Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 537 Selling the first broadcast rights of "Ordinary World" to CCTV
In fact, it was his wife Song Tangtang who invited him.

Fang Minghua had not originally planned to go.

"How bad can a TV series produced by Zhang Yimou be? You and Hongjun can just go and take a look."

But Song Tangtang didn't agree.

How can you not go if you are a screenwriter? Brother Lu has gone, how can you not go? You are not supporting my work!

Fang Minghua had no choice but to agree.

The place to watch TV series is in the small conference room on the second floor of Shengshi Film and Television Company.

Shengshi Group has purchased this four-story building for 260 million yuan. All the storefronts on the first floor are rented out, the second floor is the headquarters of Shengshi Group, the fourth floor is temporarily converted into a staff dormitory, and the third floor is reserved for film and television.

In addition to the senior executives of Shengshi Group, there were also several ordinary employees who appeared on TV together. In the crew, there were several main actors such as Zhang Yimou, Gu Changwei, and Zhang Jiayi who played Sun Shaoping. In fact, it was just an amateur film and television work appraisal meeting.

At the beginning of the TV series, along with the unique ravines and distant views of the Qinbei Plateau, a grand and desolate song also comes to the fore.

"It's a bit like the Qinbei folk song 'Lanhuahua'?" Lu Yao asked in a low voice after listening to a few words.

"Yes, this is Zhao Jiping's secondary creation based on the tune of "Lanhuahua" and he rewrote the lyrics." Song Tangtang explained in a low voice.

Fang Minghua, who was sitting next to him, was also listening carefully.

The song is desolate and majestic, especially the suona in the background music, which is even more captivating, and is in no way inferior to the 16 version of "Gods Can't Stop People from Missing Each Other".

As for the TV series' pictures, there is no need to say more. Zhang Yimou's photography skills make the TV series' pictures more textured, and it even feels like a movie!
The actors speak authentic Qinbei dialect! To be more precise, it is Mizhi dialect!
Mizhi dialect has a characteristic that this place itself is more influenced by the Qin and Han culture and is relatively closer to Mandarin.

In that era, Qinbei was very poor, and the locals actually had a humble mentality in their bones. They didn't want others to not understand what they were saying.

Therefore, Lu Yao does not use many local dialects, especially local dialects, in his novels, and tries to keep it close to Mandarin when writing character dialogues.

It seems that Zhang Yimou has carefully considered whether to choose whether the actors speak Mandarin or the local dialect. He had to consider both the strong local characteristics of the TV series and the universality of the TV series, so that people from other provinces can understand and watch it, instead of using standard Baoji dialect like in the filming of "Qiu Ju Goes to Court", which is sometimes difficult to understand if you don't listen carefully.

It's much better than the weird Qinbei dialect spoken by the actors in the 16 version.

Zhang Jiayi’s performance as Sun Shaoping is also pretty good.

They are of similar age and have a simple, honest Qin Province vibe.

It’s a pity that Gong Li, who played Tian Xiaoxia, did not appear in the first few episodes of the TV series, so we couldn’t see her superb acting skills.

The TV series was filmed in total of 41 episodes, and it is definitely impossible to show the entire series in one go. Fang Minghua and his friends only watched the first four episodes and were generally quite satisfied with them.

"Brother Lu, Minghua, what do you think of the filming?" Song Tangtang asked after turning off the TV.

"It's indeed Zhang Yimou, the filming is quite good." Lu Yao praised Zhang Yimou in front of him: "Especially the actor who plays Sun Shaoping, he really brought the Sun Shaoping in my mind to life! What's his name?"

"Zhang Jiayi." Zhang Yimou said quickly.

"Young man! You have a bright future!" Lu Yao shook the other's hand again.

What’s impeccable about Zhang Jiayi’s acting skills?

Although he has just graduated from Yandian University and cannot be considered a veteran actor, he is originally from Qin. He seems to be at ease playing the role of Sun Shaoping, an idealistic young man from the Qinbei Plateau.

