Rebirth of the Industrial Tycoon - Vol 2 Chapter 617
Chapter 617 Ceiling
“Puppy Entertainment?” Chai Pingzhi frowned. She has been in the entertainment industry for many years. She basically knows a lot about well-known entertainment companies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, but this is the first time she has heard of this name.
“I haven’t heard of this Puppy Entertainment, maybe it’s a leather bag company!” Chai Pingzhi thought to himself.
But even if it is a leather bag company, as long as it is willing to give money, it is the God of Wealth!
‘s subordinate continued: “The person in charge of the entertainment company wants to have an interview with you, so he called to make an appointment. Do you want to see him?”
“See you, of course! You can help me make an appointment right away, and the sooner the better!” Chai Pingzhi said immediately.
Now Chai Pingzhi really needs investment, she will not miss any opportunity, even if the other party is an unfamiliar company she has never heard of, Chai Pingzhi will try her best to get funds.
The two sides agreed to meet the next day, and at the agreed time the next day, Chai Pingzhi personally came to the door to welcome the arrival of the God of Wealth.
A middle-aged man appeared in front of Chai Pingzhi. He seemed to be about the same age as Chai Pingzhi, about forty years old.
“Zhou Sheng, Thunder Monkey!” Chai Pingzhi immediately greeted him, speaking in Cantonese.
Puppy Entertainment was registered on Hong Kong Island, and Chai Pingzhi also regarded it as a Hong Kong Island company, so he began to speak Cantonese.
The other party was slightly taken aback, and then said in an authentic Taiwanese accent; “Miss Chai, we can speak Mandarin, I’m from Kaohsiung.”
“Mr. Zhou is also from Kaohsiung! What a coincidence! I’m also from Kaohsiung!” Chai Pingzhi immediately became close.
This Mr. Zhou’s name is Zhou Rugui, and he is Li Weidong’s cousin.
Li Weidong’s uncle, Zhou Yunsheng, left the mainland on the eve of liberation, and then started a family and business on the other side. Zhou Rugui is Zhou Yunsheng’s son.
Although Zhou Yunsheng is the younger brother of Li Weidong’s mother Zhou Yunxiu, his three children are all a few years older than Li Weidong. .
The main reason is that Li Weidong was born relatively late. Li Weidong has four older sisters. Li Weidong’s eldest sister, born in the fifties, is a dozen years older than Li Weidong. So Zhou Yunxiu was forty when he gave birth to Li Weidong.
After all, there are still barriers between the two sides of the strait. Li Weidong wants to start a business on the other side, but he is not familiar with the place. After thinking about it, he still seeks help from his relatives, so he contacted his uncle Zhou Yunsheng. Zhou Yunsheng recommended his eldest son, Zhou Rugui, who became a The head of the puppy entertainment on the other side.
As a relative, Zhou Rugui may not have the ability to manage enterprises, but he was born and raised in the local area. He is more familiar with the local situation and more convenient to do things.
Doing business in a place where there are barriers to such exchanges is still relatively risky. Even international laws and regulations are sometimes out of reach. Once there is trouble, it is difficult to deal with it, and it can only be left to fate. Therefore, finding a trustworthy person is more important than finding a competent person.
Chai Pingzhi invited Zhou Rugui into the reception room. After the two exchanged a few words, Chai Pingzhi said, “I heard that Mr. Zhou’s company is very interested in our new drama?”
Zhou Rugui nodded: “I heard that this TV series is based on a Japanese manga?”
“It is adapted from “Boys Over Flowers” by the famous Japanese cartoonist Kamio Ye, which was serialized in Japan’s Shueisha manga magazine “Margaret”, and launched 51 episodes of animation in 1996, as well as a theatrical version of one episode. , Japan’s TV Asahi and our China Television have broadcast this cartoon.” Chai Pingzhi quickly introduced.
This set of introductions, Chai Pingzhi has been able to recite it by heart. Every time she wants to invest, she has to introduce it again.
