The director starts by learning from the abilities of renowned directors.

Chapter 103: Shan Shan Comes - Copyright Status and Upcoming Broadcasts

After deciding to film "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons," Shen Qing didn't rush to start writing. Instead, he took a plane back to his hometown in Northeast China. When the plane landed in the provincial capital, his cousin was already waiting there. He got into his cousin's car as soon as he exited the terminal, and the car stopped in front of his house more than two hours later.

Shen Qing's parents were chatting with the neighbors at the door. She got out of the car and greeted the neighbors, but before she could say more than a few words, she was urged to go inside quickly, as the end of the year in Northeast China is unusually cold.

January 25th was Lunar New Year's Eve. Shen Qing rarely watched the Spring Festival Gala with her parents. After the group crosstalk "A New Interpretation of the Five Senses", there was a kung fu performance program called "Kung Fu World".

His mother, Xu Li, said that the actor wasn't as good as Shen Qing. Only then did Shen Qing tell his parents that the Spring Festival Gala program team had invited him to perform in the program, but he didn't have time to rehearse and wasn't sure if "The Nameless" could be completed before the new year, so he declined.

On Lunar New Year's Eve, no matter what people are busy with, they have to put everything aside once Zhao Benshan's skit starts. This year, Zhao Benshan's skit is the famous "Not Short of Money".

The performance was absolutely amazing, with one classic line after another.

One blink and a day is gone!

If you close your eyes and never open them again, your life is over!

The most painful thing in life is dying before you've spent all your money.

The most painful thing in life is being alive but having no money.

The two elders were amused and burst into laughter.

"Xiao Shenyang is going to be famous; no one will be more famous than him this year."

Shen Qing chatted with her parents.

"This kid is quite talented, but he's a bit of a bum."

"That's what my father, Shen Jianxin, commented."

In Northeast China, "二椅" (èr yǐ yǐ) is a derogatory term meaning neither male nor female.

Shen Qing stayed in his hometown for a week, during which time he finished writing the script for "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" and then set off to return to the capital.

After returning to Beijing, Shen Qing invited Liu Yifei to his home. Upon meeting, neither of them mentioned the script. They immediately embraced and kissed, moving from the doorway to the bedroom. When Shen Qing tried to find a safe place to kiss, Liu Yifei stopped him.

"Don't use it tonight. It's my first time. I want to give it to you, not to that thing."

"Really? You're so good to me. I'll definitely treat you well in the future."

"Of course it's true, you'd better keep your word."

The next day, Shen Qing sent the script for "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" to Chen Zhixi, informing her that this film would be shot first after "The Original Code".

Time flew by and it was mid-February. Filming for "Source Code" officially began in a greenhouse in a science park in Xiaotangshan, Beijing.

The greenhouse covers an area of ​​8000 square meters, with a site rental fee of 100 million yuan. The film crew also spent 150 million yuan to build the train carriages.

Million.

There are four main actors: Shen Qing plays the male lead Liang Ye, Fan Bingbing plays the female lead Wu Sijia, Fan Wei plays a PhD, and Liu Jia plays a female military officer.

Liu Yifei plays the daughter of a female military officer in the film. She only appears in a few scenes, which can be considered an Easter egg in the movie, foreshadowing that Liu Yifei will play a more important role in the sequel.

This movie wasn't difficult to make; everything proceeded smoothly.

During this period, he also composed the theme song "Hu Guangsheng" for the movie "The Nameless".

The song will be sung by Wan Qian.

Beijing.

It was past 11 p.m.

A black minivan was driving on the road, and inside sat Zhao Liying, who had just finished filming "GG".

Zhang Xi, the junior agent, turned to look at Zhao Liying in the back seat and said, "Sister, President Chen called before you got in the car. He talked about the schedule for the next few days and also mentioned that 'Boss & Me' is going to air."

Already exhausted, Zhao Liying perked up upon hearing this and asked, "Is it going to air? Did they say which channel it'll be on?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xi became visibly excited and said with a smile, "Sister, you've really done it this time! You're definitely going to be a huge star. This is a 4+X model, even better than 'My Love from the Star'!"

"4+X model?"

Zhao Liying didn't quite understand, but the adjectives even more impressive than those in "My Love from the Star" gave her a jolt of energy, dispelling her drowsiness—

Most of them disappeared instantly.

"It means that the premiere will be broadcast jointly by four satellite TV stations—Tianjin Satellite TV, Jiangsu Satellite TV, Dragon TV, and Anhui Satellite TV—plus eight local channels such as Qilu Channel, Ningbo Channel, Wenzhou Channel, and Jinling Channel. This is the kind of treatment only top-tier dramas receive."

"What about 'My Love from the Star'? How was it broadcast back then?" Zhao Liying asked with concern.

Zhang Xi explained, "When 'My Love from the Star' premiered, it was first sold to ten provincial terrestrial channels, and it became the number one show in all ten provinces, surpassing all the satellite channels in the same time slot. Then, a month later, it was broadcast on satellite channels Beijing Satellite TV and Anhui Satellite TV, and the ratings exploded. Finally, it was broadcast on satellite channels a month later on Dragon TV. Your 'Boss & Me' premiered directly on satellite channels, and it was broadcast on four satellite channels and eight terrestrial channels at the same time, which is one more satellite channel than 'My Love from the Star'."

Zhao Liying then asked, "Is it better to broadcast on four satellite TV channels than on three?"

This aligns with Zhao Liying's intuition, but she can't quite explain why it's good.

