2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 110 is simply not enough.

At this moment, Chu An was like a charlatan.

His demeanor, body language, and even his eyes are more expressive than when he was the male lead.

Zhang Zhi was so moved that he almost believed him.
However, a last shred of reason told him that he couldn't do that.

He chuckled awkwardly, "Teacher Chu, are you joking? Split in half? If I sign such a contract and go back, Sun Tai will skin me alive."

Unexpectedly, Chu An looked disgusted and said, "What are you thinking? Taking half of CCTV's revenue for no reason? How could I have such a big face?"

"Besides, given our relationship, I can't be ungrateful, can I?"

Zhang Zhixin said, "It's good that you know what's going on!"

His face, however, was filled with gratitude. "Then, Teacher Chu, how about we give you 5% of the advertising revenue?"

He quickly added, "Teacher Chu, you should know that CCTV has never given any TV series a share of advertising revenue."

What does 5% mean? Let's take 2002 as an example:
CCTV's total advertising revenue in 2002 was over 69 billion yuan, of which the prime time slot from 8 pm to 10 pm accounted for half of the total advertising revenue, which was less than 35 billion yuan.

However, this is the total advertising revenue of CCTV's eight channels. CCTV-8 has a slightly higher share because it has the widest audience and the quality of its prime-time dramas is guaranteed, but it also depends on the popularity of the dramas.

Even if a drama series is auctioned off in advance, the total cost for the entire series is only around 2000 million.

Popular TV dramas command high prices, but these are limited, ranging from 50 million to 100 million yuan. For example, the 2001 drama "The Rise of the Republic" was a veritable carnival for the television industry, boasting a star-studded cast and generating over 100 million yuan in advertising revenue throughout the series.

The addition of Su Manqing to "Glory" greatly boosted its popularity, but weakened its main theme. With the support of Lu Mingze, the advertising revenue reached over 6000 million, making it a hit drama.

Zhang Zhi said he would give Chu An 5%, which, even based on 1 million in advertising revenue, would only amount to 500 million.

This is just fooling children!
Chu An didn't even hesitate, "No problem!"

Zhang Zhi seems to have been taken aback. So agreeable? Not even trying to haggle?
Actually, his expectation was 15%, which would be good for everyone.

"So...it's settled then?"

Chu An: "It's settled!"

Zhang Zhi felt quite embarrassed; this kid was terrible at negotiating and was being a bit of a bully.

Next, the two discussed the details of their collaboration.

结果
Damn it, Zhang Zhi realized he was overthinking things; this bastard's words were completely different from what he had said before.

"We won't take a single penny less than 5000 million!"

"If it exceeds 5000 million, get 5%; if it exceeds 6000 million, get 10%."

"8000 million 15%"

“1 million, I’ll take 20%.”

"If it exceeds 2 million, you'll give me 30%?"

"Huh?" Zhang Zhi was dumbfounded. "It even has an increasing rate? Wasn't it supposed to be 5%?"

Chu An didn't even blush. "Director Zhang, you have to think about me too! I've already bragged that CCTV would give me a share. And it's only 5%? Is that reasonable? How stingy would CCTV be? If word gets out, I'll be laughed at to death!"

"Besides, we only get more money if we make it. If we don't make any money, we're the ones who suffer, and CCTV doesn't have to give us any share, right?"

"If you can't even meet these basic conditions, then I think we can't talk anymore."

Zhang Zhi, “.”

I'm a little confused. Why did it suddenly get hard again? Who are you trying to scare with that "I won't talk about it" attitude?

Well, that really scared Zhang Zhi. It would be so inappropriate to go back empty-handed after failing to complete the task assigned by Sun Tai.
He quickly reassured Chu An, "Teacher Chu, calm down! It's just negotiation; you make the offer, and I counter-offer. It's normal!"

He pressed Chu An down there, saying, "But 20% of one hundred million is too much!"

With the immense success of "Honor of Kings," Chu An and Lu Mingze have established their reputations, and it's foreseeable that the next drama will generate advertising revenue of no less than 1 million yuan.

His expected return was only 15%, which is 5 percentage points short.

Playing the emotional card, she said, "Teacher Chu wouldn't want to put me in a difficult position, right?"

Chu An gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! Just for Director Zhang's words, I have to give him face!"

"How about this?!"

"Remove the 80 million tier and change the profit sharing ratio of 100 million to 15%."

“Okay!” Zhang Zhi immediately agreed. He stopped arguing and quickly settled the matter, as the child was a bit unpredictable.

And Chu An...

Upon hearing his agreement, I exclaimed, "Wait a minute, I haven't finished speaking yet!"

“Let’s drop the 80 million range. And I’ll also lower the price for the 100 million range.”

"But shouldn't you at least give us some face?"

Zhang Zhi, "You speak!"

Chu An, "Let me create a buzz and change the profit sharing for the 2 million tier to 50%?"

Zhang Zhi, "???"

