and typed a title.

"Zhu Xian"

(Note: Original post by Yu Zheng)