American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 104 Cyber ​​Life Advertisement

While the internet has changed people's lives, all changes take time to unfold.

The internet in 2003 was far less sophisticated than it would be in the future.

Take entertainment as an example. In the days before YouTube was established and TikTok disappeared, people would read the news, chat, listen to music, and play games. That was what people now call surfing the internet.

Moreover, among these four categories, playing games is actually still a 'niche' activity.

Although Battle.net and Steam have been around for a long time, due to internet speed issues, many games of this era can only be distributed by copying from CDs, because downloading directly is a pain.

Therefore, under these circumstances, people in Europe and America really don't see any difference between online games and console games. Apart from real-time strategy games and Counter-Strike, which require a mouse, other games in Europe and America are still mainly played on consoles.

But limited technology can't contain an interesting soul!
Ever since Isabella played the silent game of 'expressions instead of language' on "The Voice," her behavior has been imitated by the public as the show has become more and more popular. People have put her beaver emojis online—when "The Voice" aired, people copied the show with a CD player, put it on their computers, and used Photoshop to cut out the emojis, and then everyone had beaver emojis to use.

Then, this usage was even played out in several versions by the public.

The first version was that whatever sign Isabella held up on the show, that's the expression people would use when interacting with her;
The second version was created by a talented artist who felt that Isabella's expressions were not rich enough, so they imitated the art style and added some.
As for the third version?
That is the present moment, where original works are rampant, derivative works are rampant, and the presence of Happy Beaver can be found in every corner of the Internet.

If I had to describe it...

The little beaver at that moment was like a giant Mundo, able to go wherever it wanted.

For example, has a new episode of "The Voice of China" started airing?

People who like to do things will watch TV while playing on their computers.

Over there, the contestants are performing on TV.

Comments have already appeared in the Voice section of Yahoo! Forums.

I think it sounds good, so if I can turn around and let it pass—

I don't like the sound, and I can't turn around, so I'll just put an X on it.

If I think it sounds really good, and the contestant is amazing, then I'll play the notes that represent enjoyment.

If I find something extremely offensive, and the contestant is kicked out, then I'll just use a dizzying image—

During this process, we disagreed?
Then let's fight!

The meme battle has begun!

Miss Beaver VS Miss Beaver!

For example, in the news section, beavers often appear in the comment sections of many news articles these days.

In the past, when people wanted to post something like "read" after reading the news, they would usually post a fixed short phrase.

And now?
A beaver peeks out, and Lao Tzu is here!

In the past, if people felt there was a problem with the news but it wasn't a big deal, they would usually just mark it with a question mark.

And now?
A big question mark—

In the past, when people watched the news, if they thought the commentator's viewpoint was okay, they would post it; if they thought the viewpoint was bad, they would criticize it.

And now?
Big OK and Big NG —

To be honest, once the little beaver can roam freely on the internet, it can be said to have a cyber life.

Looking at the present from a future perspective, the unnamed little beaver could even be considered an intellectual property.

Because of its extremely high brand recognition and its apparent high commercial value.

And that's actually why Robert Iger asked Isabella earlier if she had any plans to develop baby beavers.

Regarding this matter...

Isabella is not in a hurry.

Firstly, she is currently so busy with work that she can't keep up.

Secondly, she doesn't have all the money she has on hand right now.

The former is simply being busy in the literal sense, while the latter...

Warner Bros. settled the first installment of revenue sharing from the mini-discs and the second installment of revenue sharing from The Voice movie with Isabella in early October. After two months of processing, the former's revenue sharing has reached $7344 million and the latter's has reached $2139 million.

The reason for this situation is quite simple.

The surge in revenue sharing from mini-discs is due to Isabella's record sales surging after she withstood attacks from the anti-government alliance, with global sales now reaching ten million.

To be honest, this includes spending by casual consumers, but it also definitely includes the passion of fans.

The surge in the second phase of "The Voice" movie's profit sharing was because the videotapes hadn't been released yet when the accounts were reconciled. Back then, Isabella could have received over eight million just from the soundtrack's profit sharing. Now, with the release of the videotapes, reaching twenty million wouldn't be too difficult.

