I really don't want to be the top streamer anymore

The start of filming for Chinese Paladin 2 has been delayed by a few days.

The main reason is that "Ghost Blows Out the Light" has reached the stage of being officially broadcast.

Director Su Meng approached Xu Kong, asking him to help with publicity.

Besides the traditional reposting by some social media accounts, there is also the recording of a related video.

Although it doesn't take too much time.

However, Xu Kong felt that there was no rush to film the second installment of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series. He suggested that they first handle all the publicity and promotion matters for the second installment of the Legend of Sword and Fairy series, and then join the production team after the series officially premiered.

……

Of course, although "Ghost Blows Out the Light" was just a normal publicity and distribution model, and the publicity and distribution costs were not very high, it could even be said to be quite "economical".

But its popularity has remained consistently high.

The atmosphere in the domestic TV drama market, which has just started its summer season, has suddenly become very competitive.

This is thanks to Tudou Video.

It's clear that Mr. Tu is really hoping that "Ghost Blows Out the Light" will completely change the industry status of their platform.

This time, the marketing campaign was incredibly expensive, with no regard for cost.

Many industry peers have realized this and are somewhat shocked.

Let's set aside for now how much it would cost to acquire the exclusive broadcasting rights to Feng Ge's entire series.

Even with Xu Kong as the screenwriter and producer, the fact that Tudou Video went all in suggests that this show is quite extraordinary.

……

"crazy!"

"That Tu Qiao'er is really crazy!"

At this moment, Xu Weijie spoke with a somewhat speechless expression.

He took a huge risk this time, even though he did reach a betting agreement with Changyun Film and Television.

But at least they managed to get the rights to a new drama from Qin Xian.

However, not only the outside world, but even within Kiwi, there is actually a rather pessimistic attitude.

I don't think Changyun Film and Television's drama can pose much of a threat to Feng Ge's "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

Of course, this is also because the agreement signed with Changyun Film and Television is a performance-based agreement.

They can't possibly lose money with kiwifruit.

At worst, it's all for nothing.

Therefore, the company agreed to let him take over the responsibility for this new drama of Changyun Film and Television.

However, what is unusual is that Qin Xian, who had never relinquished power before, was now in a position to do so.

Upon hearing that it was Changyun Film and Television, they gave up quite decisively.

Even when he took over, there was no resistance whatsoever.

……

"We have absolutely no need for publicity now."

"Let Changyun Film and Television handle it themselves."

"Just give it a few featured pages on the homepage of the platform."

People from the kiwifruit operations department shared their opinions.

Xu Weijie felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Although he wanted to refute it, he knew that what the other party said was actually true.

At this stage, there is indeed no need to resist anymore.

As expected, both dramas will air on the same day.

This is clearly an old tradition between Feng Ge and Changyun Film and Television. Although more than a year has passed, this grudge is still talked about by many people.

Of course, more importantly, regarding these two dramas, not to mention the lack of promotion, even when the release dates were set, almost no one paid attention to the drama produced by Changyun Film and Television.

The spotlight was completely stolen by "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

The key is that they not only have Xu Kong's script and fame as a bonus, but also the trailers they've released.

The various bizarre and outlandish shots and scenes show that the special effects alone cost more than what a low-budget drama like Changyun would have cost. The investment is estimated to be several times that of the youth campus drama Changyun.

……

"At least give it some publicity, otherwise what's the difference between this show and just waiting to die?"

Xu Weijie offered a somewhat feeble protest.

However, the people in the operations department looked helpless.

"Manager Xu, please don't make things difficult for me."

"With such a small budget, how can we do any marketing or promotion?"

"We can only wait for Changyun Film and Television to invest their own money."

"If they were truly confident in their show, they certainly wouldn't be stingy with marketing and promotion expenses."

The person in charge of the operations department then spoke up to answer.

The meaning behind the words is quite obvious.

That is, even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice. The publicity and distribution budget approved by Kiwi for this drama of Changyun Film and Television is only a few hundred thousand yuan. With such a small amount of money, it is estimated that it will not even make a splash.

