China Entertainment 1997

At the end of October 2000, "Journey to the West" officially premiered on three satellite TV stations in Beijing, Lu Province and Qin Province.

The plot in the finale where Sun Wukong sacrificed himself and transformed into a relic made many children cry. Then Sun Wukong was resurrected and crowned as the ancestor of ten thousand Buddhas and the Great Sage Namu Relic King Buddha, which made the children laugh through tears.

In the ending scene of the villain Wu Tian, ​​the scene where his flowing long hair suddenly turned into a tattooed bald head also left a deep impression on countless people.

I became bald and killed!

Similarly, there is another point in the finale that has been complained about. After the Tathagata Buddha returned to his throne, he made his two mortal girlfriends Biyou Fairy and Bailianhua immortals.

The former is the Dharma Protector Zen Bodhisattva, and the latter is the White Lotus Holy Mother Bodhisattva.

Guanyin, Manjusri, Samantabhadra:? ? ?

However, while everyone complained, they also felt that the plot was very realistic. When one person achieves enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven, no matter how good the employees are, it is not as good as the boss lady who counterattacks and rises to the top.

But complaints are complaints. In fact, according to the plot of "Journey to the West", these two Bodhisattva seals are reasonable.

Fairy Biyou is the disciple of Emperor Donghua and Gonggong. In terms of status and qualifications, she is considered to be half a boss among the immortals, almost equal to the Eight Immortals and the Three Stars.

In terms of merit, Qiao Ling'er was besieged by Wu Tian's men in the later period, and Fairy Biyou saved her from fire and water many times, and in the end she even died to save the gods.

In other words, the gods in Heaven and Lingshan all owe her a favor, and for this reason alone, it would not be too much to confer the title of Buddha.

Although Bai Lianhua's heels were weak, she couldn't bear the thick embrace of her thighs. She worshiped Tang Seng as her master, and Sun Wukong and others were her senior brothers.

You know, Tang Seng and Sun Wukong were both named Buddhas in the end. Zhu Bajie, Sha Seng, and Xiao Bailong were also named Buddhas. White Lotus had this group of masters and brothers walking directly sideways in Lingshan.

Bai Lianhua is also married to Qiao Ling'er for three generations. To put it bluntly, she is the official match of the official palace.

Moreover, she also contributed in the mortal world and saved Qiao Ling'er several times. With her background + official match + merit, it was easy to become a Bodhisattva.

Regardless of the mood, regardless of the popularity of the Internet and media, the ratings data of "Journey to the West" are here.

The average ratings of Beijing Channel reached 7.9, the average ratings of Shandong Channel was 7.4, and the ratings of Qin Channel were the lowest, only around 6.5.

But even so, "Journey to the West" became Qin TV's 2000 ratings champion.

The leaders of the Qin Provincial TV station who were in charge before were almost regretting it. If they had known that this drama was so popular, they would not have given it to Fanxing no matter what they said.

But there is no regret pill in the world. Fortunately, they still have 20% of the revenue from "Journey to the West: The Second Story", which can be considered as comfort.

The influence of TV stations in Qin Province is slightly lower. "Journey to the West" won the annual satellite TV crown. However, in Beijing, Taiwan and Shandong Province, "Journey to the West" is still slightly inferior.

Despite this, this drama also won the fourth place in Beijing and Taiwan and the second place in Shandong Province and Taiwan respectively.

It is already the end of October. According to usual practice, if there is any good drama, it will usually be scheduled for the beginning of next year as the new year drama.

Of course, it is not ruled out that there will be a dark horse hit, but the possibility is not high. Even if there is, the current data of "Journey to the West" is enough to make many TV stations give up their reserve.

Especially on Lu Sheng TV, which is crazy about replays, the finale here is replayed for the second time without stopping, and the daytime schedule is also arranged as soon as possible.

Qin Provincial TV Station saw this and immediately followed. The Beijing TV station had a big business, and the new dramas they had on hand were not on the prime time reruns. However, they also arranged morning and late night shows, and a rerun of "Young Man Bao Qingtian" in the afternoon.

