Chapter 190

Jingcheng Wang Fu Hotel

A screening event, more accurately called the Yi'an Film & Television Distribution Promotion Conference, was held here.

Attendees included relevant personnel from multiple television networks, advertisers, film and television companies and production crews, as well as journalists and media.

When Tang Ren's Cai Yinong was led in by staff, she saw Yan Li surrounded by several people, speaking, and as if noticing her, he raised a hand in greeting.

After a while, Yan Li strode over and shook hands with Cai Yinong.

"Director Yan, what a grand scene."

"Hey, it's all thanks to everyone's support."

With The Legend of Sword and Fairy becoming a huge hit, Tang Ren and Cai Yinong have risen with the tide; the guests here today are all substantial figures, so Yan Li personally hosted them.

"Your company has been making big moves lately—Young Yang Family Warriors, Heavenly Immortal Flying, both major projects."

Tang Ren has been very active this year, heavily promoting the newly popular young actor Hu Ge.

They are currently filming and planning to invest in three dramas, covering urban romance, historical legend, and mythological tales—all starring Hu Ge.

On one hand, they're leveraging Hu Ge's current popularity to sell more TV rights; on the other, they're boosting Hu Ge to maximize company profits, with both film production and artist management flourishing.

"It's all thanks to Director Yan."

Cai Yinong smiled sweetly and returned the compliment—she wasn't lying.

Tang Ren's ability to launch three projects at once truly owes much to Yan Li's efforts.

The Legend of Sword and Fairy, though unable to air on satellite channels in the short term, can only trickle along slowly.

But thanks to Yan Li and Yi'an's operations, breaking even is already within reach; the New Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio project has progressed smoothly and has already turned a profit, with more revenue flowing in after future broadcasts.

Without Yan Li, Tang Ren would have faced severe financial pressure under its previous distribution efficiency and scale.

Even if Tang Ren could successfully run these projects, they'd have had to give up considerable profits.

The distribution of New Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio no longer needs attention; the reason she came today to show support was simply to honor Yan Li's face, and to discuss future collaboration between Tang Ren and Yi'an.

The urban romance drama is fine, but the Young Yang Family Warriors and Heavenly Immortal Flying projects each cost over fifty million.

Having tasted success, Cai Yinong still felt uneasy without locking in a partnership with Yan Li.

"No problem, no problem, let's chat later."

Why did Yan Li hold this screening event? To gain fame and find projects—Tang Ren's high-quality offerings were right at his doorstep; of course he wanted to collaborate.

Yan Li had also checked into Tang Ren's projects; all had some selling points, especially Young Yang Family Warriors and Heavenly Immortal Flying, both with strong potential.

Securing distribution rights for these two dramas would satisfy Tang Ren, Yi'an, and the television networks alike.

Yan Li didn't stay with Cai Yinong long—Liu Yanming from Hai Run and a senior official from CCTV arrived.

Though Director Cai was powerful, she still had to yield slightly before these two.

After much small talk, most guests had arrived, and the screening event officially began.

One episode of Bright Sword and one episode of New Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio were screened; the rest of the dramas were only shown as edited trailers.

After all, this wasn't a real screening event—the screening was just symbolic; the rest was PPT promotion.

This promotion included eight TV dramas in total, including Bright Sword and New Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

Three of them—The Mute Bride, Wrong Bus, and Family of Nine Phoenixes—had previously appeared in the 2005 Top 50 Ratings list 【Annual Intelligence Report】.

Notably, The Mute Bride was the work of Yan Li's old friend; the producer was Lu Ying Film, which had previously made Snow Goddess Dragon.

Originally, when this drama was being filmed, they had approached Dong Xuan.

But Dong Xuan was then filming The Great Song Mystery: The Squirrel Switching the Prince, one of the eight dramas here, and had no availability.

Yan Li placed relatively greater importance on The Mute Bride, as intelligence indicated it might secure the 2005 satellite TV ratings championship.

For this reason, Yan Li had personally watched the finished product.

To be honest, he thought it was unappealing, but he had to admit his personal taste didn't represent the market.

This kind of Republican-era tragic romance drama still had a massive viewer base at this stage.

Everyone says teenagers are the biggest guarantee for ratings, but when housewives and elderly people grab the remote, everyone else must yield.

A considerable portion of tragic romance dramas specifically target this viewer demographic.

