Depressive screenwriter.

Chapter 7 Dispute
It was the end of May, the weather was hot, and I was greeted by a wave of heat as I walked down the street.

But for TV stations and the film and television industry, this period of time is an important node.

In the Xia Kingdom, TV dramas basically adopt the mode of shooting and broadcasting at the same time.

Generally, the series lasts only one quarter, with a dozen episodes, and is broadcast on a quarterly basis.

Now, there is only a little over a month left until July, and the TV series that various TV stations are planning to broadcast in the July summer schedule are also preparing to start filming.

The production departments of various TV stations have been extremely busy during this period.

The station's total budget each quarter generally does not change much. How the cake is divided depends on the abilities of each producer.

Normally, the three major TV stations in Xiaguo, such as Sakura TV, would produce at least seven or eight dramas per season, and the investment in each drama would exceed 10 million yuan, or even higher. The genres of romance, history, suspense, etc. basically meet the preferences of the general audience.

However, there are so many people in Xia Country, and not all of them like mainstream works.

Therefore, the three major TV stations all have their own controlled online broadcasting platforms, just like iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku in Su Yan’s previous life, but their influence and number of users are far less than that.

In addition to the three major TV stations producing their own web dramas with special themes and selling and broadcasting variety shows on them, Xiaguo also has a large number of dramas produced by small and medium-sized film and television companies that are also broadcast on these online platforms.

Low-cost online dramas occasionally become big hits, and their influence is no less than that of dramas broadcast on TV.

After receiving the clear intention of cooperation from Su Yan three days ago, Shinozaki Ikumi immediately signed the station's standard letter of intent with Su Yan to prevent other producers from causing trouble.

Then during these three days, she fully displayed her shameless spirit.

Normally speaking, given Ikumi Shinozaki's past achievements, if she wants to plan a TV series, it will basically not be approved by the high-level review, even if it is a web drama.

Go do odd jobs for two years first, learn more and improve yourself before thinking about this kind of thing.

But Shinozaki Ikumi's mother, who has already retired, was quite popular in the production department. Several senior executives in the production department were her mother's long-time friends.

After her own project proposal was rejected, Ikumi Shinozaki asked her mother, who was far away in Sakurajima, to save her face and call several high-level aunts to play the emotional card.
Just like that, Rurouni Kenshin, a low-cost web drama project with only four episodes, passed layers of review and was finally presented at today's high-level meeting of the production department.

First of all, there were several big dramas that could be broadcast on Sakura TV. Their budgets were the top priority at the meeting, and the senior executives from all parties present argued fiercely about them.

The next step is the budget planning and review of the talent shows, variety shows and documentaries that the TV station will broadcast in the next quarter.

Then there are the six web dramas that the station is planning to start filming this quarter.

The station has its own budget standards for shooting web series, which generally do not exceed 600,000 per episode.

At this time, Rurouni Kenshin's plan was being reviewed at the meeting.

"An investment of 2.2 million? A work with a total length of only four episodes?" Akasaka Yoshitoki, who was tall and had a dignified expression, spoke at this time.

"Since when can our TV station even bring such a project to the final review meeting?"

"The script of this work has been reviewed and is indeed of high quality. There are very few ancient martial arts romance dramas in Xiaguo. After market research, we all agree that this work will make considerable profits after it goes online."

At the meeting, several long-time friends of Shinozaki Ikumi's mother came forward to speak up.

They also know that this work is likely to be the key work that determines whether Shinozaki Ikumi can continue her career as a producer at Sakura TV.

Since these people have decided to help their little niece, they will not hesitate and simply suggest that Shinozaki Ikumi write a planning proposal for Rurouni Kenshin based on the highest standards of the station's web dramas.

Anyway, if the filming is completed and the broadcast fails, Shinozaki Ikumi will definitely resign and apologize. What is there to be afraid of?
As for them, given their status, how much loss can they expect from a TV drama project with a total investment of only one or two million? It won't affect them too much.

"How could it be so careless?" Akasaka Yoshitoki said angrily at this time.

"Producer Shinozaki Ikumi? Her achievements are obvious to all. And this screenwriter named Su Yan is a newcomer who has just been promoted to a full-time position in the station. Their combination is too risky." "I think this project should be abandoned directly and not approved."

"You can't say that. Wen Yutong, the talented screenwriter of Shanghai TV Station, was also a newcomer when she debuted. Didn't her work win the second place in the national ratings last year?"

Several of Ikumi Shinozaki's aunts started to make their efforts.

Although their positions are not as high as Yoshitoki Akasaka's, they are still members of the production department's review committee, and their combined power is considerable.

There was another round of speeches at the meeting.

Finally, under the intervention of the production director Shigeyoshi Yoshizaki, the investment in Rurouni Kenshin was cut directly from 2.2 million in the plan to 1.2 million.

At the meeting, several of Shinozaki Ikumi's aunts looked at each other and realized something was wrong.

Why did Minister Yoshizaki Shigeyoshi want to get involved in the investment of a low-budget web drama?
At this time, Akasaka Yoshitoki showed a smile.

He was not targeting Su Yan and Shinozaki Ikumi on purpose. It would be too offensive to forcibly kill a project that had already been brought to the table. He also had to consider the possibility that others would target the projects of his producers in the same way in the future.

The reason for saying this is mainly to retreat in order to advance, and the purpose is just to cut Rurouni Kenshin's budget.

Next, the discussion of the planning plan of "Qingfeng" began at the meeting.
"What? The budget for Rurouni Kenshin was cut to only 1.2 million. And the station actually approved an investment budget of 11 million for a TV series called Seifeng that only has 10 episodes?"

In the office, Shinozaki Ikumi, who was waiting for the final review meeting results, immediately received the news and her blood pressure rose.

"Xiao Yumei, we have also tried hard, but the Minister and the Deputy Minister have reached a consensus that they are optimistic about the prospects of online dramas and are preparing to produce a high-quality online drama industry benchmark. Therefore, the investment amounts of the other five of the six online dramas approved this quarter have been affected."

A woman's voice came from the other end of the phone.

After a long time, Shinozaki Ikumi hung up the phone.

After thinking for a long time, she let out a long sigh.

Now the situation is clear.

Akasaka Yoshitoki is shamelessly promoting the drama starring his nephew Kiyota Sanji.

The total budget cannot be changed. What can we do if we want to give a high budget to a certain work?

Anyway, he just cut the budget of other projects and raised tens of millions of dollars for his nephew's drama.

Angry and depressed.

Among the six web dramas launched this quarter, the other four have a total investment of four to five million. Akasaka Yoshitoki was afraid of offending too many people, so he only cut the budget of these projects by four or five hundred thousand. For others, the impact is not too big.

But Rurouni Kenshin only applied for a total investment of two million, and he directly cut it down to only one million.

In terms of proportion, other works cut one-tenth of their budgets, while Rurouni Kenshin cut half of its budget.

This kind of differential treatment.

Let me make it clear, I'm not afraid of offending you, Shinozaki Yumi.

It's obvious that he looks down on Rurouni Kenshin, looks down on Su Yan, and looks down on her!
"Just wait, Akasaka Yoshitoki. The budget is 1.2 million, right? But if after it goes online and the average sales and reputation of "Rurouni Kenshin" with a 1 million investment are higher than those of "Seikaze" with a 11 million investment, I'll see where you can put your face." Shinozaki Ikumi said viciously.

of course
She actually knew in her heart that the possibility of such a thing happening was very low.

But people always like to fantasize.

(End of this chapter)