Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

At eight o'clock on Sunday morning, Chen Yang was woken up by a cold hand before he even opened his eyes.

"Brother! Get up!"

Chen Yu squatted by the bed, her face less than twenty centimeters away from his, her round eyes wide open like copper bells.

Chen Yang turned over and pulled the blanket over his head.

"What time is it?"

"Eight o'clock! You said last night you'd tell me today!"

"Tell you what?"

"Stop pretending!" Chen Yu ripped off the blanket, her voice rising a half-tone, "That Liu Xiang in the fluorescent green bodysuit! That show handing out flyers on the subway! Was it you who made it?!"

Chen Yang finally opened his eyes, looked at his sister's face which was filled with "you must confess," and slowly sat up.

"Okay, bring me my wash water first."

"you!"

"I'll let you know when it's here."

Chen Yu bit her lip, glared at him for three seconds, then turned and ran away.

When she returned with the enamel basin, Chen Yang was already wearing a T-shirt and leaning against the headboard.

He took the towel and said while wiping his face.

"That show is called 'Run, China!' and I'm the director."

Chen Yu gasped.

"From CCTV?"

"Um."

"Grade A?"

How did you know there was such a thing as an "A-grade"?

Chen Yu plopped down on the foot of the bed, her ponytail swinging over her shoulder.

"Someone on Tieba (a Chinese online forum) dug this out! They say it's CCTV's only A-level variety show project this year! Dude, you're being way too low-key!"

Chen Yang draped the towel on the rack and glanced at her.

"Spend less time on online forums and more time reading books."

"Tch." Chen Yu rolled her eyes, but couldn't suppress the urge to smile.

Chen Yang didn't rush to leave. Instead, he leaned against the door frame and asked a question casually.

"Hey girl, what TV shows are they showing at your school lately?"

"what?"

"Just ask me, what movies and TV shows do you Peking University students discuss most often?"

Chen Yu tilted her head and thought for a moment.

"If we're talking about the most discussed topic... it's definitely Brother Hu."

Which movie is Hu Ge in?

"Everything he does gets discussed! But right now, the one everyone's most looking forward to is 'Chinese Paladin 3,' which is said to air at the end of the month. The six of us in my dorm have already made plans to watch it together."

Chen Yu became more and more excited as she spoke, gesturing with both hands.

"Brother, you have no idea how incredibly popular Hu Ge is at our school. Last semester, Peking University's BBS held a poll for the male celebrity people most wanted to marry, and Hu Ge came in first by a landslide."

"Where are the others? Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and the others?"

"I don't know him very well; everyone's going to see him because of Hu Ge."

Chen Yu paused, looking at him suspiciously.

"Brother, why are you asking this?"

Chen Yang smiled but did not answer.

"Let's go have breakfast."

He turned and walked toward the kitchen, his mind racing.

6 month 28 number.

The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3.

The drama "Past Life" achieved a viewership rating of over 3 on its premiere, dominating the summer season. Hu Ge's popularity soared from A-list to legendary, and Yang Mi also gained widespread recognition through this drama.

on Monday.

The CCTV main building has 12 floors.

Chen Yang arrived at the office at eight o'clock sharp, where Zhao Bin had already prepared a progress report overnight.

Zhao Bin stood opposite him, his dark circles under his eyes as heavy as a panda's.

"Director Chen, the first batch of footage has been edited to the third version, with a total runtime of 92 minutes."

Chen Yang turned two pages and looked up at him.

"To what extent has the 'flowery' font been developed?"

"The captions for the key iconic scenes are all in place. Chen He's cactus underwear has been censored, but to be honest, the censored version is more suggestive than the uncensored version."

"That's right."

Chen Yang closed the report and tapped the table with his index finger.

"Brother Bin, the post-production pace needs to be sped up. I'll give you a timeline; try to get the final cut to me within a week."

Zhao Bin gasped.

"Friday?"

"Just try your best!"

Chen Yang leaned back in his chair, his tone not heavy but very firm.

"The sooner the first batch of finished films is submitted for review, the sooner the station will schedule it. Once the schedule is set, the publicity and distribution can begin, and the investment can be made for follow-up projects. Every day of delay means another day of wasted window of opportunity."

He paused.

"The buzz surrounding the leaked content on Tieba and Tianya will only last for another half a month at most. Once that momentum wears off, the audience will forget about it. I have to shove the show right in their faces before they forget."

Zhao Bin paused for two seconds, then nodded.

"Understood, the film will be delivered on Friday."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Just as Zhao Bin turned to leave, Chen Yang called him back.

"By the way, I came up with another editing idea for the water fight scene at the Water Cube yesterday. I'll draw up a storyboard for you later, and you can try it out."

