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

Chapter 304 Industry Leader
“I’m a representative?”

Meng Bai looked at the heads of the various film and television companies surrounding him with surprise.

"Boss Meng, who else among us here is suitable besides you?"

"In terms of influence and industry contribution, Arclight Films' position in the online drama industry is obvious to all."

"That's right!"

"..."

The people gathered together said.

But it is true.

These film and television companies present, whether it is the largest Huace, the longest-established Ciwen Media, or Noon Sunshine, which is known as the "ceiling of Chinese dramas", are essentially focused on TV dramas.

For them, no matter how the censorship standards for online dramas change, the impact will not be significant. At most, it will just make the future process a little more troublesome.

So if we really have to say who can represent the online drama industry, it has to be Arc Light.

As for saying Meng Bai is too young?

Just kidding, he is the "pioneer of domestic web dramas".

If we really talk about the experience in online dramas, everyone present is a "junior".

Seeing everyone's expressions of "who else but Mr. Meng?", Meng Bai frowned, then sighed suddenly, and acted as if "God has given him a great responsibility".

"Thanks for your trust, I will represent you and the authorities to explain our demands and do my best to fight for our common interests."

We are all businessmen, so it is useless to say those empty words. So Meng Bai's words were very direct, and the focus was on interests.

Sure enough, these words obviously touched everyone's heart, and everyone smiled and said, "We believe in President Meng."

On the other hand, Meng Bai himself was also very satisfied with the result.

Just as Liu Jun said before, ArcLight now has money, people, projects and strength.

The only things they lack are high-level official connections and influence within the industry.

This controversy about "censorship standards" is an opportunity for Meng Bai.

Internally, he has ample opportunities to make connections with higher-ups; externally, as long as he can secure some appropriately relaxed conditions, his influence within the industry will be greatly enhanced.

So even if the people in charge on the scene don't nominate him, he will take the initiative to volunteer.

However, this situation of going with the flow is better than expected, and it seems that my purpose is not so strong.

In the next two days, Meng Bai conscientiously performed the duties of a "representative" and coordinated with various companies to summarize a reasonable demand.

Immediately afterwards, he attended a policy discussion with the heads of the three video platforms.

On the official side, it is mainly Director Nie and several staff members from the Planning Institute.

"Haha, I said it before. Mr. Meng will definitely be among the representatives."

Director Nie greeted the people from the three major platforms, and then looked at Meng Bai with a smile on his face.

"Most importantly, I would like to thank everyone for trusting us Arc Light." Meng Bai said modestly.

But he was also a little curious, because Director Nie seemed to be particularly enthusiastic towards him.

Fortunately, the other party did not confuse him for too long, and then they talked about ArcLight exporting its online dramas to neighboring countries last year.

Meng Bai then realized that since the concept of "cultural confidence" was proposed last year, "cultural export" has become the hottest word in the past year.

So how can “cultural output” be demonstrated?
For the film and television industry, being able to sell works overseas and gain good profits and reviews is the standard of "cultural export."

Therefore, ArcLight Films has a very good impression among the official community.

Including the fact that the film "Day and Night Chase" was able to pass the review so smoothly some time ago, in addition to having the support of Golden Shield Pictures, it was also because the review department relaxed the requirements.

"In fact, many of our domestic cultural themes are very attractive to foreign audiences, especially those in the East Asian Chinese cultural circle." After understanding the above needs, Meng Bai immediately seized on this point and talked about it: "For example, the first series we made at Arclight, Soul Ferry, although the subject matter is a bit sensitive, it contains many traditional mythological systems and cultural backgrounds, which are very attractive. This is why this series has a high ratings overseas, especially in Southeast Asia."

Director Nie nodded: "Yes, we have also learned about it here. I heard that a foreign TV station has bought the copyright and plans to remake it?"

"Director Nie does care about us." Meng Bai smiled. "Yes, Vietnam and Thailand have already bought it, and there should be a remake to be broadcast next year. It just so happens that we also have a big movie project planned this year, so we can take this opportunity to launch it together."

"Very good, this is the output capacity that our film and television dramas should have." Director Nie sighed, "In fact, we also know that the characteristics of online dramas lie in the diversity of themes and scales. If we force online dramas to be consistent with TV dramas, there will be no need to develop the online drama industry."

The eyes of several representatives present lit up when they heard this. The other party's words clearly meant that the authorities were willing to make concessions.

The key to the specific negotiations afterwards lies in what to let go and what to fight for.

In the next few days, Meng Bai and representatives from the three major platforms frequently visited various departments of radio and television.

After several discussions, we finally reached a final conclusion.

Compared with the original policy, both the government and the industry have taken a step back.

The review-before-broadcast and licensing systems have not changed, but the censorship standards and the subject matter allowed for production have been relaxed a lot compared to the standards for TV dramas.

At the very least, the current mainstream online dramas such as suspense, criminal investigation, ancient idol dramas, and brain holes are all within the permitted scope.

In terms of censorship standards, as long as there are no direct crime, bloody, horror, or obscene scenes, and as long as they do not skirt the rules, the authorities will turn a blind eye.

For video platforms and film and television companies, this is already a very relaxed condition.

The industry companies were naturally delighted, and by the way, they also had a greater sense of recognition for the several representatives who had helped everyone gain benefits.

Needless to say, the three major platforms are already powerful "clients", and these can only be regarded as icing on the cake.

But for Meng Bai, this sense of identity is much more important.

Previously, Arclight Films could only be regarded as an outstanding top production team.

But now, it has shown signs of becoming a leader in the industry.

In any case, this "censorship debate" finally had a good result, and the online drama industry has extended its development period.

Meng Bai hadn't relaxed yet, so he took the opportunity to invite Director Nie to dinner to consolidate their relationship.

"Thank you very much, Director Nie. On behalf of my colleagues in the online drama industry, I would like to offer you a toast."

"Well, for this kind of policy, our government departments should listen more to the opinions of our enterprises. It's not a case of one person helping another."

Director Nie didn't put on too much airs. After all, although he was the "current manager", he was not the "county magistrate".

So after this period of contact, there has been no major change in our cooperative relationship, but our personal relationship has become much closer.

"By the way, Mr. Meng, I remember that Arclight seems to have started making TV series as well?"

Meng Bai nodded: "Yes, at the beginning of the year, we launched a spy drama, which can be regarded as an attempt. It will be finished in the next two days, and if all goes well, it will be broadcast by the end of the year."

"Spy war drama, this theme is not bad. In fact, if Arclight is making TV dramas, it can pay more attention to mainstream works and realistic themes, which are the projects we support now. And if mainstream works are well made, there is a market for them. For example, the recent "In the Name of the People", an anti-corruption theme, is also very popular."

Anti-corruption dramas were once a popular theme in film and television dramas, and many classics have been produced.

However, just like criminal investigation dramas, this genre has also disappeared in recent years.

It was not until this year that "In the Name of People" came out of nowhere and instantly captured the audience's enthusiasm with the line "I dare not spend a penny" and the almost unlimited scale.

The ratings of this drama have been rising since its debut, reaching a peak of over 8.

In the past decade, apart from the Spring Festival Gala and the Olympics, there has been almost no other program with such high ratings.

However, Meng Bai did not sigh easily: "If mainstream works can allow such a scale, I believe that there will be a large number of new classic works that will be born naturally without the need for us to shine."

"That's true."

Although it was not stated explicitly, everyone knew that it would be difficult for similar works to appear in the next few years.

(End of this chapter)