Chapter 490: The Theater's Defeat
In the screening room on the second floor of Xingchen Film and Television, representatives from eight local satellite TV stations, including those from Zhejiang Province and Shandong Province, are staring at the images projected on the screen.

The company has very strict requirements on the length of TV series. Take the recently popular "Ghost Blows Out the Light" as an example. Excluding the opening and ending credits, the plot in between is close to an hour.

In other words, the 30-episode "Ghost Blows Out the Light" is no less long-running than those 40- or 50-episode TV series.

The reason for this rule is also Gu Wei's mandatory requirement. In his opinion, most of the time viewers watch TV is concentrated in the evening, and the reason why everyone chooses to watch TV is to relax. If the show is really about 40 minutes long, remove the synopsis, and then remove the front and end credits, two episodes a night, and a total of only about an hour, who would be able to watch it!

Therefore, the TV series currently produced by Xingchen Film and Television Company have not only gained a good reputation for their quality, but have also been well received for their length.

Not only the audience, but also the many film purchasing directors and deputy directors of the TV stations that bought the films also expressed some emotion, "Although the other party asked for a high price, the quantity is sufficient. Some TV series producers would like to ask for a high price and give a short duration, splitting one episode into two and selling it."

"The Eternal Sword" naturally followed this rule. The entire TV series was edited into 32 episodes, with each episode lasting about one hour and six minutes.

The process was the same as last time. I watched three episodes in a row and three and a half hours passed.

Jiang Xueruo was in charge of hosting the movie screening this time. Seeing that Wang Chen's several TV series were selling well in succession and his say in the company was getting more and more important, she became anxious.

"Dear directors and managers, what do you think?" After checking the quality of the TV series, everyone moved to the conference room. As soon as they sat down, Jiang Xueruo couldn't wait to ask.

Hearing this, before anyone else could speak, Song Ge frowned and said, "You can't ask directly like that. Why don't you ask the other person how he feels?"
The other party will most likely not praise you too much, and may even shake his head in a pretentious manner in order to lower the price.

Sure enough, the deputy director of Zhejiang Satellite TV drank a sip of mineral water and said, "It looks average. Currently, the market for martial arts dramas like this is not very good. People prefer to watch modern dramas or ancient costume palace dramas."

The film purchasing director of Shandong Province also nodded and agreed, "Yes, the main force of watching TV series is getting younger and younger. People like to watch something that interests them. Urban, business wars, and palace fighting are much better than martial arts dramas."

"Yes."

“Well, that’s the reality.”

The others also nodded and kept talking.

Hearing this, Jiang Xueruo's expression became a little unnatural. Just as she was about to continue speaking, Song Ge next to her took the lead.

Song Ge stood up and looked around. Seeing everyone's expressions, he immediately agreed with what Gu Wei said before watching the movie, "The TV series produced by our company are well-known. Don't worry that no one will accept the high price. On the contrary, if we ask for a high price, the other party will think that we are confident and the TV series will be a big hit."

Gu Wei set the bottom line for the price of "The Eternal Sword" at no less than 2.8 million per episode for TV stations and no less than 1 million for video websites. If the price is lower than this, the program will be packaged and sold to Tudou Video and shown on the video website.

"Everyone, you all know whether a TV series is good or not after watching it. As for whether there is a market for martial arts films, you must know it better than me, haha."

After listening to Song Ge's words, everyone laughed awkwardly. After all, they had learned from the previous experience. Last time, they praised "Ghost Blows Out the Light: The Mystical Ancient City", and the final transaction price of one episode was as high as 4.6 million. Even though it seems that they have made a profit now, everyone is still cautious in speaking and dare not mention the price first.

"Mr. Song, that's what you said, but we're not sure. How about you name a price first and we'll consider it?" suggested the deputy director of Sichuan Province.

"Yes, Mr. Song, just make an offer directly. We will give you an answer on the spot if it's okay."

Although everyone said this, they had already made up their minds in their hearts that as long as the price was not as outrageous as last time, they would definitely get this TV series.

Putting aside other things, just the three treasures of Zhouyi can trigger a "nostalgic" viewing climax.

Seeing this, Song Ge didn't waste any words and directly announced that the minimum price for the first broadcast of "The Immortal Sword" on the satellite TV station was 2.8 million per episode. The minimum price for the copyright of the video website was 1 million per episode.

When the price was announced, the TV station executives present were not as surprised as they were last time. Although everyone had some thoughts in their minds, under the motivation and pressure of competing for ratings, no one complained. They just calculated in their minds: "Same as last time, one show with four stars, 700,000 per episode, the whole show will cost more than 22 million, which is barely acceptable."

But then, everyone looked at each other, fearing that there were too many TV stations competing for it, so they raised the price again!
Unexpectedly, after Song Ge revealed the bottom price, Shandong and Sichuan provinces directly chose to withdraw. With two fewer satellite TV stations competing, everyone felt a lot less pressure.

