Chinese Entertainment 2017: Starting from the Top Writers

Chapter 624: The shock from the reborn
“The squid game was a game I played as a kid in the school playground or on the street.”

“This is the story of a guy who played this game as a kid and played it again as an adult.”

“The Squid Game is a motivational game and one of my favorites.”

“I feel like this game is probably the most symbolic children’s game that can represent the society we live in today.”

Inside the box, Huang Dong Hyuk, who had calmed down from the high buyout fee of one million US dollars, had a nostalgic look on his face and was lost in distant memories.

Lin Li just leaned back in his chair and listened to him quietly, with a focused expression and without saying a word.

Even though he already knew this story, it was a different feeling to hear its creator tell it face to face.

"I started preparing for the Squid game in 2008, and it has taken nearly 10 years."

After a pause, Huang Donghe continued:
“I read a lot of comic books and finished writing the script in 2009.”

“The publication is immature and seems violent, and some people think it is too complicated and not commercial enough.”

"They all thought that such a dark dystopian drama was both absurd and unrealistic."

"At that time, I didn't find enough investment, and casting was also difficult. I spent about a year on it, and later I had to put it on hold."

"To be honest, I was very surprised when Teacher Nanxun's assistant contacted me yesterday."

"Teacher Nanxun's words just now also made me feel your seriousness. The most important thing is that I believe that the person who is willing to pay one million US dollars to buy out this script must be someone who will seriously film this work."

Huang Donghe looked at the young face in front of him and expressed emotion.

"Don't worry, screenwriter Huang. I plan to cooperate with SBS to film this work and broadcast it to global audiences through the Netflix platform."

"The budget for each episode is about $240 million, and it's expected to be nine to ten episodes."

"What do you think, screenwriter Huang?"

Lin Li tapped the table rhythmically with the tip of his right hand and told Huang Donghe his plan without hiding anything.

And every word he said made Huang Donghe's face more excited and his breathing became heavier.

"In that case, I'll leave it to Teacher Nanxun."

Huang Donghe stood up and extended his hand to Lin Li, looking grateful.

"I'll have to trouble screenwriter Huang to keep an eye on the filming when I'm not here anymore."

Lin Li stood up, shook the hand he extended, and said with a smile on his face.

"must!"

Huang Donghe nodded heavily, and Lin Li also smiled widely.

This time, both goals have been successfully achieved and he can prepare to return home.

Strictly speaking, Squid Game is the main target of his trip.

As for domestic public opinion, he never cared about it from beginning to end.

Squid Games is his focus for entering the international market.

Green school uniforms, wooden alarm clocks, and loquat games were all over the Internet within a month in September of 21. Even if many people have not seen them, they have heard of these keywords to some extent.

No one expected that a Korean drama would make American streaming giants regain confidence in producing their own dramas.

This storm seems to have come suddenly, but it was not without trace.

From a company that started out as a CD rental company to a streaming media giant, every step Netflix has taken in the past 20 years has been viewed as apocalyptic by the entertainment industry, and Squid Games is destined to be an important page in that apocalypse.

Three months before Squid Games went online, Netflix’s second quarter financial report made people wonder: Is it still the leader in streaming media?
Three months later, after the U.S. stock market closed on October 10 local time, Netflix released its third-quarter financial report, which not only kicked off the earnings season for large U.S. technology companies, but also cleared a name for itself.

Specific data showed that Netflix's third-quarter revenue was US$74.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16%. The market estimate was US$74.8 billion, which was basically in line with Bloomberg's consensus expectations, but the year-on-year growth rate was the slowest in 16 quarters, compared with US$64.36 billion in the same period last year.

Net profit in the third quarter was US$14.49 billion, exceeding the expected US$11.6 billion, and earnings per share were US$3.19, compared with the market expectation of US$2.56.

What has attracted much attention is the number of paid subscribers. After all, Netflix failed on this indicator in the second quarter.

Only 154 million users were added, the lowest quarterly net increase in paying users in history.

However, after the launch of Squid Games, Netflix became proud.

The financial report shows that Netflix's net increase in paid streaming users in the third quarter was 438 million, exceeding the market forecast of 372 million and far exceeding the net increase of 154 million in the previous quarter.

Among them, the Asia-Pacific region increased by 220 million, becoming the largest contributor.

Sophie Lund-Yates, a stock analyst at brokerage firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said that what attracted users was a new drama launched by Netflix last month, Squidward Floyd.

According to Netflix’s own preliminary estimates, Squidward Gone Wild could become the most valuable streaming TV series ever.

At the same time, Netflix expects a net increase of 850 million paid streaming subscribers in the fourth quarter, while the market estimate is 832 million.

