Chapter 808: A clever strategy for realizing cash
A big tree attracts the wind.
The matter of sponsoring Chen Peisi’s film has just been concluded.
But because Chen Xiaoer was not strict with his words, the matter was leaked.
Soon, someone from another film crew came to Ning Weimin's door again, and a big boss came.
Which crew?
The TV series "Journey to the West"!
People decades from now should have some idea of how difficult the filming process was for the 25-episode domestic "Journey to the West" that was inspired by Japan's poorly revised version of "Journey to the West".
A videographer, a camera, filming and broadcasting at the same time. The filming started in 1982 and was completed in 1988. It took six years and cost 6 million.
During the filming period, director Yang Jie enjoyed praise and glory from the audience, but he also suffered from the slow progress, the controversy of changing roles and the shortage of funds.
The crew was even reported for doing this for personal gain, traveling around the country, and having their financial expenses scrutinized by their superiors.
But the crew really didn’t spend a penny. After checking the accounts, even the people who checked the accounts were moved.
In fact, every expenditure made by the crew of "Journey to the West" during the filming period is well documented.
The entire crew, including the director and main actors, has been living a rough life of traveling and traveling through mountains and rivers.
Because the standard price per person per meal is only 50 cents, I often eat steamed buns and pickles as my working meal.
Most of the money was spent on costumes and props.
For example, there are no drones these days, and the most difficult thing to take pictures of is the sky and clouds.
For some key shots, in order to achieve a sense of realism, you have to ask the Air Force to use an aircraft to shoot them. What you want to shoot must be discussed with the aircraft pilot in advance.
It’s okay to catch a sunny day, but if it’s cloudy and rainy, wouldn’t it be a disaster? In vain.
So when the crew was at its lowest point, it was once faced with the situation of disbanding because of the break in the filming capital chain.
We had no choice but to rely on donations from the audience to keep filming going.
Although in the end it was able to survive the difficulties with a temporary loan from the Eleventh Engineering Bureau of the Ministry of Railways, in the end, five episodes had to be deleted before it ended reluctantly.
Speaking of it, the crew really felt like going to the West to obtain a Buddhist scripture, having gone through ninety-nine and eighty-one hardships.
But then again, slow work brings out fine work.
In this era that emphasizes artistic dedication and has not yet been completely commercialized, the quality of this drama is really high.
The best proof is that when the top ten domestic TV series with the most replays were selected in the Internet era, "Journey to the West" became the top domestic TV series with a number of replays of up to 3,000 times.
And even decades later, this TV series with crude technology and crude props is still hailed as a classic.
In the hearts of the majority of viewers, it is recognized as more beautiful than any version of "Journey to the West".
What does this mean?
Illustration that an actor's performance and sincerity can defeat the advancement of technology.
It shows that the hard work of the entire "Journey to the West" crew was not in vain, and the audience saw it and felt it in their hearts.
It shows that film and television dramas that rely solely on three-dimensional special effects and the support of popular stars cannot confuse the audience, then it is nonsense.
But such a popular TV series with many clients just raised a problem for Ning Weimin - it was really hard for him to give him the money.
Yes, this TV series is really good and very popular.
But the huge social impact and social attention it has caused are difficult to realize.
Why?
Because this is a costume drama, which is completely different from Chen Peisi’s urban comedy, there is no way to insert advertisements.
We can’t insert advertisements into the film like future web dramas will do.
Let Monk Tang put on a suit and organize many gods, masters and disciples to have a dinner at Maxim's Restaurant?
If such an illegal advertisement is to be broadcast, Pierre Cardin Company must stop doing it, and the audience must curse it to death.
So this is the reason why director Yang Jie has been asking the crew members to initiate relationships and find favors with various large companies, but they always fall for the weak and gain little.
Besides, this era is not an era where business operations can be carried out rationally.
I won’t talk about the relevant restrictions of the policy. The key is the lack of copyright awareness and lack of protection methods.
It stands to reason that our four major masterpieces are ready-made four major IPs.
Although everyone can adapt classics at will, TV dramas also have their own production copyrights.
Unfortunately, even the producers and producers didn't realize that this thing existed, and they allowed the TV series' theme songs to be sung and played at will.
The crew truly believed that they were promoting traditional culture and it should be free for everyone.
Even if Ning Weimin is more capable, he is willing to sign an exclusive commercial cooperation agreement with the crew, but what is the practical significance? No one cares about his rights at all.
Once something goes viral, people are guaranteed to follow suit, but he can’t sue them yet.
Let’s not talk about whether it is useful or not. If he dares to assert his rights, he will be spitted to death by the common people.
"Journey to the West" is the cultural heritage of the whole nation, why does it belong to you alone? You are crazy about money!
Scum! HE, TUI! ...
No way, this is a limitation of the times and an ideological issue.
So how can I provide this sponsorship?
Whatever you give is what you throw away. Merely beating a dog with meat buns has no benefit at all.
After much deliberation, Ning Weimin could only give up a little bit to contribute to this classic TV series.
He said he would give it 80,000 yuan and ask for acknowledgment at the end of the TV series.
But the deputy production director of the "Journey to the West" crew is still a bit pedantic and difficult to dismiss.
Comparing "Journey to the West" with Chen Peisi's urban comedy, and talking about the differences in shooting difficulty and artistry between the two film and television dramas, Ning Weimin should, based on his love for the culture of "Journey to the West", try his best to support the famous work Film and television, make more contributions.
I also told Ning Weimin about the original intention of making this film, which is directly related to the issues of national, national and cultural dignity. The height immediately rose, and Ning Weimin could not catch it.
I had to find an excuse to hide out, leaving the deputy director who was about to give a lecture in front of me.
The result was good. Although he hid at that time, he still provoked a foolish old man of the world.