The three satellite TV stations were happy to broadcast it, but the other TV stations were anxious and quickly contacted Fanxing for the second-round broadcast rights to prevent the three TV stations from draining all their potential.

Last time, "Young Man Bao Qingtian" was sold to six satellite TV stations in the second round. "Journey to the West" has low popularity data in all aspects, is not that popular, and the price is also much lower.

After several rounds of negotiations, three satellite TV stations in Huizhou, Suzhou and Hunan provinces jointly offered a package price of 5 million, monopolizing the second-round broadcast rights of "Journey to the West".

This price is a bit low. Theoretically, if "Journey to the West" is sold evenly to several companies, it is expected to fetch 6 million to 7 million.

However, in addition to 5 million, the three companies also left some advertising time for Fanxing.

Other TV stations also use advertising time to compensate, but none are as good as these three. Hunan Province TV station is firmly in the first tier, Suzhou TV station has not yet risen, but it cannot support the money and remains at the top of the second tier. Hui Province is also in the second tier.

The influence and advertising effects of these three TV stations are incomparable with those of ordinary provincial TV stations.

To put it bluntly, the advertising time of these three companies can be sold for money.

The ratings of general provincial TV stations are low. Even if you get advertising time from the TV station, you can't attract advertisers. You can only attract local enterprises, which is not very profitable.

However, first-line TV stations like Hunan TV and Beijing TV are not in a hurry to get them from outside, but they are very easy to attract projects and the prices are high.

It was packaged and sold to three TV stations. It seems that Fanxing lost 1 to 2 million yuan in the second-run broadcast rights, but later earned a full 8 million yuan with pre-roll ads and TV advertising time.

After Cao Xuan obtained the data, he established an [Advertising and Commercial Department] in Fanxing without any further ado, specifically responsible for sponsoring and advertising business for TV series.

He has seen through it all. If the advertising thing is done well, it will make more money than TM directly selling dramas.

Nowadays, TV station advertisements are of great help to a company. Many star companies started their business by relying on TV advertisements, so companies are keen to advertise on TV stations, regardless of spending money.

This is still a satellite TV station. One day Fanxing can sell a drama to CCTV for a prime time slot.

If you don't make 10 million from a pre-roll ad, you're considered incompetent. With a little effort, 20 million is still very promising. However, CCTV is very strict about this aspect, and sometimes it has to divide the meat.

Generally speaking, blockbusters like "Journey to the West" are more profitable.

But this kind of hot money is hard to come by, and Cao Xuan has to have connections. He sold three satellite TV stations in the first round, so he can gain influence as quickly as possible in order to make a lot of money.

If you start little by little from a local station and become famous, the best profit point will be lost and the income will be greatly reduced.

After all the agreements for the second round and pre-roll advertising were finalized, Fanxing made some internal calculations.

The first round of 8 million + the second round of 5 million + advertising of 8 million, a total of 21 million, followed by miscellaneous third-round broadcast, DVD, Hong Kong and Taiwan copyright and other income, is expected to reach 25 million.

Putting aside the 20% share given to Qin Province and Taiwan, input costs, taxes and other expenses, Fanxing's income from the "Journey to the West" project is between 14 and 16 million.

Big profit!

Coupled with the revenue from the previous "Young Man Bao Qingtian", Fanxing's film and television revenue this year is more than 22 million.

It was 30% higher than what Cao Xuan had predicted in advance, and more than double what other people within Fanxing had predicted.

Nowadays, the mainland's film and television production industry has just started, and the first batch of private film and television licenses were even issued just last year.

Among these companies, there are countless companies whose net profits can reach more than 10 million yuan a year.

Fanxing has two hit movies this year, with a net profit of 22 million. Among mainland private film and television companies, even if they are not at the top, they are definitely in the first echelon.

And don’t forget, Fanxing’s current main business is not film and television, but music production and management, or Cao Xuan’s music production and management.

Although the former's new album hasn't been released yet, the sales of the first two albums have been getting dividends one after another, and there are several million in sales throughout the year.

