Chapter 136 Rivals!

"By the way, didn't you say before that you were negotiating the ringback tone business? How is the progress?"

After listening to the report, Du Sheng calculated the funds he had on hand and found that about 250 million could be cashed out.

However, the investment gap for "The Heaven Sword and the Dragon Saber" is quite large, and this amount of money is obviously not enough.

"Last week, I contacted China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom in the name of my studio, and we have already started the monthly subscription process..."

Yes, this is another income!
Previously, Ye Jingzhi noticed that the theme songs of the two dramas, "The Hard Sutra to Recite" and "A Thousand Mountains and Rivers", were pirated and downloaded online, so she used her own connections to negotiate with several major operators with ringtone business.

Every penny earned is a penny earned.

Speaking of ringback tones, this thing was first launched by SK Telecom in Korea in March last year, and it has been less than a year since it was introduced into China.

Despite this, operators such as China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom seized the business opportunities and once launched, it was sought after by countless mobile phone users.

Without any promotion, Zhejiang Mobile gained more than one million ringback tone users in just half a year.

And it continues to grow.

There is no way. Nowadays, most people still use feature phones, and there are very few settings that can be changed by themselves. Different ringtones are like different personalized business cards.

5 yuan a month is not expensive.

According to some institutional data, the growth rate of ringback tone service users will reach 120% this year, and the market size will increase from 12 billion last year to more than 25 billion.

Nowadays, the only criterion for testing whether a song is popular or not is the various ringtone rankings.

The song "He Must Love You Very Much" released by A-Du last year has been downloaded 326 million times on China Telecom's ringback tone platform, not ranking in the top .

As Du Sheng's two songs are in Cantonese and were recently included in the ringtone package, their total download volume exceeds 60.

But don't underestimate this.

If the two dramas were not being aired right now, ordinary songs would not be eligible to be included in the ringtone package, and even if they could be included, they would probably not make a splash.

At this download momentum, breaking one million is only a matter of time.

According to the share negotiated by Ye Jingzhi, the music providers on their side can roughly account for about 45%!

"So, there are about 60 waiting to be repaid now?"

Du Sheng has memories of his past life and knows very well how profitable ringtones are.

According to the 2006 Forbes Celebrity List, who is the highest-earning male artist from mainland China?
Pang Long earned 1800 million!
Most of this huge income comes from the ringtone revenue of a song, "Two Butterflies".

The number of ringtone downloads reached a maximum of 500 million times in a single month, earning the company over million yuan in a year.

Du Sheng's two songs are kept in the studio and he doesn't have to share any profits with the company. It's pure profit.

Seeing Ye Jingzhi nod, he remembered that he had another song in stock and was thinking about finding an opportunity to publish it.

Of course, he had also tried to "exchange" those popular songs from his previous life out of thin air and prepare to make an album.

But the skills are not up to standard + the memory is fuzzy and biased + the arrangement is difficult...

Give up for now.

"Regarding investment, what does Zhongyao say?"

Du Sheng remembered something else and asked.

Ye Jingzhi knew that this was the focus of today's conversation, and said seriously:

"Mr. Zhong couldn't persuade Director Ju and has decided to invest in "Against the Cold Current."

"Is Zhongyao going to invest in two dramas?"

Du Sheng was a little surprised:

"Can she come up with so much money at once?"

Ye Jingzhi had mentioned to him before that the preparations for "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" were almost complete, with an estimated investment of around 2000 million.

And Zhongyao accounts for the majority.

If we add the 2000 million from "Against the Current", wouldn't it be more than 3000 million at one time?

Even if Zhong Zhen is a wealthy woman, it would be difficult for her to raise such a large sum of money in a short period of time.

"The three dramas that Zhongyao invested in before have received payment one after another, so it is still possible to transfer funds in batches."

Ye Jingzhi knew why Du Sheng was surprised and said with a smile:
"And you're wrong about one thing. The drama Yi Tian was funded by three parties, and Mr. Zhong reduced his investment by 700 million..."

"Weren't Zhongyao and Yahuan the two companies that were originally scheduled to invest in the company? When did the third party come in?"

Du Sheng raised his eyebrows, feeling strange.

His studio originally planned to invest 300 million, but it was counted as part of Zhongyao and not listed separately.

If the investment is made by three parties, the new investor will have to invest at least 700 million.

I haven't heard Ye Jingzhi mention this before, this is obviously a recent change.

Ye Jingzhi smiled without saying anything, but pointed at Du Sheng.

To be precise, it is the plaque behind him.

Du Sheng was stunned for a moment and said in surprise:

"Our studio is a third party?"

"That's right. If you have no objection, we can hold a simple meeting with the management in the next two days to discuss the follow-up."

Seeing that Du Sheng was a little puzzled, Ye Jingzhi smiled and said:

"Yahuan Company contributed 800 million, Zhongyao Pictures and Miracle Studios contributed 700 million each, and the film was directed by Lai Shuiqing and Yang Tao..."

Yang Tao is just a figurehead, the main reason being that people think it's easier to get things done with his appearance.

It turns out that all of the above was just Ye Jingzhi's plan.

Du Sheng was both surprised and expected.

The reason still lies with Zhongyao.

According to Zhong Zhen's idea, he would first invest in filming "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" and "Against the Current" and then proceed after the subsequent funds have been recovered.

Later, some friends in the film industry in Bay City expressed interest and were willing to contribute part of the funds to the production of "Against the Current".