For example, the Anhui Provincial Satellite TV Station, which purchased "Love Apartment 3" some time ago, is thinking about continuing to maintain its advantage in TV drama ratings. Last time, because of "Love Apartment 3", it missed "Ghost Blowing Out the Light", and this time it said it can't miss it.

The satellite TV stations that continued to compete naturally had to bid, and eventually it was purchased jointly by the four satellite TV stations in the capital, Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Shaanxi and Gansu, with a price of three million per episode.

This time, the online broadcasting rights were acquired by iQiyi for 1.2 million yuan. This is also because Penguin Video is not very interested in martial arts dramas, otherwise there would definitely be a fierce battle.

Several media reporters present were a little uninterested. Although the transaction was completed at a total price of 4.2 million, the gap was too big compared to the sky-high price of "Ghost Blows Out the Light". Even if they were good at writing, there was no guarantee that anything they wrote would make the headlines in the entertainment section!

Jiang Xueruo was the most excited. With 12 episodes and 20 million per episode, the first round of broadcast rights sold for more than million, which already made her satisfied. After repeated arguments and negotiations, the premiere date of "The Immortal Sword" was set on December , Saturday night, during the prime time.

After the confirmation, each satellite TV station will coordinate the program schedule on its own and start promoting "The Eternal Sword" at the same time. The edited trailer will also come out, and the main creative staff of "The Eternal Sword" crew will also cooperate with several satellite TV stations to launch a publicity campaign.

The reason for choosing this time point for broadcasting is that several main creative staff members are in the crew filming a movie. Among them, the former Zhou Yi Sanbao, who has the biggest gimmick, will have to wait until "Special Identity" is completed before he can find time to participate in publicity and interview programs.

That afternoon, the news that the broadcast time of "The Eternal Sword" was confirmed was reported by the media.

Surprisingly, people's attention is not high because the blockbusters released during the Lunar New Year holiday are being promoted vigorously and have attracted the attention of most people.

.........

On Huayi's side, the post-production of "1942" was sent directly to the General Administration for review, and it was successfully passed.

Feng Xiaogang excitedly stated on Weibo that "23" received unanimous approval from judges, and we are waiting for the release of this masterpiece.

After the film passed review, Feng Xiaogang was full of confidence and felt that it was not enough to show off in mainland China, so he took the film directly to a film festival in the UK, eager to gain recognition from foreigners.

To be honest, this is also the mentality of most mainland directors. It seems that if they don’t get praise from foreigners, they will not be able to show their class.

Afterwards, a screening was held at the British Film Festival. After the film was screened, the audience stood up and applauded until the end of the music and subtitles. Many female audience members wiped their tears while applauding.

As the ending song sounded, the main creators were also infected by the enthusiasm of the foreign audiences. According to the photos and videos taken by reporters on the scene, Feng Xiaogang and Wang Zhonglei were even moved to tears.

At the same time, the British newspaper The Guardian published a review of the film, saying that "director Feng Xiaogang demonstrated his ability to control and present an epic through 1942."

As the saying goes, monks from outside are better at chanting sutras. When the news spread back to China, the popularity of "1942" soared and was even not inferior to last year's "The Flowers of War".

Naturally, Huayi's stock price also surged in response. Seeing the company's market value continue to increase, the Wangs were naturally very happy. However, when they thought of the attitude of the theater chain representatives, they couldn't help but have a headache.

……

The strategy of forming alliances and making coalitions has been a skill our ancestors have mastered since ancient times. Now it has been brought to the entertainment industry, and is being used to perfection by representatives of theater chains.

First, the boss of Yindu Entertainment, one of the main producers of "The Grandmaster", was very friendly when speaking to reporters and said frankly that he understood the difficulties of the theater chain.

This made the theater chain very angry, and they directly rebuked the distributor for contacting theaters without going through the theater chain, saying that it was a violation of regulations.

Comparing the attitudes of both sides, many people feel that Yindu Institution will most likely withdraw from the issue of profit-sharing ratio.

Seeing that the separate actions were very effective, the theater chains held a small party and invited Mr. Wang from Huayi, Mr. Qin from Star Media and others to attend.

In response to reporters' interviews, Huayi and Star Media both responded that it was just a simple gathering and there was no such thing as a private settlement.

"They are kidding me. Instead of reconciling, they go to other people's banquets. Do they need a bite to eat?" Wang Changtian spoke very rudely. He was helpless about the possibility that Huayi was a traitor and could only be angry.

So he called Gu Wei and complained directly, "The representative of the New Film Association contacted me and said that as long as Guangguang withdraws from this matter, they can privately agree to increase the screening rate of the company's films and even designate a film for tiered profit sharing."

"I guess someone will contact you in the next two days. After all, without your involvement, they will be more confident in convincing the remaining producers."

"Ye Ning talked to me once before, and I didn't agree to his request. Now it seems someone is interested." Gu Wei was a little helpless. Just because he could bear it, it didn't mean that other people wouldn't have any ulterior motives.

"Yes, people's hearts are hidden. They usually look smart, but they can't control themselves for a little profit. They don't think that if they really settle this matter, the benefits will be far more than this."

Wang Changtian said bitterly.

.........

(End of this chapter)