The battle for traffic in Chinese entertainment

Why doesn’t Chapter 391 count?
"Bjaria originally wanted to meet you at the beginning of the month, but because it was during the Chinese New Year, she thought you might want to spend time with your family more."

Erika is talking about Bela Bajaria, Netflix's reality show project director, who is also responsible for some international content.

An Indian who won the title of Miss India when she was young, then went to Hollywood to work hard and joined Netflix from Universal Pictures Group three years ago.

Before meeting with CEO Reed Hastings, Xu Xing, who came to Netflix's Los Angeles headquarters, had a brief exchange with Bjaria under the introduction of Erika.

Bjaria first praised the success of "Want to See You", then talked about the controversy that Xu Xing's new single "Old Town Road" is facing, expressed his support as a fellow Asian, and finally talked about "Childhood Games" which had just finished filming, and hoped to purchase the copyright of "Signal" which has not yet started filming.

She is Erika's latest supporter in Netflix's upper echelons.

Erika said that Bjaria would be the person that Xu Xing wanted to elevate the level of cooperation with Netflix in the future, rather than Rob Roy, who, like Erika, focused on Asian business and had been living in Singapore.

Rob Roy is too far away from Netflix headquarters.

"Sarandos admires Bjaria very much. As you know, the atmosphere within the company is not peaceful. There are rumors that we will have a relatively large management personnel adjustment in the next two years. Bjaria is likely to become a more important figure with the support of Sarandos."

Erika complained to Xu Xing that she didn't like office politics, but she was also very interested in talking about these things and even found a way to get in touch with Bjaria.

Compared to Bjaria, Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, is widely known to the outside world. He was also the name that appeared most frequently in the news about Netflix that Xu Xing occasionally saw in his previous life.

So when Erika first told Xu Xing that Netflix CEO wanted to meet with Xu Xing, Xu Xing subconsciously thought it was Sarandos.

But in fact, Sarandos has not yet been promoted to co-CEO.

The person Xu Xing met today was still the founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings. Sanrandos was not in Los Angeles these days.

There has always been a struggle within Netflix between the pro-algorithm and pro-Hollywood factions with different production concepts. As Netflix continues to experiment, internal conflicts intensify and changes will occur.

Erika chose to go with Bjarria, who was supported by Sarandos. Judging from her past life, her vision was quite accurate.

After meeting Bjaria and chatting with her, she did not give Xu Xing a bad impression.

The topics are all very pragmatic, and have a strong elite temperament, rather than being a vase with buffs.

Bjaria praised Xu Xing, without being too exaggerated. He said that he hoped Xu Xing could star in Netflix's self-produced series, and that Netflix actually has many large project scripts suitable for Asians to play the leading roles. As long as Xu Xing is interested, the project can be started immediately.

Xu Xing politely expressed that the projects she would perform this year had already been decided and her schedule for the whole year was full. She also expressed her understanding of Xu Xing's desire to temporarily maintain the current cooperation model with Netflix, without any uncomfortable eagerness.

It can be heard from the conversation that Bjaria does have considerable authority. She also proposed to provide Xu Xing with opportunities to appear in heavyweight Hollywood dramas and to work in movies with Hollywood superstars.

After chatting for about half an hour, Xu Xing said goodbye to Bjaria and went to meet CEO Hastings.

Compared to Bjaria, Hastings seems to have a much higher level of vision.

He said right away that he wanted to meet Xu Xing because he was very interested in Xu Xing, the King of Asia. He also said that he had noticed Xu Xing a long time ago, and last month Xu Xing also proved his point again with "Want to See You". Netflix should maintain a long-term friendship with Xu Xing.

Speak directly from the company's perspective.

He also recalled the difficulties Netflix had in expanding its market in Asia in the past, "Now I realize that I just haven't waited for you yet."

Hastings joked.

"I heard Erika say that what impressed her more than your fame that has made Asia crazy is your insights into the development of streaming media. She said that you are a staunch supporter of the development of streaming media and you know very well what the current audience, at least the audience in Asia, wants to watch most.

“Generally, content creators occasionally get lucky and achieve success, but they don’t know the reason for their success. We have been trying to help them find out the reason and verify it in subsequent projects, but the probability of success has not increased much.

"The difference is that you have been successful, not only as a performer, but also as a creator. Erika said that you have magic, and I agree with her. Netflix also needs this magic."

"I don't know if I have any magic power," Xu Xing shrugged with a smile, "but I am sure I will continue to cooperate with Netflix."

It’s a promise, but not a specific one, and that’s all.

The success of "Want to See You" in Asia not only made Netflix fully recognize Xu Xing's value, but also stimulated domestic video platforms such as Penguin and Kiwi.

