Chapter 207
Jiang Ning thought that the TV series "White Snake" could make a lot of money by signing a profit-sharing agreement. After all, the director team seemed to be really sincere in wanting the TV series copyright of "White Snake", but they were just short of money.
But just when they were hesitating, Jiang Ning unexpectedly received a call from CCTV, which actually wanted to buy the TV drama copyright of "White Snake" and wanted to create a CCTV-produced drama.
In recent years, with the production of one TV station's self-produced drama after another, more and more TV stations have begun to pay attention to their own self-produced dramas, especially the two "Justice Bao" dramas of Z Province Satellite TV and the long-running "Happy Little Swallow" of Mango Satellite TV. It can be said that these two TV stations have made a lot of money and stood out among the provincial satellite TV stations. Going back further, "Good People Live a Peaceful Life" and "The Story of the Publishing House" of Beijing TV have also made Beijing TV's popularity and revenue close to that of CCTV.
As the most influential TV station in the country, the big brother of all TV stations in the country, it can't sit still anymore as it sees the self-produced dramas of the provincial and municipal TV stations being filmed and broadcast one after another, with the ratings and influence getting higher and higher.
Especially since the inflation in 1995, the copyright fees for TV dramas have become increasingly higher in the past two years. The entire market price has been rising. It is difficult for ordinary TV stations to afford such high copyright fees, and they are all trying to find ways to shoot their own dramas and enjoy exclusive broadcasting rights.
For example, with "The King's Guards", because it is an exclusive drama of their own TV station, they can have more autonomy in choosing the broadcast time, so they can choose a more suitable time and avoid competition from some phenomenal TV dramas, such as this year's "Little Swallow", which has more guarantees in ratings and revenue.
After discussion, CCTV also decided to shoot its own drama.
The choice of self-produced dramas has been rigorously discussed and decided by the CCTV. Basically, there are two factions. One faction believes that they should keep up with current affairs and use this year's flood relief as the theme to shoot positive flood relief dramas. The other faction believes that the self-produced dramas of various TV stations now have high ratings. They should make ratings the primary goal under the premise of "great, glorious and correct". Otherwise, if a drama is produced and no one watches it, it would be a slap in the face. After all, in the first half of this year, there was "Little Swallow", which was popular all over the country and is still popular. In the second half of the year, there was "The King's Guard", whose ratings have exceeded 30% and are about to reach 40%.
Just because it is an adaptation of a Lemon Studios work, the lowest ratings of the first episode of "The King's Guards" have stabilized at around 10%, which makes those who want to achieve stable results more inclined to Lemon Studios' "White Snake".
Of course, it doesn't mean that we won't film about flood prevention and disaster relief. We can film them together. As for which drama to choose to broadcast during prime time after the filming, it depends on the ratings of the two dramas.
CCTV has so many channels, it's not just one channel and prime time, other channels and other time periods are also fine.
After a series of fierce competition and contest, Jiang Ning's "White Snake" was finally chosen as the self-produced drama.
Because producing and shooting self-made dramas is also a very risky behavior. Even though there are successful cases of three TV stations, namely Z Province Satellite TV, Shanghai Satellite TV and Mango Satellite TV, the shooting of self-made dramas by TV stations is still a very large investment. For an influential TV station like CCTV, only success is allowed and failure is not allowed.
We must be extremely careful in choosing themes and works to be produced. For example, "A Story of the Stone" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which have been filmed by CCTV before, are themes that are very popular among the people. As long as these themes are filmed well, there is no need to worry about the ratings.
But they can't always shoot themes like the Four Great Classics, so the original work of "White Snake", which won the Best Picture Award this year, caught the attention of CCTV.
It is not the first time that they have paid attention to this work. Earlier, several of Ning Meng's works were still popular among young people. After the news that Ning Meng was admitted to Peking University and became a student of Peking University came out, the popularity of Ning Meng's works began to spread upward. This "upward spread" not only refers to the increase in age, but also the "increase in influence" among readers, which naturally also reached the eyes of CCTV.
