Chapter 490

Perhaps it was a desire for change after a period of stillness, or perhaps a wish to experience a different kind of travel, but Liu Yifei ultimately chose to join "Flowers and Youth."

However, the young girl made one request: she hoped Shu Chang could participate as well.

Wei Jin naturally had no objections to this; after all, the show needed five female guests in total, and who wouldn't want to promote someone? Unsurprisingly, when Wei Jin told Zhang Yipei this news, the latter could barely suppress the curve of his mouth.

"President Wei, with Miss Liu's addition, the viewership ratings for our variety show are going to reach a new level, hahaha."

Wei Jin fully agreed with Zhang Yipei's assessment.

Although Liu Yifei doesn't have much "business time" usually, with the backing of countless classic TV dramas, her national popularity among the "Four Young Dan" is absolutely number one, and her fan count is truly astonishing.

In this regard, even Jing Tian cannot compare.

With her participating in the show, the buzz will definitely be off the charts; there's no need to worry about viewership ratings at all, and even negotiations with TV stations will go much more smoothly.

Subsequently, the two began discussing other guest candidates, but Wei Jin didn't expect Zhang Yipei's ambition to be even greater than he had imagined.

"Wait, Director Zhang, are you saying you want to invite Ceng Li to participate?"

Zhang Yipei nodded, his squinting eyes flashing with the light of wisdom.

"That's right, President Wei. Look, our show has five female guests; it would be best to have a mix of 70s, 80s, and 90s generations. I think Teacher Ceng Li is very suitable..."

Listening to Zhang Yipei's explanation, Wei Jin admitted he was somewhat tempted.

On one hand, Ceng Li is definitely among the top in fame among the 70s generation of "Big Dan" actresses, and she has very little exposure; she has almost never appeared on variety shows. Once she participates, it will cause a huge reaction and will indeed be a boost for the show.

On the other hand, it could also allow her and Liu Yifei to interact more in advance, cultivate their relationship, and lay the foundation for a harmonious big family in the future.

However, considering Ceng Li's temperament and the show's recording schedule, Wei Jin still shook his head and refused.

"Director Zhang, let's skip Ceng Li for this season; consider others."

As a working professional, Zhang Yipei knew how to keep his place and immediately nodded: "Understood, President Wei."

Not long after Zhang Yipei left, Jiang Xuerou walked in with a smile on her face.

"President Wei, the follow-up broadcast rights for 'Princess Agents' have been negotiated."

Hearing Jiang Xuerou's report, a smile also appeared on Wei Jin's face.

After more than a month of airing, "Princess Agents" concluded a few days ago.

The peak viewership rating broke 3, the peak viewership share reached as high as 11.73, and the average viewership rating remained around 2.3, with the average viewership share breaking 10.

This result is slightly worse than "Eastern Palace" from the beginning of the year, but compared to "Heart Surgery," it is undoubtedly superior.

As of now, it has already locked in a spot in the top three national viewership ratings for this year.

If it were just that, it would be fine; Shanhe Media has produced too many blockbusters over the years, and Wei Jin didn't take it to heart.

The key is the results this drama achieved online, which exceeded the imagination of Shanhe Media and even Wei Jin.

Since landing on the three major satellite TV stations and two major online platforms at the beginning of October, the playback data for "Princess Agents" has repeatedly hit new highs. As of the day of the finale, it generated over 4 billion views on online platforms.

Although this data doesn't look like much compared to the tens of billions of views in later generations, one must know that in this current era, online playback data is not inflated, and its gold content is quite high.

For example, the particularly popular "iPartment 3" this year only had 300 million views on Youku and Tudou in 7 days.

Even after the entire drama ended, as of now, three months after the premiere of "iPartment 3," the view count is still less than 2 billion.

Or take the super blockbuster "Eastern Palace" from the beginning of the year; its view count after ten months has just broken 10 billion.

Furthermore, "Princess Agents" was not only recognized in the domestic market but also successfully entered the sights of audiences in countries like Russia, Japan, and North America, receiving great attention, especially on overseas new media platforms like YouTube.

With the addition of various data points, "Princess Agents" was simply so popular it had no friends, to the point that the second and third-round broadcast rights were scrambled for by numerous TV stations, selling for a high price of 2.7 million across 9 local TV stations.

Adding in the online copyright aspect, at 800,000 per episode from Tudou and LeTV, the total price per episode for this TV drama reached as high as 6.5 million, even more exaggerated than "Empresses in the Palace" back then!

This drama had a total of 60 episodes, achieving a total revenue of 390 million. After deducting production and promotion costs, the profit exceeded 250 million—absolutely a bloody profit! More importantly, the effect of this drama in promoting people was simply too strong.