Yes, The Voice of China videotapes sold incredibly well.

Total revenue has exceeded 100 million.

When the base amount of dividends is large enough, even if Isabella's commission rate is only five percent, she can still extract an astronomical sum.

Therefore, she cannot develop any new intellectual property until she sets up a dedicated tax avoidance company.

This... should be something everyone understands, right?
When you have no income and your business has no costs, are you making money for yourself?

Then, if you keep buying land, isn't that like putting all your eggs in one basket?
Right?

Of course, all of the above are also the reasons why Isabella readily invited her friends from HP to come to North America for vacation.

At this moment, she is truly earning money faster than she is spending it.

Even if she covered all the travel expenses for everyone, given her current earning power, it would only amount to one day's income at most, because "The Voice of China" brings her huge dividends every day, and the dividends from the three episodes of "The Voice of China" movie and the two episodes of the mini-disc would also be astronomical figures.

Yes, the bulk of the revenue from The Voice movie and its mini-discs hasn't been distributed yet.

Due to the inconvenience of calculation, film copyright sales and radio revenue from songs are settled on a calendar year basis, and the money in these areas is enormous. Judging from the current situation, Isabella will be able to receive another eight-figure sum in two months.

It could also be a small nine-digit number.

"Uh... I don't have any plans to make beaver toys yet, because I'm too busy..."

"However, if you really like it, I can send you a few boxes of badges as a set."

Although Isabella still considers her friends from Harry Potter as friends, there are many things that cannot be said directly.

Therefore, when faced with questions from Ginny and Radish, she chose to give a vague answer.

Even so, everyone was still very happy.

"Oh—Isa—is the beaver badge you're talking about the one given out during the auditions for The Voice?"

Neville's eyes widened.

“Yeah~” Isabella nodded with a smile, “That’s the one.”

"I've seen people talking about smacks online for ages, and it seems like there are even people in the US who specifically collect them?"

The young master, who had already climbed into the car, leaned halfway out of the window again. "I feel like a lot of the emoticons online look similar to the ones Keisha drew in the group before, so is the 'buzz' one of those ones Keisha drew in the group before?"

"That's right, you should all have seen it before."

Isabella smiled and pulled her older sister, who was also present, over.

Catherine raised her face and said, "Yes, yes, yes, you guessed right. All the beaver bastards on the market right now are the ones I painted every day for Isa when you were filming."

"Hahaha--"

His resentful words made everyone burst into laughter.

At the same time, Dan Niu pursed her lips and said, "Okay, how many cookies are in a box? Can I have ten boxes?"

“There are 54 in a box, the same number as a deck of cards,” Isabella said. “Daniel, I can even give you a hundred boxes if you want, but what do you need so many for? To hoard them and resell them?”

Isabella's confusion also drew everyone's attention to Egg Girl.

Eggsy shrugged and said, "Like Rupert, my mom also wants to send me to school when I'm not filming."

"So, when Rupert said he couldn't adapt to school life, I wanted to ask for more of your merchandise so I could give them to any new friends I might meet after I started school, hoping they would accept me?"

"Then, I think your merchandise has another use. For example, if I don't get an A in school, I'll investigate the teachers who don't give me an A to see if they have any children. If they do, and they like you, then I can give your merchandise to the teachers and beg them to let me off the hook for your sake."

To be honest, Dan Niu's explanation was quite bizarre.

Therefore, after understanding his logic, everyone was stunned.

I didn't know how to respond for a moment.

But Luo Bo's eyes lit up, as if he had met a fellow patient.

"Oh—Daniel—is your mom taking you to school too?"

"Yes, it's all been found. It's the City School of London."

"Oh—this is really amazing—"

"..."

Egg Girl choked.

He stared wide-eyed at Radish, wondering what nonsense this guy was spouting!

What do you mean by saying that his schooling is really amazing?

This radish is probably thinking that someone else is just as unlucky as it is, right?

Is this guy gloating?

