National Tide 1980.

Film and television circles, film and television circles, it has to be said that there is some truth in the fact that ordinary people like to confuse movies and television.

Because the relationship between movies and television is really subtle, and it can indeed be said that they are highly related.

From the script to the cast, and even the director and production team, they often cross over with each other.

Even the extent and speed of information exchange is surprising enough.

People like Ning Weimin did not expect that in this era when it is still difficult to spread information.

He had just discussed a series of cooperation plans with the Film Bureau and China Film Corporation, and did not even have time to say hello to Song Huagui or politely seek the opinion of his immediate superior.

As a result, the National Television Drama Production Center got hold of the relevant situation first.

At the beginning, the person in charge who decided to sell the overseas copyright of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" to him actually called him specifically for this purpose.

He half-jokingly said on the phone that he should not be partial to some and only support film creation and forget his old friends.

His intelligence skills and efficiency are even better than those of professional agents.

At the same time, the person in charge also mentioned their meeting at the wedding a few days ago. At that time, they were only busy drinking and celebrating, and had not had time to discuss some important matters with Ning Weimin. Now he very "sincerely" invited him to spare some time to come to the production center to sit and drink tea.

Needless to say, as a smart man, Ning Weimin naturally understood the meaning of the other person's words.

Obviously, the TV drama production center is a little worried that all the funds in his hands are invested in the film industry, so he wants to intervene and steal some of the money.

For this reason, he just felt a little funny about the wealth and power, but did not refuse.

After all, he knew how much the domestic cultural industry was currently lacking in funds, and he had just experienced the ills of the current system. As far as the film and television industry was concerned, all production units were poor peasants, and there were no landlords at all.

Sure enough, when they met again at the TV drama production center the next day, the person in charge exchanged some polite words with Ning Weimin in person, and then began to strongly recommend the Curry TV series to him, hoping that he would buy more and continue to broadcast it overseas.

The TV drama production center can also use this money as capital to produce more dramas.

But it is a pity that although Ning Weimin also wanted to help, he did not want to disappoint the person in charge.

But the problem is that this creative method of filming famous works by TV drama production centers has only just begun to gain momentum in recent years.

Most of the TV series they had filmed before were about reform and opening up and reflections on the "movement".

For example, "Wasted Years" and "Walking Through the Storm".

There are also anti-Japanese war dramas and spy dramas that reflect the war years, such as "Harbin Under the Night" and "Triumph at Midnight".

There are very few TV series like "Snowy Field" that focus on the emotional lives of ordinary people.

Even TV series like "Plainclothes Police" and "Looking for the Lost World" with compact plots and rich emotions are stories based on the historical environment of a special era.

If you don't understand that special period of history, it is difficult to fully understand the logic of the play.

Therefore, these TV dramas are too far away from the lives of the Japanese and can hardly arouse their interest.

In Ning Weimin's opinion, due to the large differences in the current social environment and economic development between China and Japan, these TV dramas are really not suitable for broadcast in Japan and are difficult to sell.

Not to mention the good time slots, it would probably be difficult to ask TBS to broadcast during the night time slot when the audience is the least.

Therefore, Ning Weimin picked and chose among the curry players, but couldn't find anything he liked.

In the end, I could only pick a general from a group of short men and reluctantly bought the eight episodes of "Jigong" that had just been aired this year, as well as the eight episodes of "Wu Song" and the ten episodes of "Qin Emperor Li Shimin" that had been stored previously.

I believe that the Japanese are more accepting of these things related to history and mythology.

Although he bought only a few dramas, he offered a very generous price. He directly offered US$100,000 for three TV series.

On average, that’s four thousand dollars per episode, which is definitely not stingy.

You know, in this era, domestic film and television drama creation only needs to arrange transportation and accommodation for shooting outdoor scenes, and no money is spent on other aspects.

In order to receive the crew, units from all over the country were extremely happy. They felt that they were doing publicity for them and that movies and television were sacred, so they had no concept of charging any fees at all.

In fact, the production cost of each drama is only about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan at most.

It can be said that except for TV series such as "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Journey to the West" that require the production of a large number of special props and costumes, the others are absolutely low-cost productions.

The 100,000 US dollars offered by Ning Weimin is equivalent to nearly 800,000 US dollars at the actual exchange rate among the people.

  The money from just two episodes is enough to cover the cost of each drama, and the rest is pure profit. How can the person in charge not be satisfied?