Not to mention that, so far, Changyun Film and Television has not actually spent a lot of money on promotion.

If they truly have that much confidence in their show, then they definitely wouldn't hesitate to spend a lot of money.

After all, this wasn't just a simple sale of exclusive broadcasting rights to Kiwifruit; the two parties signed a performance-based agreement.

If they lose, Changyun Film & Television will be the one to suffer the losses in the end.

The reason they haven't taken any action is simply because they themselves don't have much confidence.

However, because of being targeted by Xu Kong and Feng Ge, they were unable to sell the exclusive broadcasting rights to recoup their costs.

They can only passively engage in combat.

Everything was actually predetermined long ago.

Changyun Film & Television's drama, if released during the summer season, would clash with Feng Ge's "Ghost Blows Out the Light," making it essentially a cannon fodder production.

……

Of course, the operations department is also well aware of why Xu Weijie is so worried about all sorts of things.

Because the other party is fully responsible for this collaboration with Changyun Film and Television on the new drama.

The final broadcast results and related data of this drama.

This will affect his subsequent performance.

And most importantly, they were able to obtain some of the rights to the copyright of the new iQiyi drama from Qin Xian.

The various factional struggles and backstabbing within the company.

How could he not know?

But the key point is that you decided to take on the Changyun Film and Television project yourself, so don't try to drag others down with you!
If you want to gamble, go ahead and gamble yourself. The person in charge of the operations department also didn't think that Changyun Film and Television's drama would ultimately perform too well.

It's highly likely they'll lose.

It's just a matter of how far they pounce.

They have such a limited budget for publicity and promotion, and they want his help.

This is really going too far.

Of course, they would never agree to that.

"Okay, I know……"

Although the other party was being rather tactful, Xu Weijie wasn't stupid, and he naturally understood their specific attitude.

It seems he has no other choice this time.

Previously, the company's senior executives were all on the same side as Qin Xian.

They often organize various gatherings to maintain their relationships.

But this time I really need help, so I either deliberately avoid him or refuse with various excuses.

Clearly, Xu Weijie's idea that he could gamble on this drama to turn his life around was a bit too hasty.

……

Meanwhile, with the premiere of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" imminent, online discussions have reached an unprecedented level.

Besides the fact that it was written by Xu Kong and produced by Feng Ge, it also had a good reputation and high level of attention.

There was also a massive promotional campaign from Tudou Video.

Of course, these were just the beginning. What truly got many netizens involved in the discussion and created the impression that the whole internet was looking forward to it.

It was only recently that they released that short, four-minute trailer.

At this point, Fat Bird had already begun sharing his opinions in the live stream.

"Currently, the summer season has been underway for some time, and the reason why there aren't many new TV series airing is most likely because they are avoiding the competition from 'Ghost Blows Out the Light'."

……

Fat Bird made a startling statement right from the start.

Seeing the question marks in the comments, Fat Bird remained completely calm and replied:
"Don't worry, everyone. Although I don't know much about film and television, my judgment is still quite accurate."

"You can tell by watching my previous appearance on 'The Masked Singer' where I guessed the singer's identity."

"Sometimes, things that seem outrageous may actually be true."

……

Well, actually, as a music critic, Fat Bird is, strictly speaking, only half-baked when it comes to movies and TV series.

However, his intuition has always been quite accurate.

This time, the guess was actually correct.

Many viewers were unaware of this.

Just how much influence do Feng Ge, and Xu Kong, have in the film and television industry?

As an ordinary viewer, you might have become a fan of Xu Kong simply because of a previous TV series or movie.

Every time I hear Xu Kong's name afterward, even if it's just a drama he wrote and produced, I still take a look at it because of his previous achievements.

Don't underestimate such a small impact; when the number of people involved is large enough, the resulting shock can be quite dramatic.

What's more, ever since Xu Kong took over Feng Ge's project, almost every film and television work he's produced has been an undisputed blockbuster.

