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

As if hearing his innermost thoughts, Chen Yang continued speaking.

"My selection logic is called 'dimensional reduction invitation'."

"Don't seek out those who have achieved success and fame; seek out those who are hungry and thirsty."

"Don't look for those who are arrogant; look for those who are climbing the ladder."

He pointed to the first number on the form.

"The King of Control: I'm targeting Deng Chao. He just won the Best Supporting Actor award at last year's Hundred Flowers Awards, is transitioning from TV dramas to movies, and has zero experience in variety shows. What does he need most right now? National recognition. The 90 minutes of exposure he gets every Saturday night during prime time on CCTV is something that no movie promotion period can provide at this stage."

"Powerhouse: Li Chen. The TV series 'My Chief and My Regiment' just finished airing in March and is currently at its peak in popularity. His tough guy image has deeply impressed people, but he has always lacked an opportunity to break into the mainstream and enter the public eye."

He went on to explain each person's situation, needs, and cost-effectiveness, quantifying everything on paper.

"These people have one thing in common."

Chen Yang put the form away and looked at Zhou Wenbin.

"They can't afford to put on airs. If an invitation to be a regular guest on CCTV's prime-time slot were offered to them, they would fight over it."

"Moreover, they are complete blank slates in the variety show field, without any fixed variety show personas, and every reaction the audience sees is brand new."

"That's exactly what this show needs most."

The meeting room fell silent again.

Zhou Wenbin leaned back in his chair.

He took his hand off the table and placed it on the armrest.

No further questions were asked.

It's not that I don't want to ask, it's that I can't find the right angle.

The safety contingency plan was blocked, but the artist management team remained self-consistent.

He stared at the selection logic table on the projection screen and remained silent for several seconds.

At the head of the table, Lin Hongyuan closed his notebook and turned to look at Jiang Bingqian.

Jiang Bingqian twirled the cap of his pen halfway between his fingers before slowly closing it.

The sound was very soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet conference room.

"I've heard the whole case."

When Jiang Bingqian spoke, the breathing in the entire conference room seemed to drop.

"Are there any risks? Yes. There's no precedent for outdoor competitive variety shows in China, and no one can guarantee that everything will be foolproof."

He glanced at Zhou Wenbin.

"But the advantage of this case is precisely that it laid out the risks clearly and provided a solution for each one."

"What CCTV needs now is not the cautious approach of continuing to operate in the studio. What it needs is a do-or-die approach after thoroughly calculating the risks."

"I believe this proposal can pass the initial review and proceed to the next stage."

He placed the pen on the cover of the proposal, which was considered his signature.

"The written resolutions for the seminar will be released today."

A hammer is fixed.

Zhao Guisheng's hand rested on the armrest, his fingers clenched so tightly they turned white.

He turned to look at the person next to him, who was looking down at the materials on the table, as if he had suddenly become very interested in the pile of waste paper.

Nobody was looking at him.

No one exchanged that "waiting to see what happens" look with him anymore.

The play is over.

But the person on stage was not the one he had expected.

……

11:30 a.m.

Editor-in-Chief's Office.

Ma Qianshi looked up and saw Chen Yang and Sun Bin walking in side by side. He almost dropped the teacup he was holding.

"Xiao Chen!"

He nimbly walked around the table, his face full of wrinkles, almost turning into a chrysanthemum with a smile.

"Come on, the resolution from the seminar just came over. I'll register it for you in the system."

He took the materials from Chen Yang, flipped through them, and his movements were more than three times more efficient than last time.

"Run, China! Preliminary review complete... Alright, number entry, archive and categorize..."

As he filled out the form quickly, he looked up and gave Chen Yang a thumbs up.

"Xiao Chen, I was blind to your true worth last time. This case is indeed a valuable one."

Chen Yang smiled.

"Teacher Ma, you're too kind. You were just being helpful last time."

"Not at all, not at all," Ma Qianshi said with a smile, handing over the registration receipt. "If you need to go to the editor-in-chief's office for any procedures in the future, just come anytime, and I'll expedite it for you."

Sun Bin stood to the side, his lips twitching slightly, but he didn't say anything.

After leaving the editor-in-chief's office and turning the corner of the corridor, Sun Bin finally spoke.

"You little brat."

