This star is wrong

Chapter 554 Expanding the Business Territory
Tea was drunk in the reception room, but no wine was served.

Gong Jianbin poured a glass for Fang Xing and introduced: "This is the lapsang souchong brought by my friend from Wuyi Mountain. Mr. Fang will try it."

Fang Xing took a sip and found the tea fragrant.

The three drank tea and chatted casually about the film and television industry.

After chatting for a while, Gong Jianbin gradually brought the topic to the main topic:

"Mr. Fang hasn't produced a film and television drama this year. I wonder if there is any plan for this?"

Fang Xing put down his teacup and replied, "There is no film and television project yet."

On the side, Zhou Ning, president of Wandou Film and Television, praised: "Ark Culture is now a golden brand in the film and television industry, and "The Elegance of the Tang Dynasty" produced in the first half of the year also performed very well."

"Da Tang Feng Hua" is produced by Ark Culture. The ancient puppet directed by Zhang Yigao, with A-level investment, has the texture of entry-level S-level investment, and the broadcast results are also good.

Although there is no big hit, but in the film and television drama industry, hit dramas are something that can only be met but not sought after.

Therefore, in the film and television industry, as long as it is a profitable project, it is a good project.

Therefore, this "Fenghua of the Tang Dynasty" was still successful without Fang Xing as the director. On the contrary, it shows that the TV series produced by Ark Culture are guaranteed.

"It's not bad, it's a profit." Fang Xing casually said modestly.

"As expected of Mr. Fang, the other party generally doesn't care much about such a successful TV series. But yes, compared with "Langya Bang", the data of "Da Tang Feng Hua" is not impressive, but it is placed in other film and television companies , that is a high-quality project." Zhou Ning complimented.

"Boss Zhou is too well-respected." Fang Xing maintained a humble attitude.

Gong Jianbin took over the conversation and asked: "I heard that the headquarters park of Ark Culture has been completed, and we were not invited to go when it was being cut."

"Mr. Gong is very busy, why do you have the nerve to interrupt?"

The cutting ceremony for the completion of the first phase of the Ark Cultural Headquarters Park was actually not a big event, so not many people were invited.

"I heard that the Xingyun animation building was built in the Ark Cultural Headquarters Park. Are you planning to develop animation in the future?" Gong Jianbin asked.

"Ningyun animation not only does animation, but also special effects. Last year, Xingyun film and television special effects company was established, and it is also in the Xingyun animation building. In the future, if Mr. Gong needs special effects, remember to find us at Xingyun." Fang Xing still remembers Pull projects for Nebula special effects.

However, Nebula Special Effects has just started a year ago. In fact, its strength in special effects is relatively average and it is still in the money-burning stage.

The early development of the special effects company is very expensive. If it weren't for Ark Culture's continuous release of popular film and television dramas, and the support of top songs, it would not be able to afford it.

Fang Xing is willing to spend money on Nebula special effects. Many headhunting companies in China have spent tens of millions of dollars to help recruit people, but there is no splash on Nebula special effects so far.

"Okay, we will definitely cooperate if we have the opportunity." Gong Jianbin agreed casually, but whether these words are polite or not depends on the actual actions later.

After a pause, Gong Jianbin looked at Zhou Ning and asked, "Are there any special effects that need to be produced for the self-made drama that is being produced now?"

"This...I have to go back and ask." Zhou Ning, as the president of Pea Films, needs to be responsible for the company's self-produced drama project.

Find a special effects company that has just been established to do special effects. If something goes wrong, he has to take responsibility.

Gong Jianbin added: "If there are projects that require special effects, give priority to Nebula special effects."

Zhou Ning nodded and agreed: "Okay."

It doesn't matter if I agree to this matter. After all, there are many places where special effects are needed in today's film and television dramas.

For special effects that are difficult, it is natural to find an established special effects company. For simpler special effects, it is not impossible to hand them over to Nebula Special Effects.

Of course, this matter depends on how the specific project is discussed.

Gong Jianbin then asked: "Is Fang always planning to increase the output of film and television content in the future?"

Fang Xing nodded and replied, "At least the film and television content will continue to be output."

Gong Jianbin came closer and asked: "Mr. Fang, have you ever thought about in-depth cooperation between Ark Culture and Wandou Video?"

Fang Xing looked at his expression and asked, "How deep is the in-depth cooperation Mr. Gong mentioned?"

"It can be as deep as you want." Gong Jianbin said something that seemed to be joking.

"Boss Gong is planning to poach the wall of Penguin Video." Fang Xing also teased in a joking tone.