They all want to obtain the exclusive copyright of "Signal" as a trump card for going overseas.

Netflix was able to open up the market in Asia with the drama "Want to See You", and they can also join the streaming war in Southeast Asia with Xu Xing's drama.

The senior executives of those companies met Mr. Qu for coffee every day and showed 10% sincerity. They directly offered a guaranteed minimum price of billion yuan and asked Zhengrong to increase the price accordingly. They also suggested that the money could be paid before the filming started.

——Normally, before paying for a drama, you have to watch the drama first. It is very common to find out the quality is not good after drafting a contract and then start to argue, just like what happened with Zheng Rong’s first drama “Jiuzhou”.

It has been less than half a month since the filming of "Detective Chinatown 3" started, and several groups of people have already visited the set.

However, neither Zheng Rong nor Xu Xing has revealed anything to the public yet.

Mr. Qu and Yu Murong both prefer to sell the exclusive copyright to Penguin to consolidate the cooperative relationship between Zhengrong and Penguin, but Xu Xing has always insisted that there is no need to decide so early, and it will not be too late to decide after "Signal" is completed and is ready to be released next year.

After the outbreak, Penguin and Kiwi may not necessarily have such a firm determination to go overseas, even though they are both urgently launching a number of projects targeting Southeast Asia.

By the time the drama is sold, it will just be put on their international website, and the overseas publicity won’t be able to keep up. The whole fuss is going on in China. Why bother?

After all, Hastings did not mention "Signal" directly, and Xu Xing would not mention it on his own initiative.

The pleasant private dinner ended and Hastings left first. Xu Xing, who was finally able to go back to the villa to catch up on some sleep, unexpectedly met Erika as soon as she walked out of the restaurant.

"Erika, did you just get here? Hastings is gone."

"Yeah, uh no."

Erika nodded and shook her head.

"Ok?"

Xu Xing was a little confused.

"Um... weren't you interested in Anya before?"

Erika smiled awkwardly.

"Who?"

Xu Xing became even more confused.

"The heroine of the play The Queen's Gambit is waiting in the car downstairs to spend a wonderful night with you," Erika smiled shamelessly, "It's Hastings' arrangement, and Anya didn't object."

"..."

Xu Xing suddenly felt that she might have misunderstood Alyssa Chia that time. The old lady Erika was not as focused on her work as she seemed. She must be really good at pimping!

Erika just took out a bunch of Netflix projects and asked Xu Xing if she was interested in starring in them. She saw "The Queen's Gambit" in the project and complained, "Isn't this the script for the heroine?"

Erika said that it is indeed a female-led drama, and the female lead has just been decided and the filming has started not long ago, but if Xu Xing is interested and can make a guest appearance, Netflix will not treat Xu Xing unfairly.

Xu Xing said that she was not interested in making a cameo appearance, but that she had read the original novel and was optimistic that the drama would be a great success. She only mentioned the female lead, saying that she felt her image was very suitable.

As a result, she reported it...

Before, she also called Ping Cai Na to go to Gangcheng and took her to meet Xu Xing, and then found an excuse to leave first. Xu Xing felt that Ping Cai Na did look pretty that day, and Miss Ping Cai Na's response was also quite positive... Afterwards, Miss Ping Cai Na said that she really admired Xu Xing, and felt that Asians like Xu Xing were amazing.

How could Anya have this filter of being Asian?

Xu Xing waved his hands unhappily.

"Let her go back. I'm not interested." The United States is determined to destroy us, so Xu Xing will definitely not take risks. Even if they fell in love at a party, it would be much safer than doing this.

If Anya gives Xu Xing another me too, Xu Xing can really prepare to quit the circle.

It’s not like there’s no woman to sleep with.

When they returned to the villa, Chen Yuqi and Zhao Jinmai had already warmed the bed.

Originally, Zhao Jinmai's parents wanted her to go back to school and did not want her to come to the United States, but they were eventually persuaded. This was an opportunity to show her face internationally, which would be beneficial to her future development.

Xu Xing, who had been busy for most of the day after landing, did some exercise before going to bed and slept more soundly.

The next day, Xu Xing got up early and went to the NBA headquarters.

In the past few days, "Old Town Road" was played during the halftime of many NBA games, completely ignoring the voices on the Internet.

For the black community, Xu Xing's good relationship with the NBA and her heartwarming act towards the sick black boy in the much-marketed celebrity game have left them with a good impression of Xu Xing.

After discussing the follow-up cooperation, we recorded a few simple videos, one to promote basketball and another to participate in the "Old Town Road" cowboy challenge. When we left, it was already afternoon.