I don't quite understand, what kind of gimmick is this?
Chu An explained, "CCTV gives 50% of the revenue! That'll cause a huge sensation! It's good for publicity!"

Zhang Zhi thought for a moment.
2 million?
Are you dreaming? What does that even mean? It's more than double the advertising revenue of a once-in-a-decade hit drama! That's impossible!
Why not agree to it?

"Okay! That's it!"

Soon, Zhang Zhi and Chu An finalized the contract details for purchasing the first broadcast rights to Love, Death & Robots.

Next, CCTV's program acquisition department went through internal procedures and held meetings to discuss the matter, which went smoothly.

Zhang Zhi only reported to Sun Jianyi after he had finished signing the contract.

"Sun Tai, mission successfully completed!"

Sun Jianyi knew about this and had no objection to the details of the contract, nodding in affirmation to Zhang Zhi.

But afterwards, the more Old Sun thought about it, the more something seemed off.

Did that kid trick me? Could it really be over 200 million?

On the other side, Lu Mingze was completely bewildered when he saw the first broadcast contract.

"Can it sell for 2 million? How can you be so sure we can get 50%? You need to know, wanting to earn more than double the advertising revenue of 'The Republic of China' is simply a joke!"

The "Republic of China Era" in this timeline is equivalent to the "Grand Mansion Gate" in the original timeline.

In other words, Chu An would need to achieve a viewership rating for Love Dead Machine to be more than double that of The Grand Mansion Gate for it to be possible.

Note! It is possible that advertisers will foot the bill and spend 2 million on advertising.

"The Rise of the Republic" had a viewership rating of just over 24%, making it the second highest-rated domestic drama after "Three Kingdoms".

Of course, it's possible that Honor has surpassed it now.

The problem is that doubling the viewership would bring it close to 50%, which is almost impossible.

Unexpectedly, Chu An glanced at him sideways, a look of disdain that even someone as oblivious as Lao Lu could sense. He stiffened his neck and asked, "What's wrong?"

Chu An: "What else? You and Zhang Zhi are both idiots!"

He explained, "I don't need to surpass 'The Rise of the Republic of China' by more than double; perhaps matching it would be enough."

Lu Mingze didn't understand.

Chu An countered, "When did 'Love, Death & Robots' air?"

Lu Mingze answered honestly, "The fastest would be 05, but the slowest would be 06 or 07, right?"

Chu An: "Do you know the data? CCTV's advertising revenue has an annual growth rate of 10%!"

Lu Mingze suddenly realized, "You mean, a drama that can sell 1 million yuan worth of advertising this year could have sold 05 million yuan worth in 1.2?"

Chu An: "Wrong! 'The Rise and Fall of the Republic of China' aired in 01!"

"Therefore, we need to start from 01 million in 1 and calculate the growth rate as 10% each year."

Old Lu counted on his fingers and exclaimed, "Wow! That's almost 1.5 million?"

Chu An: "Yes, and this advertising revenue was generated even with advance bidding."

"In other words, as long as I can ensure that the expected revenue from the 'I Love Death Machine' series is on par with 'The Republic of China,' I can roughly estimate that I can get 1.5 million yuan in advertising revenue by bidding in advance."

He raised his voice, "And don't forget, CCTV gave me the operation of their advertising sales!"

"With my marketing skills, plus the influence of celebrities like you, Su Manqing, Zou Qingsong, Cage, Sophia, and Nolan."

"If we still can't generate a premium of over 5000 million, then we might as well go home and take care of the kids!" Lu Mingze, "."

chap! !

Snap!

Let's put it this way, it's a 50% cut!
He just didn't understand, was making money really that easy?
"Little Chu!" Old Lu decided to have a heart-to-heart talk with Chu An. "Why do I just feel a little uneasy?"

Chu An asked suspiciously, "What do you mean by feeling uneasy?"

Old Lu, look!

He counted on his fingers for Chu An, "The drama 'With You' originally bankrupted Tiandu."

"Then you popped up, and we made a net profit of over 4000 million, right?"

Chu An: "That's right!"

Lao Lu, "Then there's 'Glory.' I did the math, after a few rounds of airing, it brought in 200 million! After deducting the money to pay the bank, the production costs, and taxes, we still have over 100 million left, right?"

Chu An: "Yeah, there's no problem!"

Old Lu, don't you think it's too much?

Chu An: "I don't think so!"

Old Lu: "Isn't that a lot? More than you can spend!"

In fact, Chu An earned more than him.

Although Chu An's shareholding in the studio is not as high as Lu Mingze's, don't forget that he also has two cash cows, Lin Wanxing and Fei Mingyu.

He also invested in "Heartfire," which earned him US dollars.

Although Weibo has burned through a lot of money, Chu An's wealth is already quite astonishing.

Chu An was speechless. Did someone really think he had too much money?

After a moment of contemplation, he suddenly asked, "Old Lu, do you have a dream?"

Lu Mingze pondered for a moment, "I still want to make a movie."

Chu An, "What kind of subject matter should we film?"

