1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Xu Feng held the phone and pondered for a while, then called Zhang Youan again.

Zhang Youan is in the United States, so it should be morning now.

The phone rang for a long time before it was connected. Zhang Youan's slightly lazy voice came from the other end, "Hello, who is this?"

"I."

Hearing Xu Feng's voice, Zhang Youan became more energetic. "Boss Xu, what do you want to tell me?"

"Let me ask you about the new song Zhou Yan wrote for Celine Dion. The news has now spread in China and has stimulated the box office to a certain extent. I want to see if there is any potential that can be tapped." Xu Feng expressed his thoughts.

Zhang Youan thought about it and said, "Yes."

On the other end of the phone, Xu Feng's eyes lit up, "What do you mean?"

"Although the new song is not as exaggerated as the news said, it has indeed attracted the attention of many American fans. Now there are many fans here who want to hear the song as soon as possible."

"Do fans want Celine Dion to release a single in advance, or for the movie to release the soundtrack in advance?" asked Xu Feng.

"It's all of them, but there's also a voice that wants a TV station to get the broadcasting rights for Celine Dion's concert, so they can hear this song on TV."

"Oh, that's a good idea, but will it affect the copyright agreement we signed earlier?"

"No, Celine Dion has this power. We have already agreed on this."

"Ah."

Xu Feng didn't want to restrict Celine Dion. She asked this just to find out if it would be troublesome to accomplish this task.

It seems that if Celine Dion and others are willing, they can sell the copyright of the concert to the TV station without the consent of Thompson.

However, there are many things involved in the concert broadcasting rights, and Celine Dion may not sell them.

The key is that this concert is a series, with more than one show, and there will be concerts in Boston, Chicago and other places later.

The content of concerts in the same series is basically the same. If the audience watches it on TV in advance, they may lose interest in going to watch it in person.

This will affect the ticket sales of subsequent concerts.

Therefore, most of the time, the broadcasting rights of such concerts will not be sold. If they are sold, they will have to wait until the series of concerts has ended for a while. By that time, they will not care about the impact on the box office.

And generally speaking, record companies will not sell Bo Restaurant directly to TV stations, because they can make their own videotapes, CDs, etc., which has higher profit margins. Anyway, after making CDs and videotapes, they can still be sold to TV stations.

However, this is not certain. Tickets for popular female singers like Celine Dion are very easy to sell, and the shows after her are all indoor venues, so there is not much pressure to sell tickets.

As for products such as videotapes and CDs, it also depends on the strategy of the record company.

Xu Feng thought for a moment and said, "This is indeed good news. It depends on whether Celine Dion and the others are willing to do it. However, even if a TV station wants to buy it and Sony is willing to sell it, it will take some time. We will then bring the news to China. Even if the movie has not been released yet, it will probably be released soon."

Xu Feng thought that it might be too late to handle this matter now.

Zhang Youan said with a smile, "Boss Xu, can we take the initiative?"

"Take the initiative?" Xu Feng was quite puzzled. How could they take the initiative in this matter?

Could they take the initiative to find Sony and ask them to sell the broadcasting rights of the concert to the TV station as soon as possible? Would Sony be willing to do so? Also, would any TV station be willing to buy it?

Zhang Youan explained, "We can't control the TV stations in the United States, nor do we need to control them. We can consider the TV stations in China."

"You mean..."

Zhang Youan said with a smile, "Mr. Xu, you guessed right. What I mean is to find a domestic TV station to buy the broadcasting rights of Celine Dion's concert and then broadcast it in China."

Xu Feng immediately understood Zhang Youan's plan and the trick. She couldn't help but nodded and said, "Yes, it may not be easy for American TV stations to buy the broadcasting rights for Celine Dion's concert, but we have a good chance."

She said this not because she thinks they have a good relationship with Sony, but because mainland China has a natural advantage in this regard.

To Sony, mainland China is equivalent to a desert covered with trees.

This metaphor is funny, but it makes sense.