Coupled with the two successful works "White Snake" and "White Snake" as national popularity, it can be said that just with the name of Lemon Studios original work, as long as "White Snake" is filmed and as long as it is not filmed like shit, it will not have to worry about the ratings, not to mention, there is also the powerful weapon of CCTV, which provides double protection.
When it comes to the selection of directors, CCTV, because of the importance it places on its own dramas, will make careful choices in selecting directors. Not only directors, but also screenwriters, planners, editors, actors, etc., all must be the best of the best, with both national popularity and a good family background. There cannot be the slightest mistake in the casting of actors to ensure that there are no problems with the self-produced dramas.
After the CCTV had finalized the specific drama to be filmed, someone called Peking University and contacted Jiang Ning through the director of the School of Mathematics at Peking University.
To others, Ning Meng's true identity may be a secret, but to CCTV, all information about Jiang Ning is transparent, not to mention that Jiang Ning also participated in the Wanhua Film Festival awards ceremony. Although she did not win any awards, the fact that she walked the red carpet with the "White Snake" crew has already made her identity public.
When the department head sent someone to notify Jiang Ning to come over, he looked at her for a long time before saying with a smile, "I know that there are guys in the Astronomy Department and the Physics Department who like to write poetry. I didn't expect that our School of Mathematics also has a great writer."
Jiang Ning's fame is much greater than those guys who have published a few poems.
It can be said that this is an age where everyone is writing poetry. As long as one is a literature lover, there are few who have not written poetry. The school's student union and clubs also hold poetry reading sessions regularly. From the hundreds or thousands of poems submitted by Peking University students, they select the most classic poems for appreciation and reading, and also give awards.
However, such activities, which were purely literary hobbies in the beginning, have now been tainted with political power factors. Many poetry readings have already been privately divided up before the awards ceremony even begins, leaving only the lowest prizes, such as the third prize for poetry and consolation prizes such as the Excellence Award, for truly awesome poems.
For this reason, many people who love literature and poetry have privately established many unofficial literary societies in order to resist this unfair behavior of "politicians", some of which are very influential.
These literature lovers come from various departments of Kyoto University, but among the poets and literature lovers in the School of Mathematics, there are very few who are influential.
The department head had heard of Jiang Ning's name a long time ago. Jiang Ning's reputation among teachers was even greater than her reputation among students. Otherwise, the Cui Yujie incident would not have been handled so quickly and strictly. Even after her parents used all their connections to find the department head, nothing changed.
The department head told her that the Central Bank called her and wanted to buy the copyright of the TV series "White Snake".
Jiang Ning never expected that the TV drama copyright of "White Snake" would be picked up by the Central Bank.
Although her current works no longer need the halo of CCTV, their significance is still different.
It was also fate, because the TV drama copyright of "White Snake" was just a little bit away from being negotiated away by another TV station.
The two parties made an appointment through the intermediary, the department head, and met at the gate of Peking University.
The producer of "White Snake" this time is the deputy director of CCTV's TV Drama Production Center. This shows how much CCTV values this self-produced drama. He brought the director and two screenwriters to Peking University to meet Jiang Ning. They did not meet outside the school gate, but directly met in Yanyuan.
In the producer's words: "It's a good opportunity for us to visit Yanyuan."
Although the producer is a native of Beijing, he is not a Beijing University student.
The director and the two screenwriters also looked at this young best-selling author with curiosity.
The two screenwriters brought by CCTV this time are not the male and female screenwriters as before, but two female screenwriters.
One party wanted to buy, and the other wanted to sell, so the contract was quickly finalized. Originally, if it was another TV station, Jiang Ning would have stipulated in the contract that the project must be started within two years, otherwise the contract would be terminated and the film would be sold again. But for CCTV, Jiang Ning changed the time to five years.
The producer and director of CCTV had seen the copyright contract sold by Jiang Ning from others a long time ago, and knew that Jiang Ning had given them a three-year leniency in their contract. Even though they knew that they would start the project and polish the script immediately after signing the contract, they still showed goodwill to Jiang Ning without making a sound and were in a good mood.
Although this kind of difference has happened to them too many times, they still think that this girl can do things.