The latter's remuneration, endorsements, and commercial performances are even bigger. Just one endorsement from the Seven Wolves earned 10 million (before tax).

Including the new album and concerts that have not yet started, the remaining income from all parties + film and television is 22 million, and Fanxing's net profit this year is very likely to reach more than 45 million.

What a concept this is today.

Many medium and large state-owned enterprises do not have this kind of net profit. Compared with more than 99% of Internet companies nowadays, they are definitely among the most profitable handful of mainland entertainment companies.

On November 13, 1997, Cao Xuan’s 22nd birthday, Fanxing Studio was established.

In the first year, the Caotai team gradually got on the right track in the second year. Now that the three-year term is about to expire, it finally began to explode and make a splash.

Of course, Fanxing's success this year also has a certain "luck" component. It has caught two blockbuster movies. No one can guarantee whether Fanxing will continue this "good luck" next year, or directly lose everything.

The industry has begun to notice that people in Fanxing are observing silently. There are also people within the company who are looking forward to it, and some are hesitant.

Only Cao Xuan continued step by step, saying that Fanxing had earned 45 million this year, but part of it had not yet been paid, and part of it had to be given to Penguin.

The actual money left on the books is only about 10 million, but this is enough to start Fanxing's early film and television investment next year.

"Love Through Time" is expected to invest 5 million and will be filmed at the Xingmei Film and Television Base in Huairou, Beijing, with Chen Hanzhu as the director and Ding Ying as the producer.

The heroine Xiao Wanzi has been cast as Hu Jing, the second female police officer has been cast as Yuan Quan, and the male lead Zhu Yunwen has been cast as Pan Yueming.

The original version of Xu Zheng's performance was actually pretty good, but his looks were not good enough, turning Zhu Yunwen into a fool.

Of course, this is Zhu Yunwen's character in the play, but Xu Zheng is better at acting in comedy. This character is not that comedic, and he is a naive coward. There is no need to find Xu Zheng, it is better to find a handsome guy to attract ratings.

Pan Yueming has just debuted. He has a clean temperament, is fair and tender, and is nicknamed Milk Pan. He is completely different from the fattest and oiliest Huba who has been criticized by countless people in later generations.

More importantly, he is cheaper than Xu Zheng. He has only one movie released now and is not well-known. He can be done for tens of thousands of yuan.

And Xu Zheng wanted to hire him to act because of the popularity of "Spring Scene with Pig Bajie", which cost at least 300,000 to 500,000 yuan.

Of course, as I said before, saving money on hiring celebrities will have an impact on the price of TV series. Fortunately, there is also a popular Hu Jing, and with the success of "Journey to the West", Cao Xuan is confident that it will not Too many influences.

In addition, Cao Xuan also brought in his master Li Xuejian to play the role of Zhu Yuanzhang in the play.

After several months of treatment, Li Xuejian has recovered well. Fighting cancer is a long-term process, and he cannot just rest and think about returning to work.

Cao Xuan was afraid that his random acting would affect his health, so he invited him to the crew of "Love Through Time and Space", which not only supplemented his master, but also had his own instructions, so the crew could take care of him.

Moreover, Li Xuejian's fame and strength are on display here, which is good for Zhu Yuanzhang's character, the crew's promotion, and the drama's sales.

In addition, the male lead Zhu Di was given to Cao Xuan's old friend Duan Long, a decisive careerist who is very suitable for him, and his acting skills are guaranteed.

Cao Xuan, the remaining supporting actor, did not intervene, leaving Chen Hanzhu to find it on his own, because the script was ready-made, and this drama will also be Fanxing's first drama to be filmed, and is expected to start shooting in mid-to-late February.

The main thing here is to take care of the fact that Hu Jing has to rush to film "A History of the Martial Arts", otherwise the start-up time will be earlier.

Cao Xuan also took a job on this crew and composed the theme song for "Love Through Time and Space".

Part of the reason why "Journey to the West: Part 2" sells so many pre-roll ads is because the ending song "Lovesickness" is so catchy that it retains viewers who want to listen to the song after watching the show.

