Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 334 April st, small losses, no gains
Gu Ming was well aware of Hirayama Toru's request to stay.

But this time, Gu Ming still refused.

"I personally want to continue working with TV Asahi, but I can't imagine that my work would be rejected just because of advertisers. I can imagine what would happen if I continue working with TV Asahi."

"Mr. Hirayama, I understand Toei's difficulties. I know you don't have the ability to interfere in the affairs of TV Asahi. I won't make things difficult for you."

"Although this work was produced by Toei, the idea was mine, and Endai took the lion's share of the investment. So I'm taking the initiative now. I want to collaborate with other TV stations. If the ratings are not good, Toei can stop production at any time, and I will raise the money to shoot the rest of the film myself."

"But today, I won't come to TV Asahi again."

Gu Ming said goodbye to Hirayama Toru and went straight to Tokyo TV.

Tokyo TV is, of course, the weakest private TV station in Japan.

But then again.

The worst private TV station is still a TV station, which was able to operate as a color TV station in later generations and was the lowest of the five major private TV stations in Japan.

Even if it is at the bottom of the list, it is still a tail gas that many TV stations cannot catch up with.

Gu Ming admitted that he looked down on Tokyo TV because it had previously cooperated with top private TV stations such as TBS and TV Asahi.

But this time, Gu Ming really refused to do it.

Koizumi saw that Gu Ming was in a bad mood, so he didn't say much and drove the car all the way to the outside of Tokyo TV.

Normally, this kind of meeting requires an appointment, but Gu Ming doesn't want to make an appointment now.

When he walked into the front desk, Gu Ming directly placed the belt that was always kept in the trunk of the car on the table, which made the receptionist look up and look at Gu Ming with a dazed look.

"My name is Akira Furuya. I'm not a big shot. I've only done some TV work in the past and appeared in one or two movies. I have a special effects TV work on hand right now, and I'm planning to show it on Tokyo TV. I'm looking for someone who can talk to me."

"Uh, ah... yes."

The receptionist hurriedly picked up the phone and dialed a number.

Of course it wasn't the security department, but the section chief of Tokyo TV's purchasing department.

……

……

The section chief in charge of purchasing dramas at Tokyo TV called out a very strange name. When Gu Ming saw it for the first time, he couldn't help but take a second look at the Chinese characters.

"April 1st is a pleasant day."

Gu Ming took a deep breath.

He couldn't understand this name for a moment.

"Isn't April 1st a made-up surname? There's actually someone with that last name?!"

Gu Ming couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied.

Moreover, Gu Ming soon met Mr. April 1st Shuang.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that kind of beautiful girl, but a fat man with a big belly.

"April 1st, my Lord." Gu Ming hesitated to speak, but finally took the initiative to extend his hand and shake hands.

"Haha... I was really surprised to hear that Furuya-kun came to visit. I never thought we would have the opportunity to cooperate."

April 1st, with a big belly, just like his name, laughed particularly heartily. Then, under Gu Ming's gaze, April 1st suddenly raised his hand and made a light-emitting gesture.

"Actually, I'm a fan of a lot of film and television. I've seen a lot of the stuff Furuya-kun has starred in, and they're all fantastic performances. To be honest, my daughter and I are both fans of Furuya-kun, especially the recent Shadow Warrior. Oh my god, Furuya-kun was really trying his best. I heard he got stuck in a stirrup and nearly fell to his death. Is that true?"

Gu Ming could only smile awkwardly.

I didn't expect that the head of the purchasing department of Tokyo TV is such a cheerful guy.

"Actually, the Shadow Warrior thing was mostly just publicity. The scene just looked scary at the time. In reality, everything was under my control."

Gu Ming bowed slightly and said, "We can talk about the Shadow Warrior later. Why don't we talk about the work first?"