From the start of the drama until now, in just over a month, Zhao Liying's Weibo follower count increased by over 3 million, and the data is still skyrocketing.

She went directly from a little-known small artist to a firmly established second-tier actress, and even barely stepped into the ranks of quasi-first-tier.

As for Qiao Zhenyu, who played the male lead, the boost he received was also very significant. Although his fan count didn't increase much, his TV drama salary is skyrocketing.

Currently, Qiao Zhenyu's external quote has reached 700,000 per episode, much higher than Huang Xiaoming or Deng Chao, making him arguably the number one person in the country.

Of course, this is not just the result of one drama, but rather that with the influx of hot money, actors' salaries have also seen a rapid rise.

The era of sky-high salaries is getting closer and closer!

Halfway through November, just two days after "Princess Agents" concluded, another new drama from Shanhe Media, which is also the last TV drama of 2012, started filming, and there was no shortage of relevant media reports.

"Jointly produced by Shanhe Media and Jiaxing Entertainment Studio, the 50 million investment urban national martial arts drama 'Dragon Snake' started filming in Chongqing today."

"The drama is adapted from the work of the same name by internet novelist Meng Ru Shenji, starring the popular young actor Zhu Yilong from Starry Sky Culture and the newly promoted female artist Wang Zixuan, with numerous action actors passionately joining in, telling the story of..."

This novel promoted the national martial arts genre and is regarded as the masterpiece of the new generation of national martial arts collections. Since its serialization in 2008, no similar work has surpassed it to this day.

Therefore, the original novel has many loyal fans. When the filming photos, character posters, and media reports came out, many book fans and followers expressed their anticipation.

At the same time, after lasting more than eighty days, "Dearest" finally wrapped up filming.

As a realistic film about child abduction, its previous buzz was extremely high, so as soon as Cao Baoping and his group came out of the airport, they were surrounded by media who had received the news.

"May I ask Director Cao, when will the film be able to meet the audience?"

"Currently, post-production work has not yet begun, and it's unclear when the final cut will be ready. It's too early to discuss the release schedule..."

Seeing Cao Baoping, who didn't want to say much and even looked somewhat exhausted, the media turned their microphones toward the female lead, Zhou Xun.

"May I ask Young Master Zhou, this is your second collaboration with Director Cao. How do you think it compares to 'The Equation of Love and Death'?"

Zhou Xun has been in the industry for many years and is quite seasoned when facing interviews.

"The genres of the two films are completely different and cannot be discussed in the same breath, but I think this is the most meaningful film I have shot so far. I also appeal to all sectors of society again: without buying and selling, there is no harm..."

Subsequently, the media turned their target toward Huang Bai; he is, after all, a Golden Horse Best Actor, so he still has some status.

"May I ask, Mr. Huang Bai, what are your expectations for the film's box office results?"

"I believe that with the script from Shanhe Media, and with Director Cao and so many big names involved, the box office definitely won't be bad. However, what I hope for more is that through this drama, we can help those families who have lost their children..."

Although the cast and crew of "Dearest" wrapped up filming one after another, Wei Jin still arranged a wrap-up banquet for everyone.

As a member of the crew, Ceng Li also rarely accompanied Wei Jin to attend.

After some pleasantries, everyone took their seats one after another. "Teacher Cao, thank you for your hard work. Don't rush the post-production this time; you should rest for a while first."

Cao Baoping is already nearly 60 years old. After a few months, the exhaustion on his face was hard to hide, and Wei Jin truly couldn't bear to over-exploit him, especially since the release schedule wasn't urgent.

"Hmm, that's fine too."

Cao Baoping nodded, following the suggestion, and then chatted with Wei Jin about "The Distinguished Citizen."

This film started shooting at the end of last month, and according to Tian Zhuangzhuang's plan, the filming time would be about three months.

However, because the filming location was far away, Wei Jin couldn't go to the scene.

"By the way, Teacher Cao, I don't quite understand why the teacher insisted on going to Jilin Province to shoot?"

Cao Baoping sighed: "In those special times, your teacher went to the countryside there, and later served as a soldier for a few years. Perhaps he wants to say a thorough goodbye to the past..."

Once these words were spoken, Wei Jin suddenly thought of his own uncle. Perhaps people of that era all have things in their hearts that they cannot let go of.

"By the way, Wei Jin, there is one thing I need to discuss with you."

"Hmm, Teacher Cao, go ahead."

Cao Baoping put down his chopsticks, and after careful consideration, he explained: "It's like this, the prototype, Mr. Sun, made a request to me when filming wrapped up. He hopes to add his phone number at the end of the film, in case there is any news about the child, people can contact him."