“I also know about these situations. The manga “Boys Over Flowers” is also published on Hong Kong Island, so my boss is interested in investing in your TV series.” Zhou Rugui said.
Most people only know that “Meteor Garden” is popular all over Asia, but they don’t know the original comic “Boys Over Flowers” of “Meteor Garden”, which is also a very good work.
Being able to be seen by Shueisha itself means that the work is of high quality. “Margaret” is a teenage manga publication under Shueisha, and “Boys Over Flowers” has always been the backbone of it.
Then “Boys Over Flowers” was filmed as an animation and broadcast, which shows that “Boys Over Flowers” is the best among Shueisha’s comics.
The manga of “Boys Over Flowers” has a total of 37 single volumes, and the cumulative sales have exceeded 60 million copies, ranking first among Japanese shojo manga.
This sales volume is already very high among Japanese manga singles.
For example, “Slam Dunk”, which represents the youth of the post-8090s, “The Grim Reaper”, one of the three major migrant manga comics, and the most popular comic “Ghost Slayer” in Japan in recent years, the total sales volume is 120 million copies. . “Boys Over Flowers”, as a teenage manga, can sell half of these top manga works, which is already a top level.
So the success of “Meteor Garden” is not an accident, it is a top big IP in itself.
It’s just that the adaptations of film and television dramas in that era all focused on the heroes of traditional martial arts novels, such as Jin Yong, Gu Long, etc., comics did not receive attention.
In order to get sponsorship, Chai Pingzhi not only introduced his works, but also painted a big cake.
“I think the plot of “Boys Over Flowers” is very suitable to be adapted into a TV series. I believe that this work will definitely have a very good rating. It is estimated that on the TV station on the island, we can recover the production cost.
and then sell to Hong Kong Island, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, and of course the mainland. At that time, we can obtain relatively generous profits, and if you are an investor, you will also get considerable returns. ”
The main way to make money for TV dramas is to sell the broadcasting rights. At that time, there was no video website, so the broadcasting rights were mainly sold to various TV stations.
The other side is just an island. After all, the market is limited. It only depends on local audiences. After all, profits are limited. Therefore, Taiwanese dramas have long explored the way of selling TV dramas.
In the most popular years of Taiwanese dramas, the entire East Asia and Southeast Asia was the market for Taiwanese dramas, and this was also the most important way of making money for Taiwanese dramas. A popular TV series can be sold many times.
For example, the classic TV series “The Legend of the New White Snake”, although it was a TV series in 1992, was still broadcast on CCTV in 2004.
Chai Pingzhi is very clear that if you want to impress investors, the best way is to lure them for profit. Talking about profits with capital is the most straightforward way.
However, the opposite Zhou Rugui smiled slightly, and then said, “Our boss is not looking at the profit of the TV series.”
“Isn’t filming for money? Is it for unspoken actors? Probably not! The funds for this TV series are not enough, so there are no famous actors.
The leading actors I recruited are still amateurs in the entertainment industry, and few people know them, so they will not invest in TV dramas for the sake of unspoken rules.
Could it be for the unspoken rules of me? I also know that I am a **** and still has charm, no, I should be beautiful, but after all, I am not a young girl…” Chai Pingzhi began to recite in his heart.
Zhou Rugui continued: “The biggest shareholder of our Puppy Entertainment is the Puppy Group in the mainland. I wonder if Miss Chai has heard of the Puppy Group?”
Chai Pingzhi thought for a while, then asked, “There is a brand of beauty equipment in Japan called Puppy. Could it be this Puppy Group?”
“Yes, that’s the product of Puppy Group. In addition to beauty equipment, Puppy Group also produces small household appliances, kitchen appliances, medical equipment and other home appliances.”
Zhou Rugui paused, then said, “So our boss hopes that we can see Puppy Group’s products on this TV.”
