Chapter 108
Let the heroine become the real protagonist
In late January, Ling Sui finished his final exams and year-end work, and finally met with Ai Tianming before the New Year's Eve. They sat down and talked about "The Game Is Online".
At present, the project has raised more than 100 million yuan in investment, of which Ai Tianming, or the Ai family, accounted for 60%, Ling Suisui also invested 10 million, and the rest came from their friends.
Ling Sui's debut time is not long, and his previous pay was not high. He also did not take short-term jobs to make money, so the 10 million he could pay was already his limit, and part of it was investment from Ling Fei and Hao Ren.
That’s right, it’s an investment rather than a free gift - after all, in their family, even blood relatives have to settle accounts clearly.
Ai Tianming told her: "There will be more cash flow available because we have also received the copyright deposit from Aoqi."
Ling Suisui nodded. A few days ago, "The Game Is Online" was looking for support from various platforms. The three domestic companies were all interesting, and the ratings and prices they offered were similar. However, after discussing with Ai Tianming, she still chose Aoqi.
The reason is very simple. Both Freedom House films are exclusively broadcast on Ochi. Compared with other platforms, her membership dramas on Aoqi have a wider fan base.
Although attracting new users is an important indicator for online dramas, the playback data is more important in the early stages of the broadcast.
Even if the styles of the subjects are a bit different, there shouldn't be no overlapping audiences at all.
Before this meeting, Ai Tianming had already registered a film and television company, and today he brought the team his family had assigned to him.
In the past, he would just invest a few million to start his own business, and the Ai family would just take that as a way to please him. But this time, they spent tens of millions to get him to stop making trouble. They can’t just watch this money go to waste!
So, Ling Suisui now sees the complete and detailed budget plan.
This 100 million plus the platform deposit is definitely not enough to cover the investment in the entire drama, but it is enough to support the initial investment and get the project moving.
As for the remaining part... Aoqi has paid the deposit, so the drama will definitely be on the platform's investment promotion meeting, and money can be raised while filming, and part of it can also be loaned from the bank.
Ai Tianming even said that people could just go ahead and shoot without worry, and if they didn't have enough money halfway through, he would just go to his family and cry poor.
Since his company has already invested the money, there must be sunk costs. He will definitely not watch the project fail and will continue to invest no matter what.
Ling Suisui: ...
Although she was speechless about Ai Tianming's rogue behavior when he disagreed with her, considering that she was a vested interest in the project, she was not in a position to criticize him at the moment.
However, the Ai family knew that he had such a personality, but they were still willing to invest tens of millions, which shows how much they dote on him.
"Try not to get to this point." Ling Suisui advised, "It's easy to ask for money, but what about your image in your family's eyes? I know you really want to prove your ability to them."
Ai Tianming was very moved when he heard this. He said that his previous partners would only find ways to take money out of his pocket, but only Ling Suisui would plan for him like this.
He was right. Ling Suisui was not only a good actor, but also a good person!
Ling Sui smiled slightly but did not deny it.
Are you kidding? If Ai Tianming’s reputation at home is ruined, how can she strive for cooperation with the Ai family in the future? She would never do such a thing as killing the goose that lays the eggs.
Now that she has limited capital, she still needs the support of a strong force to avoid taking detours.
Of course, Ling Suisui just wanted to win the Ai family's investment. Compared to the people Ai Tianming had met before, she is such a reliable partner.
Ling Suisui did not make any comments on this budget.
Every profession has its own expertise. It is precisely because Ai Tianming trusts her so much that she cannot speak carelessly. It is better to leave this matter to professionals.
She only said one thing: "This script still needs to be polished. Have you contacted the original author?"
"Yes, she is very willing to join the writing team. Should we invite her to be the chief screenwriter?"
Ling Suisui shook his head: "No, this game is the first copyright sold by this author, and she has no experience as a screenwriter before. I asked you to invite her over just to get her advice."
"Being able to write novels and being able to write scripts are two different things. Adapting a novel for a film or TV series is not that simple. Ask her to be a consultant first. If she has talent in this area, it won't be too late to ask her to join the screenwriting team."
Ai Tianming naturally nodded, and the team he brought also breathed a sigh of relief.
When they heard that the original author was going to be invited to be the chief screenwriter, they were on edge, fearing that this young master would make a decision on impulse. Fortunately, Ling Suisui was knowledgeable about the business and didn't allow him to do anything wrong.
Ling Suisui thought for a moment and said, "When the copyright of the game was still in Huacai's hands, they also published a script. I've read it."
"When you bought the copyright from them, did you also buy the script?"
"Of course there is." Ai Tianming curled his lips, "I didn't want it in the first place, but they insisted on packing it up, otherwise they wouldn't sell it to me!"
This is normal. After all, the IPs have been bought, so what’s the point of keeping the adapted scripts?
He also said: "Even after I paid the money, Huacai paid the final payment to the screenwriter team. If I hadn't been wronged, those screenwriters wouldn't have gotten paid. Such a big company, but still so stingy!"