So don't be fooled by the lack of online discussion, minimal media coverage, or lack of star promotion—it seems to vanish quietly, yet its ratings aren't low; in fact, they often crush some universally recognized hit dramas.

Actual commercial returns may not match those of mainstream blockbusters or historical Wu Xia hits, but the ceiling isn't low and the floor is high—steady, quiet, and profitable.

Regarding Yi'an's eight dramas this time:

The Mute Bride ranked fourth in sales revenue, with a margin barely narrower than third place, and was among the earliest to break even.

Even Yan Li did the math and felt tempted, wondering if he should invest in a couple similar projects when he had spare cash.

When operated well, this genre is like main theme content—doesn't make much, but carries extremely low risk, nearly a break-even investment.

After promoting the eight dramas with PPT and hyping Yi'an's distribution capabilities, the host invited Yan Li onstage to announce the total sales price of the eight dramas.

Yan Li stepped up, praised Yi'an's distribution team, and complimented all partners.

He was about to boast a bit more himself, but seeing the audience growing restless, he dropped the suspense and announced it himself.

"To date, we've partnered with over sixty television networks, covering more than a dozen provinces, including Taiwan and Xiangjiang; the total sales price for the eight dramas is…"

"142 million!"

Cai Yinong's ears rang; she turned to her assistant: "What did he say?"

"142 million."

Cai Yinong counted on her fingers: 142 million divided by eight equals roughly 17 million per drama.

Of course, the sales prices of the eight dramas varied.

Because some contracts required confidentiality, Yan Li only announced the total; the exact price of each drama was known only to Yi'an and each production team, including the TV networks, who only knew their own individual contracts.

Cai Yinong didn't know the others, but she knew New Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

Due to market development, Tang Ren's reputation, and The Strange Tales' influence, the combined revenue from two satellite channels, multiple local channels, Taiwan, and DVDs totaled 28 million.

This figure should be among the top few in the industry.

Even if the number-one title holds 30 million or more, the upper-mid tier 20 million or more, and the lower-mid tier 10 to 17 million, this 140 million should have little inflation.

The key is, this 140 million is only the revenue from the first round and early sales; broadcasting on TV stations can still generate more sales, plus second and third-round revenues.

The total selling price of these eight dramas is certainly not stopping at 200 million; 300 million… probably won't be reached.

Cai Yinong's mouth went dry; ignoring the uncollected amounts, just this 142 million, at a normal low distribution royalty of 10%, directly nets Yi'an 14.2 million.

The key is, Yi'an could never accept such a low royalty.

Anyway, Tang Ren offered 14%; if some weaker production teams find Yi'an's distribution contract attractive enough, negotiating up to 20% isn't impossible.

At a market-appropriate 15% for a strong distributor like Yi'an, these eight dramas would net nearly 20 million all at once.

If these eight dramas ultimately sell for 200 to 250 million, Yi'an's distribution royalty alone would be 30 to 38 million.

This is only half a year; if this launch establishes their reputation, another 8 to 10 dramas in the second half could bring in several more million.

Cai Yinong's eyes turned red with envy—Tang Ren works itself to the bone on several projects a year and still earns so little; she even thought of switching careers to distribution.

Yan Li didn't know Cai Yinong's thoughts; otherwise, he'd have refuted her.

It's not as easy as she thinks!

Distribution may be a low-cost business, but it still has expenses: team travel, accommodation, salaries, bonuses, PR fees, and all sorts of miscellaneous costs, plus taxes.

What actually lands in Yan Li's hands is only 60 to 70 percent; for projects with heavy expenses, it might be barely half.

More importantly, Yi'an's scale can't support as many projects as Cai Yinong suggests.

All eight projects require long-term follow-up—at least half a year each—demanding considerable time and manpower.

Add in scattered high-quality projects and Self-Produced projects, and the remaining capacity is truly limited.

This isn't something you can solve just by expanding the distribution team; even if you expand, TV stations might not be able to absorb all the content.

For just a few dramas, Yi'an can carefully pick TV stations with good reputations, clear boundaries, and prompt payments, securing satisfying prices.

But if there are too many projects, you're forced to partner with less scrupulous TV stations and inevitably make concessions, leading to endless complications and uncertainties.

Blind expansion equals chicken flying and eggs breaking!

Yan Li wasn't blinded by distribution profits; he still chose steady, gradual growth.

Of course, while Yan Li was cautious internally, for publicity purposes, Yi'an's public slogan remained eye-catching.