If the song is not good, people will turn off the TV after watching the plot, and no one will watch the pre-roll ads, and the advertisers will suffer a big loss.

Therefore, a good ending song can add a lot of points to advertising negotiations. This is why Cao Xuan took time to write songs despite his busy schedule.

Cao Xuan had limited time, so he directly outsourced the interlude and opening theme song to a music team, and even planned to choose the original costume theme song Tiger Balm "Too Much".

This song has been written, and the theme song of "Oolong Breaks into Love" has been determined. Cao Xuan cannot take the crown, but he can buy the copyright to use it as the title song.

As for the ending song, Cao Xuan copied the theme song of "Palace" with one stroke of his pen.

That's right, it's the song "A Question About Suicide", the tuner's pinnacle work, and the divine song that made a certain 85-year-old lose his dream of entering the music industry - "The Provision of Love".

They are all time-travel dramas, and the final endings are similar. If you don’t copy them, you won’t copy them.

Cao Xuan didn't plan to sing this song himself, but wanted Hu Jing to try it.

Mr. Zhou has released a single, and Xiao Yanzi has released an album. These popular little flowers are all running to the music scene. There is no reason why Sister Fanxing can't sing.

In later "Sister Lang 2", Hu Jing showed quite good singing skills, and she is a dancer and is good at singing and dancing.

Cao Xuan has no intention of letting Hu Jing enter the music scene, but occasionally releasing a few singles will really help her popularity.

Therefore, Hu Jing was given priority to sing "Provide of Love". If she couldn't sing, she would find another singer.

But I definitely won’t change the tune and sing hard, so as not to be embarrassed if I attend a commercial performance or party...

If "Love Across Time and Space" was Fanxing's first hit in 2001, then "Yan Shuang Eagle" was the second hit.

This drama is scheduled to be filmed for 40 episodes, with Li Bingbing playing the female lead, and one person playing two roles (sisters), who are Yan Shuangying's first love and second love respectively.

The second female lead, Dalian, was Yan Shuangying's female licker. In the end, she became jealous and resentful, and assassinated the female lead played by Li Bingbing. Cao Xuan found Zhang Tong from Class 96 of the technical secondary school to play the role.

The villain and master Bu Ying, Cao Xuan has his sights set on Chiba Shinichi, who plays the heroic role in "The Storm".

The third male Japanese ninja, Shen Qiqi, is vicious and ruthless. He plans to cast Duan Long in a role. If the schedule cannot be missed, Li Jie from Lin Pingzhi in "The Swordsman" can also be used.

In addition to the actors, Cao Xuan asked Qian Yanqiu to pay special attention to the roles that will appear in the next few movies. It is best to ensure that no replacements are made, and the others will be as needed.

The cast of "Swallows and Eagles" is acceptable, but the number of episodes is large, and there are a lot of scenes, action scenes, and explosion scenes. The cost will also increase accordingly, and is expected to reach 6 million to 8 million.

Cao Xuan is still contracted to write the theme song for this drama, but he hasn’t decided which song to use yet.

He wanted to decide once and for all the theme songs for the series, so as to avoid having to come up with new ideas for each show, which would be too troublesome.

"Swollen Eagles" and "Love Across Time and Space" have almost emptied all of Fanxing's cash reserves, and there are even a lot of vacancies. They have to wait until Cao Xuan gets the dividends from the album and concerts to replenish the funds.

Fortunately, "Jinfen Family" is still adapting the script. When the project is ready, the guarantee will not be until March, leaving a lot of time for Cao Xuan.

Otherwise, if the three dramas are released at the same time, Boss Cao will have to worry about signing up for endorsement deals.

After settling the accounts, Cao Xuan found that he earned more and spent more.

At the end of the year, it seems that my assets have doubled several times, but my money is still tight. I can't bear to buy another courtyard house. I have been thinking about houses in Shanghai and Shenzhen for a long time, but I have never bought one.

Cao Xuan was full of resentment, and if others heard it, he would just spray him to death.

With a net worth of hundreds of millions and tens of millions of cash at his disposal, he is still crying about being poor. He is really not a son of a man...