"Oh no no no—I mean, your idea is amazing—" Radish realized he had misspoke and quickly explained, "How did you come up with the idea of ​​using Isha's merchandise to bribe, uh… I mean, to integrate into the school?"

“That’s because Isha is popular,” Egg Girl said, pursing her lips.

He didn't like either of the two things Radish said.

So he rolled his eyes at the radish and said, "And then you're the one who's stupid."

"..."

Easy to attack and defend!

Now the radish is choking!

Their nonsensical banter made their friends around them laugh nonstop.

This left the parents who had accompanied her, and who were greeting Vivian, both amused and exasperated.

Although Miss Beaver wanted the two clowns to keep arguing, the airport wasn't exactly a peaceful place, so she urged them to get to the car. At the same time, she glanced back and asked, puzzled, "Where's Chris?"

"Daniel said the director left after filming the movie."

Ginny, who was lagging behind and about to get into the car, said, "I heard he's busy with something, someone's waiting for him to start a project..."

Isabella knew about Chris Columbus's busy schedule.

So he might have already returned to North America?

This news did not surprise Isabella.

But at the same time, Isabella was still somewhat annoyed.

North America is now her territory!

As her subjects, why didn't Columbus come to see her immediately after his return?

Humph--

This guy has no intention of getting better!
hee hee~
Although many people came for "The Voice of China", many more actually didn't want to go to school.

It was precisely because Isabella had such a precise grasp of the psychology of these mischievous children that, on the way from the airport to the hotel, every time she announced a schedule while holding a microphone, cheers would erupt on the bus.

The schedule that Isabella commissioned Nathan Bailey to prepare for everyone looked like this:

On the first day of arrival, because the long journey was tiring, we didn't go far and just explored the local area of ​​Los Angeles.
There's a recording of "The Voice of China" the next day; anyone interested can go and join the fun.
Since filming usually lasts two to three days, if you want to watch the whole thing, okay, you can still be on set on the third and fourth days. If you don't want to watch the whole thing, that's fine too. North America is Tanuki's territory, so they can go wherever they want, whether it's Universal Studios or Disneyland.

After visiting these two places, they can also go to Catalina Island near Los Angeles for a vacation, visit the San Diego Zoo to see gorillas, go skiing at Big Bear Lake, and go to Bikini Bottom Beach to find SpongeBob SquarePants...

oh……

The last one is missing...

Crossed out!

In short, they can stay here until Christmas if they want.

Because Master Tanuki really hoped they could participate in the final night of "The Voice of China".

Because in Disney's plan, it's a concert-style show.

It was actually held in a stadium.

The venue was even booked: the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a stadium with a capacity of 90,000.

Yes, Master Tanuki really hopes they can stay until the end to watch the concert with him—

"Isa, are you serious?"

After hearing the arrangements, Radish's mother couldn't hold back any longer, "You want us to go back after Christmas?"

"Of course I'm serious! Because I'm so bored here all by myself, and I don't have any friends."

Isabella blinked, her large, watery eyes filled with sincerity.

When Miss Beaver used her small frame to shoulder the heavy burden, the big kids almost laughed until they cried.

The parents, on the other hand, felt a headache coming on and shook their heads helplessly.

"You are really..."

At that moment, they didn't know what to say.

In Master Tanuki's dictionary, not refuting is tantamount to agreeing.

So that afternoon, they disappeared without a trace in downtown Los Angeles.

To be honest, because of their special status, it wasn't appropriate for them to show up in crowded public places, so they didn't really have a lot of fun. But... not having to study was the greatest joy!

Hehe ~
And as the second day arrived, they experienced even greater joy.

Because among the judges of "The Voice," only Sting, the American emperor, isn't very popular in the UK; the other three...?

Those were true superstars.

So……

"Oh, Sting—I've finally met you—I've liked you for so long—for so, so long—"

As soon as Sting appeared, the parents swarmed around him, completely forgetting about their own children.

"Oh Mimi—Mimi—Oh my god—you're even prettier than the album cover—"

When Niu Niu appeared, the parents ran faster than rabbits.