Gong Jianbin continued: "Penguin Group has its own film and television company, and it is a fully ecological closed loop. Ark Culture is not in this closed loop. When there is use value, it is in-depth cooperation. If there is no use value, it can be thrown away at any time."

This sentence is suspected of alienation.

However, what he said was indeed true.

Penguin Video is a subsidiary of Penguin Group, and the business group of Penguin Group in the field of entertainment, from novels to comics, to animation, to film and television, the entire ecological chain forms a closed loop, and each link has a subsidiary enclosure.

This means that unless Ark Culture becomes a subsidiary of Penguin Group, it will never enter this ecosystem.

Moreover, the strategic cooperation of Penguin Video cannot be decided by the CEO of Penguin Video, and needs the support of the group headquarters.

In fact.

When Li Xueying, vice president of Penguin Video, proposed to broadcast "Dark Glory" exclusively, Fang Xing had considered it, but if he wanted to broadcast "Dark Glory" exclusively, it could not be negotiated with a guarantee contract.

If Li Xueying could call the shots at that time and let Fang Xing increase his shareholding and become the real major shareholder of Penguin Video, then exclusive broadcasting could be discussed.

However, this kind of strategic cooperation involving equity structure is not up to Li Xueying, or even the president of Penguin Video.

It can even be said that there is no room for discussion on this matter.

However, once "Dark Glory" is exclusively broadcast on Penguin Video, it means that viewers need to register as a VIP member on Penguin Video if they want to watch this show on the official website.

With the popularity of this show dominating the charts, Penguin Video will bring a large number of VIP members, and even snatch members from other video sites.

This is an absolute big moneymaker for Penguin Video.

However, the solo broadcast is actually less profitable for Ark Culture.

After all, the number of VIP members of the three major video sites is close to [-] million. Penguin Video's exclusive broadcast is equivalent to giving up the [-] million VIP viewers of the other two major video sites. cut in half.

This is why popular dramas are usually multi-platform simulcast.

Fang Xing said at the time that strategic-level cooperation was needed to broadcast "Dark Glory" exclusively. This requirement was not excessive at all.

However, no one knew that "Dark Glory" could be so popular that it could even dominate the charts in overseas markets.

Therefore, there was no room for discussion in this solo cooperation from the very beginning.

just now.

Gong Jianbin, the president of Pea Video, said in a joking tone that he wants to cooperate deeply with Ark Culture, even as deep as possible.

The tone is joking, but the words are serious.

In fact, this was a throwing stone to ask for directions, to find out what Fang Xing meant.

If Fang Xing intends to cooperate in depth, then we can continue the discussion.

Fang Xing didn't directly refuse, but he didn't immediately agree either. Instead, he stared at Gong Jianbin with great interest.

Gong Jianbin knew that he was waiting for his sincerity, so he talked about last year's events: "Last year, I heard that Penguin Video had talked with Mr. Fang about cooperating in the solo broadcast of "Dark Glory", but in the end the negotiation failed."

Fang Xing didn't deny it either: "President Li of Penguin Video did talk about this matter, but in fact there is no room for this matter."

Everyone is an insider, and it is not a secret that Penguin Video wants to broadcast "Dark Glory" exclusively.

Gong Jianbin smiled heartily: "President Fang came to me at that time. If he came to me, as long as it can be broadcast exclusively, we can discuss any cooperation plan."

Fang Xing asked with a smile: "Are you sure?"

Gong Jianbin said in a very firm tone: "Of course, the president of Penguin Video cannot make the decision, but we at Wandou Video can."

Fang Xing praised: "I actually admire Mr. Gong's vision. He was the first to invest in self-produced dramas, and he has a good vision. The TV dramas produced by Pea Video have basically succeeded."

Gong Jianbin praised Zhou Ning next to him: "The main reason is that Zhou Ning has a good vision."

"Don't dare, it's due to Mr. Gong's sufficient support." Zhou Ning said modestly.

Gong Jianbin then asked: "If "Dark Glory" was to be broadcast exclusively, what kind of conditions did Mr. Fang think there would be room for negotiation?"

Fang Xing laughed and said, ""Dark Glory" has been aired for so long, so it's useless to talk about it."

Gong Jianbin said: "Let's chat casually, I also want to hear about the future development direction of Ark Culture."

Fang Xing thought for a while, and came up with a very surprising answer: "Maybe you have to hold 20% of the shares."

Hearing this number, Gong Jianbin and Zhou Ning raised their eyebrows at the same time.

When a large company develops to a certain scale, the ownership structure will inevitably change, otherwise the bottleneck encountered will be difficult to overcome.

Just like Pea Video, Gong Jianbin, as the founder and CEO, and the largest shareholder, only holds 32% of the shares.