He patted Chen Yang on the back of the head, not with much force, but with the force he had been holding back all morning.

"Where did you get your confidence for those thirty minutes on stage? Even a veteran producer at CCTV with over ten years of experience might not be able to write your safety plan."

Chen Yang rubbed the back of his head and looked at Sun Bin with a grin.

"Brother, my three years at Anhui TV station weren't for nothing."

Sun Bin gave him a deep look, but didn't ask any further questions.

He's not stupid.

Anhui TV has only three years of experience with studio variety shows, so there's not much they can accumulate.

What Chen Yang showed today has far exceeded the level expected of a 24-year-old executive assistant director.

But now that the results are in, asking more questions is pointless.

"Okay, go back and wait for news."

Sun Bin turned and walked towards his office.

He took two steps and then turned back.

"The editorial board will have another meeting this afternoon, and the project approval receipt for your proposal should be available as early as today."

"Stop fooling around, you hear me?"

"I heard you, brother."

……

At 4:17 p.m. that day.

A notification from the variety channel's program department was sent to Chen Yang's workstation email.

Notification Regarding the Acceptance of the Project Application for the Program "Run, China"

After review by the channel's editorial board, the program proposal for "Run, China!" submitted by Comrade Chen Yang was officially approved and included in the station's project management sequence.

Attachment: Project Application Acceptance Receipt, No. 2009001.

2009001.

It's not 093 anymore.

Chen Yang printed out the receipt, folded it in half, and locked it in his workstation drawer.

The news spread even faster than it did in the morning.

Whispers lingered in the corridor on the third floor of the variety channel from 5 p.m. until the end of the workday.

"Really passed? That all-outdoor competition?"

"Project No. 2009001, the first new project officially accepted by the program department this year."

"A 24-year-old assistant director, who's only been here for less than a year..."

"I heard that Director Zhou personally conducted the test and didn't find any faults on the spot."

"Impossible, right? Who is Director Zhou? Last year, he questioned Lao Qian's proposal for forty minutes, and in the end, he still rejected it."

"They brought a security plan with them, which was even more detailed than the audit report. After asking about it, Director Zhou didn't say anything."

"...Awesome!"

Chen Yang sat at his workstation, and could vaguely hear the discussions coming from the other end of the corridor.

He didn't pay attention.

Receipt number 001 is, to put it simply, an admission ticket.

This only means that CCTV acknowledged the existence of the project and agreed to proceed with the follow-up procedures.

There are still four major hurdles to overcome before we can actually obtain the project approval, the budget allocation, and the broadcast schedule.

Content-oriented preliminary review, legal compliance preliminary review, technical feasibility review, budget and investment promotion review.

Only after passing all four pre-approval special reviews are you eligible to shoot a mock-up.

After the sample footage is shot and passes the final review by the editorial board, official approval can be issued.

Pre-approval is not a problem.

His proposal was written according to CCTV's strictest standards in terms of compliance, originality, and budget logic.

Once approved, it's likely just a matter of procedural formalities.

The real hellish difficulty comes later.

Simulated sample.

Taiwanese regulations clearly state that no paid contracts are allowed to be signed and no project expenses are permitted before the official project approval is issued.

In layman's terms: I have no money.

Not a single penny.

But he had to produce a complete sample episode of at least sixty minutes, meeting CCTV broadcast standards, even with no money to his name.

There's no budget to purchase filming equipment.

We didn't have the budget to rent the filming location.

Guests cannot be invited; only members of the production team can be used as substitutes.

Post-production editing, packaging, and music all had to be borrowed.

Moreover, the quality of this sample video must be so good that the editorial board members, who have seen countless big events, will nod in approval and say "okay".

Chen Yang closed the drawer and looked out the window.

In the evening of May, the afterglow cast a warm yellow hue on the gray exterior walls of the old CCTV headquarters.

Someone rode a bicycle through the courtyard downstairs, and the bicycle bell rang twice.

Zero budget.

Zero professional actors.

Zero external support.

A hellish simulation sample.

He has to create a miracle out of thin air from these three zeros.

Chen Yang propped himself up on the table and stood up, stretching his shoulders.

The abundant, overflowing power deep within his bones firmly supported every muscle.

The corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

"No problem. This is no challenge for me."