Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 120 We believe in Mr. Meng’s vision
Like Meng Bai, Dai Ying also had a very deep impression of him.

Because of her hesitation, she missed out on the excellent web drama project Soul Ferry. Although there was nothing wrong with it from the market situation at the time, she still felt regretful.

So when she received the call from Arclight Films, although she was puzzled as to why the other party suddenly "parted ways" with Leshi.com, she immediately agreed to meet and discuss in detail at any time.

It wasn't until she saw the cooperation project that she realized that Love Arc wanted to cooperate with Qiyi TV on a youth campus drama.

At first, Dai Ying was a little disappointed. It's not that youth campus dramas are bad, but everyone knows that Arclight Films is best at suspense themes.

But because of her previous experience of "missing it", she still found the novel "The Best of Us" and read it.

After seeing this, she suddenly felt that this story did have some potential.

However, it is really hard to imagine that a 20 million yuan investment would be put into a youth campus drama.

"That's right, Mr. Dai." Zhu Zhenhua explained: "The original story is set in the 00s, and this lost youth atmosphere is what attracts readers the most. If we want to remake it now, this atmosphere is essential, so we have to put extra effort into the arrangement and layout of the shooting scenes."

"Secondly, because it is a campus group drama, there is a relatively large demand for extras, and labor costs are also a big factor."

Dai Ying nodded when she heard this. Indeed, when she was reading the book, besides the story itself, what attracted her more was the youthful atmosphere of playing and fighting with classmates, studying in class together, and getting into trouble and standing in the corner together.

After thinking for a while, she looked at Meng Bai and asked, "If this drama is approved, will Arclight be responsible for the production?"

"The production team will be in charge of Arclight Films, but the main creative team, especially the director, will have other choices." Meng Bai smiled and said, "Boss Dai should also know that the several directors we have worked with before are not very suitable for this subject matter."

Dai Ying also laughed. Indeed, "Psychological Crime" was originally jokingly called a "youth campus" theme, but if that director was really in charge of "The Best of Us", the style would be outrageous.

"In addition to production, ArcLight will also be responsible for part of the investment in this project. At the same time, I will personally serve as the project producer and participate in the script writing." Meng Bai continued.

Unlike the producer, although the supervisor is one of the highest leaders of a crew, he is mostly only responsible for the content part of the film and television project and does not participate much in the management of the crew.

If I have to say, he is somewhat similar to Meng Bai's previous "chief screenwriter".

After listening to Meng Bai's introduction, Dai Ying secretly weighed the pros and cons in her mind: it was adapted from a popular novel IP, produced by Arclight Pictures, a first-line online drama team, and jointly developed by Xiaotangren Culture, which had successful experience, and the budget did not require full investment from the video platform.

Every point here is a high-quality factor that is very attractive for investment.

The only thing is, how many audiences will like this kind of "little fresh" style youth-themed works.

To be honest, this is a question that every practitioner in the film and television industry wants to know.

Why do the film and television industries love to follow the trend and produce a bunch of homogeneous works? It’s because they have successful experience and know that the audience likes this kind of work, so they dare to invest boldly.

After weighing the pros and cons for a while, Dai Ying said, "Personally, I really like this project, but commercial investment cannot be determined by my personal preferences. So, I will take the situation and script of this project back for discussion, and I will definitely give you two an accurate answer as soon as possible."

"Of course, that's how it should be." Meng Bai stood up and shook hands with the other party and said, "I'm looking forward to working with Qiyi TV."

Dai Ying smiled and said, "In fact, we are even more excited about this than you, Mr. Meng. I wonder if Arclight Films has any suitable suspense-themed projects. We can talk about it. You may not know that we at Qiyi TV are planning to create a special theater with 'suspense' as the core starting this year."

"Suspense theater?" Meng Bai asked doubtfully, "Mr. Dai should have heard about the 'online drama censorship reform' that may be launched in March, right?" Dai Ying nodded, "Of course I have heard about it. But we believe that suspense is a very diverse genre, and no matter how much the censorship is reformed, it is impossible to kill all forms with one stick. After all, video websites are not like TV stations, there is no such thing as 'prime time'."

As mentioned before, there are many criminal investigation and suspense dramas in the mainland film and television market, and they were once a popular subject for major TV stations.

Unfortunately, with the release of a "notice on strengthening the review and management of dramas involving crimes", all dramas involving crimes were kicked out of the prime time slot. Since then, works on this theme have gradually declined until they disappeared.

But there is no such restriction on video websites. All resources are on the website anyway, and viewers can watch whatever drama they want and when based on their personal preferences.

As a content producer, Meng Bai naturally supports Qiyi TV's plan. Although Arclight is cooperating with Leshi.com, it is just cooperation, not selling to each other.

"If there is a suitable opportunity, I will definitely bother you." Meng Bai said.

Dai Ying smiled and said, "Then I will look forward to Mr. Meng's 'opportunity'."
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The efficiency of Qiyi TV was much faster than Meng Bai had expected. He thought that the other party would not finish the discussion so quickly as the Spring Festival was approaching, but he did not expect that they would give a reply in less than a week.

The result was just as they had expected. Qiyi TV agreed to cooperate with Arclight Pictures and Xiaotangren Culture to jointly develop the project "The Best of Us".

Meng Bai privately asked Dai Ying how she made up her mind so quickly.

The other party told him that this time Qiyi TV adhered to the principle of "watch the people, not the drama".

Since Meng Bai was able to accurately identify such a vast market for "self-made web dramas" with a low-cost web drama, Qiyi TV is willing to continue to believe in his "vision."

Once the project was decided, each company's investment was quickly allocated.

As the platform and producer, Qiyi TV invested 10 million yuan; as the production party, Arclight Films invested 8 million yuan; the remaining 2 million yuan was given to Xiaotangren Culture, the copyright holder.

Of course, this is just an investment allocation and does not represent the final profit share. After all, Qiyi TV is also responsible for the subsequent publicity and promotion, and Meng Bai will also participate in the script adaptation on Arclight Films' side.

"Hey, Brother Zhu, I've read the script... My suggestion is to adjust the original second male lead 'Lu Xinghe''s role from the first episode to the third episode onwards... Yes, we want that feeling of 'although you're good, it's a pity that you came a step late'. Without this preconceived notion, it would be difficult for us to convince the audience why the heroine didn't choose the second male lead who has always been by her side, but chose the hero instead."

"Qiyi TV said that they will start preparing the crew after the Spring Festival. So we need to finalize the script before that... If I have time, I will definitely go over to participate in the script discussion, but recently there is a drama that is about to be aired, and a TV project is about to start filming, so there is not enough time... OK, then we can keep in touch anytime."

In the car, Hua Yan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, saw Meng Bai finish talking to the other party, then hung up the phone and put his phone away.

Meng Bai, who was driving, complained while driving: "I'm not saying anything bad, Huahua, can you spare some time to learn how to drive? Look at which boss drives himself and his assistant takes the car after he's done."

"Hehe, who made me have a good boss?" Hua Yan smiled flatteringly, and then said firmly: "Don't worry, boss, I will go to learn how to drive after the New Year."

"Hurry up, if you can pass the driving test before summer, the company will give you a car."

Hua Yan's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really? Don't worry, boss, I'll sign up right away and I promise it won't affect my work."

Looking at the cheerful assistant next to him, Meng Bai couldn't help but smile. Sure enough, little girls are easy to fool. He had painted the same pie for Chen Jing before, and she had a nonchalant expression.

The two are now on the highway leading to Hengdian. "The Disguiser", which has been in preparation since last year, is finally about to start filming.

(End of this chapter)