Chapter 274: Hua Yi and Huang Xiaoming Owe Yan Laoban a Banquet

The Wu Xia dramas "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang" and "The Deer and the Cauldron" remain Yi'an's most profitable current projects.

Other projects are also substantial, such as "The Legend of Yang Yuhuan."

Although "The White-Haired Witch" performed worse than "The Legend of Xue Rengui" and "The Great Qing Imperial Harem," it still genuinely boosted Fan Xiaopang's profile.

More importantly, Fan Xiaopang's fame has skyrocketed through films, advertisements, and exposure, and she is the only one among the Four Dan and Two Bing still consistently filming dramas.

Rarity commands value; since other actresses of her level aren't filming dramas, Fan Xiaopang is now the most popular female star in television.

Because of this, many television stations are willing to buy in.

Moreover, most of Fan Xiaopang's dramas over the past two years have performed very well, and even the few weaker ones still surpassed the passing threshold.

Thus, the price for "The Legend of Yang Yuhuan" is still quite good, qualifying as one of Yi'an's single-episode million-yuan target projects.

If it truly reaches this level, the total projected revenue for the entire drama could exceed 65 million, and could be even higher if performance is strong.

Fan Xiaopang's role in this is not exactly decisive, but it is extremely important.

The Film & Television Department and Artist Management Department have already begun studying the matter: the fastest possible timeline is Fan Xiaopang's new drama "Xiao Yanzhi," and the slowest is the one after "Xiao Yanzhi."

Both departments must assess Fan Xiaopang's value-add to projects and then allocate corresponding benefits.

Whether to establish the company's first studio is also under discussion.

Fan Xiaopang herself is somewhat indifferent to this.

Due to her special relationship with Seeing Yan Li, even without a studio, she lacks neither freedom nor financial benefits—the company has never shortchanged her.

However, her personal team wants fewer intermediaries, greater profits, and more influence.

Meanwhile, the Artist Management Department does not want its biggest money-maker to become semi-independent and exert influence over the department.

Where there are people, there is intrigue; this is true not just for Yi'an as a whole, but even around a single popular artist, endless disputes arise.

Besides their own productions, Yi'an has invested in "Golden Marriage," and solely distributed "New Shanghai Bund" and "Struggle."

"Golden Marriage" has the lowest asking price.

The leads, Zhang Guoli and Jiang Wenli, are both well-known actors in the industry, but their popularity and exposure are debatable.

Moreover, this genre of family historical drama is not particularly favored by the market.

To be fair, the audience for this genre is still considerable, and its upper limit is quite high.

But similarly, its lower limit is low—or rather, most such dramas have mediocre ratings and reception.

As a result, opinions on "Golden Marriage" are divided: some are optimistic, others pessimistic, and television stations overall adopt a conservative stance.

Coupled with its high episode count, "Golden Marriage" also has the lowest per-episode price among these dramas, at around 650,000 yuan.

"New Shanghai Bund" is very different: its cast is excellent, featuring the currently popular Huang Xiaoming and Sun Li, alongside powerhouse male actors like Huang Haibo and Li Xuejian and veteran performers.

Director Gao Xixi has had solid results over the past two years, and the drama itself is an adaptation of the massively influential original "Shanghai Bund," naturally drawing immense attention.

Even if Yi'an weren't involved, another reliable and capable distribution company could still negotiate a per-episode price of one million yuan for this project.

But Yi'an's approach is more stable, and other revenue streams will also be higher.

Ultimately, after a trial broadcast on local channels, the drama was sold for its first terrestrial broadcast at 1.05 million yuan per episode, totaling 44.1 million yuan (42 episodes).

This price may not have shocked the industry, but it was still a highly impactful transaction.

To be fair, Seeing Yan Li himself feels that even though he arranged Deng Chao's publicity stunt, Huang Xiaoming should still throw him a banquet to show gratitude.

Not to mention that the marketing campaign's "Big Four Number One" status also benefited him; simply having Yi'an distribute his three dramas—"The Deer and the Cauldron," "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," and "New Shanghai Bund"—all surpassing one million yuan per episode, has lifted his value immeasurably.

After all, with these dramas so successful, Huang Xiaoming, as the lead, naturally became highly sought after by the market.

Although Yi'an merely played a supporting role in this, it still warrants this kid—and even Hua Yi's two brothers—to treat Seeing Yan Li to a banquet.

Of course, Seeing Yan Li himself also made a small profit from it.

The distribution share for "The Deer and the Cauldron" is the same as for "The Legend of the Condor Heroes": 16%.

For "New Shanghai Bund," other distributors were competing fiercely; despite Yi'an's strong advantages, to secure the project, they made a slight concession, settling on a 14% share.

Based on current trends, the combined revenue from these two dramas will definitely exceed 150 million yuan.

Especially "The Deer and the Cauldron," with a guaranteed minimum of 80 million yuan; at that figure alone, Yi'an earns over 12 million yuan.

"New Shanghai Bund" is also performing well, with a real chance of reaching 80 million yuan; at least a 70–75 million yuan range is certain, earning Yi'an roughly 10 million yuan.

Looking at it this way, Huang Xiaoming is barely a lucky charm for Seeing Yan Li.

Had he not already been entangled with Hua Yi and blocked by Qin Lan, from a practical standpoint, he would be Yi'an's ideal top artist.

As for the last one, "Struggle," it also sold well.

Although the cast isn't exceptional, Tong Dawei, Li Xiaolu, and Ma Yili are all popular young actors and actresses; though most others are newcomers, they are backed by the renowned director Zhao Baogang.

As previously mentioned, a television director's fame and influence are vastly inferior to that of a film director.

To be called a renowned director with real clout means, in plain terms, only a handful of directors whom television stations are willing to pay for.

But Zhao Baogang is undoubtedly one of them; his numerous Haiyan dramas and signature works have earned strong recognition from the industry, media, and public, especially in modern-themed productions, which television stations practically fight over.

Had Yi'an not had such a strong reputation, and had Tong Dawei not brokered the connection, Zhao Baogang might not have entrusted "Struggle"'s distribution to Yi'an.

Fortunately, Yi'an did not disappoint him—in fact, they exceeded his expectations.

Remember, "Struggle" is a modern drama with a relatively modest cast, and its production cost was not high—around 15 million yuan.

Normally, due to Zhao Baogang's reputation, it would carry a premium over average dramas, and breaking even on its first broadcast was highly likely.

But Zhao Baogang never imagined that Yi'an sold "Struggle" to four satellite channels, pushing the per-episode price to 800,000 yuan.

"Struggle" has 32 episodes; at 800,000 yuan per episode, that's over 25.6 million yuan—far exceeding the break-even point and netting a profit of 10 million yuan.

Zhao Baogang had long known Yi'an was excellent at selling dramas; even Hua Yi and HaiRun occasionally entrusted their key projects to Yi'an for distribution.

But he never imagined Yi'an was this powerful—if they keep selling like this, "Struggle" could become the most profitable drama his company has produced in years.

In fact, Zhao Baogang didn't know that "Struggle" sold so well for one special reason:

First, Yi'an's television drama distribution follows a premium strategy, with most of its annual revenue coming from just a few blockbuster hits.

Therefore, the more profitable a drama is, the more elite personnel and resources Yi'an devotes to it, often achieving market-shocking, record-breaking results.

Secondly, Zhao Baogang is a renowned director in the industry—high output and consistently solid results.

At the same time, his company Xinbaoyuan has some capital, but it's not as strong as Hairun or Huayi; it has no ambition to become a giant, and doesn't much care about handing its distribution channels to others.