Don’t say anything else, just say that the price he offered is absolutely generous and grand even compared with ATV in Hong Kong.

You have to know that ATV was willing to spend US$2,500 per episode to buy "Dream of Red Mansions", and the entire drama only cost US$90,000.

And the price was raised only because Ning Weimin was willing to buy the overseas copyright of "Dream of Red Mansions" at a sky-high price of 400,000 US dollars.

Otherwise, ATV would only be willing to pay US$1,800 per episode at most.

These Hong Kong cowards are not much better than those Japanese profiteers who charge one thousand US dollars per episode.

Therefore, whether Ning Weimin is a genuine and generous person is something that the person in charge has no doubt about.

That’s not all. Ning Weimin was indeed a good friend. In order to help the person in charge share his worries, he even took the initiative to propose an advance payment, which touched the person in charge from the bottom of his heart and his liking for him soared.

It turns out that according to Ning Weimin, the TV drama production center is short of money to shoot a new drama.

It doesn’t matter. He is willing to take out $200,000 first to solve the urgent needs of the production center.

Anyway, the cooperation between the two parties is a long-term thing, not a one-time deal, so this can be regarded as a advance payment.

When a new TV series is released, they will convert it according to the transaction price.

In this way, the quality of TV drama creation can be better guaranteed.

Needless to say, as soon as this suggestion came out, the person in charge's eyes were full of stars. At this time, he looked at Ning Weimin as if he were closer to him than his own brother.

Although they were a little disappointed with his purchase volume at first, the person in charge never dreamed that Ning Weimin would be willing to pay first and take the goods later.

The person in charge was quite satisfied and contented that he could finally get 300,000 US dollars in foreign exchange from Ning Weimin, which was equivalent to more than 2.2 million in financial support.

At this time, let alone no negative emotions at all, it would not be an exaggeration to say that I was overjoyed. Therefore, when Ning Weimin proposed to the person in charge that he hoped to invite the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" to visit Japan next month, to enhance cultural exchanges and expand the influence of "Dream of Red Mansions" on Japan.

There is naturally no reason for the person in charge to not cooperate.

He immediately said that the crew of "Dream of Red Mansions" had just visited Japan not long ago, and most of the people had not yet dispersed after returning to Beijing. They were temporarily staying in Beijing awaiting the crew's subsequent arrangements. It was not difficult to gather them together, and it was just a matter of giving an order.

Now when they hear the news that they can go to Japan again, they will be very happy.

As for Ning Weimin's suggestion of asking the crew to do some commercial promotion for the new stores of Tan Gong Restaurant in Kyoto and Osaka while they are in Japan, the person in charge agreed immediately and said it was no problem.

He said that as a cultural institution, it is their responsibility to support domestic enterprises in their overseas business operations.

We should especially cooperate and support people like Ning Weimin who have devoted themselves to supporting the development of domestic film and television and have made great contributions to the overseas promotion of "Dream of Red Mansions".

Not to mention attending a few commercial events for him, even asking the crew to shoot a commercial for him would be reasonable.

To be honest, the person in charge just said these last few sentences casually to show his magnanimity.

But for Ning Weimin, whose mind was full of abacus beads, he was overjoyed and took it seriously.

On the spot, his eyes rolled and a new idea came to his mind.

  He thought to himself, yes, "Dream of Red Mansions" is an eternal classic and it is so popular now. Besides, he has the convenience, why not take advantage of it?

If we don’t make full use of the current popularity of Dream of the Red Chamber and let it show more commercial value, wouldn’t it be a waste of such a good resource? Wouldn’t that be stupid?

It can be said that apart from selling nostalgia with "The Last Emperor" and "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace", Tan Palace Restaurant has not reaped the benefits of IP again.

With such a good IP, he only thought about selling peripheral products such as handicrafts. Why didn't he think about developing Twelve Golden Hairpins snacks, Twelve Golden Hairpins wine, and the Red Mansion Banquet?

He had laughed at the Grand View Garden in the past, but in fact it was just the pot calling the kettle black.

It seems that stock and property speculation can really ruin people. The financial game has lowered the intelligence of even a smart person like him.

Just like that, inspired by the person in charge, Ning Weimin, who was originally anxious to leave, was no longer in a hurry to leave.

Instead, he started to discuss with the person in charge the comprehensive cooperation between the "Dream of Red Mansions" crew and Tan Palace Restaurant.