Jiang Ning did not even bargain for the copyright fees, giving the central bank enough face.
CCTV naturally also made inquiries and learned that a TV station had offered Jiang Ning a high price of 500,000 yuan, but the copyright fee agreed upon by Jiang Ning and CCTV was only half of this, which is currently far lower than the value that Jiang Ning's work brings to the TV station and the crew.
After the two sides had a pleasant chat, the producer also asked Jiang Ning about her plans after graduation, and asked her with a smile: "Have you ever thought about coming to work in our station after graduation?"
Not to mention that Jiang Ning is a top student at Peking University, just the fact that she has achieved such results at such a young age is enough for them to recruit her.
Jiang Ning did not refuse, but smiled and complimented: "Who wouldn't want to work at a TV station like CCTV?"
This is Tongtian’s direct mouthpiece.
After the producer and director expressed concern about Jiang Ning's studies, they turned the topic to the TV adaptation of "White Snake", which they were most concerned about.
Everyone here has read the book "White Snake" twice.
If CCTV wants to produce its own drama, it is not just a matter of TV ratings. Otherwise, it can just buy the copyright of "Little Swallow" from Mango TV and broadcast "Little Swallow". Why produce its own drama?
CCTV's self-produced dramas also play a promotional role. For example, the self-produced drama "In Paris" was written by the producer himself two years ago. While they have to ensure the ratings, they also have to keep up with current affairs and promote positive energy. Therefore, a basic tone of the TV series is to be great, glorious and positive.
For example, the theme of "White Snake". Even though the "White Snake" series has been filmed to death, since it is going to be filmed, it must play a role in promoting the economy, such as promoting the city of Hangzhou, promoting the tourism economy of Hangzhou and even the entire province, a series of scenic spots such as Leifeng Pagoda, Broken Bridge, Su Causeway, Bai Causeway, etc., the fairy mountain where the White Snake cultivated herself, which mountain to choose, how to shoot, how to use Xu Xian's medicine shop, to promote the traditional Chinese medicine culture of our flower-growing country, and so on.
This is the main theme requirement for this self-produced drama. The adaptation and development of the rest of the plot must be based on this main theme.
Currently, the two most popular works of "White Snake" are "White Snake" which is based on the theme of eternal love, and the movie "White Snake" which is based on the theme of women's struggle for self-improvement and saving the people and loving the people.
For the TV series "White Snake", if they want to write something new instead of making it a remake of the TV series "White Snake", they need some novelty. The two screenwriters also have different suggestions on this issue.
Screenwriter Yuan Feng's intention is to use "love" as the theme because the audience likes this theme. Only by using "love" as the theme can the ratings be guaranteed.
Another screenwriter Tang Jiang believes that if the theme is still "love" and the focus is on the love between the White Snake and Xu Xian, there is no need to buy the TV copyright of "White Snake" and a direct remake of "White Snake" will do: "Since we have chosen to buy the TV copyright of "White Snake" instead of remaking "White Snake", isn't it because we want to make something different? This is an era of gender equality, and the country is also vigorously promoting the family planning policy. Our theme should focus more on the White Snake's persistence and efforts in cultivating immortals. The White Snake may not want love or Xu Xian, but she wants a career and to become an immortal!"
It just so happened that both the director and the producer were men. Even though they had both written and filmed hit TV series, the dramas they wrote and filmed were all centered around the career storyline, with the love storyline being just a little embellishment written by other small screenwriters. Filming love stories is not really their strong point. In addition, with the various martial arts dramas and love dramas based on Aunt Qiong Yao currently on the market as the main market, CCTV naturally wanted to come up with some new ideas for its own self-produced dramas to elevate the theme. After listening to the points of their dispute, screenwriter Tang Jiang was responsible for the career storyline, and screenwriter Yuan Feng was responsible for the love storyline.
He also asked Jiang Ning for his opinion.
Jiang Ning: ...
These people are different from the screenwriters and directors of provincial and local TV stations that Jiang Ning had met before. The four in front of him are all bigwigs of CCTV. The producer is a native of Beijing. To be able to sit in the position of deputy director of a department of CCTV, apart from his own abilities, who knows what kind of complicated relationships are behind him?