The reason why this place is called a desert is that it has huge potential and has the largest number of fans in the world, but it is also a desert because of rampant piracy and Sony cannot make big money here.

Sony's records can be found everywhere in China, but it is not easy to find an authentic one.

At this time, a Chinese TV station came to them and said that it was willing to pay for the broadcasting rights of a concert in mainland China. This money was like free money to Sony.

There's no money to be made anyway, so there's no loss in selling the broadcasting rights to them.

The key point is that Celine Dion's concert series has no plan to be held in China. In other words, no matter how many people see this concert in China, it will not affect Celine Dion's subsequent ticket sales.

Moreover, some Chinese TV stations played Celine Dion's songs, which also promoted Celine Dion. Although she can't make much money from the Chinese mainland market for the time being, there is no guarantee that she will not make money in the future.

Finally, it’s about friendship.

Although Tomson did not cooperate with Sony for a long time and had little contact with them, Zhou Yan wrote two songs for Celine Dion, and these two songs were not ordinary songs.

With this relationship, it will be easier for them to negotiate with Sony for the acquisition of broadcasting rights.

At least considering the fact that Zhou Yan wrote songs for Celine Dion, Sony would definitely be willing to contact and talk to Tang Chen. As long as they are willing to talk, there is a great hope that the deal can be made.

"Mr. Xu, if you think it's feasible, I'll go talk to Sony and finalize this matter as soon as possible. You should also contact a few familiar TV stations as soon as possible to see if there are any willing to pay for the broadcasting rights."

Zhang Youan's meaning was very clear. They definitely couldn't pay for the broadcasting rights. If the operation was done properly, Tomson could earn some money in the middle. He was actually very confident that he could negotiate this matter. The question was how long it would take to negotiate. They didn't have much time now, so they had to finalize the matter in a short time.

If the time is delayed for too long, the promotional effect of the movie will be greatly reduced.

Xu Feng nodded and said, "No problem, go ahead and contact them. I will contact the TV station tomorrow during the day."

"Okay, I'll contact the people at Sony later." Zhang Youan said.

……

The next morning, Xu Feng first called Sheng Chongqing, the director of Shanghai TV Station.

In fact, last night Zhang Youan said that he wanted to find a TV station to pay for the concert broadcasting rights. The first thing Xu Feng thought of was Yanjing TV Station because their company had the most cooperation with Yanjing TV Station.

But after getting up this morning, she thought about it carefully and decided to call Shanghu TV Station first to ask about the situation there.

Because once at a dinner party, she met Sheng Chongqing, the director of Shanghai TV Station, who half-jokingly complained that although Ming Ming Tang Chen was developing in Shanghai, he had been cooperating with Yanjing TV Station.

He also told Xu Feng that if there was any project next time, he should give their TV station a chance.

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Sheng Chongqing was very happy to receive Xu Feng's call and exchanged pleasantries with Xu Feng for a while.

After the two exchanged pleasantries for half a minute, Sheng Chongqing asked why Xu Feng called him, "I wonder what Mr. Xu wants to do today?"

Xu Feng didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose, "I just want to ask if your station has any plans to introduce foreign concerts?"

"Foreign concert? Whose concert is it?"

"Celine Dion's."

When Sheng Chongqing heard that it was from Celine Dion, he became interested. It was obvious that he knew Celine Dion.

If the director of a different TV station were replaced, he might not know Celine Dion. After all, Celine Dion's fame is not as great as that of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. Many TV stations are not in line with international standards, so it is normal that they don't know her.

Moreover, most TV station directors do not have the energy to pay attention to these things.

But Sheng Chongqing is different. He worked his way up from the grassroots level in the news industry and is now the director of the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio. He pays more attention to the situation overseas.

Moreover, Shanghai Television Station was relatively early in connecting with the international community and was relatively extensive in its efforts. It founded the country's first magazine-style column program introducing international current affairs, the first English news program, and the first fully-fledged foreign language station.

"Can I ask, when is Celine Dion's concert?"