Eight dramas generated 142 million in early revenue, with a target total revenue of 250 to 300 million.

Privately bribed media even bluntly declared Yi'an "The Number One Distributor in Mainland TV," and Yan Li himself was crowned "The King of TV Drama Distribution."

This claim certainly had detractors!

But for now, excluding state-owned enterprises like China Film and CCTV, among private companies in TV distribution, few could match Yi'an.

Companies like Hai Run might have similar figures, but upon closer inspection, they absolutely couldn't match Yi'an's brilliance.

Otherwise, "Bright Sword" wouldn't have been led by Yi'an; even Hai Run had considered offering some projects for collaboration with Yi'an.

However, awkwardly, Hai Run also had its own distribution team; they wouldn't give up good projects, and Yi'an wouldn't touch the bad ones.

Only a high-quality but overlooked dark horse like "Bright Sword" could facilitate the distribution collaboration between Hai Run and Yi'an.

After the screening, related reports were released, hyping up Yi'an and Yan Li.

"Yi'an Screening Event Revenue Hits 142 Million; Yan Li Estimated to Earn at Least Ten Million."

"The Birth of the Distribution King: Yan Li Aims to Earn 300 Million from Eight Dramas."

"Compared to the Genius Producer, the Genius Distributor Is Yan Li's True Face."

"Since 2003's 'Conquest,' Yan Li Has Handled Over Ten TV Dramas, Total Revenue Approaching 500 Million."

"…"

After the news broke, ordinary people, unaware of industry secrets, simply assumed the 142 million belonged to Yan Li.

Is this Yan guy a reincarnated god of wealth? He makes money faster than printing bills!

Others understood the situation, recognizing Yan Li as a salesperson; someone on Tianya even wrote a popular science piece and analysis, roughly estimating Yan Li's earnings.

Though slightly off from the truth, it was far more reliable than media and netizens' wild guesses.

Some experts combined media reports, insider leaks, and Yan Li's resume to uncover that his core strength from the beginning was his exceptional sales and PR skills—still today, Yi'an's top asset in the industry is distribution.

Although "Distribution King" is somewhat exaggerated, it's not baseless.

Previously, outsiders knew Yan Li was formidable and wealthy, but understood little about how he earned it or rose to power.

This screening event's frenzy truly gave many a deeper understanding of Yan Li.

Someone—whether a Tieba or Tianya netizen—gave Yan Li a humorous nickname: "The King of Selling Dramas."

This title was far louder and more widely spread than "Distribution King."

After all, ordinary netizens didn't understand "distribution," but they definitely understood "selling dramas."

However, Yan Li, the subject himself, was deeply dissatisfied with this nickname.

Too vulgar!

The originally majestic title had been reduced to making him sound like the general agent for bootleg DVDs on a street corner.

What infuriated him most was people showing up on his blog asking when Wu Xilan's new film would come out.

How dare they! Didn't they know she retired in 2004?!

Online and in the public, most just watched the spectacle; many simply ignored it.

People wanted to see which girl this bastard was chasing, not how much money he made.

In contrast, the industry was shaken far more.

Before, whether Yan Boss counted as a big shot in the circle was still debated, mainly because Yan Li's rise had been too rapid.

But after this screening event, consensus was largely reached.

Even though many actors must curry favor with Yan Li for his projects, plenty still refuse to give him face—they can simply refuse to act in his dramas.

But this distribution capability, unmatched in the industry, meant plenty of film and television company bosses and industry heavyweights had to give him a few smiles.

After all, picking a fight with the "top seller" was picking a fight with money.

Yan Li's standing and voice within the industry rose in a straight line, especially in the television drama field, where the name 【Boss Yan】 grew ever more resounding.

But once a person got famous, troubles followed right behind.

…

In Xiangjiang, Huang Shengyi, who had just come back from the company, began wiping her tears, took out her phone, and hesitated back and forth among a few numbers.

Jia Nailiang — all he knows how to do is comfort people, useless as hell.

That Young Master Yang, now he does look like he has plenty of backing, and he can talk a good game, but he's honestly a bit lacking in looks, and a bit stingy too.

Huang Shengyi looked at the last number — her senior brother was still the best, her senior brother would definitely help her.

She brewed up her emotions for a moment, chose her words carefully, and Huang Shengyi dialed the number; after the ringing tone—

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is not in the service area………"

(End of chapter)