But she was not timid. In fact, she did not think that there was a conflict between the two screenwriters' ideas. Just like the TV series "In Paris" written by the producer in the early 1990s, the career line and the love line could be combined, but one was the main one and the other was the auxiliary one. This book was originally written by Jiang Ning, so she naturally tended to make the career line the main one and the love line the auxiliary one.
Speaking of the love line, screenwriter Yuan Feng frowned and asked: "Filming a TV series is not like filming a movie. A movie is finished in two hours, and one episode of a TV series is forty minutes. If you want to shoot so many episodes, are you going to let her practice immortal cultivation all the time without a love line?"
She didn't understand the point of this.
Jiang Ning thought for a moment and suggested, "Isn't there a scene in the work where the heroine sorts out the rivers and mountains of the world? What do you think about combining this scene with the real flood relief this year?"
Especially the one when the eldest brother stood on the flooded riverbank and shouted: "I will not evacuate until the flood recedes!"
It touched so many people and gave a shot of confidence to the disaster-stricken people.
The producer's eyes suddenly lit up, and looking at this 17 or 18-year-old girl, he couldn't help but clap his hands and smile: "Great!"
Previously, the station had been debating whether to buy the copyright of "White Snake" or have the station's screenwriters write a story about flood prevention and disaster relief. Although their faction won in the end, as a producer, he actually carried a lot of pressure. Once the ratings of this self-produced drama were not high, he and his faction would inevitably suffer. But what if this year's flood prevention and disaster relief theme was combined with "White Snake"?
It not only describes the efforts made by the government in flood control and disaster relief this year, but also publicizes some famous scenic spots in Hangzhou, contributes to the tourism and cultural undertakings, and also promotes traditional Chinese medicine.
Even if the ratings are not satisfactory, because of these promotional points, the work has played a positive publicity role, and he will only have merits and no faults.
Since it was Jiang Ning who proposed this point, she had the most say in how to make this part of the plot exciting and interesting. The producer simply pulled Jiang Ning in as a strong man and handed this part of the plot to her.
Jiang Ning did not refuse, but smiled and said: "I have only written novels, not scripts. Scripts and novels should be very different, right?"
"What's the big deal? Just follow your sister Yuan and sister Tang. You are so quick-witted that you will learn after just a few glances."
Among the four people present, including the director, all of them had written scripts and worked as screenwriters.
The producer praised Jiang Ning for her high level of understanding, which is not an exaggeration. Not to mention that she has written several best-selling books, and the outline and tone of the movie "White Snake" were completed by Ning Meng, her political sensitivity alone is not something that ordinary people can have.
Jiang Ning didn't ask about the royalties. Even if he worked for free, wouldn't he still get more than 200,000 yuan in copyright fees?
Jiang Ning, who took on this job, in addition to writing the manuscripts of the two works "Jin Yi Wei" and "Star Mecha", also added some plot writing for a TV drama script "White Snake".
For this reason, Jiang Ning specifically went to the department head to ask for leave. She did not ask for leave for daytime classes. She attended daytime classes as usual. She did not return to the dormitory at night, but lived in a rental house outside the school. Because there was a computer in the rental house, she would use the evening time to work on the computer in the rental house.
When the department head knew that she was going to participate in the scriptwriting of CCTV's self-produced drama, he originally thought that she was a potential for scientific research. Unexpectedly, she, a science student, did not go into scientific research, but instead went on the road of literature and never looked back. The more she walked, the wider her path became. He did not persuade her to take the scientific research route. He was very understanding and agreed to her application. However, according to the procedure, she still needed to write a report and submit it to the counselor.
The counselor didn't expect that Jiang Ning came to ask for leave again, saying that she wanted to live off campus, just after Cui Yujie moved out of Dormitory 401. The counselor hurriedly asked her if she had any conflicts with her roommates or if she was bullied.
Ever since the girl committed suicide, the school has been very sensitive and nervous about this issue.