According to CNN, "Squidward Idol" topped the list of the top ten on-demand movies in 94 countries and regions where Netflix has launched on-demand services, and it is also the first non-English-speaking work to top the US on-demand movie list.

On October 10 of the same year, Netflix announced on its official social media account that this Korean drama had become the best-performing work in the history of the platform with 12 million on-demand users.

At the same time, "Squid!" became the first work in Netflix's history to have over 100 million on-demand users within four weeks of its launch.

Even Amazon founder Jeff Bezos gave a positive review of the show, calling it "impressive and inspiring." Amazon's streaming service Prime Video is a competitor to Netflix. When Netflix invested, no one could have expected that Squidward would become so popular. It was an accident and a two-way rush.

If it weren't for Squidward Gaming, Netflix might still be struggling to acquire subscribers.

And if it weren't for Netflix, the script of Squidward might still be gathering dust in a drawer.

And now, Lin Li got the script in advance.

For a million dollars.

His identity and the subject matter of Squid Game are not suitable for launching this work in the country.

Now he has won this project with his keen eye for talent, which has not only helped him to reach a cooperation with SBS, but he will also receive corresponding huge returns through Netflix in the future.

To outsiders, they would only praise his unique vision.

This shows that in addition to his creative ability, he also has a keen eye for selecting scripts.

The issue of personal feelings was a point that he proactively raised as a vulnerable point, but in other aspects, he wanted to leave everyone speechless.

And when the Squid game becomes a hit, it will be a good story for everyone to talk about, right?

Squidward cost just $2140 million to produce, or $240 million per episode, but brought in more than 40 times that much — about $8.91 million.

Such a rate of return is worth the trip no matter how you look at it.

And he also needs an external platform.

Due to the particularity of Chinese culture, some works are destined not to be shown in China.

And through this unique country of South Korea, Netflix, the most suitable platform, is simply the perfect external channel.

Again, he just wants to create the best quality content.

As early as 2016, Netflix began providing streaming services in South Korea.

In 2019, Kingdom was launched, and the model of Korean originality + Netflix promotion began to break the traditional fixed path of film and television production.

As a wealthy sponsor, Netflix is ​​well versed in investment.

As Kingdom screenwriter Kim Eun-hee said, "Netflix never gives any opinions, it just gives money."

In Lin Li’s opinion, whether a film or TV series can become a hit requires cultural soil as its foundation.

Netflix understands this.

Taking the Squid game as an example, its content has had an impact on the public psychology, triggered continuous fermentation of social topics and discussions, and inspired global audiences to think deeply and explore values. This is an experience that can be applied from individual cases to common cases.

The film and television drama market is accustomed to seeing big wins for small gains, but few people know that true success in the capital market lies in small wins for big gains.

Netflix has never concealed its ambition to increase its subscriber base. "Squid Game" is explicit and straightforward, with thrilling elements that attract attention, and low-cost counterattacks that make money. It is a real commercial film.

Firmly believing that content is king, it has become the utopia for video platforms in the streaming era. With issues such as subject matter restrictions and violent scenes, Squid Games may be an exception, but it is definitely not the only one.

For video platforms eager to make a profit, there are more than one way to make money, so there are advertisements and the unconventional way of advance screenings.

But the problem is that everyone can understand that it is difficult to produce a hit product, but not everyone can accept being ripped off by video platforms or watching the platforms make a lot of money.

Netflix, which has become popular with the Squid Game, has taught a lesson to those advanced screening platforms.

You can obviously make money through real skills.

Although the domestic advanced screenings were suggested by Lin Lixian.

But even if he didn't mention it, the country would have reached this point.

Lin Li also wanted to teach Netflix a lesson, to let them experience the shock of the first move from a reborn person.

After this time, I believe Netflix will position itself well in subsequent cooperation.

At the same time, I also showed it to several domestic video platforms. Not only in China, but also abroad, I can make money with the platforms.

Earn more money.

In future cooperation, just hand over the initiative and take the money generously.

After having a simple lunch with Huang Donghe at noon, Lin Li reunited with Gao Wen, Li Jie and others and went to SBS again.

This time he came very low-key and went directly to Director Li's office. After consultation with several key decision makers of SBS, the two sides decided to cooperate through Squid Games.

Although the SBS crew only received corresponding remuneration for preparing the drama, since it was their first collaboration, the SBS side did not care too much about it.

In their opinion, since it is not Lin Li’s own work anyway, this cooperation is just to lay the foundation for their future cooperation.

Moreover, Lin Li was very generous and the remuneration he offered far exceeded the normal production cost of a TV series.

As for Netflix, Lin Li will ask Gao Wen and Li Jie to talk about it later.

After the discussion, Lin Li declined Director Li's invitation to dinner and left alone with Wang Bao.

He has an appointment in the evening.

(End of this chapter)