“You mean product implantation?” Chai Pingzhi understood instantly.
“That’s right, it’s product placement, the more the better.” Zhou Rugui nodded.
The placement of advertisements on products was nothing new at the time. TV dramas in mainland China seldom used the method of placement of advertisements, but European and American countries have been using it for decades. “The World of Truman”, filmed in 1998, also has a special section that satirizes the placement of advertisements.
Taiwan drama market is small, and it is difficult to attract investment, so advertising placement has been used very early to obtain more shooting funds.
“It turned out to be for advertisement placement, but fortunately it’s not the body of the greedy old lady!” Chai Pingzhi was a little disappointed in his heart.
Then Chai Pingzhi immediately said: “We are a modern drama, and product placement is not difficult. If Mr. Zhou can provide 50,000 yuan in sponsorship for each episode of the TV series, I guarantee that each episode will be in a prominent position. See Puppy Group products.”
Chai Pingzhi is not greedy, only NT$50,000 in sponsorship fees for one episode. In her opinion, the budget of “Meteor Garden” is only NT$200,000 per episode, which can increase the budget by NT$50,000, which is equivalent to one-fifth more.
If you can increase the budget by one-fifth, then the shooting will be much more comfortable, at least you can add a chicken leg to the boxed lunch of the main actor!
And Chai Pingzhi didn’t dare to ask for more. After all, this TV series uses newcomers, and there are no stars in the show. If you want more, don’t scare the investors away!
Zhou Rugui asked, “How many episodes do you plan to shoot in this TV series?”
“20 episodes.” Chai Pingzhi continued; “If each episode is 50,000 yuan, 20 episodes is one million!”
“I’ll give you 500,000!” Zhou Rugui stretched out five fingers.
The price was cut in half, Chai Pingzhi was somewhat unhappy, but having money is better than having no money! Being able to get 500,000 in sponsorship is much better than not getting a penny.
So Chai Pingzhi still had a smile on his face, and then said: “Mr. Zhou, thank you very much for your generous sponsorship. But if you can sponsor more, I can guarantee that there will be better advertising effects. .
I can let the actors directly use the products of the Puppy Group in the play, or I can directly add some advertising words of the products in the lines to introduce the advantages of the products. It’s definitely much better than just showing off the product. ”
In order to get the sponsorship fee, Chai Pingzhi has decided to let F4 bring the goods directly in the TV series.
Zhou Rugui said, “Miss Chai, I think you misunderstood, I mean, sponsor you 500,000 yuan per episode! Level 20 is 10 million!”
“Ten million!” Chai Pingzhi’s mouth had become O-shaped, and her brain was blank.
The budget for each episode of “Meteor Garden” is only NT$200,000. If there is a sponsorship fee of NT$500,000 per episode, it will be 2.5 times more than the previous shooting budget!
In this way, the budget of 700,000 yuan per episode is already a relatively ample production cost. At least in terms of props, there is no need to save, and Chai Pingzhi can buy some props that he is more satisfied with.
As for the actors’ remuneration, it will not increase by a penny.
A group of amateur actors, that is to say, they are better-looking, and they are no different from group acting in other aspects. When you act, they are flattering you and wanting more remuneration. Let’s wait until they become popular!
When shooting “Meteor Garden” in history, because of lack of money, the crew tried to reduce expenses as much as possible, and the props were very shabby.
Because there was no budget and no money to buy props, the clothes that F4 wore at that time were all bought on the street stalls.
And since “Meteor Garden” was filming and broadcasting at the time, after one day’s shooting, Chai Pingzhi took F4 to the night market, bought a new set of clothes at the street stall, and put them on after filming the next day.
In order to prevent the audience from seeing that the actors are wearing street goods, when buying clothes, try to choose single-color clothing and reduce some patterns, so that it is not easy to be seen as street goods.
It is estimated that there are only four people who wear the street stall goods with a luxury feeling.
