Chapter 143

"... Yan Zong, 'Water Moon Grotto' will be gradually broadcast on the Guangxi Provincial TV channel, Hefei City TV in Anhui Province, and Fuzhou City TV in Fujian Province."

"We'll send you the viewership data and related materials via email."

"The two satellite channels in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces are coordinating a June satellite premiere; we're trying our best to secure a summer vacation slot."

"We've arranged for Hunan TV to screen Tang Ren's 'Dandelion'; we'll update you once there's progress."

"Following your instructions, we contacted six TV stations on the list of ground channels and municipal stations for 'Detective Di Renjie,' but only two have shown signs of cooperation—the rest are still watching."

"..."

Yan Li held his phone, listening to Xiao Guan, head of Yian's marketing department, report, nodding occasionally and giving instructions.

"Keep pushing 'Water Moon Grotto' on ground channels—Zhou Yi's name still works; if the ratings are good, more TV stations will want to buy it."

"I'll personally negotiate with those two satellite channels about the premiere date—June is fine too; once we build visibility, we can replay it heavily. During summer vacation, kids watch TV, and the daytime market matters just as much."

"You're fully in charge of the 'Dandelion' project—try to break even; if you really can't, I'll step in."

"Don't rush 'Detective Di Renjie'—it has no name recognition yet, so it's hard to break through. Wait until CCTV premieres it; that's when your work begins."

"..."

"I'll return to Jingcheng in a few days; we'll discuss details then."

Yan Li ended the call and once again marveled that he had truly not made a wrong choice in hiring this marketing head.

He's highly capable, meticulous in execution, and skilled in sales—having him assist me has saved me a great deal of effort.

But as Yian's distribution projects multiply, Xiao Guan alone can't handle it all; Yan Li is considering hiring or promoting two deputy directors.

It's to ease some of Xiao Guan's workload and to establish a degree of balance.

Suppressing such a business expert is foolish—but failing to guard against him at all is even more foolish.

Rebellion or betrayal is too far-fetched; Yan Li fears Xiao Guan quitting or being poached.

Many in the marketing department are Xiao Guan's people—if he takes a few key staff, half the department could collapse.

Yan Li doesn't want to suppress Xiao Guan, but he can use the company's rapid growth to recruit and expand; the enlarged marketing department will still be under Xiao Guan's management, but it won't rely on him alone anymore.

"Being a boss isn't easy."

It sounds simple—know people well, use them wisely, reward and punish fairly, then control the whole picture.

But once you have over a hundred people, each is different, and coordinating between department heads and teams becomes a nightmare.

Knowing people well—how do you uncover talent? How exactly do you deploy them? Will you misjudge and make mistakes?

What's the precise standard for rewarding and punishing? How do you make everyone truly convinced?

All of this Yan Li must slowly figure out.

Fortunately, since childhood he's been playful and organized a few cliques, so he has some experience; combined with his quick mind and the system's help, though he's stumbled a few times, overall it's gone smoothly with no major blunders.

Any other recent college graduate without similar experience or insight would inevitably make blunders or be fooled.

Next door to Yian Film & Television's office building was another startup, also run by young people; reportedly, the boss was a graduate of a top university and worked in the internet industry.

A tiny company of fewer than thirty people, open for less than three months, nearly a dozen employees had quit, and it looked like their boss was about to drive it into the ground.

When Yan Li felt slightly lost, he'd sometimes stroll by that company's entrance—his confidence would instantly rise.

He managed a company of dozens, a crew of hundreds, all running smoothly.

He was damn near a genius!

If he were in ancient times, Yan Li might have emulated the likes of Liu, Cao, and Zhu—those pioneers from Huaihai—who cared who was who...

On April 12, with the final shot filmed, 'Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies' officially wrapped.

Yan Li didn't stint—he booked a high-quality wrap party to reward and thank all cast and crew.

At the wrap party, as producer, Yan Li inevitably faced a barrage of toasts.

Male and female actors, along with heads of various crew departments, came to toast him, hoping for future collaboration.

After the wrap party, the cast and most crew members disbanded and returned home; only a few remained for post-production tasks.

Such as handling used props, costumes, and sets; returning and settling accounts for rented hotels, machines, and equipment; organizing all footage for post-production.

Yan Li stayed in Wushi for two days, sorted out the details, and handed everything over to Wang Decai.

Then he left the film city with Dong Xuan—but en route, they parted ways.

Dong Xuan returned to Jingcheng; Yan Li went to Shanghai to negotiate the contract for 'Chinese Paladin' with Tang Ren.

As previously mentioned, Cai Yinong's goal was risk-sharing, not strong collaboration; her funding wasn't tight.

So Yan Li didn't push the price down too hard, but he secured benefits in other areas.

'Chinese Paladin' was budgeted at 18 million; Yan Li secured a 35% stake for 6.5 million.

But the payment schedule would be extended; 'Chinese Paladin' must be distributed by Yian Film & Television, and Yian must share in the TV rights as a co-producer.

Tang Ren had little objection to the distribution, stake, or payment schedule, but refused to share the rights.

The reason was simple: 'Chinese Paladin' had more than one game—its second and third games had already been released last year.

Neither Tang Ren nor Yan Li were fools; they both anticipated that if this drama succeeded, sequels could follow.

