Huayu: Starting from managing the Mahua FunAge Theater Troupe

For the next period of time.

Various plans are being implemented one after another.

Through a friend's connection, Yu Kai found a Tianjin performance company to handle the first round of tour for "Mahua" in Tianjin, mainly helping with renting theaters and coordinating publicity.

Happy Twist is currently too small a company. It is difficult for them to carry out their work in other cities without finding powerful local figures to act as their agents.

The Tianjin performance company's fees are not low; it takes 10% of the total box office revenue for a single tour.

The venue rental and promotion costs are borne by Happy Twist itself.

The venue arranged by the Tianjin performance company was the Qunxing Theater, which reopened on April 15.

Happy Twist rented the main theater of the Star Theater, which has a total of 462 seats.

The performance market in Tianjin is far worse than in Beijing, plagued by three major problems: free tickets, ticket promotion, and ticket hoarding.

Reopened theaters face even more problems, as evidenced by the fact that single-show rentals are priced at 2000 to 3000 yuan.

4月15日、4月16日这两天只要2000元。

4月17日、4月18日这两天因为是周末，租金是3000元。

The recording of the first and second episodes of "Chinese Comedians" took place from April 5th to April 9th.

沈飞扬便让遇恺把天津首轮巡演集中在4月15日-4月18日这段时间，一共六场，租金1万6。

门票一共三个档次，50个100元的VIP坐席、280个70元的普通坐席、120个40元的学生票坐席。

There are also 12 seats, which are complimentary tickets prepared for some leaders.

Logically speaking, if every show is sold out, the highest box office per show could be around 29,400 yuan, and for six shows it would be over 170,000 yuan. Of course, this is just a theoretical figure.

A budget of 50,000 yuan was allocated to publicity, mainly for purchasing airtime on local radio and print media in Tianjin from April 8th to April 14th, as well as distributing simple flyers in Tianjin's university town.

In addition, there is a budget of 20,000 yuan for online promotion, mainly used to recruit local netizens in Tianjin and flood local community forums in Tianjin for the three days before the performance.

Overall, there is a high probability of a loss, but this money must be spent.

Happy Twist has no brand recognition in Tianjin, and the strategic value of its first round of performances outweighs its book profits.

Yu Kai also got the car that Shen Feiyang wanted to show off.

The 2002 Audi A6 with a 1.8-liter engine cost 200,000 yuan. The license plate starts with "京F". The car was returned from my company and has only driven less than 20,000 kilometers.

The car is registered under the company's name.

Shen Feiyang let Yu Kai drive it daily for running errands and commuting to and from work. He would let Yu Kai know in advance when he needed the car.

Yu Kai was completely dazed.

How come I got a car after only working for the new boss for two months?

……

Guo Gang was also very happy.

After Liu Liu returned to Northeast China and consulted an expert to calculate an auspicious day, he set the date for the apprenticeship ceremony between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM on March 20th.

Most importantly, Zhao Benshan agreed to Liu Liu's request to serve as Guo Gang's guarantor.

When the news spread, Li Jindou and others originally planned to make a scene with their advisor and master to oppose Liu Liu taking on disciples, but after hearing that Zhao Benshan had intervened, they all backed down.

Zhao Benshan was one of the people who attended the meeting in March.

……

During the period of waiting for the company's paperwork to be completed and the apprenticeship ceremony to be held.

Through the Hebei Bangzi Opera Troupe's connections in the performing arts world, Zhang Fuyan confirmed that Shen Feiyang and Guo Gang were not exaggerating. He then reached a preliminary agreement with Shen Feiyang on a revenue-sharing model and is now awaiting the signing of the contract.

After confirming their intention to cooperate, the three pairs of actors who were about to sign with Yunshe were not idle. Guo Gang and Yu Qian, He Yunwei and Li Qing, Cao Yunjin and Sun Yue recorded several censored versions of crosstalk at Tianqiao Le Tea Garden.

The audio copyright belongs to the soon-to-be-established 㯖允社, and any revenue generated will be distributed to them according to the revenue-sharing ratio stipulated in the contract.

On March 19, Yunshe Culture Communication Co., Ltd. and Happy Twist Artist Management Co., Ltd. completed all registration procedures.