"Teacher Cao, but if that's the case, I'm afraid there will be many people causing trouble, or even encountering scammers, right?"

"Sigh, I said the same thing to him, but Mr. Sun's original words were that he isn't afraid of scammers; he's just afraid that no one will call him..."

Once Cao Baoping said this, the whole table fell silent. Ceng Li, who is a mother herself, had even redder eyes.

"Fine, Teacher Cao, then let's add the information. Either at the beginning or the end is fine; you see where it's best to put it."

"Good."

Perhaps seeing that the atmosphere was somewhat silent, Huang Bai began to crack jokes.

"Young Master Zhou, you and Huang Xiaoming have a good relationship, right? About that matter of his?"

Zhou Xun instantly got the source of the gossip and showed disdain.

"Heh, just shifting the blame. When we were filming 'The Deer and the Cauldron' back then, it wasn't this person. I can only say, men, heh."

"Hey hey hey, Young Master Zhou, don't beat everyone with the same stick. I am a responsible person..."

Wei Jin was hit while lying down and was somewhat speechless. This matter actually had to blame Yang Ying.

I don't know what this woman is thinking all day, but she actually publicly stated in front of the media that Li Fei'er was the third party between Huang Xiaoming and her.

The key is that Huang Xiaoming was a bit cowardly this time and actually didn't stand up to correct it.

As a result, his ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend have been tearing each other apart online for the past two days.

"I can testify to this point. Old Wei is still responsible. Pear, right? Haha."

Huang Bai laughed and teased. Among the people present, he had known Ceng Li the longest and knew the story between Ceng Li and Wei Jin the best.

From his perspective, Wei Jin might be a playboy, but he had never abandoned anyone, and he was indeed very responsible.

Almost everyone attributed this failure to Huayi. In the evening, Wei Jin received a call from Old Wang.

"Damn it, those two grandsons surnamed Wang are really not human. They instigated the momentum and actually defected. In the revolutionary era, this would be something to be shot, the damn dogs..."

Listening to Wang Changtian's angry cursing, Wei Jin couldn't help laughing, and then reminded him, "Old Brother Wang, don't curse yourself..."

"Pfft."

Wei Jin was on speakerphone, and Liu Yifei on the side also laughed along. The grandsons surnamed Wang, Wang Changtian wasn't just "Damn it..."

Wang Changtian was suddenly confused, and after a long while, he sighed: "Little brother, you are the one who sees through it. Old brother, I regret it now..."

"Old brother, look on the bright side, this matter has little impact on Guangxian." Wei Jin offered comfort.

Although the five major distributors applied pressure together this time, cinema chains were not stupid. Distributors and producers were different and not so easy to handle.

After this matter, the cinema chains wouldn't hold a grudge; after all, making money was the kingly way.

Wang Changtian obviously understood this principle too; he was just unhappy about being used as a gun and wanted to find someone to vent to.

Wei Jin accompanied him to chat for a long time understandingly before hanging up the phone.

"Brother, with Huayi and Xingmei withdrawing, is the matter settled?"

Although Liu Yifei was a homebody, she still liked to watch gossip, and the recent revenue-sharing dispute had made headlines quite a bit.

"Hmm, settled. Maybe it's settled for the future too." Wei Jin's tone was somewhat emotional.

"Settled for the future too?"

"Yes, this time the distributors united, and the momentum was so big, but they still failed. In the future, I'm afraid the revenue-sharing ratio will be very difficult to change. Most likely, it will be these three models."

"Three types?" The little girl tilted her head, full of confusion.

"Hmm, the original ordinary revenue-sharing model, the tiered model proposed by Huayi, and finally the total box office gambling model between me and the cinema chains."

"Then doesn't Xingmei's count? Isn't it quite popular over in Hollywood?"

"Yifei, Xingmei's is completely different from Hollywood's."

Wei Jin held the girl in his arms and explained in detail.

Hollywood is indeed very popular with the declining revenue-sharing model, but that is more for the early box office, because their declining baseline is very high.

Generally speaking, a film can get more than 60% revenue sharing in the first week, 50% in the second week, and so on, mainly eating the early box office.

Even some big IP films can reach 70% or higher in the first week.

And Xingmei's model of sacrificing revenue-sharing interests just to seek screen allocation has a more obvious meaning of spite. As long as the producer's brain is not broken, most of them will not choose it.

"So that's how it is..."

Looking at the girl's confused appearance, Wei Jin didn't want to discuss this topic too much and instead asked about another matter.

"Yifei, how have you considered *Flowers and Youth*?"

Liu Yifei shook her head: "Brother, forget it. My variety show sense is so bad. If I definitely perform poorly on the show, what if it affects the ratings?"