Fang Minghua thinks he is better than Yuan Hong, who played Sun Shaoping in the 16 version.

Yuan Hong looks so clean and handsome that his first impression doesn’t seem like that of a country boy.

After the movie, Zhao Hongjun generously donated money and treated the main creative staff of the crew to a meal at the Jinhua Hotel to end the party.

The happiest person was Song Tangtang.

On the way back, she said to Fang Minghua excitedly while driving: "Minghua, I plan to go to Yanjing in two days to contact CCTV!" This was a decision Song Tangtang had made a long time ago. You don't want Yanjing TV, right?
Okay then, I’ll find CCTV!

After the filming of "Ordinary World" was completed in November last year, Song Tangtang went to Yanjing to contact the leaders of relevant departments of CCTV to discuss cooperation.

When the other party heard that it was the filming of "Ordinary World" and that it was directed by Zhang Yimou, they agreed in principle, but wanted to see the specific shooting video before discussing the price.

This is what Song Tangtang was talking about.

Fang Minghua listened and advised:

"Why rush? It's already the twelfth lunar month, and the Chinese New Year is just a few days away. It's still not too late to go after the Chinese New Year."

"No, I can't wait any longer."

"Well, be safe on the road, follow our agreed plan, and take care of the book I asked you to help me find."

"Do not worry."

Two days later, Song Tangtang and his secretary Xu Hui boarded a train heading north. After a day and night's journey, they arrived in Yanjing and found a hotel near the TV station to stay in. Song Tangtang did not even take a rest and immediately went to the CCTV headquarters building to find a deputy director named Zhu, who was specifically responsible for the broadcasting of CCTV TV series.

After the two parties came into contact, Song Tangtang left the master tape of the TV series he brought with him and of course signed a confidentiality agreement. Then they immediately agreed to come to the headquarters of the film and television building for formal negotiations three days later.

After leaving the CCTV building, Song Tangtang did not return to the hotel. She wanted to go to the General Political Department compound to visit her grandparents.

"Xu Hui, I won't be staying in the hotel these two days. You have to be careful when living alone." Song Tangtang reminded.

"Don't worry, Mr. Song." Xu Hui said quickly, "It's just..."

"Just what?"

"I'm just worried that if we charge such a high price per episode, will CCTV agree?" Xu Hui said.

The price per episode is 250,000!

When Xu Hui heard this number, she was shocked.

The first TV series invested by the company, "Desire", was sold to Yanjing Television for only 60 yuan, equivalent to a little over yuan per episode.

Of course, it was later sold to other provincial TV stations, with the copyrights selling for a total of 460 million yuan. Together with advertising revenue, the total was 580 million yuan, nearly six times the investment, so it was a huge profit.

This time, the company’s lowest price is 250,000 per episode!

It’s not the asking price but the lowest price!

Song Tangtang smiled softly, "More than 25? Ordinary World has 41 episodes, and the total cost is only 1025 million yuan. CCTV's Dream of Red Mansions has only 37 episodes, and the total investment is as high as 700 million yuan. If it is the selling price, how much is it? Our offer is not high at all."

Seeing Xu Hui hesitated to speak, Song Tangtang said, "Don't worry about this matter. Just do as I say and go to all the major Xinhua bookstores in the next two days and find a book called "Yenching People in New York" and buy it back for me."

"Mr. Song, why are you looking for this book?" Xu Hui asked curiously again.

Unexpectedly, Song Tangtang's pretty face turned serious: "Don't ask so many questions, just go find it if I tell you to!"

"Okay, Mr. Song." Xu Hui was so scared that she didn't dare to ask any more questions.

In fact, how would she know.

Song Tangtang didn't know the reason either, because Fang Minghua asked her to find it.

As for why, Fang Minghua didn't say much.

(End of this chapter)