On that day, Yu Kai, with Yu Yun Society as the main entity, signed a contract with Tianqiao Le Tea Garden.

The contract stipulates that from March 25, 2004 to March 26, 2005, the company will contract the Le Tea Garden for designated time slots every Thursday to Sunday. Thursday and Friday will be from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm, and Saturday and Sunday will be from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm and from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm. From Monday to Wednesday, the company will decide whether to add additional sessions.

Ticket revenue is split 30/70, with Le Cha Yuan taking 30% and Ya Yun She taking 70%.

……

When Yu Kai signed the contract in Beijing.

Shen Feiyang, Guo Gang, Yu Qian, Shi Fukuan and others have been in Harbin for several days.

Liu Liu hosted a lavish banquet in Harbin.

Liu Liu's reputation was slightly less, but with Zhao Benshan's support, at least a hundred industry insiders came from all over the country to show their support, including Hou Yaowen, who represented the Beijing crosstalk circle.

As for the folk art figures from Northeast China who came to support the event, there were even more, numbering over a thousand, with a continuous stream of guests.

It has become a grand event for the Northeast crosstalk and folk art circles.

Reporters from national newspapers flocked here.

Seeing the immense popularity, on his second day in Harbin, Shen Feiyang discussed it with Liu Liu and then spent 30,000 yuan of his own money to rent ten shows at the Harbin Baihua Theater. Each show would last an hour and a half, with one show per day, and Guo Gang and Yu Qian would perform a special show.

All ten performances will be free, as a way to repay the people of my master's hometown.

Guo Gang's crosstalk is indeed innovative and his performance style is really funny. He made a name for himself after only two shows in Harbin, and you can't get free tickets for the later shows without certain connections.

Local radio stations, newspapers, and television stations in Harbin all reported on this matter free of charge.

Guo Gang's apprenticeship to renowned crosstalk performer Liu Liu topped the local trending topics list.

Shen Feiyang then approached reporters from major national newspapers, giving them travel expenses and asking them to include Guo Gang's background story in their reports.

Before becoming Liu Liu's apprentice, Guo Gang was an ordinary crosstalk performer at the BJ Crosstalk Club. He performed diligently at the Tianqiao Tea Garden for ten years. Eventually, due to his exceptional talent, he was unexpectedly discovered by Liu Liu, who felt that Guo Gang had experienced the same thing when he was young, and made an exception to accept Guo Gang as his apprentice.

By March 19, Guo Gang and Yu Qian had performed for five consecutive days.

The performance, which started at 6 p.m. on March 19, was attended by Zhao Benshan and his entourage, who had just arrived in Harbin.

In the largest private box on the second floor of the Hundred Flowers Theater.

Sitting on a few chairs in the private room were Zhao Benshan, Liu Liu, Shi Shengjie, the former head of the Heilongjiang Quyi Troupe, the local deputy mayor, and others.

Shen Feiyang stood aside like a lackey.

Zhao Benshan, with a cigarette between his fingers, greeted everyone and jokingly teased Liu Liu, "You really made a big splash this time; the whole country knows about it, hahaha."

In the world of crosstalk, the apprenticeship ceremony is called "Baizhi," which means to make it public so that everyone knows.

Traditionally, a "Baizhi" event involves inviting industry professionals to dinner, and its influence is limited to a city at most. However, Liu Liu's "Baizhi" event, with the addition of a thank-you performance, generated dozens of times more buzz.

Liu Liu then raised a hand and recommended Guo Gang's Shen Feiyang to him: "It was all planned with the help of young Mr. Shen."

Zhao Benshan turned to look at Shen Feiyang: "Young Master Shen is quite clever. He came up with a TV drama script a while ago, and I think it's pretty good. I was just thinking of having a good chat with him the other day."

"Teacher Zhao." Shen Feiyang bowed slightly and greeted him.

"Hmm. Hey you... go ask someone from the theater to get a chair. The service at the Baihua Theater is getting worse and worse." Zhao Benshan said with considerable dissatisfaction.

"I'll go right away," the theater manager, who was standing to the side, quickly agreed.