Chapter 149 Bloody Drama

After the National Day holiday, the temperature dropped sharply, making people feel the chill of late autumn.

The entire city of Peking seemed to be shrouded in a gray veil, and it was cloudy and rainy for several days in a row.

Outside the blinds, raindrops hit the glass with a crackling sound. Compared with the gloomy weather outside, Zhuang Liqi was in a good mood at the moment. He sat behind his desk with his hands folded and his eyes bright.

"What is Qiao Zhengyu's schedule for the next few days?"

Zeng Jia, who was sitting opposite him, looked through the artist's schedule and replied, "In the next ten days, he will be on a roadshow to promote "So Young". He will go to Xingcheng and appear on "Happy Camp" with Gao Yuanyuan."

Zhuang Liqi nodded: "I know he has been very busy recently, but the current situation of "So Young" is very good. The box office of the movie mainly depends on the first two weeks. Just hold on a little longer."

During the seven-day National Day holiday, the cumulative box office of "So Young" reached 40.58 million, which was a stunning success.

Before it was released, no one would have thought that a low-budget youth film would have such great box office potential.

It was on par with "The Baby Project" starring Jackie Chan and Louis Koo, and became the biggest box office dark horse during the 2006 National Day holiday.

Zeng Jia nodded and responded: "I understand. Zhengyu himself also takes it very seriously. He flew back and forth between major cities during the National Day holiday and hardly had a moment of rest."

"We can't miss this opportunity. Whether the total box office can exceed 100 million depends on the growth of the box office this week."

Zhuang Liqi turned his gaze to Li Feng beside Zeng Jia and directly ordered:

"In addition to offline promotion, we also need to keep up with online publicity. Nowadays, young people love surfing the Internet, so all major portals and forums need to be fully active.

Mr. Zhang and I have applied for another 5 million to invest in the promotion of "So Young". Li Feng, you must put every penny of this money to good use. "

Publicity Director Li Feng said with a serious expression, "Please rest assured, Mr. Zhuang, I will definitely take good care of it and lead the entire department to do a good job in the subsequent publicity of "So Young".

As this movie is expected to gross over 100 million yuan, Tengda Culture attaches great importance to it. Naturally, Li Feng dares not slack off in the slightest and requires all the people in the publicity department to go all out to build momentum for "So Young".

Over the past few months, Zhuang Liqi has gotten to know his subordinate Li Feng's character. He is serious and cautious in his work and does things personally. He is very satisfied with his previous statement.

Seeing that both directors looked tired, he told them a piece of good news to boost their morale:

"Everyone has been working very hard recently, so we just have to get through this week. President Zhang has already given his approval, and every department will receive a bonus once the movie is released, regardless of whether the box office exceeds 100 million yuan or not."

Li Feng and Zeng Jia were delighted when they heard this. Tengda Culture has always been generous to its employees. As middle-level managers of the company, they can get more. They can even get a bonus before the New Year, which is considered unexpected money. Naturally, they are happy.

After reviewing all aspects of the recent work in his mind and feeling that there were no omissions, Zhuang Liqi arranged: "If there is nothing else, you can just do what we just agreed on."

So the two directors said goodbye and left, leaving Zhuang Liqi alone in the office with his head down in deep thought. His job switch to Tengda Culture was an important turning point in his career.

As a veteran who has been working in the film and television industry for many years, he relies on his profound industry experience and unique artistic vision.

With his diligent and cautious work attitude, he gained Zhang Zhao's trust soon after joining the company and was responsible for the production, promotion and distribution of TV dramas for Tengda Culture.

Now Zhang Zhao has gone to other places to discuss matters such as film scheduling and profit sharing. Before leaving, he was handed over the promotion and marketing work of "So Young".

Faced with the important task entrusted by the general manager, Zhuang Liqi did not dare to slack off or be negligent in the slightest. He attached great importance to this work and was determined to achieve results.

Suddenly, a melodious cell phone ringtone came, interrupting his thoughts. Zhuang Liqi looked at the caller ID, feeling surprised, and said to himself, "Why would she call me?"

With curiosity, I answered the phone: "Hello, Sister Hua!"

The person who called was the ace agent in the entertainment industry, Wang Jinghua.

A woman's cheerful voice came from the receiver: "Boss Zhuang, I hope I didn't disturb you."

Zhuang Liqi smiled and said, "No, I'm just free. But Sister Hua, why did you suddenly contact me today? I'm flattered."

In 2005, Wang Jinghua and a large number of artists jumped from Huayi Company to Chentian Entertainment. At that time, Zhuang Liqi was also working at Chentian.

However, not long after, Zhuang Liqi jumped to Tengda Culture. The two had a brief intersection at work, but they could only be considered acquaintances.

