The battle for traffic in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 283 The Eve of Netflix Dominating the Southeast Asian Streaming Market

When I met Erika North, Netflix's director of original content for Asia, we started talking about serious matters.

"Want to See You" has been completed. Penguin and Kiwi have both watched the film and are very satisfied with the quality of the series. They have both proposed to Zhengrong to buy the exclusive copyright.

After Youku knew that Zhengrong insisted on distributing the film, even though it hadn't seen the film yet, it said it could unconditionally match the purchase price of the other two companies.

Another is Netflix, which has always maintained a keen interest in Xu Xing's works.

Netflix purchased all of Xu Xing’s previous film and television works last year, except for those for which the exclusive overseas copyright had already been sold.

This allowed several companies such as Huace to make another profit.

Originally, Huace insisted on selling the series only to radio stations in Southeast Asian countries for broadcast, and finally received the most sincere offer for streaming media copyright from Netflix.

According to relevant media reports, Netflix spent more than 20 billion to buy the Xu Xing family package.

In fact, it is a bit exaggerated. As far as Xu Xing knows, it should be 15 billion.

After the whole package was launched, it immediately topped Netflix’s Asia playback charts.

This is the current super popularity dominance of international superstar Xu Xing in Asia!

Therefore, Netflix is determined to obtain the overseas copyright of the drama "Want to See You".

But at the same time, Penguin and Kiwi also have strategies to develop streaming media in Southeast Asia, and have also explored the possibility of buying out the overseas copyright of "Want to See You".

Kiwi previously opened an international site and took the lead in exploration, and now they are actively testing the international version of the APP internally.

The same is true within Penguin, and WeTV is also in intensive preparation.

In their previous life, both of them announced their official overseas expansion in 2019, and then... nothing happened...

The international version of Kiwi has also released several Taiwanese dramas, while WeTV is the type of shopping that only Penguin likes and is most effective at, acquiring local platforms in Southeast Asian countries. However, the market shares of the two platforms cannot be compared with Netflix.

Then, soon, Disney+, Apple TV, and Amazon joined the melee, and overseas video streaming platforms completely became a red ocean.

Then, short videos swept the world with great fanfare, and long videos seemed to have met their gravedigger.

After that, Xu Xing couldn’t watch it anymore, and he didn’t know when the battle between long and short videos would be decided.

……

There was an accident at the end of 2019 that pressed the slowdown button for the whole world. In his previous life, it was difficult for Xu Xing to judge how determined Penguin and Kiwi were to go overseas at the beginning.

Because 2018 was a year of booming video streaming platforms in Southeast Asia, it can be said to be a blue ocean. By 2019, there were more than ten local streaming platforms in the island provinces.

Netflix, which entered the Asian market early, has been competing hard in Japan in the past few years. The drama "Kingdom", which finally opened up the market in Southeast Asia, was not broadcast until 2019.

——Xu Xing thought about ripping off this drama, but ultimately decided not to do anything stupid.

Therefore, Penguin and Kiwi began preparations in 2018 and officially expanded to Southeast Asia in 2019. This timing cannot be said to be too late.

It is still the eve of Netflix dominating the Southeast Asian streaming market.

But in this life, Xu Xing entered the upper echelons of the entertainment industry. After learning more information from all sides, he once again came to the conclusion that they went overseas just to make arrangements, speculate on stock prices and tell stories, and they had no determination to fight.

After all, the battle among domestic video platforms is still in full swing. The sky-high pay that has allowed domestic actors to take off is also a reflection of the intensity of the battle.

Even the wealthy Penguin does not have the spare energy to open up another battlefield and burn money against Netflix in Southeast Asia.

Is it an exaggeration for Netflix to spend 15 billion to buy Xu Xing’s whole family package?

It is of course an exaggeration that has caused the domestic industry to be shocked.

But this 15 billion yuan, which is obviously a premium, is just a show of strength for domestic video platforms.

If you want to go out of China and compete with it, think about whether you would spend 15 billion to buy the current Xu Xing family bucket.

It is also a way to show sincerity to Xu Xing: Netflix's bid will be the highest.

Well, yes, before Netflix opened up the market through Korean dramas, Xu Xing, a superstar with unquestionable influence in Asia, was the one they thought could best solve the problem.

There are also rumors in the industry that Netflix offered Kiwifruit 3 million to buy the overseas copyright of "Idol Producer", but was rejected by Kiwifruit.

That is Kiwi's own variety show, and Netflix has no way of buying it.

However, for this film "Want to See You", which was decided by Zheng Rong and Xu Xing, they had expressed their friendly willingness in the previous contacts. If they couldn't get it, it would be a mistake that they absolutely could not allow to happen.

However, Xu Xing and Erika did not meet to discuss "Want to See You", that was the business of Zheng Rong and Netflix's copyright purchasing department.

Erika is the director of original content, producing original series for Netflix.

She had always wanted to find an opportunity to meet Xu Xing and persuade him to star in a TV series for Netflix, and the headquarters also hoped that she could win over Xu Xing.

Therefore, although Xu Xing and Erika originally agreed to meet in April, she flew over immediately after Xu Xing revealed that she was in Australia and could meet earlier.

Erika North originally worked in HBO Asia for eight years, but the Taiwanese drama "The Teenage Psychic" she produced in 2017 became a big hit in Taiwan and also had good ratings in many Southeast Asian countries.

After failing to gain much from the fight with Japan, they turned their attention to Netflix in Southeast Asia and used their financial power to poach her from HBO.