Jiang Ning briefly told the counselor about the screenwriter job for CCTV's self-produced drama. The counselor then breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the matter was arranged by the department head and that it had already been reported to the department head. The counselor readily approved Jiang Ning's leave.
Jiang Ning did not leave without saying a word just because she was not familiar with the girls in dormitory 401. Instead, she brought some fruits back to the dormitory and told her roommates that she had taken a job and needed to live off campus for a while. "I will not be in the dormitory these days. When it is my turn to be on duty, you can just stand in the back row. I will make up for it later." She put the bag of fruits she bought on the table and said, "I have made some money, so I won't treat you to a meal for now. I will treat you to some fruits. I will treat you to a meal later when I get the money."
"Wow! You got the job? What kind of job is it?" Zhang Min's eyes suddenly lit up.
Her family lives in a small town and she is not the only child in the family. Apart from the cost of college, her living expenses are not much, and she also needs to find a job to subsidize her living expenses.
The best job for these Beijing university students is to tutor children from other places.
They have only been at Kyoto University for two months, and many of them have not yet found tutoring jobs.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Ning got the job without any hesitation.
Thinking of Jiang Ning's participation in the Wanhua Film Festival, Zhang Min couldn't help but widen her eyes and asked, "Is it to write a script?"
They had wanted to ask Jiang Ning if she was Ning Meng before, but Jiang Ning had just returned when Cui Yujie's incident happened. After that, another girl committed suicide in the school, which caused a lot of uproar. Then there was Cui Yujie's punishment and Cui Yujie's transfer to another dormitory. The atmosphere in the dormitory was always very low. Under that situation, even though Zhang Min and the others were very curious, they did not ask Jiang Ning if she was Ning Meng.
Although they were already 80% sure, they still had to confirm it since they hadn't heard Jiang Ning admit it in person.
Even though they had expected it, when they saw Jiang Ning nod and smile and say "Yes," they were still shocked and asked her, "So you are really Ning Meng?"
After getting Jiang Ning's affirmative answer, Zhang Min was shocked: "Oh my God! Even though I guessed it, I still can't believe it. You were recommended to Beijing University last year and won the gold medal in the IMO international competition!" She stroked her forehead, looking at a monster, and said with a look of shock: "You actually wrote more than three million words in three years when you were in the first and second year of high school, while participating in the IMO competition."
She counted on her fingers and said, "In the first and second year of high school, you wrote one million words in a year, and you wrote them so well. How did you do it?"
This was simply unimaginable for Zhang Min, a science student. She wished she could open Jiang Ning's head to see if she had an extra brain than them.
She has been praised for her intelligence since she was young. To her, studying is as easy and effortless as eating and sleeping. Her parents always praise her in front of outsiders: "We didn't have to put in any effort. She learned it all by herself."
Even during her three years of high school, she had to put in a lot of effort while participating in competitions and studying at the same time, but even so, she still won the first prize in the city competition. After that, she was admitted to Peking University without affecting her academic performance.
It was only after she arrived at Kyoto University that she realized that there were many talented and crouching tigers here. Her past achievements were nothing here. She could no longer maintain her past state of mind of being able to easily get into Kyoto University without studying very hard. She needed to spend a lot of energy on studying in order to maintain her past excellent grades in this campus.
But what does this girl in front of me say? Not only did she complete three years of high school knowledge in just two years, she also won a gold medal in an international competition and was admitted to Peking University in advance. She also published nearly two million words during high school, and each of her works sold millions of copies!
Zhang Min, who has been known for being smart since she was a child, realized for the first time that the gap between people can be so big!
Everyone else in the dormitory was also stunned when they heard Zhang Min's exclamation and calculated the achievements Jiang Ning had made during this period.
"So... so you're moving out this time because "The Imperial Guards" is about to end and you're going to release a new work?" Zhang Min could only find this reason. Otherwise, "The Imperial Guards" was also being updated before, and Jiang Ning was still sleeping in the dormitory. It doesn't make sense that he would not live in the dormitory now.
Jiang Ning originally didn't plan to tell them, but seeing that they all guessed that she was Ning Meng, there was no need to hide it anymore, so she smiled and said, "I took a job from the Central Bank."
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