They chatted from morning to afternoon, and at noon they sat together to drink some wine and have a meal.

The final results were impressive, and Ning Weimin signed a comprehensive advertising cooperation agreement with the National Television Drama Production Center at a cost of RMB 300,000.

The TV Drama Production Center not only agreed to provide authoritative endorsement for the "Dream of Red Mansions" themed catering activities and service content launched by Tan Palace Restaurant on behalf of the crew.

He also promised to arrange for the main actors in the crew to be in place as soon as possible to shoot advertisements for Tan Gong Restaurant and the Dream of the Red Chamber-related handicrafts ordered by Ning Weimin.

To put it bluntly, this is equivalent to Ning Weimin signing the entire crew to endorse his products.

That was not all. Ning Weimin turned around and went to the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. He collected many well-known terms closely related to "Dream of the Red Chamber", including "Red Chamber Banquet", "Grand View Garden", "Twelve Golden Hairpins", "The Story of the Stone", "The Land of Illusion", "The Spiritual Jade", "The Fairy of the Crimson Pearl", "The Waiter of the Divine Water", "A Mirror of Love and Lust", etc., and registered them all as commercial trademarks.

The business scope covers a variety of industries including clothing, jewelry, catering, wine, beverages, snacks, toys, and handicrafts.

This time, he was considered a ruthless man who blocked the way for others.

Without making a fuss, they quietly monopolized most of the commercial applications of "Dream of Red Mansions", one of China's four major IPs.

Although he himself did not know it, according to the original history, a few months later, a village-run winery in Yibin, Sichuan, which should have become popular with the "Dream of Red Mansions" trademark and "Twelve Golden Hairpins Wine", and escaped poverty and became rich, and prospered for five or six years, had its future completely ruined by him.

The good days that could have been in his grasp were now ruined because of him.

I really don't know whether to say that he is smart or that he was too ruthless.

All in all, this deal was a great bargain for him.

Although I spent a lot more money, the things I bought and the favors I received were priceless.

However, much to Ning Weimin's surprise, the chain reaction of the news leak had not ended yet.

A few days later, Liu Xiaoqin relied on her own connections and got the news from some unknown channel about Ning Weimin's recent activities in the film and television industry.

So she also called Ning Weimin.

But the difference is that she was accusing Ning Weimin of being unkind on the phone.

It was said that among the five films that Ning Weimin had agreed with the Film Bureau and China Film Corporation to be exported, there was not a single film in which she starred.

  Ask Ning Weimin whether he considers her as a friend or not? Does he look down on her?

Ning Weimin, knowing her temper well, valued her straightforwardness and honesty.

It was somewhat expected that the overly indulgent and overconfident "Empress Dowager Cixi" would have such a pretentious reaction.

Therefore, instead of minding it, he told her frankly that the reason why Liu Xiaoqin was not chosen to star in the movie was because the "Empress Dowager" series suitable for release in Japan all went through Hong Kong's distribution channels, and he had no say in it.

Other films she starred in are not suitable for release in Japan. For example, "Furong Town" involves the historical background of a special era and is not easy for foreigners to understand.

Then there is nothing we can do but wait until she has a work with suitable subject matter before we can work together again.

Unexpectedly, Liu Xiaoqin immediately responded that she was currently filming a movie about "two men falling in love with the same woman, and the three of them sleeping on the same kang."

The story is set in the capital of the Republic of China. The scenario is simple and should fit Ning Weimin’s description just now. It is also nearing completion.

I just don't know whether Ning Weimin is interested or willing to meet with her.

In this way, Ning Weimin had no room to refuse, and had to agree to the appointment for the sake of face.

And he did develop a strong curiosity, but after thinking about it, he still couldn't figure out what kind of movie this was.

In the 1980s, were our films so bold and stimulating?

I haven't heard of it. It can't be that it was banned after it was filmed and has no chance of being adapted into a big screen.

Unexpectedly, the next day when he arrived at the Beijing Factory and saw Ming and Qing Street, where countless well-known movies had been filmed, Ning Weimin couldn't help but laugh. He couldn't help but admire Liu Xiaoqin's intelligence and cunning.

It turns out that this movie is "Chun Tao" directed by Ling Zifeng and starring Liu Xiaoqin and Jiang Wen.

The effect of this joke is no less than that of someone misrepresenting the Chinese comedy "Look at This Family" as the American movie "George's Family". (End of this chapter)