"I never come to visit you for no reason. If I have anything to discuss, I will discuss it with Mr. Zhuang." Wang Jinghua has a straightforward personality and speaks and acts directly.

"Please speak, Mr. Hua."

"There is a novel called Struggle. I found out that the copyright belongs to Tengda Culture after asking around. I want to buy the copyright of this novel. I wonder if Mr. Zhuang can help me."

"Struggle?" Zhuang Liqi whispered. He seemed to have heard Zhang Zhao mention it before. He calmly asked, "Sister Hua wants to adapt this novel into a TV series?"

"Yes." Wang Jinghua admitted frankly. In their line of work, what else could they do by purchasing the copyright of a novel? Isn't it just to adapt it into a movie?

Zhuang Liqi is cautious by nature: "Sister Hua, I have just arrived at Tengda Culture and I am still unclear about many things. I need to know the details before I can answer you. But if you want to make a TV series, I think we can cooperate."

Wang Jinghua was embarrassed when she heard this: "This! Mr. Zhuang, to be honest, I have almost finished the negotiation. Everything is ready except the copyright. I hope you can help me and make it happen. I, Wang Jinghua, owe you a favor."

Out of professional habit, Zhuang Liqi subconsciously asked: "It's already been set up! Who is the investor, Chentian Investment? And who is the director?"

Since she was asking someone for help, Wang Jinghua couldn't hide it: "It's not Chen Tian, ​​it's Xin Baoyuan Film and Television Investment, and the director is Zhao Baogang."

"Sister Hua is straightforward. Please wait a moment. Let me get back to you after understanding the situation."

Although Xinbaoyuan Film and Television's influence has declined a bit in recent years, it is, after all, an old film and television company that has produced classic works such as "Never Forget You" and has a Type A TV drama production license.

Zhuang Liqi still wanted to give face to Zhao Baogang and Wang Jing. It was just the copyright of a novel, and there was no harm in selling it.

"Please excuse me, Mr. Zhuang. I look forward to hearing your good news."

At this moment, Wang Jinghua, who was at Xinbaoyuan Company, put down her phone, and the two people sitting opposite her couldn't wait to ask, "What did Zhuang Liqi say?"

Wang Jinghua shook her head: "He said he needed to understand the situation before he could give me an answer. After all, he was only a deputy, and there was a general manager in front of him.

It's a pity that we have never dealt with Zhang Zhao, but don't worry, Director Zhao, I heard from his tone that he is willing to help."

The person who just spoke was the famous director Zhao Baogang. After listening to what Wang Jinghua said, he could only nod in disappointment and wait patiently.

"I was optimistic about Struggle and wanted to buy the copyright, but I was still a step behind and was beaten to it by Tengda Culture. Later I found out that Tengda has been frantically buying copyrights for novels and scripts in recent years and has never stopped.

I wonder why Zhang Zhao hoards so many copyrights? " Wang Ying asked curiously. He is Zhao Baogang's good friend and personal photographer. He joined Xinbaoyuan Film and Television when it was founded in 1998 and is a company veteran.

Zhao Baogang added: "It shouldn't be Zhang Zhao's intention. Before he became the general manager of Tengda Culture, Tengda had already acquired the copyright."

Wang Jinghua thought for a moment and speculated, "I think it was most likely that nobleman's idea. He is also a great writer. It is said that he made his fortune by writing novels. He might be more sensitive to this."

Zhao Baogang sighed: "I hope everything goes well."

Today, Tengda Culture is in its heyday. Although Zhao has some reputation in Beijing circles, he has little contact with Tengda people, so they can ignore him.

It just so happened that Wang Jinghua had a cooperation with Xin Baoyuan and happened to know Tengda Vice President Zhuang Liqi, so she entrusted Wang Jinghua to communicate this matter.

Wang Jinghua accidentally learned that her old friend Zhao Baogang wanted to start a new project and wanted to squeeze a few people into the crew, but when she learned that the copyright had not been resolved and she knew Zhuang Liqi, she took the initiative to volunteer.

She had no choice. Ever since she broke up with Huayi Company, she moved to Chentian Entertainment with a large group of actors. She had originally been attracted by Wu Kebo's ability, but she didn't expect that he was a weirdo. Chentian invested in so many film and television projects, but did not use any of the company's own people.

With so many artists to support, he has to arrange for them to take on roles. "Struggle" happens to be an ensemble drama, so he can insert more actors. That's why Wang Jinghua is worrying about the copyright issue and hopes that the TV series can be filmed as soon as possible.

After Zhuang Liqi ended the call, he began to understand the situation. After asking some questions, he learned the ins and outs of the copyright of "Struggle".

To be more precise, the copyright of this novel is now under the name of the brother company Blueprint Copyright. At that time, Blueprint Copyright was a subsidiary of Tengda Culture, and all the copyrights that Song Ci arranged for Wang Jing to acquire were placed in Blueprint.