If there were rights disputes over the drama, compounded by the original game IP, things would get messy.

They had just spent a day and a half arguing over the rights issue.

In the end, because Cai Yinong had less confidence in the project than Yan Li did, she agreed to let Yian co-hold the TV rights; in return, Yan Li conceded on the payment schedule and distribution share.

"Director Cai, may our cooperation be fruitful."

Yan Li smiled and extended his hand; Cai Yinong shook it, her expression faintly uneasy.

"Yan Zong, now I understand how you got Zhou Yi to agree to such a good contract."

In this negotiation, Tang Ren gained little advantage—the rights were split, distribution share reduced, and as investor, Yan Li still profited.

This Yan Li is young, but he's skilled at reading people during negotiations.

No matter who controls the pace of negotiations, it's always a matter of slowly probing the other side's limits, then reaching an agreement at a point just barely above your bottom price.

Although Tang Ren wasn't at a disadvantage, the feeling of being on the back foot left Cai Yinong somewhat discouraged.

Are these post-80s kids really this fierce now!

Yan Li didn't care—gaining an advantage in negotiations invited a few bitter remarks; what did it matter? He was used to it. Of those who negotiated with him, fewer than three in ten left in good spirits.

After signing the contract, Yan Li didn't leave Magu City; instead, he stayed and negotiated with Magu Television over "Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies."

The latter was also interested in the drama and willing to co-broadcast it with other TV stations.

Hunan Provincial TV insisted on a tight exclusive price; having tasted the benefits of co-broadcasting with "Shui Yue Dong Tian," Yan Li began to consider doing the same for "Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies."

With several top-tier satellite channels sharing costs and risks, their positions softened, and prices became easier to negotiate.

But cooperation among TV stations was not easy to arrange.

They were all competitors—how could you get them to cooperate? And how could you ensure they wouldn't collude to pressure the production company? The difficulty was high, far more complicated than negotiating with a single station; Yan Li was feeling his way across the river, stone by stone.

But if it could be done, not only would profits increase, but the synchronized broadcast across several satellite channels would rapidly expand the drama's influence.

After spending several days in Magu City and making some progress, Yan Li flew back to Beijing, where he received an unexpected message.

"Want me to act in a drama?"

Yan Li stared in surprise at his assistant Hu Ya, but quickly recovered.

"Turn down any roles like rapists or gang thugs—straight away."

"Sui Tang Hero Legend" was airing to great success, ranking among the top three in viewership in several regions.

As the drama gained popularity, its characters and actors naturally gained visibility—including Yan Li.

Yan Li had previously received his first offer from a production team.

At the time, he'd been slightly excited; after all, every role he'd ever landed had been fought for himself—this was the first time someone had recognized him as raw talent in the acting world.

But when he saw the details, his heart sank halfway.

It was a Republican-era drama—he was to play a bully who raped the protagonist's sister, then joined bandits and was killed by them.

Probably the director—or someone—had seen his performance as Yuwen Chengdu in "Sui Tang Hero Legend," thought he was good, didn't know his background, and sent the offer outright.

This incident hurt Yan Li.

He had a decent appearance and decent acting skills; aside from that queue scene, Yuwen Chengdu had plenty of suitable roles he could've played—yet they only thought of his crotch.

So, as an actor, Yan Li was now in a rather awkward position.

Those who knew his situation well dared not hire him—they probably assumed he wouldn't accept such roles, so they didn't even approach him.

Those who didn't know him had only partial information; the roles offered to him were minor and bizarre.

Luckily, Yan Li didn't rely on acting fees to survive; otherwise, he couldn't even afford his mortgage.

"Not those roles—the male lead."

Assistant Hu Ya explained, then left Yan Li stunned: "The male lead? Me?"

But Yan Li was genuinely intrigued—whether he'd take it or not, this was his first-ever offer for a male lead.

"What drama?"

"'Jing Wei Tian Hai.' Hou Yi. The director is the same as 'Shui Yue Dong Tian.' The female lead is reportedly Shu Chang."

Yan Li didn't understand how Hou Yi had appeared in the Jing Wei Tian Hai story—but he was even more confused about why they'd chosen him as the male lead.

He had self-awareness: his appearance and acting were decent, but he had no fame.

Of course, some productions did cast unknowns as leads—but they always had prior contact, or multiple interviews and auditions; none just sent direct offers out of the blue.

Yan Li suspected that the "Jing Wei Tian Hai" production team might be using the search for a male lead as a cover to attract investment.

He'd heard about this from Liu Xiaoqing during idle chatter while filming "Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies."

At the time, Liu Xiaoqing had money, and a production team had approached him to play the female lead.

Everything went smoothly—until after filming began, when the team claimed they were out of funds and asked Liu Xiaoqing to invest.

Liu Xiaoqing thought the team seemed decent, so he paid up—and ended up becoming an investor instead of the female lead.

Yan Li asked himself: between the team seeing potential in him and trying to trick him into funding them—he chose the latter.

"It's all just tricks."

Yan Li shook his head and told Hu Ya to decline the role outright.

————

PS: My eyes are painfully dry—I'm taking a day off. I'll make up three full updates over the next three days.

(PS: Don't worry that updates are getting later and fewer—this book's momentum is still good; I'm still aiming for ten thousand subscriptions. As long as I'm healthy, I won't slack off.)

(End of Chapter)