And F4’s identity is a rich boy, so when he appeared on the scene, a sports car was indispensable. At the time of filming, the crew didn’t even have the money to rent a sports car, so they could only borrow a Mazda MX5 from a friend. Sports car!
The 2022 Mazda MX5 is quoted at 2.899 million yen in Japan, which is less than 160,000 yuan.
Other rich second generation drives Ferrari, Lamborghini, and the worst is Porsche 911. However, the so-called top rich second generation in “Meteor Garden” drives a Mazda of 160,000 yuan. This price can not afford a supercar tire!
It is a loss that the mainlanders had no money at that time, and they had not seen the world, so they were fooled by this Mazda. If it is put today, if anyone who sees a Mazda can claim to be a rich second generation, it is estimated that they will make various animated emoticons to ridicule it.
After a short while, Chai Pingzhi calmed down.
After a little thought, Chai Pingzhi realized that if the other party is willing to give a sponsorship fee of 500,000 yuan for an episode, it must not be as simple as the placement of product advertisements. This puppy entertainment must have other plans!
“Are you still greedy for my body?” Chai Pingzhi thought again in his heart.
Then she asked: “Mr. Zhou, your company is willing to provide so much sponsorship, should there be other requirements?”
“Yes, we have additional conditions!” Zhou Rugui nodded and continued, “We hope that the four male lead actors in this TV series will become the brand ambassadors of Puppy Electric, and sign a long-term contract of more than five years. ”
“No problem!” Chai Pingzhi agreed without thinking, and then she said, “Mr. Zhou, you should have seen the original comics, so you think there are four male leads. But in fact, there are only two male leads. The two of them don’t have a lot of roles.”
“We have all four of them.” Zhou Rugui said decisively.
“OK, no problem, there are all four of them!” Chai Pingzhi quickly agreed, for fear of the heat, the big benefactor was unhappy.
“In addition, we want four male leading actors to cooperate with our brand promotion activities, no less than ten times a year!” Zhou Rugui continued.
“Okay.” Chai Pingzhi agreed without hesitation, and then waited for Zhou Rugui to say the third point.
However, Zhou Rugui did not speak any more. So Chai Pingzhi asked, “Mr. Zhou, are these two requirements?”
“The product implantation mentioned earlier is still necessary. The one you said about letting actors use the product in the play, as well as the advertising words in the lines, must be included.” Zhou Rugui said.
“That’s natural, these are definitely not less, and you will definitely be satisfied!” Chai Pingzhi hurriedly promised.
“Then we have no other requirements.” Zhou Rugui replied.
“It’s that simple? Don’t mention the body? You can also try to mention it, what if I agree?” Chai Pingzhi thought again.
For Chai Pingzhi, Zhou Rugui’s request was simply too easy!
Chai Pingzhi is F4’s agent. It is not all Chai Pingzhi who decides what contract F4 signs.
And now, F4 is still four amateur actors. If such an unknown amateur actor can get an advertising endorsement contract, it is already smoked from his ancestors’ graves. How can he be picky about the contract period and the number of endorsement activities!
If Chai Pingzhi could realize how popular F4 is in the future, he probably wouldn’t agree to Zhou Rugui’s two requests so easily.
In Chai Pingzhi’s view, even if the four young men can get hot, how hot can they be?
As a TV drama actor, at most, he has reached the level of Ma Jingtao and Lin Ruiyang. These two were once the most popular young students in Taiwan, and they are the ceiling of Taiwan TV drama actors.
As a group, at most it can reach the level of “Little Tigers”. This was the top group in Taiwan in the early 1990s, and it was regarded as the ceiling of Taiwanese male singing groups at that time.
Ma Jingtao and the Tigers are probably the highest goal that Chai Pingzhi set for F4.
From the perspective of future generations, this ceiling does not seem to be very high!
The update will be delivered today, thank you for your subscription, please ask for a monthly pass, and thank you for passing the test!