Lu Mingze: "Well, let me think about it!"

Old Lu became serious. "For my first film, I definitely need to play it safe. Let's stick to period dramas, which I'm good at!"

Chu An, "A big production?"

Lao Lu: "Then we can definitely film it well, we'll try our best to film it well."

Chu An said, "Okay!" and began to do the math for Lu Mingze, "3000 million is not a high production cost for a medium-sized period drama film in China, is it?"

Lu Mingze: "It's definitely not high enough, not even enough!"

Chu An: "Big productions usually cost over 100 million. And they'll only get more expensive in the future. I'll give you a 100 million figure."

"Let's not even talk about the marketing costs. Those outrageous ones, let's say half the production cost, that's 5000 million!"

"That's 1.5 million in total!"

Looking at Lao Lu, he said, "Someone like you, a TV series director, and already past your creative peak."

Who will invest in you and help you realize your dreams?

Lu Mingze was speechless; what Chu An said was true.

Chu An, "So, do you have 1.5 million to realize your dream?"

Lu Mingze, “.”

chap!
Not enough! Not nearly enough!!

at this time
Chu An patted Lu Mingze's shoulder solemnly, "Keep trying!! You'll have your chance."

In fact, Chu An's statement was not alarmist at all.

Sometimes, someone will pay for your dreams, allowing you to realize your life's value by spending other people's money.

But most of the time, everyone has to pay for their own dreams.

To put it bluntly, Lao Lu's dream is nothing more than a movie. With his abilities and the speed at which he makes money, it's relatively easy to achieve.

Chu An's situation was much more difficult than his!

As a "second playthrough," Chu An has great ambitions, which are not simply about making some money by using knowledge that is ahead of its time.

He wanted to change something, to do something that no one before or since had ever done.

The required financial cost would be enormous, and it's unlikely that anyone would foot the bill for his recklessness.

With all that money he has now, it's not even enough to fill a tooth gap!

Investing in a domestic sci-fi blockbuster would result in zero chance of success.
So, you have to work harder!
For the next period of time, Chu Anxin shuttled between school and home.

Writing scripts and taking classes can also be considered a form of reflection and growth.

In mid-July, as the premiere of "Glory" was nearing its end, its viewership rating had soared to 27%, becoming a hot topic in the media.

The trend continued to climb on Weibo and the game "Honor of Kings," becoming a viral sensation across the internet.

That day, Chu An's courtyard welcomed new guests—Cage and Christopher Nolan.

Needless to say, Nolan, as the screenwriter handpicked by Nolan, would definitely need to communicate with him in person.

As for Cage, he's just completely insane!

Chu An always believed that Cage was mentally unstable, otherwise he wouldn't have done so many outrageous things.

Surprisingly, he's now interested in playing the superhero Batman and has been lobbying Nolan recently.

Upon learning that Nolan was going to China to meet Chu An, he naturally volunteered to be his guide.

Chu An was blunt in response, suggesting to Nolan, "If you dare to use his long face, you'll definitely be voted the ugliest Batman in history."

"Oh!!" Cage was heartbroken. Why would his own people sabotage him?

Chu An used only one sentence to completely kill Cage's interest in the Batman character.

"I'm just more clear-headed than you. You know, playing Batman is a very easy way to get labeled."

Cage paused, then stopped thinking about it.

Think about all the actors who have played Batman.
Think of all the generations of Superman, think of 007.
Cage, who loves challenges, doesn't want to be overshadowed by his other classic roles because of Batman.

Nolan was very interested in this young man from the East and had a very good impression of him.

In the words of later generations
Chu An is a social butterfly; he can get along with anyone. Moreover, he can speak to people in a way that suits them perfectly.

Moreover, Nolan greatly admired Chuan's clear-headedness.

For example, Chu An offered to provide Nolan with a complete story concept and creative details, even though he would not write the full Batman script.

Nolan only needs to go back and connect Chu An's ideas.

It's worth noting that before coming to China, ever since he entrusted the adaptation of Batman to Chu An, he had been worried that Warner Bros. would obstruct the collaboration.

Now, the problem is perfectly solved.

To express his gratitude, he said, "Chu, I promise you that no matter how busy I am, I will be there for you when 'Love, Death & Robots' enters the filming period."

Chu An was satisfied with this promise and shook hands with Nolan, saying, "This is a promise between friends!"

As for Cage
Chu An had other plans for not casting him as Batman. He threw the script for *National Treasure* at Nolan in front of him.

But it wasn't said that it was tailor-made for him, but rather...
"This is the script I wrote for Su Manqing, with the intention of helping her open the door to Hollywood."

"Take a look. If she's interested in taking the role, then you'll have to be responsible for helping her promote this script."

Cage: "."

I didn't pay much attention at first because the conditions were too harsh.

I have to act in it and also be responsible for sales; it looks like Chu An is doing manual labor.

But after reading the script
"Leave it to me! This is a really cool script!"

.

(End of this chapter)