Ling Sui shrugged. Although Huacai as a company is rich, each project must have independent funds. It is impossible to provide unlimited coverage for a certain drama, especially for such a bad debt that cannot be filmed and has no future benefits.
Speaking of which... Ai Tianming bought the copyright and immediately registered a company. The cooperation with her was also a slap in the face to Huacai.
Ling Suisui had no sense of crisis of "offending a big company". She even felt that the slap was not loud enough.
If they want to regain their position completely, they still have to rely on the performance of "The Game is Online".
Ling Suisui confirmed again: "So the copyright of Huacai's version of the script is also in our hands. We can legally use the plot and lines in it and will not be sued for infringement, right?"
"That's right..."
Ai Tianming didn't understand: "But they all changed to male protagonists. We can't possibly shoot it like this!"
"Of course not, I'm not stupid."
Ling Suisui first gave him a reassurance, and then explained: "This script transfers the highlights of the heroine in the original novel to the hero, but if you don't look at who the characters are, and only look at the plot and lines, these highlights have actually been changed very well."
She gave Ai Tianming another example. For example, there was a plot in the original novel where the heroine used her ultimate skill to kill monsters. The script put this part on the hero, but made adjustments to the skills and fighting methods. Compared with the original novel, the resulting picture would be better looking and the logic would be smoother.
Ling Suisui: "They have the copyright, so they can give the heroine's plot to the hero. Now that we have the copyright, we can also give the hero's stuff to the heroine. And what they do is called putting the wrong thing on the wrong head, and what we do is return the property to its original owner."
She added: "But it doesn't mean that we will use all of theirs. It just provides some references and examples for our writing team, leaving room for comparison."
Now that we have already bought the copyright of the script, it would be such a waste if we just abandon it.
Even garbage can be recycled and reused, let alone something that costs real money, which must be used to its fullest potential.
Ai Tianming looked at Ling Suisui with eyes instantly filled with admiration. He never expected that it was possible to play like this.
Following this line of thought, he also thought: "Let's refer to the new levels and puzzles added to the script compared to the original and see if we can use them."
Ling Suisui nodded and reminded: "When the time comes, remember to count which parts of the plot have been used, and make a comparison after the new script is completed. The screenwriter teams on both sides must communicate well to avoid disputes over the right of authorship."
In fact, Ling Suisui considered whether to poach their entire screenwriter team, but after asking Ji Zhaoying, she decided to forget it and let Ai Tianming find someone else.
The atmosphere in this script studio is not quite right. Although there is no shortage of truly capable people, there are also many people with connections who are just filling in the numbers and using other people's names to sign their works.
Moreover, this studio is popular in the domestic entertainment industry because they are the most cooperative with the artist team in changing the script...
Being a good party does not mean being obedient in everything, and Ling Suisui does not have the vanity of "having the final say in the crew".
She only mentioned one thing: "Try to find out who is the screenwriter actually responsible for the male lead line."
Ling Suisui put emphasis on the word "actually", and Ai Tianming could understand what she meant.
With the previous example, he was not worried that Ling Suisui wanted to ask the screenwriter to create the male lead - after all, the words "no special status will be given to the official female lead" were said by Ling Suisui himself before.
Ai Tianming asked: "Do you want to invite him over and shape the heroine in the same way you shaped the hero?"
To be honest, although he felt that it was too much for Huacai to change the game into a male-protagonist, the male protagonist in this version of the script was indeed quite popular.
Ling Suisui corrected him: "You are wrong. How can you use the male lead's method to shape the female lead? The character's personality is not something that can be labeled and the audience will recognize it, but it must be reflected in the specific plot. But more than half of the male lead's story line in Huacai's script is transferred from the female lead."
After all, this character does not appear very often in the original work, and his personality in the book is actually very gentle.
This results in the hero, who has the powerful female lead's buff, having a particularly split personality in certain plots.
Ai Tianming thought, that’s true.
In this case, the male protagonist of Hua Cai is called the "big male protagonist", but in essence he still follows the character core of the original heroine.
Ling Suisui: "Think about it, what are the characteristics of the male protagonist in the script? Generally speaking, he is smart, good at fighting, responsible, and capable of taking on responsibilities. Which of these personality traits are restricted by biological gender and cannot appear in women?"
After all, most of the most perfect male characters that make female fans crazy come from the souls of female authors and screenwriters.
"I want to find this screenwriter, not to ask her to write the male lead or the female lead, but to ask her to write the protagonist."
What Ling Suisui wants is a protagonist who can break away from the perspective of sexuality, is not constrained by "what a heroine should be like", and can take on the role of an independent main narrative.
This requirement is really not high at all, even the male protagonist of an idol drama sprinkled with industrial saccharin can do it - after all, I have never seen a domineering president who can't make a single move without a female protagonist cheering him on.
But when it comes to the heroine's career development, if there is no hero to help her out when she encounters a crisis, the plot may not be able to move forward. This is the difference.
Ling Suisui disagrees with "writing the female protagonist in the same way as the male protagonist". She just wants the female protagonist to be the real protagonist.
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