Only her own child was left bewildered in the wind.

"Oh—Sir Elton John—I absolutely, absolutely love your 'Goodbye England's Rose'!"

The Rocket Man had barely emerged when his title changed hands, and suddenly many more Rocket Men appeared at the recording site of "The Voice of China".

His swift, swift figure left the big kids speechless!
At this moment, many people even had a misconception—

Young Master: "Why do I feel like my mom actually wants to come to America more than I do?"

Egg Girl: "I...I...I think so too..."

Ginny: "So...they're the ones who benefited the most from this trip?"

Radish: "Maybe so. I thought I made a profit, but... oh! So my mom scolded me for not studying and only playing?"

After seeing their own mothers frantically chasing after celebrities, the kids suddenly felt like they'd been tricked by their mothers!

Their mother clearly wanted to come to North America!
Their mother clearly wanted to stay in North America!
But their mothers still criticize them, saying that their behavior in coming to North America is that they don't study properly and only know how to play!

This is really...

They've made all the money, both inside and out, for their own mother!
Master Tanuki laughed until his stomach hurt from his friends' sudden realization.

After everyone finished chasing their idols, the recording of the second stage of "The Voice of China" officially began. It was a classic free-for-all elimination round, where the top 16 were selected through a two-on-two battle format, with each team only able to keep four members.

Compared to the ease of blind selection, this stage was incredibly competitive.

For this reason, during filming, in order to better showcase the conflict, the director often calls "cut".

However, the real power behind the scenes only comes after the contestants' performances, when the mentors are feuding.

Therefore, the contestants' performances at the recording site were quite good.

The smooth and natural singing made the parents, whose true colors had already been revealed, feel that the trip was worthwhile. Meanwhile...

"Vivian."

While watching the performance, Eggsy's mother, Marcia Radcliffe, sat next to Vivian.

During the pause, she turned to her old friend of many years and said, "I actually came back this time because I have something I want to ask you."

“Oh, Marcia, just tell me what's on your mind, don't be so polite,” Vivian said with a smile.

“Okay, here’s the thing, you know I work for the BBC, so…”

Egg Girl's mother expressed the BBC's desire.

Vivian's smile widened even more when she learned that the BBC wanted to acquire the UK rights to The Voice.

“Marcia, we will sell the development rights to The Voice. We are not negotiating with any parties right now because we don’t have time.”

"However, since you've brought it up, the development rights for Britain will be handed over to the BBC."

"For your sake."

"Really???" Egg Girl's mother was a little surprised.

She hadn't expected things to go so smoothly.

From her perspective, the deal involving the development rights of "The Voice" would be a protracted negotiation.

Firstly, "The Voice of China" is indeed extremely valuable, and many people want it.

Secondly, she didn't feel she had the ability to influence Vivian's thoughts.

Uh……

To put it bluntly, she was self-aware enough to know that her relationship with Vivian was just that.

When their connection was solely maintained through "Harry Potter," they were essentially just superficial friends who shared a superficial relationship. Under such circumstances, she had no ability to help the BBC secure projects.

but now……

“Oh—Marcia—why would I lie to you about something like this?”

Egg Girl's mother's surprise made Vivian's smile even wider.

"Why should we choose someone else if the BBC's offer is reasonable?"

"And if we feel that the BBC's offer is unreasonable, then for your sake, we will also talk to them."

Since the operating rights of "The Voice" will definitely be sold to outsiders, the question of who to sell to and how to sell it is something Isabella and her team need to consider in advance. In the British Isles, the organization they most want to cooperate with is the BBC.

This is not only because the BBC is the largest broadcaster in the UK, many times larger than ITV, the second largest, so having them produce "The Voice" is like sitting back and counting money, but also because Isabella needs a media giant as a backer.

The logic is very simple—

If they already had "The Voice" six months ago, and the BBC was the company that acquired the rights in the UK, would the anti-The Voice alliance still dare to use the weapon of public opinion to attack her? Don't be ridiculous.

Rupert Murdoch wouldn't dare let The Times cause trouble!