And this shareholding ratio is considered to be relatively high in companies of the same level.

However, as soon as Fang Xing opened his mouth, he said that he had to hold 20% of the shares to have room for negotiation.

This request, let alone Penguin Video, no domestic company would agree to.

Of course, what Fang Xing said about holding 20% ​​of the shares did not mean exchanging 20% ​​of the shares for a TV series, which is impossible.

No matter how popular a TV series is, it can only earn three to five billion yuan.

At present, the three major video websites are valued at more than 100 billion. It is impossible to exchange 20% of the shares for TV dramas, and there is no such transaction method.

After all, the income of a TV series is not known until the broadcast is over.

The value of the shares is determined according to the market valuation.

There is no possibility of trading between the two.

Fang Xing refers to holding 20% ​​of the shares, which means acquiring 20% ​​of the shares through investment and other means.

In the future, Ark Culture will continue to export film and television content, so it is a good choice to invest in a video website, which can continue to expand its business territory.

Moreover, the development momentum of video websites is very strong now.

Fang Xing has a hunch that the development of video sites will be faster and faster in the future. The current valuation of Pea Video is still around 120 billion. In a few years, it will at least double or triple.

Of course, the premise is not to fall behind.

Although video websites are developing rapidly, competition is also fierce.

Moreover, video websites need to rely on content support, and only by continuously launching high-quality content can they stabilize the audience.

However, high-quality content does not mean that it can be launched just after it is released, it needs to be output with high-quality content.

Undoubtedly, Ark Culture is the exporter of such high-quality content.

However, Ark Culture has always had an in-depth cooperative relationship with Penguin Video.

It is basically impossible for Pea Video to dig into this wall without some aggressive cooperation methods.

The three talked all night.

It was a great chat. Of course, such a major cooperation cannot be achieved by just chatting.

Gong Jianbin has to go back and discuss with the company's senior management and the board of directors before making a decision.

However, one thing Gong Jianbin can be sure of is that Fang Xing wants to acquire 20% of the shares of Pea Video. If this cooperation is really achieved, then Pea Video will basically be tied to the same chariot as Ark Culture. When the time comes, Penguin Video will If you want to grab it, you can't grab it.

……

The dinner is over.

Gong Jianbin asked Zhou Ning to ride in the same car with him and go back together.

In the car, Gong Jianbin asked, "What do you think of Fang Xing's plan?"

Zhou Ning turned to look at Gong Jianbin's expression, and said with a smile, "Mr. Gong is tempted."

Gong Jianbin mused: "If Fang Xing can continue to produce TV series as popular as "Nirvana in Fire" and "The Pretender", this cooperation will not be a loss."

Zhou Ning nodded and said, "But the problem is, no one knows whether Fang Xing's next drama will be a hit."

Gong Jianbin looked at him, and asked seriously: "Are you sure that Fang Xing was able to produce six hit dramas in a row, did it depend on his strength or luck?"

Zhou Ning fell silent, and then said after a while: "I think it's a combination of strength and luck, and this person has a very accurate market vision and knows what the audience wants to see.

"Actually, I wasn't sure before Ark Culture filmed "The Legend of the Tang Dynasty", but after Fang Xing was not the director of this drama, the results were only a small hit.

"It shows that Fang Xing does play a huge role in the TV series."

Gong Jianbin then asked: "Then, do you think Fang Xing's proposed 20% stake is feasible?"

Zhou Ning did not give a definite answer: "It depends on Mr. Gong's development plan. However, if Fang Xing is agreed to hold 20% of the shares, it means that Mr. Gong's shares will be diluted to less than 26%. Or Mr. Gong can consider, Let him film another drama to prove his strength."

……

A week has passed.

Gong Jianbin asked Fang Xing to meet again, this time in the headquarters office building of Pea Video.

Obviously this meeting is more formal.

Fang Xing brought several senior executives of the company with him, as well as the director of the investment department.

Gong Jianbin made a proposal, which is a gambling agreement:
"Mr. Fang is willing to give it a try. Ark Culture has customized a TV series for Pea Video. If the broadcast results meet the standards, then Mr. Fang is welcome to become the second largest shareholder of Pea Video."

VAM agreements are not uncommon in the film and television industry. Many producers will sign VAM agreements with investors and distribution companies.

Earn profits based on the performance of film and television works.

The better the performance of film and television works, the higher the income will be.

On the contrary, if the performance of the show is much lower than that, then Party B who signed the betting agreement will not only make no money, but even lose money.

It depends on whether the film studio has confidence in the film and television works it produces.

(End of this chapter)