This deputy director actually comes and waits every day, with a smile on his face every day, and is not afraid of showing off. I wish he could follow him even when he goes to the toilet.
That's exactly like what Liu Baorui said in his cross talk. People in Shanxi want to pay - be sure to follow suit.
Ning Weimin was truly convinced from the bottom of his heart.
He looked at this person again. He was over forty years old, and he was also a dignified deputy director of production.
It was really hard for him to beg for help to this extent.
As the old saying goes, it is convenient for you to deal with others, but you will still have to deal with them in the future.
Yes, as soon as his compassion moved, he opened a way for the other party to go.
"I said, Director, I admire your spirit. So I blame you all, I can give you another hundred thousand yuan. But this money is not paid by our company, but by me personally. We understand He said, your show cannot be compared with others. Because the subject matter is special, for our company, investing money is really not helpful in publicity. After all, I am responsible for the company, and my responsibility is to consider the interests of the company. . I can’t let the company take advantage of me just to do you a favor...”
When I heard about the money, the deputy director was a little embarrassed and said yes.
But when I heard the end, I couldn’t help but be stunned.
The surprised expression was obviously a bit unable to react.
Maybe you are thinking, if you don’t want your company to be taken advantage of, how can you still invest money yourself?
Ning Weimin did not allow him to ask questions and took the initiative to explain the following.
“Of course I don’t give you this money for free. You have to sign a commercial licensing contract with me without time limit, and you have to agree that I can personally make some money back and use various characters from the TV series. The image is used for commercial purposes in various fields. And this contract cannot be trivial. It must be signed and sealed by the chief director of the production team and the leaders of the station. "
This is what Ning Weimin thought.
Even if you accumulate virtue and do good deeds, you can't do business at a loss.
I have to hunt rabbits, what do I need?
Although there are no copyright and royalties issues now, they will be there in 20 to 30 years.
In view of the long-term validity of this drama, if this money is invested, some dividends will be recovered by then. It should be considered a good investment.
The only thing that needs to be warned is that the director seems to have a problem with keeping his word, so don't turn around and deny it.
So the contract must be signed more rigorously and be double insured.
The deputy director's knowledge was limited and he couldn't figure out Ning Weimin's thoughts, so he just listened to him in a half-understanding and half-understanding manner.
But when you sign a contract, you get money. The total of 180,000 "alms" is enough to cover the cost of filming one episode. This is undoubtedly clear.
It is understandable that people sign contracts to make some money.
Not to mention that the situation is stronger than the person, and others are not interested in it yet.
So he was naturally full of promises, but there was one thing that was a bit awkward - it was easy for the leaders in Taiwan to sign, but Director Yang was not here and he was in Japan, so he might have to wait another week.
Ning Weimin was surprised. This seemed to be different from what he knew.
He asked, "Hey, is your crew short of funds? Why didn't Director Yang make a TV series and went to Japan? Are you really doing it for personal gain, as rumored by the outside world?"
The deputy director hurriedly Explained, "No, you misunderstood. This is a political mission. Director Yang took several episodes of the film to Japan to participate in the 'Second International Television Art Exchange Exhibition'. Let the Japanese colleagues see how we filmed under backward conditions. The "Journey to the West" that came out was hundreds of times better than the one they had with abundant funds and advanced technology..."
Then, the deputy director began to talk about the time when Japan's 1978 version of "Journey to the West" was banned by the national television station. The thing about the broadcast means that Director Yang is trying to bring order out of chaos this time and use facts and results to rectify the name of our traditional culture.
However, Ning Weimin was not very inspired. This was either because he had the attribute of being a Japanese or because he was completely indifferent to Japan's tampering with "Journey to the West".
On the contrary, the main thing is that he seemed to be touched in some way, as if he had grasped a line of thinking that could largely solve the funding problem of the "Journey to the West" crew.
He had no time to worry about anything else.
"Exhibition...exhibition...will..."
After murmuring to himself, suddenly, he had an idea and was completely enlightened.
He then interrupted the deputy director's nagging and proposed a new cooperation proposal that the deputy director had never dreamed of.
“Hey, director, do you still have the props that you finished shooting for the first few episodes? Are there any costumes that you can’t use?”
"Yes, yes..." The deputy director was stunned, and a question mark almost popped up on his bald forehead.
“When you were filming, did you take specific photos, did you leave any information?”
“Yes, yes. Director Yang has notes, and they are all Difficulties that need to be solved during filming. Many actors also have the habit of writing diaries. Especially when they have nothing to do in the wilderness, they will take pictures. "
"That's okay, okay. The crew provided these things to me. On behalf of Pierre Cardin Company and Temple of Heaven Park, I will sign a contract with you. We will jointly organize a themed exhibition for the "Journey to the West" crew. You will decide how to operate it. Don't worry about it, just concentrate on filming. That's all between Tiantan and me. Anyway, let's charge extra tickets and share the money among the three companies. This may solve some of your financial problems and let the public know about your hard work and dedication. . It can reduce the unreasonable suspicion from the outside world. If you are in a hurry for money, we can even give you an advance of 200,000..."
What a guy!
The deputy director was much more shocked than when he saw the woman playing Tang Monk in the Japanese "Journey to the West"!
But I have to say, it’s great!
How can you calm down your excitement?
So that night, Director Yang Jie, who had just shocked his Japanese counterpart at the exchange meeting, received a long-distance call from the deputy director in China!
I was also shocked, and I had a good time with the electric shock addiction! It was absolutely refreshing.
It was a pleasure for her, she told the deputy director on the phone at that time.
"You have done a great job. You have solved such an unsolvable problem. What? There are other experts, so I must personally thank you! What I didn't say, I agree! Collect the props and costumes Okay, prepare more information and sign the contract when I get back!”
(End of this chapter)