Later, Tengda Group was reorganized into TT Video Network. Blueprint, which owned a large number of online copyrights for films and TV series, was assigned to TT Video Network, along with the copyrights of previously purchased novels.

Zhuang Liqi had a headache. He thought it was a trivial matter that could be easily accomplished, but he did not expect it to be so complicated. Wang Jinghua wanted to buy the copyright of "Struggle", but she had to get the approval of the Blueprint Company's leaders.

However, he has only been in Tengda Group for a short time and does not have deep connections within the company, so people may not necessarily give him face. But one should be loyal to the person who trusts him, so it seems that Zhang Zhao has to step in on this matter.

Rubbing his aching brow, Zhuang Liqi did not hesitate and called Zhang Zhao directly to report the matter and ask him to make the decision.

Zhang Zhao is currently discussing things with Liu Rong in Guangzhou. He hopes that Southern Cinemas can continue to support the screening of "So Young" to ensure that the box office will exceed 100 million yuan. This will be a milestone for Tengda Culture.

After listening to his deputy's narration, Zhang Zhao pondered for a moment: "Lao Zhuang, this matter is a bit difficult to handle. I remember I mentioned "Struggle" to you last time.

This is a project that the company has been preparing to develop in the past two years, and it is one of the key projects designated by the chairman. We cannot afford to give it away.”

Zhuang Liqi frowned and said, "Boss Zhang, let's not talk about the fact that this year is coming to an end. Will the company have enough energy to start a new TV series next year?"

He is not familiar with the situation of the film production department. He is only responsible for TV series. Tengda Culture has planned to shoot four TV series: "Soldier Assault", "Hello, Old Times", "The Story of the Kitchen Team 3" and "My Love from the Star".

Even if we put aside the financial pressure on the company, the production team is already working at full capacity, so how can they have the energy to start a fifth TV series?

"Mr. Zhang, since the chairman wants us to develop "Struggle", and since we don't have the energy to shoot it, it's not good to delay it.

I think we can definitely cooperate with Xinbaoyuan. We will be responsible for the investment, add one or two actors, and let Zhao Baogang take care of the rest."

Zhang Zhao nodded. Collaborating on filming was a way to have the best of both worlds. People in the circle didn't like to eat alone, so he could give Wang Jinghua and Zhao Baogang some face.

However, there is still an emperor at home, and he has to report on the key projects that Boss Song has specifically instructed him to do.

"Lao Zhuang, let me be honest with you. Mr. Song has a girlfriend and they have a very good relationship. If we want to film "Struggle", she has to choose the role first."

"Girlfriend! Who is it?" Zhuang Liqi was shocked and guessed that it might be one of the two female artists in the company. He should not have offended them before.

"That's the girl who played Mu Nianci in Tangren Films, Liu Shishi."

Zhuang Liqi breathed a sigh of relief. He had never offended Liu Shishi. He had seen the girl's fighting scenes on the set of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and had praised her. They had only good relationships.

"Wait for my news. I will report to President Song right away."

Zhuang Liqi understands Zhang Zhao. This is how big a group is. There are some things that require careful consideration, especially those involving leadership, which cannot be taken lightly.

In this way, "Struggle" was reported upwards layer by layer.

"Zhao Baogang wants to film that melodramatic drama 'Struggle'?" When Song Ci received the call from Zhang Zhao, the class at Peking University had just ended and he was about to return to the dormitory.

I was puzzled after hearing Zhang Zhao's report. This is the power of inertia in the world. How come we end up back to where we started after going around in circles?

Although "Struggle" is a melodrama, it is really popular. Audiences love melodrama. Moreover, this drama is very popular. All the leading actors in the previous life have become popular.

Now that Tenda has the copyright, it certainly cannot give up this popular drama, but Zhuang Liqi's proposal can be considered.

"Okay, we can cooperate with Xin Baoyuan, but we want to take the lion's share."

"So Miss Liu wants to play a role?"

Song Ci thought about it and felt that the most likable character in the whole drama "Struggle" was Mile. After all, she was beautiful, strong and tragic, which made people sympathize with her.

Wang Luodan's career began to take off with this role. Now Wang Luodan is his own artist, and the role does not fit well with Shishi's temperament, so there is no point in forcing him to participate.

Moreover, Miss Liu's schedule is also full next year. She will perform in "Strange Women of Liao Zhai" at the beginning of the year, and will star in "Hello, Old Time" and a movie later. In addition, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" will resume work. Don't let the little childhood sweetheart get tired.

"Shishi won't act anymore. She has a full schedule for next year. You guys can arrange the role for Struggle. Several artists from Tengda can be arranged."

(End of this chapter)