Even so, investing over 3000 million yuan at a time was still stressful, and Zhong Zhen had always wanted to reduce it.

Lai Shui-ching's investors are unwilling to increase investment because they are worried that TVB might stumble after filming "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" last year, which is currently being shown on local TV stations.

Well, after a conversation with Du Sheng today, Ye Jingzhi had some ideas.

"Currently, our studio has 128 million yuan in funds on its books, and we should have about 80 yuan in funds coming back within a month."

Her beautiful eyes lingered on Du Sheng, and she said with a hint of meaning:

"If you personally add another 200 million, I can consider investing 300 million."

Ye Jingzhi's move was a test.

If Du Sheng really thinks so highly of this drama, she will also invest in it.

And it is different from the concerns of the investors on Lai Shuiqing's side.

She has seen several films starring Du Sheng and is very confident in his vision, film selection and acting skills.

As for why to bet on Du Sheng.

In addition to wanting to make a breakthrough in this field, I also trust my own intuition.

Overall, the other party's investment accounted for 400 million.

This is a huge expense for any second- or third-tier actor today.

And 300 million is not much for her.

Just think of it as changing the focus of development with the money that was originally intended to start a cultural company.

"Oh? You are actually interested in investing in film and television dramas?"

Du Sheng looked at the rich lady with some surprise, thought for a moment and said:
"But even if you don't tell me, I'm going to add something, provided I can play the leading male role."

He had originally decided to invest 300 million, and now he only has one million more.

As for the money, we can get it by selling Huang Jianzhong’s goods.

He planned to hand it over to his adoptive father to deal with it, and it would be no problem to clear it up slowly within a month.

If it really doesn't work, just wait for the "Wulin Legend" finals in half a month. As long as you make it to the championship and runner-up showdown, 40 will instantly turn into 240 million.

If you place a large bet during this period, it is possible to make your money back on the spot.

"Okay, I'll contact Mr. Zhong now, and we can discuss it tonight."

Ye Jingzhi also knew what Du Sheng was worried about, and said with a smile:

"Director Lai and the investors there are indeed optimistic about Taiwan's 'Good Tiger' Su Youpeng playing the male lead, because the ratings are guaranteed.

But after you came back from Hong Kong, everything was different, and you became much more competitive.”

If it was before the Chinese New Year, she wouldn't have had much hope that Du Sheng would play the leading role.

Because no matter in terms of popularity or status, they are not quite suitable.

He can't compete with popular stars like Su Youpeng and Lu Yi.

But things in the world are often so magical.

After Du Sheng made it to the semi-finals of "Legend of Wulin", his popularity not only soared in Hong Kong, but he was also reported by many media outlets in mainland China.

Especially after Guangming Daily reposted the relevant article published by Zheng Ziyan of Metropolis Entertainment News yesterday, it aroused curiosity and uproar in many circles.

After all, Guangming Daily is considered a media, which in a sense is a kind of affirmation.

It has been a long time since a decent fighting master appeared in the East.

He has been ridiculed by the outside world and can't even raise his head.

We finally have one this time, and there's a chance we can win the championship, so shouldn't we publicize it?
The major entertainment media outlets that smelled something fishy did not miss this news hype to attract attention.

After all, Du Sheng is a serious actor. His popularity with the audiences in "Tian Long" and "Goddess Dragon" is already there. This kind of artist with real skills is itself a gimmick.

Regardless of success or failure, they will definitely get the traffic they want.

Not to mention, "Big Guy", in which Du Sheng starred and acted as the martial arts director, is currently a huge hit in Hong Kong and the Mainland.

There is no rival except for one foreign film.

There is also "Infernal Affairs", which he is working with Liu Dehua and Liang Chaowei. It has now entered the early promotion stage, and "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" will also have completed post-production when it is released on May 1st. The two are completely complementary to each other.

With this kind of popularity and heat, he is no less than the top second-tier artists.

The number of his wb followers has grown to 180 million, and judging by the momentum, it will only take a few days to break 200 million.

Plus Miracle Studios accounted for one-third of the investment, plus Zhongyao Pictures recommended it...

With such great value and so many advantages, no one can stop it.

As for Su Youpeng, after focusing on movies a few years ago, his three consecutive films were not very popular.

The movie "First Love Story", which he and Pilihu starred in two years ago and had a total investment of 8 million, took less than 1 million at the mainland box office.

Huayi invested nearly 120 million yuan in the movie "Brotherhood", in which he also starred, but the box office was only million.
This made Wang Zhonglei very angry and he said that he would not think twice about the movies he starred in in the future.

As a last resort, Su Youpeng, whose popularity has declined, has put his focus back on the small screen.

As long as Lai Shuiqing and the investors behind him are not rigid, they will know how to weigh the difference between plus and minus.

The facts are indeed similar.

After receiving Ye Jingzhi's call, Lai Shuiqing is in trouble.

"This is going to make me lose my credibility."

When he learned that Su Youpeng was unwilling to accept failure and might take on the movie "I Can't Say I Love You" to enter the big screen again, he immediately made a decision to invite him to the film.

Last week, Su Youpeng dropped by Yahuan Company for an audition and took photos.

After seeing the makeup effect, Wei Yong'an, general manager of Yahuan, was as satisfied as Lai Shuiqing and agreed to let Su Youpeng play Zhang Wuji.

……

(End of this chapter)