At noon, The Times had just caused trouble at the Phoenix Society's book signing event.

In the afternoon, the BBC, upon hearing the news, had already launched a scathing attack on News Corp.

You, a descendant of a criminal from a place of exile, dare to block the path to wealth for an old Londoner with the Union Jack?

Do you not want to live anymore?
That's right!

Often, the value of an IP is not simply how much money it can sell for.

Indeed, the media industry cannot achieve a global monopoly.

But if you have enough partners and stakeholders, there can be only one voice in the world.

Since the Heywood family wanted to work with the BBC, Dante's mother was the lobbyist.
Isn't that perfect?
As the first day of recording came to a close, during dinner that evening, Miss Beaver, who had heard about the collaboration offer, nodded happily to Egg's mother, "Aunt Marcia, we actually wanted to ask you for a favor too."

"Oh, Isa—just tell me what's wrong—why be so polite with your aunt?"

Face is something that is given to each other.

Egg Girl's mother felt respected by Vivian, so of course she would reciprocate with the same enthusiasm.

"Um, I'd like to know, does Daniel have a management contract?"

"No, you want to sign Daniel?"

"Oh no, no, no, being a free agent is a very important thing in this industry."

Isabella waved her hands repeatedly and said, "I just want to know, do you make your own decisions regarding endorsements and work?"

"Really? Is there a problem?" Marcia asked curiously.

Eggman was also a little confused; he didn't understand what Isabella was trying to say.

The sight of the two men made Isabella smile happily. "Okay, if that's the case, I have an event at Disney next month. I wonder if Daniel can attend..."

On November 1, 2003, the seventh episode of the first season of "The Voice of China" was officially broadcast.

Perhaps it's because it's Halloween holiday?
But could it be that the early announcement of a chaotic battle event is what makes people look forward to it?
In short, the seventh episode had a viewership of over 4500 million from the very beginning, and even surpassed 4900 million at its peak.

The eighth episode aired on November 8th.

Although the viewership ratings have declined somewhat, they have remained stable at over 4500 million.

Then, the data for the ninth issue on the 15th and the tenth issue on the 22nd were basically the same.

On the surface, The Voice of China's growth has stalled and it is showing signs of fatigue.

But in fact……

Since the birth of television, only one program in the United States has consistently maintained a viewership of over 4500 million.

That was an NFL game.

That's right, it's a live broadcast of the number one sport in the United States, American football.

Even if you brought in an Oscar, it wouldn't be more than $4500 million.

At present, the results of "The Voice of China" are already absolutely phenomenal!

With 4500 million viewers, it means that more than 25% of the American population is watching!

This is the limit that young people can contribute!
Then we wait until November 29th...

The eleventh episode of "The Voice of China," which marked the official start of the top 16 competition, brought the show to over 4800 million views right from the beginning.

This fact evoked a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a feeling of mixed emotions) among the Nielsen staff who were staring at the computer icons.

"This 'The Voice' is truly incredible. Are they going to break into the top 5 out of the top 16?"

“I think it’s possible because today is Thanksgiving holiday, everyone is on holiday, and the previous program preview also mentioned that starting from this episode, ‘The Voice’ will have a mystery guest on set. When ‘The Voice’ never disappoints, the preview of this mystery guest is something that can excite the audience.”

Since 2000, viewership data in North America has been monitored entirely by computer.

Nielsen deployed signal-capturing towers in major North American cities, and the collected data was sent in real time to its state branches, then aggregated in New York. Therefore, surveillance personnel in this era were more fortunate than before.

Previously, viewership numbers were estimated manually by making phone calls or distributing cue cards.

Charts also need to be drawn manually.

But now?

Print with a single click of the mouse.

In this way, even though Nielsen staff have to stare at their computers all day to catch any unexpected events, they can still be distracted by looking at other things for a while.

For example, right now, they're watching "The Voice" quietly on TV while simultaneously staring at two computer screens, one displaying their own database, and the other...