"The latest." Xu Feng answered Sheng Chongqing's question first, then said with a smile, "I'm sorry, Director Sheng, I shouldn't have called you for such a small matter, but I don't know many people in your station."

Sheng Chongqing said with a smile, "Mr. Xu, you are joking. Your matter is not a small matter. And you mentioned it very coincidentally. Our station has been discussing the introduction of more foreign programs recently. Concerts are fine, one concert is another, but I don't quite understand why the broadcasting rights of Celine Dion's concert are in your hands, Mr. Xu?"

"Actually, it hasn't reached me yet, but we have been discussing this matter these two days." Xu Feng did not hide this point.

Sheng Chongqing nodded, "No problem at all. I am still very interested in this concert. Once you have finalized the matter, we can discuss it in depth."

"It's just a small matter, so I won't bother you to contact us in person. Otherwise, please point someone to me and I'll..."

"No need, I can handle this matter myself."

Xu Feng was a little surprised by Sheng Chongqing's enthusiasm. If it was just to give face, he could just send someone to coordinate, but he wanted to do it himself.

You know, Sheng Chongqing is very busy. He is the director and editor-in-chief of the TV station. He also serves as the director of the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio. He is busy with everything.

Sheng Chongqing's tone didn't sound polite, so Xu Feng didn't push it anymore. She smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Director Sheng to take care of it later."

"Mr. Xu, you are too polite. Tomson Group is a local star enterprise, and Tomson Pictures is closely related to our TV station's business. We should work together. To be honest, I am very happy to receive your call today. I am even happier to know that there is a possibility of cooperation. Mr. Xu, don't worry about the concert. As long as the price is within a reasonable range, we will definitely buy it."

“Thank you for the support, Director Sheng. I believe there will be more opportunities for cooperation between us in the future.”

"Of course." Sheng Chongqing smiled, then suddenly changed the subject and said, "The box office of Time Traveler is incredible. I heard it has exceeded 65 million."

After all, Sheng Chongqing is the director of Shanghai TV Station, and his information is very accurate.

"Yes, it is just over 65 million. The news has not been announced yet."

"I heard that from someone too. Congratulations. Last time, The Chorus earned over 50 million yuan at the box office, successfully topping the mainland movie box office charts. This year, it has achieved another success, breaking the previous record by a long way."

“It’s mainly the support of the fans.”

"The fans support it because the movie is really well made. I also went to the theater to watch the movie. Zhou Yan's filming method is indeed different from that of ordinary domestic directors, and it is even very trendy compared to the current Hollywood movies. Before this, Zhang Yimou's movies made me shine with his careful attention to the pictures. Now Zhou Yan's movies not only put a lot of effort into the pictures, but also have unexpected performances in the auditory sense."

"Haha, if Zhou Yan knew that Director Sheng recognized him so much, he would definitely be very happy."

"I just told the truth, but if I have the chance to meet Zhou Yan, I really hope to have a good chat with him. This year I took over the Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, and suddenly the burden became much heavier. Although I love watching movies and studying movies, I am still an outsider after all, and I can hear the outside world's doubts through the wall. If I can talk to Zhou Yan, I really want to learn from him how to make this movie."

Xu Feng suddenly understood why Sheng Chongqing was so enthusiastic. It turned out that he was going for Zhou Yan.

However, Xu Feng did not quite understand what Sheng Chongqing's position in Shangmei Factory was. Logically speaking, Sheng Chongqing's main job was the director of Shanghai TV Station, and his position as director of Shangmei Factory was just a nominal position, most likely to serve as a transition for the deputy director Jin Guoping.

It may not be long before Sheng Chongqing withdraws from Shangmei Factory and Jin Guoping takes over.

But now, from what Sheng Chongqing said, it seems that he has some ideas about the Shangmei Factory.

The current situation of Shangmei Factory is no longer as good as before, and internal reform is urgently needed. Now it seems that Sheng Chongqing still wants to hold the knife of reform. (End of this chapter)