"That's right." April 1st Shuang looked at Gu Ming with a serious expression and said, "Then I'll be frank. Although I'm not sure about the quality of the work, TV Tokyo is very willing to broadcast it. However, I hope Furuya-kun can understand that TV Tokyo is still a very young station."

It is very young, meaning it was only established in 1964, and is indeed not as good as some other TV stations.

"So, funding isn't very tight." April 1st Shuang thought quickly and gritted his teeth. "Two million yen per episode... that's already the limit. We can guarantee it'll air on Saturday evening at 7:00 PM. Furuya-kun must know that's the best time for children's dramas."

It's really the limit. TV Tokyo is so broke that they only got 3 million yen for each episode of "Dinosaur Special Ksai" commissioned by Wangu before. And that was even with advertising agencies.

Now that no advertiser can take 2 million yen on their own, it seems like it's really tough.

This price was actually quite low, as TV Asahi's minimum offer was only 3 million yen plus a share of the viewing rate. On average, this works out to around 5 million yen per episode, and a full season would cost around 50 to 60 million yen.

If the entire drama is filmed, which consists of 52 episodes, the pure procurement cost will reach more than million yen.

Of course, this purchasing fee is not given to Gu Ming. After all, Toei is the producer, and Gu Ming is just providing ideas and actors, so what he can actually get is part of the agreed dividends and the actors' performance fees.

But if you calculate it this way, the agency's comprehensive profit for one drama can reach tens of millions of yen. After deducting the material costs such as wages and equipment, the final income is still a stable 30 million yen.

The best conditions that Tokyo TV can offer are not as good as the worst conditions given by Asahi TV.

After filming the series, the gross revenue barely reached 100 million yen.

After deducting various expenses, it is hard to say whether there is any profit.

After saying these conditions, April 1st Shuang felt extremely uneasy.

Of course he had heard about this matter, and he also knew that the conditions offered by his family were far from comparable to those offered by Asahi TV.

This is a vicious cycle.

Without money, you can’t buy good dramas. Without good dramas, there is no profit. Without profit, there is no money. And so on.

Gu Ming did not agree directly, but apologized first.

"Can I borrow your phone?"

"Of course, anytime."

On April 1st, Shuang took the initiative to leave the reception room, and Gu Ming borrowed the phone and called the accountant.

"Two million yen."

"……what?"

"I'm trying to sell a TV series right now. If I can get 2 million yen per episode, how much will the agency get, in addition to the profit share with Toei?"

There was a long silence on the other side.

Ten minutes later, the accountant gave a clear answer.

"The current cooperation model between the agency and Toei involves a portion of the profits, plus a fixed salary for the dispatched actors. Combined, this gives us about 20% of the total revenue. Based on this calculation, we can get about million yen from procurement costs. Add in other advertising costs and so on, and after sharing the profits with Toei, the total is probably between and million yen. This is the gross profit before any expenses are deducted. If we want to calculate the net profit..."

"Time is tight. I'm borrowing another phone number. Just tell me directly." Gu Ming said, "Will the net profit be a loss?"

"That won't happen, but it certainly won't make much money."

The main reason is that the investment in this work is quite high! Five sets of leather suits plus the final Tian Ce armor are very expensive. The production cost of each leather suit is close to one million yen.

"If it's not much, it's a profit, and if it's a profit, it's no loss. Thank you for your help."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Ming breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but shake his head secretly.

I don't know what I'm trying to achieve by just taking a gamble. The worst offer from TV Asahi is better than the best offer from TV Tokyo.

"But as the old saying goes, a tree earns its bark, and a man lives his breath."

Gu Ming stood up and found April 1st Shuangye who was smoking outside.

"April 1st, sir."

"Yes, what?"

"I am very pleased to have this collaboration with TV Tokyo."

"what……"

April 1st Shuang also grinned like a toad and responded to Gu Ming with a smile: "Yes, I am also looking forward to achieving this cooperation, and I hope that we can continue to cooperate."

(End of this chapter)