'Ohhhhh - Harry Potter! Harry Potter! '

'Wowwwwww - Ron Weasley! Ron Weasley! '

The staff member, who was happily exchanging memes with everyone on Yahoo, suddenly noticed a string of text jumping on the scrolling screen.

He suddenly turned his head—

Looking at the television—

While they were having a blast playing with the beaver emoji, the mystery guest for the Round of 16 also made an appearance – it was the little Hogwarts kid.

"Oh! Sxxt! Harry, Ron, Kinney, Cora... Are they surprise guests???"

The sight of Dan Niu and the others made the staff in the monitoring room jump up.

After a two-second pause, I turned around decisively, and the numerical curve on the monitoring computer had already soared to 5.

This fact left them both amused and exasperated.

Well, although the appearance of Dan Niu and the others surprised them a bit, the feedback from Dan Niu's achievements did not surprise them.

Because "The Sorcerer's Stone" is currently the second highest-grossing film in history.

If nothing unexpected happens, the second film to break the billion-dollar mark at the global box office may be born in "Harry Potter".

A creative team with this kind of achievement would be a force to be reckoned with on any TV show!

So, "The Voice of China" broke 5?
So what if it's broken!
Once "The Voice of China" unleashed its nuclear weapon, the data became irrelevant!
The important question is why these people are here!
Under their watchful eyes, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on TV also raised the microphone and asked the kids why they were there—

Egg Girl said, "Uh... we came here because the results of 'The Voice' are incredibly impressive."

Radish said, "Yeah~ It's so exaggerated that even if we stay in the UK, we can hear news about 'The Voice' every day."

The young master said, "Yes, then Rupert contacted Isa and said he wanted to come to America to witness history. Then Isa arranged everything for us. Of course, I want to say that Rupert's real purpose was not to go to school."

Radish's expression changed. "Hey! Tom! What are you saying! Who doesn't want to go to school? You're the one who doesn't want to, aren't you?"

"hahahaha——"

The viewers in front of their televisions burst into laughter.

"Oh—Ron got Hermione to invite him to America just because he didn't want to study? That's really amazing—"

"Ron's got a pretty good brain, it's just... he's not very serious..."

"But why do I get the feeling that none of these people want to go to school?"

"I think so too! They definitely don't want to go to school! It's just that Ron's reputation for not wanting to study is known all over the world, so everyone made him the scapegoat, hahaha~ These kids are so funny~"

While the audience was furiously criticizing the show, Dwayne Johnson on TV tried to smooth things over, saying, "Okay, okay, we can talk about studying after the show. So you guys came here just for 'The Voice'?"

"Uh... I guess so?" Bonnie nodded.

"Sort of? Why do you say that?" Johnson raised his eyebrows, as if he had discovered the key point.

At the same time, he added, "Say whatever you need to say, because Isha isn't here right now."

"I sent her away so I could hear the most truthful words."

Johnson's "kid-baiting" behavior made viewers in front of the TV laugh again.

Just as everyone was watching the TV screen, wondering if the little brat from Harry Potter would fall for it and blurt out Isabella's bombshell, Neville said, "Oh, that's because besides visiting 'The Voice,' Isabella has arranged a lot of activities for us, like taking us to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Catalina Island for vacation, and Big Bear Lake for skiing. Oh, and she also invited us to the premiere of the movie she helped produce, next month..."

At this point, Neville paused for a moment.

He looked at his friend beside him as if he had lost his memory, "Hey, what was that movie called again?"

The others looked speechless, pointing at Johnson and saying, "Isn't that the movie he starred in, 'The Game Plan'?"

"..."

The world is quiet.

When this explicit statement was made, viewers in front of their televisions all rolled their eyes.

Smile and shake your head—

"OMG—it was just an advertisement—"

"These people are so mean! And I was listening so attentively!"

"Hiss—why do I have a feeling this is Isha's doing? This ad is... just as awkward as her previous short dramas, so could it be that she didn't show up because she knew the ad was cringeworthy?"

Well~~~~
The event Isabella mentioned was the premiere of "The Game Plan".
The movie "The Game Plan" is going to be released on December 12th.

(End of this chapter)