It was also because of the success of "The Teenage Psychic" in the previous life that Erika continued to increase her investment in Chinese-language dramas after taking office.

During her tenure, she produced a total of 4 original dramas, 3 Taiwanese dramas and 1 Thai drama, all of which received mediocre responses after broadcast and had no international reputation. At the same time, "Kingdom" became a big hit, and the continuous production of Korean dramas became Netflix's trump card in the Asian market. Eventually, Erika left - ran to Amazon, and Netflix's Asia director was replaced by a South Korean.

In March 2018, Erika had just taken office and was in urgent need of making achievements and securing her position.

In fact, before the headquarters decided to buy Xu Xing's entire family last year, Erika doubted whether such a high offer was appropriate. However, the number of views after the release immediately proved that Xu Xing is now the king of the Asian entertainment industry.

She also heard a rumor from the headquarters that some senior executives believed that taking down Xu Xing might even help them open up the mainland China market.

This meeting is even more important.

And the purpose is very clear, Xu Xing's long-rumored film "Dark" has been inquired about by Netflix before.

Since China doesn't allow filming, we can meet all your needs!
These words have been echoing in Erika's heart for nearly half a year.

However, after Xu Xing arrived at the private room, the first thing that surprised him was seeing Ms. Alyssa Chia.

I never thought foreigners would do this.

But Xu Xing quickly figured out the key point.

In her previous life, Alyssa Chia was the heroine of Netflix's "The Sinners" which is currently in preparation. This is the drama that Erika attaches the most importance to among the three Taiwanese dramas. She invited a bunch of big names from the island provinces (of course, it seems like a meeting of confused people in the mainland) and resource-rich people to star in it, and also brought in the team of her "The Teenage Psychic" and found Malaysian director Kevin Ke, who was nominated for an Oscar for live-action short film, to direct it.

But Kevin Ke dropped out halfway through and went to shoot the TV series "Detective Chinatown". The new director's editing did not match Netflix's philosophy, and the show was ultimately a big flop after it was released - a big one for Taiwanese dramas.

——This time, director Kevin Ke also ran away again to shoot "Detective Chinatown", but it was the middleman who introduced them and Zheng Rong nodded, it had nothing to do with Xu Xing... Well, Xu Xing also nodded.

As for now, although Alyssa Chia’s drama “The World Between Us” has not been aired yet and her popularity has been at its lowest point after more than ten years, she was able to get the female lead in the drama “The Dreamer”, which should be mainly due to her connections within the island province circle.

After all, Ms. Erika couldn't even tear the director apart.

But she still came over with a weird look on her face, probably because Alyssa Chia really wants to manage her relationship with Erika.

Just like Lin Xinru later, Alyssa Chia also wanted to organize a group, and later tried to be a producer... Then after the production was completed, no platform wanted it, and she spent a lot of effort before she let Netflix take over at a loss.

So, after Xu Xing took away the last big hit Taiwanese drama "Want to See You" in advance, the so-called "Taiwanese drama revival" in the past life should now be even more confusing.

That drama, The World Between Us, is actually just a Douban hit drama. Just like many Taiwanese dramas that easily scored 8 points later, it is becoming more and more a niche drama for a small circle.

Ms. Erika persuaded Netflix to invest in this wave, which is like applying aphrodisiac to a dead person. The more you watch it, the more humorous it becomes.

Therefore, Xu Xing was quite annoyed after seeing Alyssa Chia.

During this meeting with Erika, Xu Xing originally wanted to try to persuade her to turn back from her wrong path and not bet on Taiwanese dramas and lose her talents. By the way, he also wanted to study whether "Squid Game" could be produced in Hong Kong.

——Hong Kong is also a small circle of self-entertainment, but the island province has already started to "persecute" Xu Xing on TV programs. Make "Squid Game" and wait for a Hong Kong Academy Award winner in the future.

Let Erika stay in the position for a few more years. It will definitely be easier for Xu Xing to find ways to take advantage of Netflix than dealing with South Koreans.

Now that Alyssa Chia is here, it’s very inconvenient to talk.

Alyssa Chia even stood up and sat on the other side of Xu Xing, which was very boring as she had been remarried for several years.

Nothing would happen between her and Xu Xing for sure, and Xu Xing was not a casual person.

…She touched Xu Xing’s leg with her leg.

Who booked the box? It’s so small.

Xu Xing complained in his heart and put his legs away.

He continued to tell Erika that it was impossible for him to film "Dark" and that it was impossible for him to star in the Netflix series himself for the time being.

We have "Want to See You", and we can buy "Joy of Life" in the future. There is no need for Xu Xing to act again.

"…but I do have another script—"

Xu Xing finally couldn't help but turned her head to look at Jia Jingwen on the other side.

She touched Xu Xing's leg again.

Xu Xing was already sitting with her legs crossed, and she stretched her legs over again.

What do you mean? !

Do you think you are ignorant and still in middle school?
Does she think that people of the same age as Aunt Zhiling are also within her range?
A stern look expresses dissatisfaction!
Alyssa Chia immediately smiled awkwardly.

Xu Xing couldn't really argue with her, so he turned his head and retracted his legs.

Continue chatting with Erika.

"Although I won't be in the film, I think it will be a huge success—"

Xu Xing was convinced.

Alyssa Chia touched her leg again.

Damn it, if Xu Xing moved to the other side, he would hit the foreigner's legs.

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(End of this chapter)