Zhao Bin glanced back at him and gave a wry smile.

"Director Chen, could you please stop coming up with new ideas only on weekends? I just thought I had it all figured out, and then you come up with another idea, and I have to re-edit it all over again."

"Be more careful next time."

Zhao Bin left, and Chen Yang knew that what he meant by "be careful next time" was the same as what he had said, which was impossible.

At 10:00 AM, the scriptwriting center held a meeting.

Su Xiao, Li Zhe, and Liu Chang sat around a small conference table, on which lay the first draft of the second phase of the game script.

Chen Yang pushed open the door and came in, sitting directly in the head seat.

Have the guest stars for the second episode been confirmed yet?

Su Xiao shook her head.

"We're still looking. Ma Li has submitted a few candidates, but either their schedules don't match or they're not big enough."

Chen Yang picked up the marker on the table and walked to the whiteboard.

"Let's try a different approach."

He wrote five words on the whiteboard.

The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3.

Su Xiao was stunned for a moment.

"That one from Tangren Media? It hasn't aired yet, right?"

"It premieres on June 28th." Chen Yang turned around. "If we schedule the recording of the second episode in early July, it will coincide with the peak popularity period of the show's first week of airing."

Liu Chang reacted the fastest.

"A collaboration between drama series and variety shows?"

"right."

Chen Yang put down his pen and placed his hands on the table.

"Hu Ge is currently one of the most popular male actors in mainland China, and his popularity will only increase after 'Chinese Paladin 3' airs. We invited Hu Ge to be a guest star, combining the show's popularity with the new drama's popularity, thus mutually boosting viewership."

Li Zhe chimed in.

"So, are you only inviting Brother Hu?"

"No."

"Just invite the main cast of JX3!"

The three screenwriters gasped in shock.

Su Xiao almost dropped her pen.

"Director Chen, are you really going to bring over their entire film crew?"

"A team-building variety show for film crews." Chen Yang smiled. "Seven guest stars plus our seven regular MCs, fourteen people in total, divided into teams for competition. Just imagine the scene."

Su Xiao squinted at the whiteboard for three seconds.

"With Brother Hu bringing in so much traffic, Chinese Paladin 3 will definitely be a hit when it airs... If they can really get everyone together, this episode's viewership will definitely explode."

"So we need to hurry." Chen Yang slammed his hand on the table. "Where's Ma Li?"

"It's next door."

"Let her in."

When Ma Li pushed open the door, she was holding a contact list in her hand.

Without wasting any words, Chen Yang pointed to the list on the whiteboard and showed it to her.

"Sister Li, contact Tangren Media. For the second episode of guest appearances, I need the lead actor from 'Chinese Paladin 3'."

Ma Li glanced at the whiteboard, her expression remaining largely unchanged.

Having worked with Chen Yang for so long, she had gotten used to his "asking for the sky as soon as he opens his mouth" style.

"Let me inquire first."

She took out her phone and dialed a number.

Ten minutes later, Ma Li hung up the phone, her expression somewhat subtle.

"I know the publicity director at Tangren Media. We just chatted for a bit. He wasn't exactly opposed, but he had some concerns."

"What are your concerns?"

"First, they have no concept of the celebrity reality show format and don't know what the guests are supposed to do. Second..."

Mary paused.

She mentioned the Reuters photos of the subway.

Chen Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Feel like it's beneath you?"

"His exact words were that Mr. Hu's image is not suitable for this kind of down-to-earth program."

There was a two-second silence around the conference table.

Su Xiao chuckled.

"Idol image."

Chen Yang didn't reply, but tapped his fingers three times on the table.

Ma Li knows this move all too well.

This is Chen Yang thinking of a solution.

Sure enough, three seconds later, Chen Yang reached out.

"Give me the phone number of the owner of Tangren."

"Cai Yinong?" Ma Li was slightly taken aback. "Director Chen, are you going to call her directly?"

"The PR director can't make this decision; I'll talk to the person who can."

Without asking any further questions, Ma Li pulled out the number and handed it over.

Chen Yang took it, glanced at it, and picked up the landline.

The phone rang four times before being answered.

"Feed? Who?"

Cai Yinong's voice is crisp and clear.

"Hello Mr. Cai, I am Chen Yang, the chief director of CCTV's variety show 'Run, China'."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, Director Chen. Hello, the leaked photos of your show have been going viral lately."

This is not a compliment.

His tone carried a hint of probing and reservation.

Chen Yang could tell, but he wasn't in a hurry.

I'm going to have a good chat with her.

......

P.S.: Let's continue the discussion: What celebrity, song, or movie/TV show left the deepest impression on you in 2009? Which guest would you like to invite to Running Man? And which classic Running Man games would you most like to see featured?