After meeting up with the crew of "The Wandering Earth" and discussing the arrangements for tomorrow's premiere, we had dinner together and left the next day.

The third day was the North American premiere of "The Wandering Earth".

Xu Xing first accepted an interview with Billboard's official website this morning, talking about his concept behind the creation of "Old Town Road" and responding to some controversial issues.

Then I took some time to record a music blog before rushing to the scene.

At the premiere, they invited several well-known American stars to show up to support the event, but none of them were particularly famous, so Xu Xing was still the protagonist of the whole event.

Somewhat surprisingly, Xu Xing also saw Anya. He didn't know how they arranged the invitation list, as Anya was not very famous at the moment.

When Xu Xing arrived, she had already entered and sat in the back, so Xu Xing ignored her.

The largest number of people present were Xu Xing's fans, including not only Asian people, but also some white and black fans.

They shouted Xu Xing's name outside the venue, making the atmosphere look particularly warm.

Xu Xing also bowed and thanked them.

Compared to the domestic premiere, the North American premiere was relatively simple. After all, the main creators of the crew all speak Chinese, and communicating in English is not so natural.

The previous part was over quickly and then the movie started playing.

At the end, the whole audience stood up and applauded enthusiastically.

"Feeling, not bad?"

Guo Fan said uncertainly.

"Yes."

Xu Xing encouraged with a smile.

It didn't spoil the fun.

But what does this reveal?

The producer said last night that theaters in North America reported that audiences' willingness to watch the film was very low.

It mainly depends on how much support the Asians, especially the Chinese, can get. But Xu Xing and Wu Jing are now wearing the Wolf Warrior symbol, which many of them are even more disgusted with.

At night.

The collaborative version of "Old Town Road" by Xu Xing and Billy Cyrus was released, along with a number of media releases touting the song, and interviews with Xu Xing and Billy Cyrus were also released.

Billy praised the song enthusiastically in the interview, saying that he had been attracted to this wonderful song very early on and that it was a good attempt to integrate new elements into country music. From a musical perspective, he strongly supported such an attempt.

He also said that Xu Xing is a musician he admires very much, and he is very happy to be able to work with Xu Xing. He has become good friends with Xu Xing, so he will go to see Xu Xing's movie "The Wandering Earth" tomorrow.

The promotion was very blunt, and many passers-by and his fans scolded him for taking money. Some country radio hosts cursed that the song was not country music at all and called on Billboard officials to remove the song from the country music channel.

However, more and more listeners have spoken out, saying that they really like the song.

After the collaborative version of the single is integrated with Billy's country-flavored singing voice, the song sounds more comfortable, like riding on a pony and moving forward freely.

How is this not country music?
There was another night of excitement on ins and Twitter, and "The Wandering Earth" was kept at the top of the US trend list by many stars, which can be regarded as a wave of publicity during the excitement.

2 month 22 day.

"The Wandering Earth" was officially released in North America.

The country is attracting much attention.

The first-day box office exceeded 1200 million US dollars.

Some subtle numbers.

This is double the 590 million that "The Great Wall" earned on its first day in North America a few years ago, but that was a huge flop.

"The Wandering Earth", which was praised to the sky by fans and created domestic history and was better than "Interstellar", had only such a small box office. It really flopped!

Will fans continue to brag about the quality of the movie?

Will King Oyster Mushroom continue to boast about its influence?

Where can you buy the North American King Oyster Mushroom that has hundreds of thousands of downloads?

Of course, more people are saying that this movie didn’t flop at the box office, it just didn’t explode, Americans can’t handle small amounts of food, and they are being targeted, and there is no need for Chinese movies to be recognized by Americans…

There was a huge uproar on the domestic Internet.

On foreign social media, thanks to the strong input from the stars, "The Wandering Earth" seems to have received mostly positive reviews.

Although some people were attacking and cursing crazily, their voices were drowned out by the protection of overseas stars. After all, "The Wandering Earth" was given a score of 8.1 on IMDB by the stars.

The mainstream media in Europe and the United States have been critical of the movie, but the IMDB rating and the "passerby" reviews on social media all seem to be worth seeing.

The popularity of this movie is unexpectedly high.

So, three days into the weekend, "The Wandering Earth" grossed 2700 million at the box office in its first weekend.

Puff puff!

Well, well, well, well... "World of Warcraft" only grossed 2400 million in its first weekend...

Really not...

The domestic Internet is so lively that it can’t be stopped.

　Thanks to 20241113180536885 and Ironman for their monthly tickets! Thanks to everyone for their recommendations and subscriptions!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)