The number of viewers has now reached a staggering figure.

This doesn't refer to Xu Kong's fans, or casual fans who have a natural affinity for him.

The majority of viewers are ordinary people who only watch the work and don't pay attention to the people involved.

……

Of course, this excludes internet celebrities like Fei Niao who are just there to join the fun.

There are also some quite professional film and television self-media or film critics who have already started analyzing the trailer of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" frame by frame.

Among them, the one with the highest popularity and the greatest influence is naturally Yiguo, who has the most fans across the entire internet.

"Actually, I understand everyone's concerns. They think that this kind of fantasy adventure theme doesn't seem to be Xu Kong's style."

"But all I can say is that you still know too little about Xu Kong."

When Yiguo posted the video, she expressed her high expectations for this new adaptation of "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

Unsurprisingly, many netizens began to deliberately disagree.

Some even said she received money from Feng Ge to help promote and hype the product.

However, having worked in the self-media industry for so many years, Yiguo is already used to these kinds of reactions.

It was not affected in the slightest.

It was just something we chatted about casually during the live stream.

……

“If people have actually seen some of the works that Xu Kong has filmed or that he has been responsible for writing the scripts for, then they will not be worried.”

"Although Xu Kong has many films, similar to 'The Long Season,' including this year's 'Operation Red Sea' and 'Infernal Affairs,' which are traditional genre films."

"But similarly, his imagination in screenwriting is quite exaggerated."

"The best examples are the Legend of Sword and Fairy series, including his first work, Someday or One Day, and fantasy dramas like The Beginning and The Squid Game from last year."

"So, as for the script, I have high expectations, and I'm not really worried that it will be a flop."

"Moreover, it is said that 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' is planned to be a series with many installments. If Xu Kong himself did not have a certain level of confidence, he would not dare to do it like this."

"Igor spoke up."

Actually, if we were to say this a year or two ago, Igor would have had some issues with Xu Kong.

This includes the fact that after filming a work like "Sweet Honey," the other party went on to create TV series like "The Beginning" and "Squid Game," which are overly commercial.

In Ego's view, it was somewhat of a waste of his talent.

However, during this period, Xu Kong still produced works such as "The Hidden Corner" and the recent "Infernal Affairs".

Despite such high production volume, while prioritizing commercial interests, they haven't completely lost their pursuit of artistic creation.

Ego was indeed completely captivated by Xu Kong's works, one after another.

In today's online parlance, she has become a so-called "Xu fanboy".

But there's no way around it; it's hard not to brag.

This time, she felt an unusual sense of anticipation for the new "Ghost Blows Out the Light" series.

Because she has to watch so many TV series and movies in a year, Ego's threshold has been raised very high, and she rarely shows high expectations for most works.

Sometimes, it's just for work.

But Yi Guo could tell that this "Ghost Blows Out the Light" wasn't the typical fantasy adventure genre.

The overall style is very good, although the special effects are very realistic, and some parts of the trailer are also very impressive.

But she also noticed that, apart from that, the entire series actually adopted a style that leaned towards realism.

Even the makeup and filters used on the characters are not like those used in fantasy dramas, which make the actors look fair and clean.

With the addition of the unique subject matter of "tomb raiding," which was completely unheard of before, it certainly makes people look forward to seeing how the final product will turn out.

……

"Of course, the director this time is still Su Meng, the same director of 'The Beginning'. In addition, the lead actor is Liu Yue, who should be quite familiar to everyone."

“His performance in ‘The Beginning’ was outstanding, and it seems he has been given an even better opportunity this time.”

"I actually quite like seeing some newcomers. Strictly speaking, the new actors who have recently emerged in Fengge are all of very good quality. At least their acting skills are not a problem, which also represents one of Xu Kong's standards for selecting people."

"Of course, after all that talk, once 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' officially airs the day after tomorrow, there will be no need for anyone to argue about it anymore."

"As for whether Xu Kong will make a mistake or not, we'll have to watch the whole show together before we can judge."

...(End of chapter)