Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 640 Let You Get Rich

In 12, Mr. Li outbid the entire copyright operation department and sold the exclusive online broadcasting rights of "Empresses in the Palace" to Youku for a sky-high price of 3500 million yuan over 5 years, which became the biggest achievement of the copyright operation department that year.

Over the past five years, the long-tail effect of "Empresses in the Palace" has been recognized by everyone in the market. "Empresses in the Palace" has become Youku's crown jewel, generating over 100 million yuan in revenue every year from this one drama. After selling the exclusive rights in the fall, they no longer care how Youku distributes it.

Now that the five-year period has ended, the online copyright of "Empresses in the Palace" has once again become a source of controversy.

iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video all wanted it, and even LeTV, which Li Qiutang disliked, joined the competition once again.

Li Qiutang will no longer be involved in this authorization process; the copyright department should know what to do.

Penguin is a shareholder of the company, but in this kind of bidding for projects, there are no backdoors for shareholders. Penguin cannot pay a penny less than the amount due.

Autumn still only sells exclusive licenses for 5 years, but this year Autumn has learned a trick and started bundling sales, requiring bidders not only to buy "Empresses in the Palace", but also to buy five films in Autumn's copyright library that are not so easy to sell at a price of 100 million per film per year, for a total of 2500 million.

2500 million is not a lot for the platform. As long as they buy the rights to "Empresses in the Palace", they can quickly earn back the 2500 million, which is acceptable.

Perhaps having tasted the success of "Empresses in the Palace," Youku won this round of bidding again. Youku went crazy and bid 100 million yuan, paying in cash immediately, thus ending the competition.

The copyright operations department happily signed a new contract with Youku for a 5-year exclusive deal, including one "Empresses in the Palace" series and five other films, for a total price of 1.25 million yuan, paid in cash immediately.

After Youku bought the movie, iQiyi and Tencent Video immediately came to ask for distribution rights.

But Youku isn't selling it!

Youku isn't stupid. When it bought "Empresses in the Palace" in 12, it already distributed it. Youku has done the math and found that it has lost 7000 million to 1 million yuan in the past 5 years. Just from "Empresses in the Palace" alone, it has lost that much money.

Redistribute now? No way!
This is why Youku dared to directly announce 1 million this year. Among the three major platforms, only Youku has the most direct understanding of how profitable "Empresses in the Palace" is.

For the next five years, Youku will have a monopoly on "Empresses in the Palace"!
After the deal was completed, the director of the copyright department came to Qingdao to give Li Qiutang a gift—he slaughtered 20 sheep to provide an extra meal for the entire crew of "The Wandering Earth".

"No," Li Qiutang said while eating meat, "Why did my supervisor give me a gift?"

Let's eat the meat first, and ask about the rest later.

"Isn't it good that 'Empresses in the Palace' is selling so well? Luckily we listened to you back then, otherwise we would have suffered huge losses."

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "What did I say back then? I said your department could live off this show, wasn't I right?"

"Hey, do you have hand-pulled mutton?"

"Yes, I'll go get it." The assistant went to bring the dishes to Li Qiutang.

Li Qiutang also reminded her assistant, "Make a sauce, and add plenty of garlic."

While enjoying delicious mutton and chatting, Li Qiutang even took a picture of a large pot of mutton and sent it to his wife to tempt her.

The copyright director spent a long time on set and asked, "Why haven't I seen the female lead? Wasn't she supposed to be a child star? Call her over to eat with us."

The assistant director laughed and said, "Our leading lady has taken leave to go home and take her high school entrance exam."

"You're talking nonsense." No one would believe that if you said that. Li Qiutang took a sip of soup and said, "He's right. Our female lead is 14 years old, a junior high school student. She just got home the day before yesterday and should be sitting in the exam room writing her test paper now."

"Really?" I still don't believe it.

"Really." The hand-pulled mutton has arrived.

The copyright director was speechless after hearing this.

Twenty sheep may seem like a lot, but it's not enough to feed the entire crew. If the crew were really going to have a full sheep feast, fifty sheep would be more than enough. So today's twenty sheep are just an extra dish.

However, filming is tiring, so a good meal is very comforting.

"Uncle Da, why aren't you eating? Is it not to your liking?" Many people in the crew liked Wu Mengda, and they saw that he was just sitting to the side eating his own food, only ordering a bowl of mutton soup.

“No,” Wu Meng replied, “I had surgery a couple of years ago, so I can’t eat too much mutton. A bowl of soup is enough for me. It’s delicious. You don’t need to worry about me. You guys eat yours.”

After lunch, the crew took a break. Li Qiutang and the copyright director went to have a small meeting. Did they really think he was just there to deliver mutton?
Although the team has had two or three successful experiences in developing merchandise, such as operating "Monkey King: Hero Is Back", "Mojin: The Lost Legend" and "Big Fish & Begonia", the merchandise development team is still in its infancy and not yet a separate department. It has always been a business group under the copyright operation department.

The director came to discuss the development of derivative products for "Wolf Warrior 2" with Li Qiutang.

This is also Li Qiutang's fault for being too busy lately and forgetting about it. The development of merchandise for "Wolf Warrior 2" was very slow, with most merchandise only being released months after the movie's release, missing the peak of its popularity.

Wolf Warrior 2 will be released in a month, and it's still possible to catch the last train by setting up its merchandise now.

Li Qiutang's first words were: "Wolf Warrior 2 will definitely be a hit, and it will reach a number that no one can imagine."

The copyright director had something to say, but Li Qiutang waved him off, saying, "How can I judge when the box office results will be released?"

That makes sense. Li Qiutang has basically fulfilled all the promises he made at the company, and he has rarely made mistakes in judging movies.

"So we must do a good job with the merchandise for 'Wolf Warrior 2', including tank models, tactical belts, camouflage baseball caps, T-shirts, tactical backpacks, action figures, and Wu Jing's bullet pendant. There are a lot of things we can do with military action movies, and you probably know more than I do."

Most of the merchandise development for autumn products is done through brand licensing; autumn itself doesn't have any peripheral production factories—which film and television company would build its own factory!
“There’s still time to make arrangements. Go back and get this done. Be bold with your inventory preparations, don’t be afraid. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the movie ‘Wolf Warrior 2’ will earn your copyright department another 1 million this summer.” This was Li Qiutang’s conservative estimate.

With the chairman saying so, what wouldn't the copyright operations department dare to do?

"So, does that mean we should start planning merchandise for 'The Wandering Earth'?"

The development of merchandise for Hollywood blockbusters usually begins when the film is first conceived or during filming. Chen Zhixi spent a year and a half studying in Hollywood and brought back a lot of valuable experience.

Li Qiutang thought for a moment and said, "That's fine. We can start preparing now, and then follow the publicity team when the movie is released."

After discussing work, Li Qiutang joked, "Don't say that your copyright department is neglected anymore. I've brought you money-making opportunities to your doorstep. How much bonus you get at the end of the year depends on your own abilities. Don't say that we bosses are stingy then."

"Yes, hehe, I guarantee I'll complete the mission, hehe."

(End of this chapter)