"Of course, four satellite TV channels definitely have a wider reach," Zhang Xi continued. "Sister, let's take an example. If 'Boss & Me' were only sold to Tianjin Satellite TV, the final rating would be 2%. But what if it were sold to both Tianjin Satellite TV and Anhui Satellite TV for simultaneous broadcast? The rating wouldn't become 1% for each channel; it's more likely that one would get 1.8% and the other 1.7%. Each satellite TV channel has its own core audience, so the final total rating would likely be 3.5%. The higher the total rating, the more viewers there are, and the more popular the actors become."

Why didn't "My Love from the Star" adopt this 4+X model?

"First, 'My Love from the Star' is the first TV series produced by our company. Our boss is the top movie producer in China, but nobody knows how good our TV series are. Besides, the boss didn't even direct the TV series himself; we hired an outside director. Second, the 4+X model might make less money. If it goes live on satellite TV right away, most of the national audience will see it, and local channels won't be willing to pay for it. Out of hundreds of local channels nationwide, if ten are willing to buy it, it's worth the price of one satellite TV station. If we sell to fifty-six local channels first, and then sell to two or three satellite TV stations, the company will earn much more."

Zhao Liying's heart was racing. She felt like she might really become famous, but she was also very nervous. No one could guarantee whether she would become famous before the TV series aired.

Junior agent Zhang Xi added, "Even if each of the four channels only gets a 1% viewership, it's still equivalent to a four-channel exclusive broadcast."

"With a viewership rating of %! This is definitely going to be a hit!"

After the car entered the residential area, Zhao Liying's agent Zhang Xi and assistant Xiao Rong accompanied her to the elevator and did not leave until they escorted her into her room.

Although Zhao Liying is currently relatively unknown, no one dares to underestimate her. This isn't because her starring role in "Boss & Me" is about to air, but because everyone tacitly knows that she is the woman of a powerful boss.

Even the house Zhao Liying lives in now was bought for her by the company. Normally, how could a small-time artist get this kind of treatment? Isn't she just taking advantage of getting into the boss's bed?

Actually, Zhao Liying isn't considered particularly beautiful. She would be considered pretty among ordinary people, but she wouldn't be considered attractive in the entertainment industry.

Her round, chubby face doesn't really look like the type to play a leading role, but what can you do? The big boss likes that kind of face.

With the premiere of "Boss & Me" 4+X, the coverage is very wide. Normally, the female lead would have a great chance to make a name for herself, but it's hard to say whether Zhao Liying, whose appearance is not the most outstanding, can succeed.

But it doesn't matter. With that connection to the big boss, even if this movie fails, there will still be new resources. In short, it would be good if he could make a hit before falling out of favor.

The crew of "The Source Code".

Shen Qing also received Chen Zhixi's report.

"Boss & Me" recouped all its costs from the very beginning of filming just through product placement. Now that it's been sold to a TV station, it's going to make a profit no matter how much it sells for.

Given the phenomenal success of "My Love from the Star," selling the rights to "Boss & Me" was much easier. Top-ranked TV stations in China contacted the show as soon as filming began.

After a series of negotiations, all parties finally reached an agreement: Tianjin Satellite TV, Jiangsu Satellite TV, Dragon TV, and Anhui Satellite TV, along with eight local channels, jointly purchased the first broadcast rights of "Boss & Me".

Each of the four satellite TV stations invested 30 yuan per episode, and each of the eight local channels invested 3 yuan per episode, totaling 144 million yuan per episode. The TV series has a total of 33 episodes, which means the total transaction price reached 4752 million yuan.

Making TV dramas is really lucrative!

The second and third rounds can still be sold, but generally speaking, the revenue from the first round of 4+X can account for more than 8% of the total revenue.

The remaining revenue comes from online copyrights.

Online copyrights are not worth much money right now. It will only take off when iQiyi and Tencent Video enter the market.

Once online copyrights take off, making TV dramas will be even more profitable.

Actually, the 4+X model is still a very new concept. It didn't exist before 2005. Previously, the model was basically to sell to dozens of terrestrial stations first and then launch the satellite.

Although provincial and city-level TV stations are weaker, they are more favored by producers because they only broadcast locally, which does not affect the production company's subsequent sales to other places.

Despite being weaker, they always get to broadcast first.

In 2005, Zhejiang Satellite TV acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights for "The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain" in mainland China for a sky-high price of 85 yuan per episode, making it the first TV series to premiere on a provincial satellite TV channel.

Subsequently, Zhejiang Satellite TV, with its deep pockets, proposed a "4+1" model for purchasing dramas. This model involves four satellite TV stations and one powerful local station jointly purchasing the first broadcast rights of a drama, breaking the status quo that dramas were always premiered on weak local stations.

The reason why we need to add one more is that the money that the four satellite TV stations can jointly offer may still not be as much as the money they can offer for dozens of local TV stations. However, the national regulations stipulate that a drama can only be broadcast on four satellite channels at most, so we can only add one more local channel.

However, the money that can be raised with 4+1 is likely still less than the money raised by selling dozens of terrestrial stations before launching into satellite.

Then continue to increase the number of ground stations.

Thus, the 4+X model was born naturally.

The male and female leads of "Boss & Me" were not well-known, and the director was not the same as that of "My Love from the Star". Therefore, the TV stations that broadcast the show focused their publicity efforts on Shen Qing.

This is Shen Qing's second television drama as the executive producer!

Everyone, both inside and outside the industry, is watching.